It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday was, as you already saw, the continuation of my birthday bash. Lunch with Amber, dinner with Marie. But Amber and I went shopping after our lunch, and I was so excited about this find! Easter egg wreath for 70% off! I had my eye on some similar wreaths at Meijer after Easter, but they were much smaller and more expensive. I was glad I waited. I've wanted one of these for several years!


* Monday evening I needed to get away from home for a while, so I started out at a committee meeting at church, and then I went to visit my friend Laurie. She talked me into visiting her new pet mice.
I knew you wouldn't believe I got that close without proof. I did make her put the lid back on top before I got this close. It's still a big step.

* Tuesday morning was the carry-in breakfast for the May birthdays. Would you believe in an office of 13 people, 4 of us have May birthdays? The rest really stepped up and threw us a great party! Last year I was devastated to have no pictures of the carry-in because my fellow birthday buddies refuse to be in pictures. This year I did at least get this. So I've upgraded from devastated to very sad.
*Wednesday, during my lunch hour, I went shopping and picked up these beauties. I've had my eye on them for a long time. DARLING.


And my friend Judy treated me to McConn in exchange for some writing I did for her. God bless the caramel macchiato freeze.

* I had Thursday morning off work, and as I finished my plans and drove back home, I passed the little loan company where I worked right out of high school. I'd not seen the girls who work there for years - ten or more, I'd imagine. I had a few extra minutes, so I stopped in to see them. Lots of memories of that little company and my entry into the real world! (Like my cute new dress?)
* Friday night was a first in Bekahland - first use of fresh herbs. Bought my first bunch of cilantro and used it in trying a new recipe that I think is a keeper: BBQ chicken pizza soup. Sounds strange, I know, but I liked it! And I made another round of the fabulous Twix Bars. (I didn't put the cilantro in that, FYI.)

* Saturday evening I had game night with my high school buddies. I think this was our second get-together this year, and it was much fun! I even won a couple rounds of things - which is nearly unheard of. One of my wins? Apples to Apples:
Books I'm Reading: I've been a little bit of a reading fool this week! I continued in my devo books of Sparkling Gems from the Greek and Jesus Calling. I met my goal and FINISHED Jody Hedlund's book The Preacher's Bride. So good. Can't wait for her second one to come out this October! Re-read a chapter in In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day for my chat with Olivia. (Scary how perfect the timing is the second time around.) Finished the first chapter of the book I'm studying with Marie - Entrusting Your Dreams to God, started reading Writing About Your Life (which is my first book to read on the craft of writing...in years. I have a goal to read a little bit each day in preparation for my concentrated time of writing coming up.) AND - as if all those were not enough, I began and FINISHED Heaven is for Real - all in one night. WOW. If you've not read that book, you MUST.

Favorite God Moment of the Whole Week: Friday during my lunch hour, I went to one of my favorite prayer spots to rest and pray. While there, God gave me an assignment that has the potential to utterly exhaust me, yet I'm so excited about what it will do in the grand scope of my life.

Update on Last Week's Goals: I finished Jody's book, I finished the writing project, and I caught up the scrapbook. AND I got the yard mowed just short of needing to buy a goat. Good grief.

Goals for the Coming Week: I want to be diligent about reading in the writing craft book so I can focus my thoughts for my own writing. God has been disciplining me gently about my prayer life. It needs some work; I'm not being as effective as I know I can be. I am not sure what changes I need to make, but I want to work on it.

Discipline

It seems that since I've started the SSMT journey, I only write about verses on those days. Today is not such a day. Today I just want to share with you the details of the lesson God taught me a few days ago; the lesson that was my favorite moment with Him that week.

Here is the verse that sprang to mind as I was living that moment:

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

Later on, however, it produces a harvest

of righteousness and peace

for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:11

As you know from the last couple days of reading, last year was particularly painful for me as I went through the whirlwind journey of falling in love and then watching as Isaac walked away from me, leaving me to wonder what God possibly had for my future and if I could ever trust again. (And I'm not just talking love. I'm talking any sort of relationship...friendships, coworkers...even family.)

This year has been a beautiful season of re-entering life. My appetite has returned, I can sleep again, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the beauty that has been this year. (Minus that one stupid ice episode in February.)

And in the middle of all this re-entry to life and such, I've settled back into routines that have teetered on trying to control my own life. Again. God gently reminded me of the dangers of that when He introduced the come undone theme to me during Lent. And it's just gone in a million directions since then.

One of the beautifully scary things that has happened to me this year has been the introduction of new friends to my life. They've wandered my direction in a variety of ways. Some were planted there...some were accidental encounters...some were discovered as paths merged. And I've cautiously reached out, deeply desiring new friendships to enrich my life but so afraid that each one will end up hurting me in some way, or worse...leaving.

One eveing, I went out to walk and while circling laps, I had a chat with God about this dilemma of my life. Because I become too bold for my own britches, I informed Him that I was not interested in trusting if trust was about to lead to hurt.

He responded with This is where I need you right now. This is a purposefully ordained friendship. You two need each other right now. This is your assignment from me.

In sheer panic, I shot back, I don't like those words right now. I've been hurt too much. If my friends are not planning to stay forever, I can't do it. Please don't make me.

And He said, sternly but with that gentle Abba love, How arrogant of you to say You don't want an assignment I have for you. How arrogant to think I can't sustain you in ways you can't fathom, if your friends move or choose to leave.

Ouch.

I confessed my wrong attitude right there in the middle of my workout.

Okay, Jesus. You made this heart of mine. You know how it wants to hang onto every friend its ever made and love everyone who comes near. But if You see fit to move friends in and out, I trust You. I trust You to bring comfort when I ache. And for now I commit to being the very best friend I can be. Even if it's just for right now.

Pottery: Part 2

If you missed yesterday's post, you need to read it or this one will make no sense.

That piece of pottery I talked about yesterday was just a little clay pot. I purchased it after a ladies retreat I attended years ago. We used the pots that weekend to wash each other's feet, and I knew I wanted that piece of pottery to remind me to serve those around me. I loved it and kept it in my home as not only a reminder - but also a decoration.

While clearly I grieved the loss of Isaac and grieved the loss of the relationship I knew God ordained, I was also just flat out mad about losing that silly blue pot!

I was mad because I loved that thing and had big plans for it and now I don't even know where it is. Maybe he kept it. Maybe he put it in storage. Maybe he's decorating his house with it. Maybe he threw it away so he could forget all about me. I have no clue.

Last Saturday evening, after my day-o-fun in Indianapolis with Cara, I met up with Lara, my mentor. She came into my house clutching a gift bag with two little presents inside - and I loved them so much! Then she giggled and clasped her hands and said, "Close your eyes! I have one more present, but it was too big to wrap!"

Don't have to tell me twice!

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, this was in front of me:
I love this thing. It is so HGTV, I cannot even possibly tell you. I have big plans for it and have already scoped out the giant curly twiggy things at the craft store. Oh yes. I'm going to love this thing in my house.

Lara (oh how I wish you could know her) talks 100 miles a minute, and as she gushed with such joy about the treasure this piece is, I heard these words:

I know it's not for foot washing but I hope you love it anyway.

The next day, as I walked through the living room, I looked at the pottery and it hit me.

It's not for foot washing. It's for a whole new purpose. A yet-unknown purpose. It is a giant promise sitting in front of me - and I don't know today what it will become. I don't know where it will end up in my house, I don't know what I'll put in it, and I don't know what it will look like.

I do know I love it.

I thought back to that hot August day at Isaac's house. I asked God if He wanted me to shatter that clay pot and He said no. He said to leave it. And I did. I left it in Isaac's hands and drove away. And it's never mine to know what happens with that dream now. That pot represented what God had spoken over my heart regarding the relationship I shared with Isaac. I placed it in his hands, symbolizing my willingness and desire to love and serve him. And then I left him to decide what to do with it. And other than knowing he didn't choose me, I'll never know what he did choose - in his heart or with the pottery.

But I have a new clay pot now. A massive, beautiful, heavy clay pot with all its mystery now sits in my house. It's big. It's beautiful. It's not purposed for the same things as the one I owned before. It doesn't look anything like what I had before. But that makes it no less real or important.

Such is my future. Big. Beautiful. Unknown in every way. But I believe it holds promise. Why He would see fit to entrust me with something bigger than before is baffling to me. But I promise to do my best with it - whatever it is and whenever it comes.

Pottery: Part 1

I guess two part posts are my thing this week!

Remember last year when you read about the desert? I eventually felt led to stop posting about it because God needed me to move out of the heaviness and I couldn't do that while reliving it here each day. But I want to take you back to a piece of it you've not seen before. You need this to understand what I want to tell you tomorrow.

As you may remember, Isaac and I never lived near each other for our entire relationship. So whenever we saw each other, we had to make an effort to meet up somewhere that we knew people we could stay with - or one of us had to find a place to stay (remember my flat iron catching on fire in the hotel?).

Last August, we met for a weekend in his hometown, in an attempt to see if there was any hope for our future. Things went very well for the first half of the weekend. Then something happened. To this day, I don't know what it was. I remember the moment his countenance changed and after moments of heavy silence, he told me he couldn't continue. He was done. Really, really done.

The next morning, while he went to church (and I couldn't go with him) - I spent the morning in my Easter dress, fallen on my face on the cement slab of a shelter house in a nearby park, sobbing and crying out to the Lord. After crying until I nearly made myself sick, I collected myself, walked back to his house, and we had our final conversation. I've written it as I said it to him - so just imagine that you're Isaac.

Back in July, after the debacle that was the fourth and the non-ending of the wilderness, I was praying about you, and God impressed upon my heart that when things were better between us and healed in our relationship, I needed to wash your feet as an act of love and service. (Don't worry. I'm not really going to do that right now.)

When I was packing to come here this weekend, I remembered my piece of pottery and thought about bringing it, but knew this was unlikely to be the right time for such an event. But even after I'd walked out the door, God brought it to my mind and said, "Take it." And I said, "It's not the time." And He said, "Take it anyway." So I did. And I've left it in the trunk all weekend until now.

This morning when I was praying, I asked God why it was so important that I bring this pottery, since clearly it's NOT the time. And He reminded me of this excerpt of Angie Smith's book I've been reading:

"Every one of us is given alabaster jars in our lives. Moments that have been chosen from before there was time, where we will follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and glorify our Father with our offering…Is it possible that we are chosen to undergo something when all the while the Lord knows that it will be given to Him in sweet surrender?...Maybe you have been called to take care of the gift. Maybe you are guarding it for a day you have yet to see. Maybe you are watching it, reserving it, waiting for the moment the Lord comes and redeems it all….He has not forgotten. He has heard you call. He may wait to come to you…continue to worship the Lord, keeping what He has given you until the moment you are called to give it away. And as the glass shatters all around you and you grow dizzy from the intoxicating smell of pure love, get as close to His feet as you can. And know this. It was always meant to fall from your hands. And He is glorified in the shattering." (From I Will Carry You)

And so I asked God - did You want me to bring the pottery to break it? And He said, "No. I want you to leave it." And so, I am leaving this with you. I love you and want to serve you…but I know you are not ready. But I am going to leave this here with you as an act of love and service to you and to God. You said yesterday you aren't pursuing me like you should. So I will leave here today and do what you've asked. I'll leave you alone to hear God and to heal. And when your heart has healed and you can pursue me, you come for me. You come find me and you bring this pottery and I will wash your feet.

So...I sat there for the longest time thinking "Say something!" And Isaac squeezed my hand and said, "I will put this on my dresser where I can see it every day and remember what you said. And I WILL listen and I will heal."

And I never saw him again.

The Birthday Bash - Part 2

I've had too much birthday fun to cram it all into one post!

After I came home from my day of fun in Indianapolis, I met my mentor, Lara, for more birthday fun! This is one of the gifts she gave me - and I'll tell you what - it's a God thing. It may not look like it just sittin' there all pretty in front of me - but it's a God thing. As soon as I can sort it all out in my head, I'll share it with you.
Then she took me to Kokomo to Olive Garden where I somehow found a tiny spot to put more food - and we caught up. We'd not seen each other for too long. I love this girl! We took this when we got home. She looks ROCKIN'. I look like I've only had 2 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours. Oh wait. I had.

Sunday morning, my birthday was announced in church, whereupon (is that a word?) the entire congregation sang to me and my face turned the color of the shirt you'll see below.

After church, I met up with Amber (who recently helped me paint the living room) and we went to Hacienda for lunch and then browsed a couple of stores just for fun.

I went home, took a 10 minute nap, and then headed to Marie's for a birthday dinner! Well, first, the presents:

New mats for my porch!

She worked so hard to make a superb dinner. We had a Mexican bake and then this hea-ven-ly dessert. Oh my word.

And I'm still celebrating! I had lunch Monday with Miss Jenny and she even treated me. :) And yesterday was the carry-in at work, where I ate something you'll be seeing on this blog very soon. Revolutionary.

The Birthday Bash - Part 1

Last Saturday was my birthday, so I thought I'd show you how I spent the day!

If you're not from around here, you should know we've had one of the worst springs ever. It has been cold (and for ME to say it's cold is really saying something) and rainy almost every single day. I'm so over it. My plans for my birthday were all outside, and though I normally don't bother God with such things, I prayed and prayed it would be a nice day.

And while the sky looked very suspicious when I got up Saturday morning - the day was gorgeous.

Cal (my GPS) and I went to Indianapolis, where he took me the scenic route: over the river and through the ghetto. I think I need to figure out how to outsmart him. I met up with my friend Cara (of game night fame) and we went here:
Right downtown! Cara loves Indianapolis and found out that they offer free walking tours of downtown, so that's what we did. We ended up being the only two people in the tour group, and our guide was very good. She took us around Monument Circle and pointed out all kinds of stuff we didn't know about the city's history. Though this isn't on the circle, we could see the State House:

And this darling church. It's the oldest church in continuous use, she said. We even went inside and it was magnificent. So regal.

Loved the church next to the tallest building in the skyline.

I learned a lot, but one thing I didn't know is that there's a shadow law. If you're not familiar with Indianapolis, the very center of downtown is a huge monument - the Soldiers and Sailors monument. The law states that the buildings around it can't cast a shadow on it. So she explained that the building below was designed like a pyramid so the top floors wouldn't cast a shadow. Who knew!?

Our friend Phats wanted to go with us but he had to coach that day, so he couldn't come. So....in the tradition of "Flat Stanley" - if you've ever heard of those - we had Phats Stanley! He really enjoyed his walking tour. Mostly because he rode in my camera case.

After the tour, we walked around a little bit on our own, and then Cara took me to a local treasure: The Creation Cafe. It's in an old church and overlooks the Indy Canal. So very cute!

We were able to eat lunch outside - and this was our view of the canal while we ate. I love places like that!

I ordered a chicken quesadilla and it was YUMMY. They didn't skimp on the chicken and cheese, which in my mind - is the mark of a good quesadilla.

Phats Stanley liked it too.

Inside the Cafe, there was a wall covered with people's names and messages...so of course, we had to leave a note! Cara wrote her name....

And I wrote mine. Man, I wish God still did this kind of stuff!!

We were STUFFED, so we decided to talk a walk along the canal. The Canal District in Indianapolis is pretty stinkin' nice, and they have huge sidewalks on either side of the canal. There were bikers and runners and people walking their dogs and others just out taking a stroll. We saw families having picnics on the lawn and prom goers and graduates having their pictures taken. There were also people riding bike carts that seated four - and in the canal, people were enjoying kayaks and paddle boats. It was kind of like an afternoon out of a movie!

She took me to a spot probably a mile down the canal that has this amazing view of the downtown buildings. I loved it.

So did Phats Stanley.

We were pretty tired after half a day of walking, so our last stop (per my request) was at this little (literally tiny) hole in the wall cupcake bakery called The Flying Cupcake.

So much to choose from!

Cara got a chocolate chip cookie cupcake....

And mine was called "Happy Birthday to Me." It was chocolate cake with heavenly chocolate frosting and multi-colored sprinkles. And - it was free because it was my birthday. SWEET!

It truly was a perfect day - and I was so thankful the weather was wonderful. Cal and I left Cara's, I managed to outsmart him into taking a normal route, and just as I was leaving Indy, I hit a downpour like I've never seen in my entire life. Not even kidding you. I'll have to blog more about it later because it was kind of pivotal, but let's just say if that had happened earlier, it would have ruined the whole day!

SSMT: Verse 10

Yesterday was a new SSMT verse day again. Seriously. Where did the first half of May GO!?!?!!? I am late in posting this here because, of course, yesterday was weekly recap day.

My life, right now, is in what I like to call pleasant upheaval. Nothing bad is happening. I'm fine. (Please do not call my parents to see if I'm okay. I really am.) But so much is happening and I can barely make sense of most of it. I've long given up trying to figure out what God is doing as He moves. So right now, my MO is to hang on for dear life and fly through each day.

This verse came to me this week as I was actually studying another verse around it. But when I prayed for a new verse to focus on right now, God drew me to this:

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed,

you would see the glory of God?"

John 11:40

I have to tell you why this verse means so much to me right now.

Last summer, I read Angie Smith's book, I Will Carry You. God ordained it that I would read that book right around the time my relationship with Isaac crashed for the final time. And to be honest, there were a lot of things about that ordained time that I still don't understand. But I learned to trust that in HIS time, He'd reveal the answers.

This week I encountered a devo that brought me back to the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, which is the section of Scripture Angie's book also follows - as she tells her own story of grief. She talked about this particular verse, and God urged me to believe Him for the healing and restoration of my relationship - which I did.

With everything in me.

Even when I stood alone.

Obviously, you know Isaac chose to walk away, and I was left - have been left, all these months later - to wonder what God meant for me when He urged me through the words of Angie's book - to believe that His glory would be shown.

I think He's beginning to show me.

Jesus said right away Did I not tell you?

Um....Jesus said that to me this week. I have to say, it's not particularly a phrase I like, because I know it's offered as a gentle (yet loving) rebuke. And yet better to be rebuked by the Creator than not have a relationship with Him at all.

A week ago today, as I drove home from my outing with Kristin, I was pouring my soul before the Lord, and He said this to me. (This is my first act of bravery to write this, as I have no idea if Isaac still reads my blog and this is one of those things that makes me nervous for him to see if he does. But I can't change that it was impressed upon my heart this way, so I can't withhold it out of nervousness. Here goes.) Stop saying "When I lost Isaac." You didn't lose Isaac. Isaac lost you. And you need to start looking at it that way. And furthermore, you need to take care that your own actions don't cost you a similar loss in your future.

Gulp.

And as would be the case in the land of Bekah-can't-possibly-learn-the-easy-way, by Friday night, I was sprawled out on the bed before the Lord, confessing that my own Bekah-ness...my own actions...my own decision to succumb to paralyzing fear and Satan's schemes...had very possibly cost me a good friend. One thing I've learned from my mentor, Lara, is that you have to learn to own what you do. Don't blame it. Own it. So I pulled out the journal, and with tears on my cheeks, I wrote, "I hurt over the apparent loss of a good friend. I'm sorry, Father."

And I heard, Did I not tell you? Yes. Yes You did and You were right.

He did tell me, but He was also merciful to me, and a short time later, I was able to have a conversation with that friend and find out that I hadn't ruined everything. Don't think that I take the second chance lightly.

So I know the did I not tell you is reliable. And because of that, I have to believe the rest as well. If I continue to believe Him, I'll see His glory. I have much that I need to believe Him about right now. Many questions. Much uncertainty. He's not asking me to figure it out. He's not asking me for a spreadsheet with solutions and timelines. He's asking me to simply believe. And in return, He promises I'll see His glory. Maybe not in the way I thought I would. But I'll see it. And I need to know that.

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday was Mother's Day, and as you already read, I hosted the family dinner. I always feel like I've arrived when I'm the host of a family dinner. All grown up! I was glad my sister and aunt could join us - and the day also served as the opening event to birthday season!



Sunday night, Miss Jamie Bennett stopped by to see me on her way through town and surprised me with a caramel macchiato from Starbucks...and a birthday present! She gave me a book I've heard much about but had not ever read: Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. (It's a daily devo book; each day's reading is very brief.) I started reading it that very night and immediately found its timing to be perfectly ordained. THANK YOU, JAMIE!!

* Monday I took the day off work and went to Indianapolis to hang out with Kristin. We went to Chick-Fil-A (praise the Lord!) and she took me to the most darling little hole-in-the-wall ice cream joint in Noblesville, where I ate this waffle bowl full of delicious ice cream. I forget the exact name of it, but it was peanut butter ice cream with itty bitty buckeyes in it. (Think moose tracks, but with peanut butter ice cream and the buckeyes instead of the Reese cups.)

* Tuesday evening I assembled a dinner to take to our youth pastor and his wife, who just had their second baby. Because I live a distance from them, I wasn't sure what to take that would be ready pretty quickly after work on Wednesday. I came up with...breakfast for dinner! I put together the Amish Breakfast casserole in a disposable pan, added a loaf of pumpkin bread, some fruit dip, strawberries and grapes. I was kind of hungry for it myself by the end of the cooking fest!
* Wednesday was pretty uneventful. I successfully delivered the dinner, and then I came home to make this little bit of deliciousness...Twix Bars! I will post the recipe soon. For now, I'll just say Oh. My. Word. * Thursday, on the other hand, was very eventful! I had lunch with a former co-worker, Natalie, who now lives out of state. An hour wasn't quite enough time to catch up, but we still had fun. Then, of course, I had the book club speaking engagement that you already read about, and then Rachel came over to watch Grey's with me. I shared my ice cream cake with her and someone thought she should have some too... * Friday was l.o.n.g. An eight hour day that seemed to last about twenty. The highlight of the day was receiving birthday balloons at work! But you already saw that. And then after the day that wouldn't end, there weren't enough hours in the evening to get it all done. Of course.

* Yesterday was my birthday! I will tell you more about it next week, but I spent the day in Indianapolis with my friend Cara. We had so much fun, and among the fun activities: I got a free cupcake at The Flying Cupcake - because it was my birthday! I felt so loved yesterday; can't even tell you how much! Books I'm Reading: My devos have taken a different turn from the norm this year, but I'm still reading Sparkling Gems from the Greek and have added my new mini-devo of Jesus Calling. I almost finished reading Jody Hedlund's novel The Preacher's Bride - and am absolutely loving it. If you like fiction, check it out. I am so proud of her! Good job, Jody!! And finally, I read in the first chapter in a six chapter Bible study that I'm going to be doing with Marie. It's from the Women of Faith Bible Study Series and is called Entrusting Your Dreams to God - A Study on Hannah.

Favorite God Moment of the Whole Week: I was at work one day this week when an emailed devo came across my desk. I started to just delete it but felt compelled to read it and when I did, God unleased an epiphany on me that felt so healing. I loved it. I want to blog about it but feel I still ahve to sort through more of it first.

Update on Last Week's Goals: Second slump in a row. SO close to finishing Jody's book but I ran out of energy to read last night! Still don't have that writing project done. I got sidetracked by other writing projects. Shame on me. Did spend much time in prayer about my upcoming decisions and feel perfectly at peace about each one.

Goals for the Coming Week: Must, must must finish that tiny writing project. Third time's a charm. It will happen this week. Also want to get my scrapbook caught up this week. May has been a busy month and I've just not had time to sit and scrap. Weather-permitting, I'd also like to do a little cleanup work outside.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday! Last year on this day, I woke up in Virginia Beach and met the ocean for the first time. This year is a little scaled back compared to that, but I'm still excited about it!

I've already done some celebrating, though, so I thought I'd share that with you.

Last Sunday I celebrated with my family. Mom brought an ice cream cake (YUM!!!) to our Mother's Day lunch. When I got it out of the freezer, I thought it said, "Happy birthday, Sarah."I was trying to figure out who Sarah was and why I had her cake. Turns out I just can't read.
I'm also out of candles, so I had to just pretend.

PRESENTS!! This one was from my sister, Julie. Back when I had the March Pancakes with the Princess (with the Hancock family) I got out my plastic dishes for the kids to use. Savannah said, "My plate is dirty." Of course, it wasn't...but it was so old and scratched up that it looked dirty. So I decided this was the year to replace the summery plastic dishes. I bought super cute blue and green polka dotted ones, and Julie gave me some really cute serving trays to use with them.

And these napkins: "What part of Princess don't you understand?"

Mom and Dad gave me the glasses to match my dishes...and a gift card to Lowe's. :) I have big plans for that thing.

Ohhhh Rachel is going to kill me for posting this picture. She thinks she looks like an 80's workout girl. I don't think so. But anyway. Thursday she came into my office with a present...a book on writing about life. I'm SO excited to read this book because I think it's going to be extremely helpful as I work on my latest project.


And Friday, Miss Marie had these delivered to my office!

I LOVED them. The card said "Birthdays really DO start on Friday even if you are at work." Love that girl! (By the way - I consider work deliveries to be one of life's greatest treasures. So if you ever want to get on my good side REALLY quickly - there's one way to do it.)

I have to share this with you, too. About 10:30 last night, I was grocery shopping, and as I walked past the cupcakes, I thought, Oh...what a great birthday treat that would be. Oh my goodness. My birthday is in just a little over an HOUR! It just didn't feel like a birthday, for no good reason.

But about 11:30, my sweet mentor, Lara, started texting me. And every five minutes for that half hour, she'd count it down with me. I loved it. It started to feel like a real birthday! And here's what she texted me at midnight, which I just adored: Yay!!!!!!!!!!!! It's your birthday! How little did I know how blessed I was on this DAY! Thank you God for Rebekah! Now if that doesn't just start a birthday out with a bang, I don't know what will.

So there you have it! My birthday so far. I can't wait for next week, when I can show you the events of today. I'm so excited about them. :)

My First Book Club Dinner

*Thank you, Blogger, for FINALLY coming back up. I missed you! Today's post is, as a result, very late, but it's here. And if you were the nice person who left me a comment on yesterday's car wash post, can you leave it again? I saw I had one but because of Blogger's issues, I couldn't read it and now it's gone. Sadness. Okay. On to today's business.*

Doesn't it just sound so fun to say you're in a book club?

I'm not in a book club.

But I was invited to speak at one last night! One of the members of the Fairmount Book Club heard me speak at the IWU Staff Council Luncheon back in December, and she emailed me a few weeks ago to see if I'd be willing to speak at the May meeting of the club. Well, of course!

The meeting was held at the Hostess House:
Kind of reminds me of my house! Okay, maybe not. If you're not from around here, you can't possibly appreciate the goodness that is the Hostess House. It's this old historic home where you can have little tea-room-esque lunches. They also host group events in the evenings and will even do wedding receptions and such.

We had a fantastic dinner. Chicken salad (happiness) and fresh fruit and lemon poppyseed bread. Fortunately I didn't get stopped on the way home. I'd have tested positive for opium. :) And carrot cake for dessert. (HEY - serving of vegetables!!)

After dinner, the leader said, "And Rebekah, we'll let you entertain us now." No pressure. :)

I thought I'd begin my entertainment with a little opera. A little Nessun Dorma.
I'm kidding, of course. But it kind of looks like that's what I'm doing, don't you think?

There were 20 ladies in attendance and they were delightful. They paid attention, acted interested, laughed in all the appropriate places, and put me very much at ease.

While my planned talk was supposed to be mostly serious, it's virtually impossible for me to keep it entirely serious. There were many stories to be told...and they seemed to love them all.

Always a flare for the dramatic.

Since I was speaking to lovers of the written word, I spoke about how our lives are stories...and how God delights when we embrace the plan He's written for our days...the good along with the bad.

I'll leave you with a little excerpt of what I said...but before I do that, thank you so much, Fairmount Book Club, for inviting me to spend the evening with you. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and sharing with you.

The words themselves work in us in ways we sometimes can’t understand…but we love the way they transform us.

But what I’m growing to understand more and more…and love…is that we’re all living a story. Each day, we live a new page…and just like the books we are drawn to, our lives are filled with heroes and villains, cliffhangers and resolutions, tears and laughter, questions and answers, heartache and healing, love and hate.

I want to encourage you to love your story as you live it every day. Rejoice in knowing that He has crafted each scene with great care and deepest love. And He is honored when we choose to embrace this life-gift with reckless abandon.

Car Wash Drama

I posted a couple of days ago about my only-Bekah talents, one of which was getting stuck in a car wash.

Twice.

I had a request to elaborate on that story...so I bring you...the elaboration.

The first time, I very clearly remember, happened on a New Year's Day. I don't remember which one. I'd gone shopping in Kokomo with my mom, who mentioned that my car really could use a wash.

So we went to this little car wash behind a gas station. A car was inside when I pulled up, so I maneuvered my tires into the tracks (which is honestly my least favorite part of any car wash experience) and rolled up to the little token/payment machine.

I put in my dollar.

It spit it out.

(Reread the last two sentences about six times.)

I found another dollar...same thing...a few more times.

By this time a truck had pulled in (and by that I mean he was also secured in the tracks) behind me, and I was stuck.

Literally stuck. I couldn't even open my door because of the token machine. Happy New Year!

Mom crawled out her side (Mr. Truck was, I'm sure, at this point regretting his decision to start off the new year with a clean vehicle) and traipsed into the gas station to find out what might be wrong.

Turns out the cash portion of the machine was broken. Apparently they thought they'd posted a sign but maybe it blew away. Maybe? Mom paid for a token, brought it back to the car, crawled back inside...and off we went into the land of clean cars.

Lesson learned on that one. Don't go to a car wash with a long track.

So the next time (which was a good 2 or so years later) I went to a car wash, I again took someone with me...I think it was Dad that time...and went to a little car wash over here by my house.

I pulled up to the automatic wash door, prayed over my dollar bills, and put them in the machine. It gobbled them right up and the light ahead turned green.

That's when I saw them.

Tracks.

My nemesis.

I felt my car jolt into them and the spray began (which is actually my favorite part of a car wash). I rolled slowly through the wash, enjoying every moment, and when I reached the end, the light turned green for me to exit.

I stepped on the gas. The engine revved and I went nowhere.

I checked my gear. Yep, it was in drive!

I pressed the gas again, a little harder this time. Nothing.

It's not possible that this is happening to me again!! I thought.

Just a few short feet in front of me was a wooden privacy fence, and I knew on the other side was someone's back yard.

Super. I'll press on the gas and go flying through the fence and into someone's evening barbecue.

I prayed hard, floored the gas and my car squealed out of the track with a huge jerk. I slammed on the brakes and managed to miss the fence.

And in case you're wondering, Jesus washes my car now. I'm done with automatic washes.