Gallivanting Around Granville

After Lynne and I had lunch on Friday, we spent the afternoon gallivanting around Granville...soaking it all in. Here's a sampling of our adventures.

I have a bell collection. (Did you know that?) It's actually been in storage the entire time I've lived out on my own, but I do still have it, so I thought it only appropriate to have my picture taken with this big ole bell. (And yes, I carried that stupid Mary Poppins bag all afternoon. And yes, my neck was killing me by dinner.)

Lynne, reading to the children. :) Those statues were blazing hot from the sun, so we had to make our photo opps pretty fast!

Just peeking in to see what they're reading.

One of our stops was at a little chocolate shop. Had to try out the salted caramel turtle. It was pretty scrumptious!!

We ate our afternoon treats while sitting on this wraparound porch (of the home where the chocolate shop was located). Watched the flag blow in the breeze. Gazed at the dogs passing by on the sidewalk. Seriously...I could live like that!!

When 4:00 rolled around, we were able to check into our room. We stayed at the Granville Inn, which is this character-laden old inn with gorgeous original architectural features and even real keys in the doors. None of the card swiping business!

This was our room. So quaint! And the windows even opened for a breeze! (No screens, either. We noticed this about that part of Ohio. Minimal use of screens.)

Once we got settled in, we headed back out for dinner. We elected to eat here, because they had the most darling outside tables!!

My dinner. Chicken quesadilla and iced tea. (Iced tea times about four because the quesadilla contained jalapenos. My WORD were my sinuses ever cleansed!) So yummy.

I could eat outside every night too! So fun!

And then...to further quench the fire left behind by the quesadilla...chocolate custard in a chocolate/nut covered waffle cone. It was a delicious mess. I had it up my nose and everything. (Just keeping it real, folks.)

And then...we went on an adventure...

The Great Granville Getaway

I started to say "Guess what! I went on vacation!!" But then I guess you know that. I told you yesterday. Silly me.

So...a few months ago, Lynne told me she'd read about Granville, Ohio, in an issue of Midwest Living and she wanted to go check it out. Was I up for a road trip? YES, PLEASE!!! So we picked this past weekend, made a reservation, and headed out!

You know you love someone when you'll work together five days a week AND go on vacation together! Here we were bright and early Friday morning (before yours truly had consumed even one drop of coffee), headed out with trusty Cal, who did land us safely in Granville.

We were so busy talking (GASP!!) that I missed the "Welcome to Ohio!" sign entirely. It's behind the mirror. Lynne did offer to back up so I could get it, but I felt that might be a bit over the top. (And I really wanted to do it anyway. I need help.)

AFTER Starbucks...there was the stop at McDonald's, where I had a little mid-morning snack of a wild berry smoothie. Fruit intake for the day, you know. Stop judging me!

We arrived in Granville around lunchtime and headed into the heart of the village to find some lunch. This was the main street. Isn't it darling? Tons of little bistro tables...tons of bikes, and TONS of dogs. It was so sweet.

Lynne and her lunch. We ate at a tiny table next to a window box full of fresh flowers. It was so very picturesque.

I'm always pretty happy when food is involved. :) I had a turkey sloppy joe. It was good. And apparently also very healthy. Don't worry. I made up for it later.

The sign for the place where we ate lunch. What is it about chalkboard signs that I love so much?

One of the things I adored about Granville were the churches. It's such a tiny town but they had 6 or 7 churches, and all of them were these gorgeous, regal buildings that looked like something out of a movie! So pretty!

And speaking of character...it extended even to the road signs.

And the houses. OH the houses. They were all old and completely character-laden. This one reminded me of Green Gables...

Another gorgeous church. How perfect is this one for a wedding?

So that is Granville, part A. More to come. But may I just say...if you're looking for a good little place to get away and just REST, this is a good one. It is darling in every possible way.

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday was a big smorgasbord celebration of Mother's Day and my birthday all rolled into one. I went to Mom and Dad's for Mother's Day/my birthday part 1, and then that evening I headed over to Ronda's for dinner, which turned out to be a BIG dinner with her kids and some friends too! I had so much fun, I couldn't even fall asleep when I came home!

* Monday was my birthday!! And what a very blessed day it was! So thankful! My co-workers spoiled me ROTTEN and loved on me so well. I adored going to work that day - first birthday I've worked in YEARS. Went to Ivanhoe's for dinner with my parents...so fun! And here's my first lesson of being 34. Don't run after eating dinner at Ivanhoe's. It's neither smart NOR pretty.

* Tuesday was the closest thing to a normal day I've had in a long time! Went to work...went for a run...spent the evening at home...very uneventful. And now and then, I love a good uneventful day. :) I got a very cool birthday present from Lynne: a new bottle of my new favorite brand of nail polish and a gift card to Cato! Let the shopping BEGIN!!!!!

* Wednesday night I knocked ten minutes off my running time. I was excited about that. Amazing what a little bit of lung function will do for a girl! (Hair product does wonders too. Please excuse my lack of it.)

When I came home, I got busy cleaning out my closet (yes, my winter clothes were STILL in my closet) and cleaning and packing so I could be prepared to go on the great weekender outing with Lynne!

* Because Thursday was my Friday at work, I thought it was Friday ALL DAY LONG. I even accidentally put last Friday's show on the web for a minute because I really thought it was Friday! (Fixed that.) And that evening I had my first ever taste of Penn Station subs. Oh my word. Where have I been? Under a rock????? I failed to take a picture to prove it, but it was GOOD.

* Friday I took a vacation day because Lynne and I headed out on the open road for the Great Granville Getaway!! We left early (aka before noon) in the morning and drove to Granville, Ohio (which is right by Columbus) to just soak up the local color. And did we ever have a great day for it! Not surprising to you....there will be more to come on this one. But for now...

* And yesterday was day two (and the final day) of my vacation with Miss Lynne. We visited German Village in Columbus, Ohio. And I got a sunburn. Not like a "kill me now" sunburn, but a glorious, pink-shoulder sunburn. And when I came home, I went for a four mile run and got it done in 45 minutes. All you runner people roll your eyes if you want, but for me, that's a rockin' time.

One Thousand Gifts: Oh goodness. In week filled with my birthday AND a vacation - how to pick just one? I think I'm going to go with gorgeous weather for traveling. The whole week, really, was stunning, but as Lynne and I walked all around Granville and then around German Village, we had literally perfect days. Really warm, but not can't-catch-your-breath hot. Nice breeze. Gorgeous sun. No cold. No rain. No wind. I mean it was PERFECT. And having taken some less than perfect weather vacations before, that was a gift.

Pinterest Inspiration: We actually had a whole show this week built around several pages I happened upon while building my moving board. I created that board a while back looking for things to help me in the great someday when I move. And then I got to thinking...that might make a fun show! So I asked Lynne about it...and this week: we had a moving show!

It's May 19th

And you know what that means!

Actually you have no idea what that means. Only I am the weirdo girl who can't forget a date's significance, even when she WANTS to. :)

For reasons I do not know...I happen to remember that I graduated from high school on May 19th. I was just not even a week over 18 years old with the biggest perm you've ever seen in your life. (Oh 90's. How I loved thee. Just kidding.)

My one wish for my graduation day was that I would be able to soak up all the goodness it represented (surviving 12 years of school) - and ENJOY the thing. And I did. I still remember all the details of that day with much fondness. Well. Mostly much fondness. There was the issue of the duct tape silver robes the girls wore. Graduation gowns are flattering on NO ONE. Make them duct tape silver and you lose more fashion points.

I remember loving the whole day though - right up to and including the all-night party that followed at our school. The only time I've stayed up for almost 24 hours straight. Fun, fun day.

And then there was May 19th last year. The day I donned a black dress with ruffles (suspiciously like the one you'll see if you scrolly-scroll down and look at my birthday post from yesterday), added neck-breaking red heels and headed to a little place called WBCL to have an interview for a job.

I remember that day too. I remember being utterly terrified of the interview process but also realizing I had not one thing in this world to lose. I had a job - a good job - and if Lynne and Jamie didn't like me, life behind the calculator would go right on just as it always had. I answered the questions to the best of my ability, and when the interview was over, I carefully meandered back to my car and drove straight to Starbucks - the reward of champions.

Yep. May 19th. A good day. A day of new beginnings in Bekahland.

This year I'm not wearing the silver gown or the black ruffly dress. It is, after all, a Saturday. Comfort calls. As does much adventure!! :)

Party Like It's My Birthday!

Thought I'd show you some pictures from my actual birthday! This was the first birthday I've worked in YEARS. I decided I wanted to spend the day with my friends!

This is Jeri. (She worked Secret Keeper Girl with me. She also roped me into the Tubby Tummy to 10K program. Yep, this is her! Clarification. The Tubby Tummy to 10K is my name for it, not hers, nor is it any reflection on her!)

She made me some pretty doggone fantastic lemon cupcakes. With LOTS of frosting. Oh how I love frosting. The cupcake is merely a vehicle, you know.

This is Diane. She's our receptionist and she knows more about the station than I will ever know. (And I am reminded of this every time I cover for her and have to say "Uhhhhh I dunno.") She's a sweetie!

And she baked me chocolate cupcakes! Because she knows I LOVE chocolate!! Triple fudge brownies with double fudge frosting. :) Happiness in a paper wrapper.

And this is Sheryl. She is our phone person extraordinaire during Mid-Morning. She is also a pretty great prayer warrior! Love her!

Know what else I love? The buffet of cookies she made me!! YUM YUM YUM!!!!

This is Lynne and me. Don't we look like we're peeking into a microwave?? Cracks me up.

At lunch time, the E-Team (the name the 12:00 eating crowd has issued itself) sang to me....

...and I blew out my candle! Had to keep my hair and earrings away from the open flame....

After being utterly spoiled with gifts by my co-workers, I got in my car and TRIED to drive to Upland to meet Mom and Dad at Ivanhoe's for dinner. After TWO off-interstate detours and getting past one really large piece of farm equipment, I finally got there.

My favorite food at Ivanhoe's: pasta salad! I got four meals out of this!

And their famous strawberry shortcake. It lasted for two days.

THAT was a good birthday. So much fun. So blessed.

SURPRISE!

Ronda called last week and asked if we could get together for my birthday. Let me think: YES!

So she invited me over for dinner Sunday evening. Let's quickly recap my Sunday: cried off ALL my makeup at church (and didn't reapply it), took a hard core nap that afternoon and got severe bedhead (which I didn't really address), and wore capris from the fat days (aka two sizes too big). I pulled up in front of her house in time for dinner and found cars everywhere.

Turns out it was a big party!! (And this, my loves, is why you should never leave home with cried-off-makeup, bedhead, and baggy-behind pants.)

So we had the most AMAZING dinner - at the table with real dishes and everything! (I felt so special! I don't usually treat myself to that much excitement!)

After dinner, we went outside, because it was such a nice night. They set up a game of - fricket, I think it was called? It involved throwing a frisbee at these poles with cups on them and trying to knock the cups off. I took pictures. It was safer that way.

Jonathan and his fiancee were one team- and they were pretty good!!

Megan was there with her kiddos - these are not the same itty bitty boys I went to Florida with last year!! They're big boys now!!

And who needs a playground when you have a boat trailer, I ask you???

I mean it serves as a set of monkey bars and everything!

We all sat around talking until dark - and we had DESSERT! She'd made brownies and strawberry shortcake and had ice cream, too. (This is my friend Mark, who was at the party. He used to bail me out a LOT at IWU when I would break my phone. I mean not that I did that very often or anything. Because you know me...tech savvy girl!)

I am so glad she worked so hard to make an amazing dinner and fun evening for me. It was certainly a surprise and definitely made me feel very loved!

Celebrations Combined

I went to Mom and Dad's for lunch this past Sunday, in honor of Mother's Day. Last year I hosted lunch at my house, but since I was gone all day Saturday at the Secret Keeper Girls event Mom didn't want me trying to clean and cook too. (What a good mom, huh?)


I bought her some flowers for Mother's Day; she and Dad have some really nice patio areas at their house and they always like more flowers for that, so I got her some pink and purple petunias.

I've been arguing with her for a while now about trying a frappe. She doesn't drink coffee, but she likes to drink cappuccinos (the instant kind) and I really think she'd like a frappe if she had one that wasn't overly coffee-saturated. I think she'd really love the ones from McDonald's, and I've been trying to convince her to get one. She always says, "But if I get it and I don't like it, then I've wasted all that money!" So I bought her a gift card with my own all that money - and told her it is to be ONLY spent on a frappe.

And this is the gift card selection in Marion for the month of May. Seriously???? A SNOWMAN?

As usually happens, my birthday shares a day with Mother's Day. (My actual birthday wasn't on Mother's Day, but the celebrations combined. Mom got me an ice cream cake because she knows I LOVE them.

Yep. That's my piece!

They also got me a balloon (because I also adore balloons) and it has a forever long string on it. Braeya was SO excited when I brought it home because she can paw at it and it bounces around on the ceiling. Seriously. Doesn't take much to amuse her!

And that was Mother's Day/my birthday celebration, part one! Then I came home and TOOK A NAP!

Secret Keeper Girl

Now that I have ranted and raved about the injustice of being pulled over for the headlight fiasco, let's back up and focus on the PURPOSE of the evening...shall we?

Saturday night was a Secret Keeper Girl event. SKG is a pretty cool tour for young girls and their moms - promoting modesty and encouraging positive self-image. This one was a pajama party, so the girls and moms were invited to come in their jammies! (We were not. LOL!!)

No hair curlers for this girl! This is me BEFORE the great pull-over of 2012.

And this is what entering Ohio on a back road looks like! Just in case you wanted to know.

The event was full of color and loud, fun, bright things! I especially loved this - just for photo opps! Our booth was right next to it, so I got to watch all these cute girls cheese it up for cameras all night long!

All I ever wanted...was a lanyard. And now I have one. Words cannot express my joy. I got to make announcements from stage...so glad my voice returned for the occasion!

I didn't go in for much of the event...Jeri (who worked with me) and I stayed by the table most of the night. But we did sneak in to hear just a little bit of it. Such a fun evening!

And the attempt to take a picture of the Indiana sign while having a car on my tail...was a massive FAIL.

And of course...you know it was all downhill from here. :)

Bekah Gets Pulled Over

Seriously? This is my birthday post? Sigh.

One day last week, I drove part of the way to work behind my friend Sheryl, and when we arrived at the station, she told me I had a headlight out. It was news to me!

Given that I felt so blechy all week, I didn't take the car anywhere to get it fixed. I did, however, make sure I only drove in daylight hours. (See? I was trying to be a responsible adult.)

Saturday morning, first thing, I drove to the auto parts store and said, "I need a new headlight and I don't know anything about them." So the nice guy went out, looked at my car, came in, found the light I'd need, and sold it to me. I asked him if he could install it (because someone told me they could do that.) He said they weren't really supposed to but if it was the kind that went in without tools, he could do it. So we went out, popped the hood, and he messed with it for a while. Turns out I drive one of the lucky tools-required cars, so he couldn't fix it.

I was a little mad about that, because Saturday night, I had to drive to Ohio for work, and I really didn't want to come home after dark with only one headlight. But I didn't have a choice, so I put the light in the front seat and decided to ask someone at church about it the next day.

Before I left town, I felt even more uneasy about the whole thing, so I called one of my old work friends to see if he was home. Nope. I decided I'd done what I could, and I went on my merry way.

As I left Celina (which is a town in Ohio, if you're not familiar), I saw a cop at an intersection, but I am pretty sure he didn't see me...whew! Dodged that bullet! So I left town and was the most attentive driver EVER on the way home. I turned down the music, I didn't talk on the phone, I watched for deer very carefully. I had this horrible feeling that one was going to get me and I wouldn't see it because of the missing light. In fact, I almost took my favorite back way home but elected not to because I feared the inability to see deer.

Just as I drove into Marion, my phone rang, and it was a friend I've not talked to in AGES, so I answered and we talked while I drove through town.

And therein was my mistake. Not the talking part. The through town part. 11:00 on a Saturday night in heart of bar country is NOT the place to be if you want to avoid cops. As I drove past the row of bars, two cops pulled up behind me. No lights. Just much tailing. And I knew I was done for.

My phone conversation ended and I put down the phone to turn on my signal. The minute I signaled to turn onto my street, one stupid, stinkin' measly block from my own house, the lights came on.

Not on ONE car. But on TWO. Two cops were pulling me over one block from home for a stupid headlight.

I've been pulled over before (ironically always by two cops) but never at night. My WORD are those lights ever bright. Between two sets of red and blues...two spotlights...and then the flashlight in his hand - I couldn't see anything but brightness. He asked for my license and registration, so while shaking and crying, I found those things. (My glove box, by the way, looks like Jim Carrey's in Liar Liar - only mine isn't full of unpaid parking tickets. But finding a registration among the receipts and napkins...was a challenge.)

He said to me, "You have a headlight out."

While I'm on the roll of comparing my life to movies, THAT moment felt like the one in Pretty Woman when Vivian goes up to the hotel guy with the wad of money and says, "I have all this money but no one will let me shop." I told the cop, "I know and I bought a headlight, but no one can put it in for me!!" He shifted his little flashlight over to see if I was telling the truth, and whaddya know! There was the light on the floor of the car.

That was when he 10-4'd his good buddy over the radio that he was clear to leave as backup. Seriously? Do I look like a two-cop operation in my little tiny car with a pink antennae ball and my WBCL shirt?

He scanned over my license and said to me, "Is everything on here still current?" If I'd had my wits about me, I would have said, "Well clearly I've been on a diet since that picture, so not so much with the weight but yeah, everything else is right." What I did say was "Um yes. I live RIGHT THERE."

He let me go without a ticket or a warning, and I know I should have been really grateful but I was far too ticked off to be grateful.

I guess I had to do something wild and crazy to exit being 33. That wasn't quite what I had in mind.

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday I was invited to have lunch with my friends, the Hutchins! We used to go to church together, but now we don't get to see each other anymore, so we met up for lunch at Subway. They have two kids who are HYSTERICAL and they kept me laughing pretty hard all afternoon. (Yes, we stayed for about 3 hours!) Then on my way home...I remembered about Starbucks' happy hour for frappuccinos...and it turns out they have a new mocha cookie flavor, so I gave it a try...YUM!!!

* Monday I went to work for 45 minutes. (Pretty much not worth the two hour commute to only stay for 45 minutes!) I struggled with a sore throat last weekend and on Monday it had morphed into a fever as well and they don't really mess around with that at work. So...I had a sick day! I'm terrible at resting, so I'm not sure I was very effective, but at least I tried. Except for when I drove out to my old church to take a tour of their HUGE new addition. It's pretty cool!! Excited for them.

* Tuesday I returned to work and made it through the whole day! That evening, I had dinner with Jenny and got my very first birthday present! (A beautiful plant for my porch!) THEN I came home and went for my very first hard core "From Tubby Tummy to 10K" training run. I developed my own pre-novice novice program and ended up going four miles...running a total of one and walking the other three. (I did not run one consecutive mile. Broke it up.) I thought that was pretty good for having been sick the day before and still not having full lung capacity! 

* Wednesday I was on the air with Lynne, sounding like the Allstate man. Between my head fog and her allergy meds, we could hardly issue a non-stumbled-over sentence between us. Cracked us both up. Lucy and Ethel, we are. I so desperately wanted to get out and try a second run that night but it was chilly and windy and I thought it was risky if I wanted to try to get WELL rather than worse...so I stayed inside. :(

* Thursday I graduated to sounding like Roz from Monsters Inc. I went to the store that night and bought Vitamin C, hair color, and cough drops - and I had to rip open the cough drops in checkout. (Yes, I became one of those people.) Does this mean I'm getting old???? Just in case, I came home and did a little pedicure fun.

* Friday I pulled a really STUPID stunt. I ended up having WAY too much caffeine in comparison to the pitiful amount of food I ate. (Read: 6 cups of coffee and a large iced tea against about 3/4 cup of spaghetti for the entire day.) By the end of the day I was completely sick to my stomach and my heart was racing. Super. So I came home, rested, ate a little more and then went out and attacked the yard while I had time. When I finished all my chores, I curled up with Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids.HILARIOUS show.

* Saturday I made my first pilgrimage to Botkins, Ohio, to work the Secret Keeper Girl Conference. (More on that later.) And guess what? On the way home, ONE BLOCK from my house, I got pulled over. I am still mad about it. Not even going to lie a little bit. I'll tell you more about it when I don't have invisible smoke coming out of my ears.

One Thousand Gifts: This week, I'll admit, I've struggled to find gifts. Maybe my eyes weren't as open because I didn't feel well. Or maybe I felt stupid writing down "left nostril clear!" as a gift. But I'll admit this week didn't flow (in my journal, anyway) with gifts like the others did. But I loved this one. Friday, when I came home, feeling sick from the caffeine/food mess, I found a jar of homemade grape jelly and a card on my back porch. I opened the card and found it was from one of my good, good IWU friends, Ruth. She wished me a happy birthday and thanked me for encouraging her. Not only was the gift a pick-me-up in a moment when I felt not-so-picked-up, but just the very mention that anything at ALL I'd ever said or done had been encouraging...was a wild gift. Thank you, Ruth. You made my day. And I love grape jelly. :)

Pinterest Inspiration: I did not take a picture of my version of this one this week because as you'll see in a moment, it's just not necessary. I made cheeseburger soup while I was home sick, and discovered that I had NOTHING to pour the grease from the meat into. I was out of pie pans and butter tubs and jelly jars and all my usual collection spots. Then I remembered seeing this on Pinterest:

Source: Uploaded by user via Rebekah on Pinterest

Yep! It worked like a charm! No more collecting weird leftover containers to house grease!

Ick to Sick

I haven't felt so well this week. It's been a long time since I had a full blown cold and I have NOT appreciated its presence in my life this week.

It TOTALLY messed up my first week of training for the Tubby Tummy to 10K. I only got to actually run once. NOT AMUSING.

I also learned that being in the land of radio with a cold...is an interesting concept. Let's just say I'm glad my interview and judge-of-voice was LAST year at this time and not THIS year at this time.

I did drink an extraordinary amount of water this week (trying to help stifle coughing and soothe the throat), so I am pretty sure I'm more cleansed than I have been in months. That can't be bad, right?

You know how some people are really needy when they're sick...and others want to be completely left alone? Well, I'd hate to peg myself as really needy, but I gotta tell you - when I was mowing the yard yesterday, I inwardly yelled (because it's impossible to outwardly yell a blessed thing) SERIOUSLY? I'M SICK AND I'M MOWING THE YARD????

Monday when I was home from work, I had to make my own soup, and I said to myself, No one should have to cook her own soup when she's sick.

Stupid. I know. Needy. I know. But still true.

To be fair, I've felt much worse while sick. I mean, I was pretty functional all week. But when I came home each night, I just wanted to collapse in a chair and have someone bring me more water...and breadsticks. I had an incredible need for breadsticks. No idea why.

So that's my whine for the week. I very much try not to whine on the blog. It's unattractive. But let me tell you - so is this voice! :) So I've now whined...and I shall return to my chipper self on Monday, because...It's my birthday!!!!

What Love Is

I know you'll have a hard time believing that I sing duets with David on my way to work. I know. Shocking. :) The other day I pulled out his CD of love songs and put that one in for a while...

I'm sure this song was someone else's before it was his, but it was made popular in my world by Mr. Phelps: I Want to Know What Love Is...

All the way to work and home again, I belted that thing out as much as my cold-saturated voice would let me. (Pretty sad when David can sing higher than I can!)

I want to know what love is...I want you to show me...

Then I saw this video link posted on Facebook. I know it's almost 9 minutes long but if you've not seen it (and maybe you have...it's making the rounds...) WATCH THE THING.

THIS is the kind of heart for a husband I want to have someday. And this is the kind of heart for me I hope my husband will have.

THIS is what love is.

The Enemy is Real, You Know

Remember how I told you that last week I spoke at a banquet? I had a couple more things I wanted to tell you about that...

It was probably a good two months ago that this church called me to see if I'd be willing to speak at the banquet. I said yes, and we immediately began to think of a topic. We settled on Embracing Your Life Story, and just a few days later, I sat to write the thing. I put it aside and waited until closer to time to really begin to memorize it.

Closer to time as in the weekend before the speech.

That weekend was SO difficult. Let me stop and say something. I have a lot of people say to me these days, "You have the coolest job." "You have the most exciting life." (Etc.) And you know what? I do love my job and I've waited a LONG time and cried a LOT of tears to be able to say that, so I love it that it's true. And my life is pretty exciting. Partly because the job makes it so - and partly because I make adventure, because I believe in living life to the fullest.

But let me also say this. It's not always easy. There's a weird dynamic between being on the go so much (thank you, commuter lifestyle) that I'm just exhausted...and not wanting to have too much down time because sometimes that's just SO lonely. Sometimes I'm not sure what normal even is, and how to take good care of me while pleasing those around me...and it's hard.

That weekend was such a weekend. It was filled with joy and some moments when I wanted to pinch myself and say, Is this really my life? Because it's the coolest EVER! And it was also filled with some moments when I wanted to pinch myself and say Is this really my life? How can it possibly hurt this much?

I remember sprawling on the floor, looking at the ceiling and saying, "God, I'm not sure I can do this. I don't know if I have what it takes to do this journey anymore. I'm tired and I don't even have the strength to CARE like I should."

That's when I dragged out the speech to read it. And as my eyes fell over the words I wrote about our days being written for us before one of them came to be...about how He is the Author and we are the scribes...I knew.

It was the Enemy. He was after me. Somewhere in the guest list of the banquet that week was someone who needed to hear that she wasn't an accident. That God planned for her. That God knew her intimately. That God wrote a story for her life. That she needed to stop trying to read ahead and just live this page. And if Satan could get me to hate my own story for a while, he'd effectively keep me from communicating that message.

When I got to work the next day, I found out Kari, who was doing the special music, had come down with a cold. Coincidence? Nah.

I sat down and wrote some emails to prayer warrior buddies of mine, asking for serious prayer until that banquet was over. For my frame of mind. For Kari's voice. I asked them to pray Psalm 145 over us.

Ready for the goose bump part?

Though I will agree to speak just about anywhere, public speaking makes me nervous. REALLY nervous. I normally feel sick to my stomach and very lightheaded until it's over. I tend to rush through parts because I feel physically sick. But that night I never once got a clammy palm...I ate dinner before I spoke and enjoyed every bite...I stood tall on the stage and never once felt dizzy...and I didn't rush. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of sharing. And that has never happened before.

And Kari sang two songs...every note...without a cough, without her voice cracking, without any problem. And furthermore, before she sang, she shared a couple of thoughts. She told me later she's never done that before in all her years of singing. She's always too nervous. But that night, she took the plunge.

The Enemy is real. He does prowl around seeking to devour those who have a message for someone else (and a message includes a word between friends...doesn't have to be something delivered from a platform). But you know what else is real and active?

The power of prayer.

When the Nightmare is Real

I've told you before...I wake up better via a series of snoozes. It's really true. If I had to bounce out of bed and be happy on the first alarm...well, I'd never make it. This is why I don't fight fires.

Sunday morning, during the snooze fest, I had a dream. A very real dream. One of those where all the characters involved are real people I know...and they're even participating in their real life roles in the dream.

I dreamed I scooted in to engineer Mid-Morning - cutting it a little close and needing to hurry to get the board all set up the way we need it for the show. As I fiddled with it, I saw the clock creeping closer to 10 and right about the time the theme music should have rolled, another song started playing. I looked at the computer in a panic and saw that the music list was not in the right spot. If I didn't find the 10:00 hour on there, I was going to be in trouble.

Not wanting to bother any of the morning guys who had just left, I set out to outsmart the computer on my own. (Even in a dream that's a bad idea.) I scrolled up and down...up and down...and couldn't find 10:00. Meanwhile, I was still trying to set up the board and for some reason, the buttons I needed to change refused to be changed. They were stuck.

Finally, in tears, I went into the morning guys' office and one of them came over to fix the computer for me. He wanted to teach me, but I kept insisting I had to fight with the board to get it ready. (Because, you see, meanwhile, Lynne had added a live guest to the studio - someone I know in real life and have no idea why she would have even been IN Fort Wayne - and I had to set up  a mic for her too.) I was assured the computer was fixed, and though I was still messing with the buttons on the board, I prepared for the theme music to roll.

And another song began to play. Lynne looked mildly annoyed at this point, since it was 10 after 10 and we had not BEGUN our show yet. I was sobbing, trying to figure out the board AND the computer, when another work guy came in. I begged him to help and he took pity on me, sat down at the computer and started to work. He said he had it fixed, and I said, Please don't leave until the show is rolling. Good thing he stayed, because another song started.

By that time, it was 25 after 10, I was wailing, the board was stuck, the computer was a mystery, Lynne had added three MORE live guests to the studio (where are these people coming from???) and the bug man came in to check for bugs.

And then I woke up. Because all those songs that were playing? That was my alarm going off - and I was too deeply engrossed in the nightmare to know that's what it was!

Oh I hate those dreams! The ones that are so real...

But sometimes they are real. So real that they're actually life. You know what I mean. I'm sure you do. When you look around and think This can't be happening. But try as you might, an alarm doesn't go off. It's real. It's life. It's yours.

What do you do then? Where is God then? Why isn't He fixing it? Why isn't He making it just a dream?

Well, I don't know what you should do next...because I don't know your nightmare. I don't know why God isn't fixing it, but I do know where He is. He's right there. Right beside you.

I read a reminder last week (wish I could remember where I read it!) that God is still the God of a tender heart. Remember how Jesus wept (of course you do! You memorized that verse at some point during your lazy teenage years when you had to have a verse committed to memory...) with Mary and Martha after their brother died? He didn't avoid them. He wept with them.

So He's there. Right there. And even if the nightmare is painfully real, He'll stay and weep with you.