Monday, October 27, 2008

Romeo, Romeo

Disclaimer: The following is a rehearsal of Tongue in Cheek style writing and not intended to solicit marriage proposals.
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

That was Shakespeare’s version. Mine is more like this: Romeo, Romeo where in the world are you? Look at all these bills piling up. I can pay them, I just hate this administrative part of life and really need your help. It’s nothing fancy, just City of East Point (water, garbage, electricity, and recently recycling!), a party invite that needs an RSVP, renewals for my Runner’s World and Atlanta Magazine (I let Southern Living expire! Blasphemous I know. Maybe that is why he hasn’t shown up? What reputable woman in the South does not subscribe to Southern Living?), my 401K balance that I refuse to even open because it makes my stomach hurt to look at it, car insurance stuff, a bill from the dentist, and a few others. All in little envelopes with those stupid cellophane windows and all perforated somewhere and they all have to be torn along the line and placed in their respective envelopes with little checks in them with the account numbers written on the checks and the account numbers are about 75 digits long, what is with that!? Then they all require a stamp. You mean I have to go to the Post Office for those? My only hope is working above a Post Office four days a week. If it weren’t for that and that Granny McCarley buys me a book for Christmas (per my request) each year, I would be in big trouble. So you have to apply the stamp, in the upper right hand corner. Then you have to dig around in the middle drawer and find some of those return address labels. The ones you get free in the mail. But they make my stomach hurt too, because they were given to me by the American Children with Incurable Disease Foundation and I didn’t send them any money. Because I didn’t have any to send! Because all my checks go in all these envelopes that are all stacking up. But still the return address labels make my stomach hurt too, because of the guilt. But not as bad as the 401K Stomach Hurt.

Friday, October 24, 2008

a wee testimony


the "wee" is a result of my trip to Ireland...it has become a part of my vocabulary now...as has the word "brilliant" and "proper" as in "proper tea". and "brilliant" is highly underused here. i used to only use it before words like "idea" or "mind", but it can be so much more. thanks to my British friend, Jay, who now lives in Ireland, "brilliant" is my new favorite adjective. you can use it to describe anything, and not just diamonds...even things like "brilliant running shoes". the list could go on forever. it is a great word. which brings me to my word...my testimony for the day. sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day to be living in the ATL. it was one of those days that makes you glad you live here. the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. it was cool enough to be a bit chilly in the shade, but standing in the warm sun felt ...brilliant. it was one of those rare, shorts with a long sleeve shirt kind of days. so i got to play golf. another rarity in my life these days. a sport i love, but rarely get to play now. i am playing golf, standing at the tee box, leaning up against my club (see brilliant Figure 1). all of a sudden a ball comes soaring through the air, zooms past my friends faces and through my arm, under my elbow, in that small triangle created by my leaning against my club, and keeps going. i could not believe it! it went under my arm! was inches from pegging me...hard! this isn't tennis, where it stings a bit and you walk it off. this tiny hard ball came from 200 yards away, hit hard by some guy who rared back and hit it as hard as he could. i was in complete shock that it went under my arm and between my rib cage and my golf club. even before my brain could comprehend it, my knees became weak and my joints like spaghetti. that could have hurt. bad. it was just second nature to look up to the sky and thank God in Heaven that i was not hurt. so i did. even the next morning i was thinking about what a certain miracle that was. that those things are not just chance or happenstance or luck. there is a God in Heaven who works supernaturally to protect us and watch over us. on my drive into work the next morning i just kept thanking Him for protecting me. i thought too about all those times i have gotten hurt and wondered why He didn't protect me then. the answer to that is one of life's biggest questions, why people die, why people have cancer and sickness and pain and disease...it is a result of this life. not of our sins. that battle has been fought and won a long time ago by our Savior on the cross. we live in a world where gravity is a reality and we get hurt. trying to explain why is impossible. all i know is that God protected me that day and that that ball coulda hurt. so i just simply began to thank Him, genuinely, truly thank Him, and i heard Him say, "I love to protect you, I love to supernaturally protect you, but I love it even more when you recognize that I do".

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Join me


It'll be fun! I did the 15K Peachtree City Classic last weekend. It was fun! Except my shirt says VOLUNTEER! Somebody messed up and all the shirts were printed with VOLUNTEER across the front. Just so you know, I did not hand out Gatorade. I ran. Far. I had trouble getting into a seated position for two days. So if you see me wearing my VOLUNTEER tee, just know, I ran. Far. This would be a fun one just to even walk, the paths here are beautiful and hopefully the weather will be nice and you know the leaves will be so so vibrant by then. So SIGN UP! You can go now and sign up at www.active.com and put in coupon code ATLRUNCLUB for $15.00 OFF your registration fee. Or go here for more info: http://www.goodrunproductions.com/gettingaround15k/

Friday, October 17, 2008

his little love is better than wine...or ice cream

We all know it...that feeling of just sheer love and adoration. The way you feel when you look at someone and just swell with pride and joy and love and all that good stuff. This baby and his three siblings do that for me and they always will. I can't take my eyes off any of them. Watching Catherine take her first breath with those perfect red lips opened my little heart to a whole new way to love. I didn't know my heart was that big. Today, I adore her more and more each time I look at her. It is the same way with all the others, Gracie and her adorable freckles, Carson and his big brain and long eyelashes, and Punkin...well just look at him! I know I have said this before, but this is nothing short of the way God sees us. We are His creation and He has given us dominion over the Earth. He's madly in love with us, sent His Son to die, so that we could have intimacy with Him. He could eat us with a spoon. He adores you, wants your shugar so to speak. He wants to spend time with you, teach you new ways to do things, inspire you, comfort you, provide for you, save you from yourself. He watches you sleep and His gaze never turns from you. Not ever.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Sweet Potato Pie

I emailed Cousin Shannon to get the recipe because I knew she had recently asked for it. Here is her reply:

"There's not really a recipe. You know I just make it. I don't use that nutmeg and cinnamon in mine. I use lemon flavoring"- Granny McCarley

This is the best that I could put together from what she told me.....

Granny McCarley's Sweet Tater Pie

2 frozen pie crusts
3 lbs (5-6) sweet potatoes>
1/2 cup sugar (more to taste)
1/2 stick butter
small can evaporated milk
1 tbsp lemon flavoring (more to taste)
2 eggs
Cook sweet potatoes until tender and mash. Mix in all other ingredients except eggs. Add more sugar and lemon flavoring to taste. Add the eggs last. You don't want to be tasting raw eggs! Divide the sweet potato mixture into the 2 pie shells. Bake at 350 degrees until brown (as you like).

Hope this helps - wish you could post a sound file of her telling me this recipe to your blog. It was great!! Took about 15 minutes....(Let me get this frog out of my throat.) These are the absolute hardest recipes to put into words. Imagine all that cookin' knowledge she has!!!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Seasons Change

As I put away the white, the linen and the seersucker, I am reminded of the simple fact that seasons change. I love love love the fall, the cooler weather, the leaves, and sweet potato pie. Granny McCarley's sweet potato pie. Speaking of which, just look at Granny. Isn't she beautiful? So lovely and so sweet and she has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She loves everybody. And her love is so unconditional and she doesn't see people with any judgment or prejudice. She sees everyone absolutely the same. She talks to everyone. She says hello to everyone in the grocery store. It's kind of funny, because I mean everyone! The manager, the janitor, the rich lady buying tilapia in the seafood section, the teenager buying sugar cereal, the really smelly guy buying SPAM. I love that about her and want to be like her. I want her sweet heart.

I also want her recipe for sweet potato pie. I will get it and post it, which brings me back to change. I went through serious therapy (mainly just prayer and supplication) to get my little heart back in the ATL after being in Mozambique. I created this blog to share my heart and what God was doing in me and in Africa. But now I am here. God is working in me still and sharing all kinds of amazing things with me that I want to share with you. So I feel like I need to transition and adapt the blog more to what God is doing in me this season and some of just my silly little perspective on life as little ole me. And life as little ole me can be really amusing at times. I want to share some things with Catherine, Gracie, Carson and Nathaniel and will have entries just for them. I will have one-sided conversations, pictures of my tiny adventures and commentary on life as a 31 year old living in the city. So the site is slowly going to change. I don't want to take down my pictures of those beautiful African faces. But it won't be long before they will be back. Because I know being here will last but only for a season...