Facing the Giants

Just in case there are any of you who don't read my husband's blog, I also wanted to let you know about an incredible movie that opens today in theaters across the nation. Facing the Giants is a movie about a high school football coach who is experiencing defeat in every aspect of his life. The movie explores how his faith plays into that. It was produced by a church in Georgia, and all of the actors in the movie are either church members or attend that church's school. None of them are professional actors, which makes it even more amazing that this movie is SO GOOD! Justin and I were privileged to see a sneak preview when it was here in Waco, which is why I can already rave about it. Please, everyone, go see it!!!!! Check out the movie's website, where you can find trailers, information about production, reviews, and more. For those of you in Waco, it's playing at the Hollywood Theater this weekend. BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!!!!!!! Please support this movie this weekend, because if it doesn't do well, it won't stay in theaters. It's worth it!!!! GO!!!!!

Mad at the World

I'm just grumpy today, so I'm going to rant about the 2 things I have to be grumpy about at the moment. First of all, the poor season premeire of The Office.

I feel the same way, Dwight. After having several days to think it over, it wasn't that there weren't funny parts of the show. The "gaydar" stuff, the calculator in Jello incident - those were just dang funny. But in general the content of the show was too uncomfortable to be enjoyable. My analysis is that the reason this show is so funny is because there is no one in the world who is really like Michael Scott. He takes the worst things about every person, and multiplies them by 1000 in himself. No one acts like he does - he is absurdly way over the top. This was indeed the case in this episode, but the problem I had with it is that there are actually people in the world who think the way he does about homosexuality. Sure, no one would think that it's ok to befriend your gay coworker by forcing him to kiss you. But still. It just wasn't funny, and that disappointed me. So for those of you who watched the show for the first time at my insistence, please accept my apologies. The show is usually in much better taste. This season had better get good FAST!

And speaking of fast, this leads to my next complaint, and probably the reason I'm so grumpy today. FedEx. Do they know the latter part of their name stands for "Express?" So why does it take me 7 days from when they first attempt to deliver a package to my house to when I actually acquire the package?! I won't go into all the details of how ridiculous this experience has been, but I will just say that I don't know if I've ever had an organization of this caliber be so unfriendly and unhelpful. It's like they don't want me to be able to get my package and they were purposefully trying to keep it from me. Nothing about their website or 800 phone number or location (once I finally found it) was designed to help me in this circumstance. So I'm done with FedEx. Please, if you ever send me anything, just use the good ol' US Postal Service. God bless America.

I've already got a post planned for tomorrow, and I promise it will be more upbeat!

You Know Your Life Is Sad When...

... the highlight of your week is looking forward to The Office premeire tonight. I can't wait for this, though! I have been anxiously awaiting it all summer. I am totally on the edge of my seat to see what's going to happen with Jim & Pam! For those of you who have never watched this show, don't be afraid to start now! The episodes are usually each their own story - they're not really one long continual story. Some of the things will get funnier as you get to know the characters and their stories, but I don't think you'll be missing too much by not having seen the previous seasons.

... the greatest accomplishment of your week is scoring the highest points in your family's fantasy football league. There's only one team in the league that is definitely better than mine, and that's my 2-year-old nephew's team (maintained by his dad). Since I played against him the first week, I've got a loss on my record. But I should be able to blow away everyone else in the league and finish up second place for the season. (That's some pretty confident talk for a girl who doesn't know squat about football players. I just like the game.)

... you get fighting mad when one of your husband's professors treats him unkindly. It's a long, gruesome tale that maybe Justin will share on his own blog. But when he told me, I seriously considered writing that professor an indignant email. I reconsidered, though, considering there may be some ramifications on my precious husband if I sent a nasty email to his professor.

... unrelated things at work get you singing songs by the Wiggles. I had never heard of the Wiggles until I went on vacation with my 2-year-old nephew (the same one who's beating me at fantasy football). Then I discovered this great Australian foursome who sing and dance, they're totally cute and my nephew is in love with them. So anyway, at work, the youth group has a basketball event they call Hoop-De-Doo. I saw a flyer for it and had a sudden brain wave. Don't the Wiggles sing a song called Hoop-De-Doo? In fact, they do.

Hoop-De-Do, Hoop-De-Do
I hear a polka and my troubles are through
Hoop-De-Do, Hoop-De-Do
This kind of music is like heaven to me
Hoop-De-Do, Hoop-De-Do
It's got me higher than a kite
Hand me down my soup and fish, I am gonna get my wish
Hoop-De-Doin' it tonight

I'm trying to convince the youth group to use this as their theme song this year. They don't think that's as great an idea as I do.

... you're sitting at work with things to do, but you'd rather be blogging! Wait, that's not sad. That's ok.

Another Anniversary!

Three weeks ago Justin and I had our one-year wedding anniversary, and it just occured to me that I didn't post anything about it. What a terrible wife I am! Sorry, sweetheart! Our trip to Gulf Shores was our anniversary celebration. But that's not the intended purpose of this post, so I'll try to stay on track. The anniversary that I celebrated yesterday was one year at my job! I've never worked that long at anyplace before, so it was quite a milestone for me. I am so blessed to have the job that I have, and my bosses are fantastic! So here's to another good year!

The Floodgates of Heaven

Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. ~ Malachi 3:10

Sometimes there are days in my life when God just gives me so much joy that I don't know if I'll be able to contain it! Wednesday was one of those days for me. The first good news came in my assistants' meeting that morning, when they told us that the church had passed a new budget and we were all getting raises! Big raises. They did it on a percentage base, and mine is almost $1 per hour more. What a blessing that is for us!!!!!!

The second good news came that afternoon when I got a call from the Music Minister at our church who told me that I had been chosen to be on the Sunday Morning Praise Team. I had auditioned the week before, but I really didn't expect to make it. But I had just done my best and told God that if He should choose to use me to minister in that way, I'd do my best for Him. But if He didn't choose me for that ministry, that I would apply myself to whatever other ministry He puts in my path. I really do want to use this as an opportunity to minister to the congregation at Highland and help lead them into more genuine worship. So what a privilege to be chosen for that ministry!

So I just wanted to take this brief moment to testify that God REALLY DOES prove Himself faithful in pouring out blessing upon us when we give our best for Him.

The World Will Never Be the Same

I'm sure all of you have already seen the news headlines about the tragic and sudden death of the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. He was snorkeling off the coast of Australia and was killed when he accidentally cornered a stingray, which attacked and pierced him in the heart. I have to say that if there was any way I think Steve would've wanted to go, it was like this. He did so much for nature and wildlife, making lovable even some of the world's ugliest and deadliest creatures. I believe his work will continue in the many he has inspired. My prayers are with his wife, Terri, and their two children.

Life on the Beach!

Ok, now that it's been about a million years since we returned from vacation, and you have all despaired of me ever blogging again, I'm finally going to post some vacation pics. Really we've only been home 2 weeks, and those were perhaps the 2 busiest weeks I've ever experienced at work. But now it's Labor Day Weekend and I have a glorious 3-day weekend! So if you're lucky, I may even post TWICE! HA! Ok, let the pictures begin:

This is the fantastic group that went to the beach: Me, Justin, my sister Jessica, Patriot (Jessica's precious 2-year-old son), Matt (Jessica's husband), my mom, and my dad. This was taken on the road right outside the house we rented for the week, so as you can see we had a great location right on the beach!Our neighborhood also had a pool, so we spent quite a bit of time there, too. Patriot wasn't so excited about the beach (He didn't like the sand sticking to his feet!), but he LOVED the pool (as you can see by his face in this picture!).The older boys sure liked the beach, though! They spent hours out there surf fishing. The mostly caught just crabs and mackerel, but then when they went pier fishing, Justin caught a lizard fish and Dad caught a shark! Just standing here at our beach, though, they did spot several schools of rays, some dolphins, and even a manatee!At the pool, we played a fun game where I would throw a Nerf water football, and Dad and Matt would both jump in and see who could catch it. This is quite possibly my favorite picture of my dad. EVER. So that is a short recap of our fun family vacation at the beach. Hopefully we'll make it a family tradition!