Friday, September 11, 2009

A Little Trip and A Big Lesson

A friend of mine is getting married tomorrow in Florida, so my sister and I have packed up all our stuff and headed to the SUNSHINE state on a road trip! We had originally started planning that we would drive down on Thursday and just make a really big day of it, but Nathan (the groom's brother) asked if we would come a little earlier to make the young adult ministry that he's become a part of since moving down earlier this summer. So, after work on Wednesday Laura and I got in the car and drove for about 4.5 hours and made it to Tupelo, MS. Our hotel beds were really comfortable, but that may just have been because we were SO tired! After our complementary breakfast (Laura had a waffle, I had Rice Krispy's!) we headed out for the last 11.5 hours of our trip! We made it in last night just in time to go to FORWARD with Nathan and the rest of the Forsyth crew!

The series they are starting is about made ordinary people Extraordinary in their time and last night's message was about Job. After all of the desolation that came (his children, his possessions, his health) he's really wondering what God is up to and why all of this has befallen him. It's not that he's angry or giving God what for...it's just that he's questioning the WHY of the situation. God comes down to him and says..."Where were you when I formed the earth and told the sea it could only come so far? Where were you when I flung the stars out into the sky and named them? Were you there??"

After going through the last couple of months in dealing with my health, I have to admit I've been asking the WHY question of God alot. Why me? Why now? Why do I have to go through this? Last night He brought it all home for me (and 1,000 miles from home I might add)...It's not for me to ask why, but to say that no matter what happens, God is still God. He's still in control and He's soveriegn. I started thinking last night, Do I have the faith of Job-to know that whatever has or will happen He will still remain true who He is.

When life comes at us hard (and seemingly from somewhere out in left field) our initial human response is to try to find some kind of understanding or cause so we can put the brakes on it. But maybe, just maybe the lesson is to see how much you trust in, rely on and have faith in your Maker.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

A Fantastic Weekend

This weekend my sister and I went on a little adventure to my parents house in Lowell. On the way we stopped at CJ's Butcher Boy Burgers. The burgers were so big Laura and I could hardley get them in our mouths! We finally finished and continued on our merry little way. We made a pit stop in Altus to buy some wine at the Post Winery. I'd never bought wine before, so it took us FOREVER to figure out which kind to buy. Some friends of ours are getting married in Florida in a couple of weeks, but they used to live in Ozark so we thought a little touch of home might be fun! I think I was more excited about finally buying a bottle of wine than actually giving the gift! We also picked up some muscadine and grape jellies for Dad!

Mom had gotten tickets for the Natural's game on Friday. We had such a good time and the weather could NOT have been more beautiful. We were a little worried through the 4th inning, but at the very last moment, the Naturals did end up pulling out an amazing victory. (Score 1 for the home team!) After the game was over they turned out all the lights in the stadium and had the most amazing fireworks show! There is just something about the smell of fireworks that makes me happy (and think of watermelon!).


After the game we went to Braums (love these, but we don't have any in central Arkansas!) for some ice cream to top off our day. On Saturday we cleaned around the house a bit because Mom and Dad are thinking of putting their house on the market. Who knew there were so many odds and ends to getting a house ready to leave it? That evening we went to Smokin' Joes Ribhouse in Rogers. So completely yummy!! Dad ALWAYS gets brisket when we have BBQ and the rest of us usually get pulled pork! Both were immensely tasty! After dinner we followed the crowds to the Frisco Festival in downtown Rogers. Lots of fried foods, vendors galore and some pretty cool music by Sarah Brown and the Neighborhood. All in all it was one of the best weekends I've had in a while! :)