Serving with Friends

Got to hang out with some incredible people yesterday and last night! The CLASS team at Crossroads is packed with some amazing people who really have a heart and passion to serve the people of our church! I LOVE hanging out with these people - because there are some things you can just count on spending the day with these folks. You can always count on:

• Laughing your head off! Seriously - my stomach muscles were KILLING me last night!
• The team just getting the job done. I tell ya - these folks just KNOW what needs to be done and they do it! No questions asked!

Thank you to the following people for Making the Difference in the lives of those taking their next step at CCC:

• Faythe Emens - for being my right hand WOman!
  
• Larry and Cindy Fry - for traveling ALL the way and staying late even with the long drive!
  
• Chuck and Debbie Beck - for getting to church early to stuff bulletins and still being willing to stay late into the evening. AND for the delicious treats!
  
• Scott Bennett - for going to Wal-Mart for the extra 24-pack of water we needed!
  
• Joe Bennett - for making sure the supplies were purchased and ready for Sunday!
  
• Marvin Howard - for your servants heart! We have a lot to learn from you, Marvin! God is working on you and it was a pleasure having you do a first serve with the team!
• Shaun Plato and his tear-down team - for coming back to help with tear-down of all the tables, chairs etc. You guys are amazing!

Thank you, team! Thank you for demonstrating Christ's love. Thanks for serving. Thanks for YOU!

I look forward to August when we get to do it again!
(hey - and if you want to serve on this amazing team - let me know... we can hook you up!) :)

Random Thoughts In My Head!

I know I've been really bad at posting lately... and it's not because I don't have anything to say. Just too busy, I guess. Here are some thoughts that have been going through my mind lately - and I guess they just have to come out...

• This weather is INCREDIBLE! Seriously. If it could just be like this for the next 5 months, I would be sincerely satisfied!
• Got my hair done yesterday. I cannot tell you how dissatisfied I was! 3 hours at the salon. 3 hours of sitting until my rear end was soar and my back was killing me. 3 long hours and $162 later and I have absolutely nothing to show for it except for non-existent highlights and a bad cut. I won't get in to details... let's just say the salon I've been going to for the past 10 years will NOT see me again. Truthfully, it's quite sad. We build relationships in those salons. But I just can't see spending that kind of money and still leaving with undesired results.
• My great-nephew, Craigon, turned a year old today! Man do I feel old!
• I just finished adding some events to our family calendar for April and May. WOW - just stepping back and looking at April - it is seriously packed! No wonder I'm exhausted!
• For the past several weeks, Trevor and I have been protecting our Saturday's. It was a little difficult for us in the beginning - but we realized that we needed a family day that could NOT be interrupted or filled with anything that the family didn't decide on as a family. It's now a day we just KNOW belongs to us. We sleep in late, clean house, read, play outside, shop or get out for a bite to eat. It's awesome. Do you have a day that you protect that totally belongs to your family? If you don't - you need one!
• Getting a date night with my MAN on Friday night. Chloe will be away at a sleepover, so it's out on the town for us! I can't wait!
• I just realized that I'm crazy about hand sanitizer! I have one bottle in the kitchen, one in the bathroom, one in my car, two in my purse and one at work. A friend recently told me that she heard that in order to kill germs effectively, the alcohol content in the sanitizer should be 60% of higher. You'll be happy to know mine are good. I checked.
• The geese are back! We live on 11 acres with a pond in our back yard. Year after year two geese return to share the summer with us. We're weird... we named them. They are Mary and Larry. This year, they brought friends back with them. There is now an entire family who wakes us up long before we're ready to open our eyes... Mary Larry, Jerry, Perry, Barry and Carrie. I hope they don't bring more next year, we're running out of names!
• Tennis Rackets must be my gift of choice this year. Got one for my buddy, Diego, and then my hubby got one this week for his birthday! We were gonna play tonight - but we couldn't locate courts that weren't full. Went to the park instead. :)
  

That's it. I need sleep!

Random Useless Facts

I love useless facts. Don't ask me why. I don't know why. I just do.

Here are some to share with you today. Did you know...

• The 'Zip' in Zip Code actually means Zoning Improvement Plan.
• 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sale of Happy Meals.
  
• There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
• Baskin Robbins once made ketchup ice cream.
• Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button.
• An egg, when placed in water with sugar will float.
• Chewing gum while cutting onions will actually help so you don't produce tears.
• Diet Pepsi was originally called Patio Diet Cola.
• Americans this year will spend more money on cat food that baby food.
• 40% of Americans have never visited the dentist.
• Each year there are 40,000 toilet related injuries in the United States.
• During his or her lifetime, the average human will grow 590 miles of hair!
• More people are killed by donkeys annually then in plane crashes!
• The ball on top of a flagpole is called a 'truck'.
• More than 10 people a year are killed by vending machines.
• Frogs cannot swallow without blinking.
• Banana's aren't fruit - they are a type of herb.
• In Florida it is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit.

Maybe I'll have to continue this one later... this stuff is interesting! :0

Enjoy ~!

Loving this weather!

Seriously - if it never got any warmer than how it was today - I would be one happy camper! Honestly - it doesn't get much better than that! Our bedroom windows are still open... :)

Got to hang out in the park with Chloe tonight. Had a blast watching her jump from one thing to the next in total excitement. "Mom - watch me!" "Mom - look at me do this!" "Mom, isn't this cool?"

The greatest part of the whole night... having Chloe grab my hand as we walked away and telling me, "Mom - I love you so much! You're the greatest!"

MELT!

Looking forward to more spring evenings at the park!

I had this friend...

... and she passed away this past December. I didn't have many connections to her family - I had meant her through work about 10 years ago. She was a really neat lady with a real spunky spirit. I always looked forward to her calls. She would start out asking me a "work" related question, and it always ended at least 20 minutes later with us talking about our kids, spouses and late night T.V. We had developed a friendship through our working relationship and I counted it an honor to call her my friend.

When I read the obituary in the newspaper shortly before Christmas, I remember thinking what a tragedy it was - for her husband she left behind, for her kids, for her grandchildren and for the friends whose lives she'd touched. What was the bigger tragedy was not knowing where my friend was spending eternity. I started thinking about all of the "missed" opportunities I had to tell this friend about Jesus. Did she know how much He loved her? Did she know what kind of sacrifice He made for her? Did she know about the gift of salvation and did she have a relationship with Him?

My prayer today is that I don't miss the opportunties to share Christ with those I love. Because it's a matter of LIFE and DEATH. Because Jesus commands it (Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.")

I love the words to this Casting Crowns song, "Here I Go Again"...

Father, hear my prayer
I need the perfect words
Words that he will hear
And know they're straight from you
I don't know what to say
I only know it hurts To see my only friend slowly fade away

So maybe this time I'll speak the words of life
With your fire in my eyes
But that old familiar fear is tearing at my words
What am I so afraid of? 'Cause here I go again

Talkin' 'bout the rain
And mulling over things that won't live past today
And as I dance around the truth
Time is not his friend
This might be my last chance to tell him that you love him
But here I go again, here I go again

Lord, you love him so, you gave your only son
If he will just believe; he will never die
But how then will he know what he has never heard
Lord he has never seen mirrored in my life

This might be my last chance to tell him that you love him
This might be my last chance to tell him that you love him
You love him, you love him
What am I so afraid
What am I so afraid
What am I so afraid of?
How then will he know
What he has never heard