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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Got Me Thinking...

Been seeing this advertisement a lot lately...



I like it.

I get it... I'm a mom.

And it got me thinking a bit.

Our kids are on loan to us by God. They're really not ours. They don't belong to us - they belong to Him. We have them only for a little while.

As a believer, what if God told you to do something that felt "uncomfortable"? Would your response be, "Anything you want from me, Lord." Even when it concerns your child.

Do you really mean that?

I think about this sometimes when I'm riding the fence. You know... you've been there. Thinking about your life and asking God what it is He wants from you. Asking Him where He wants you to go. I do this all the time... "God - what do You want from me? Where would You have me to go? Send me! I'm ready."

Do I really mean that?

I better mean it and I'd better be ready to go where He wants me to go and do what He wants me to do. It may be hard. It may not feel good at the time - but I must trust Him.

After all - He's in control, not me!

Monday, June 23, 2008

My Daughter Rocks!

I had one of those VERY proud mom moments today on my way home from picking Chloe up from summer camp.

Her Eighth Birthday is Friday, June 27. We leave on vacation Sunday, June 29, so we didn't have a whole lot of time between to do a big birthday party as I have in the past (yeah... I'm one of those moms and we're one of those families that REALLY do-up birthdays!) So - I told her she could have 3 girls over for sleepover. The plan is - we are going to do Wall-E at the movie theatre and then going for pizza. The girls will then sleepover and go home by 11 a.m. the next morning. She invited three of her BEST friends in the world - Hannah, Samantha and Maya (who is actually her friend AND cousin). Hannah is her VERY best friend! She's been her bestest bud since they were only a year and a half old - and so she was the FIRST invitation that went out. Until today - we had received an RSVP from everyone but Hannah. Today, we got the news that Hannah wasn't going to be able to make it - she will be out of town on vacation with her family. BUMMER! I was NOT looking forward to relaying the information to her... I knew she would devastated!

I was right. She was. She cried. I wanted to cry for her. Hannah doesn't attend school with Chloe and we have only rare opportunities to see her - so this was total sadness.

After some tears and a bit of silence (I could tell she was really thinking), she finally said something to me, I don't think I will ever forget. She said to me,

"Mom, even though I'm really sad that Hannah can't come to my party, it's probably a good thing ... because I would just want to play with her the most and then the other girls would feel badly and I wouldn't want them to be sad."

I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. I knew that she was sad, but through her pain, she was able to find the GOOD in a bad situation.

God taught me a lesson through my child today. To find the good... the blessing... in each painful experience.

I love you Chloe!

Posts

Here are some blog posts I've read recently that I felt were worthy of passing along! There's some good stuff here - - worth the read...

This Post about McDonald's is a must read! "Little things don't mean a lot, they mean everything!"

This Post has to be one of my favorite posts followed up by this one.

This Post will get you thinking. GREAT stuff! By far one of the best posts I've read!

If you didn't know that I host another blog - well, now you do. This Post was meant to honor and motivate those who serve week in and week out at Crossroads Community Church! Just a reminder for all of us... check it out.

This Picking People Post is good stuff. Same can be said about picking volunteers for the right roles!

Been reading a lot on this blog lately. If you want to read posts that will touch your heart - read this! Warning: Get your tissues!

This is an older post - but good. One of my fav's in the archives! Makes you think, doesn't it?

That's it for now... Happy reading!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Wedding Songs

Just a fun post today... did you know:

Top Wedding Songs For The First Dance (Per Yahoo)

  • Unforgettable (Nat King Cole)
  • Can't Help Falling In Love (Elvis Presley)
  • Can I Have This Dance? (Ann Murray)
  • The Way You Look Tonight (Frank Sinatra)
  • It Had To Be You (Harry Connick, Jr.)
  • What A Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
  • Endless Love (Diana Ross and Lionel Richie)
  • I Cross My Heart (George Strait)
  • I Swear (John M. Montgomery or All 4 One)
  • A Whole New World (Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle)
  • As Time Goes By (A Kiss Is Just A Kiss) (Michael Feinstein)
  • When You Say Nothing At All (Allison Krauss)
  • Faithfully (Journey)
  • No Ordinary Love (Sade)
  • Here And Now (Luther Vandross)
  • I Can Love you Like That (John M. Montgomery)
  • Power Of Love (Celine Dion)
  • Tonight I Celebrate My Love (Roberta Flack & Peabo Bryson)
  • Everything I Do {I Do For You} (Bryan Adams)
  • When A Man Loves A Woman (Percy Sledge or Michael Bolton)
  • All My Life (Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville)
  • I'll Be There (Mariah Carey)
  • On Bended Knee (Boyz II Men)
  • At Last (Etta James)
  • Don't Know Much (Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville)
  • From This Moment On (Shania Twain)
  • Our Love Is Here To Stay (Harry Connick, Jr.)
  • Unchained Melody (The Righteous Brothers)

  • And mine and Trevor's first dance song made it on this list! "I Can Love You Like That" (John Michael Montgomery).

    We're so cool!

    Friday, June 13, 2008

    Wow...

    Heard someone say this yesterday and it got me thinking about things...

    "When you're screwing up and nobody's saying anything to you anymore... that means they gave up."

    Ponder on that for a bit.

    I pray that the people who truly love and care about me will always speak truth into my life. I'm counting on you to tell me when I blow it... because that means you haven't given up!

    Gal 6:9
    "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

    Wednesday, June 11, 2008

    Paying it Forward... Part 1

    So...there I was in the drive-thru of our local Wendy's restaurant a week ago and God was speaking to me. Yeah - he was probably saying I didn't need the breaded chicken sandwich I was getting ready to order, but that's not what I'm talking about. I felt like God was telling me to "Pay it forward." I know, in theory, what this means, but I wasn't feeling much like doing it on this particular afternoon. I wasn't even sure what God was SPECIFICALLY trying to tell me. See - I'm one of THOSE kind of people. Don't beat around the bush with me - SPELL IT OUT. So... I guess I pretty much shrugged it off and went on with my day. (I'm so stubborn.)

    Fast forward to today.

    My niece calls me and I didn't get to the phone right away. She called back 2 more times within 3 minutes and I missed every call. (Yeah - darn iPhone sucks lately!) This is how our conversation went...

    Tiffany (my niece): "Aunt Wendy - you know a LOT of people, right? And you practically know EVERYONE in your church, right? And your church is really big, too, right?"

    Me: "Um.. yeah, I guess. WHY?"

    Tiff: "Well - do you know a guy named Rob? He's between 40-50 years old, stocky with a black mustache."

    Me: "Tiffany, honey, I'm good, but not THAT good. What else you got?"

    Tiff: "That's it. Do you know who I'm talking about?"

    Me: "Um, not really. I don't think. Give me a minute."

    So our conversation went on just like this for a couple minutes. It was quite amusing. I love Tiff. She's like my first daughter. That kid makes me smile!

    In short, here's what happened...

    Tiffany has been struggling to make ends meet for the past week or so. Her boyfriend doesn't have steady work, she is a FULL-TIME student on top of working almost a FULL-TIME job and she's a new mom to 7-month-old, Jayvian. She has big bills now that she's never had to deal with before and she's trying REALLY hard to make ends meet. Did I mention, she's a GREAT kid with a GREAT head on her shoulders? Just down to pocket change until her next paycheck comes in at the END of this week.

    She attends school in Toledo and knew she would need gas money for the week, so she asked to borrow $25 from her grandma, of which she would pay back as soon as she got paid. Note: she is very true to her word, so grandma obliged!

    Well, we all know how far $25 will take you - and these days, it's not very far. It wasn't. She ran out of gas 1/2 way through the week.

    She remembered that she had $8 left on a Wal*Mart card and decided to head there to spend what she KNEW was remaining on her card. As she attempted to swipe her card - it was clear that there was nothing on it by the loud voice telling her to "PLEASE PAY INSIDE."

    She stood in the heat, baby in the car and cried. She didn't know what to do.

    That's when her angel came up from behind her. We'll call him Angel Rob. He told her that he wanted to pay for her gas and proceeded to pump $25 worth of gas into her tank.

    She cried harder and told him that he didn't need to do that. In fact, she even asked "Why are you helping me?"

    His response was priceless... "Because we're all down on our luck once in a while and it's my way of PAYING IT FORWARD." (OK God, there it is!)

    When the gas was pumped and paid for, Tiffany turned to him and asked what his name was. He told her it was Rob. She said, "How can I ever repay you, Rob?"

    Another priceless answer...

    "I just want you to pay it forward to someone else the next time you see someone in need."

    WOW!

    Tiffany - thank you for sharing this story with me.
    God - thank you for using my niece to show me what you want from me.

    Rob didn't want anything from Tiff other than to pay it forward. No reward is greater than knowing you are making a difference in someone else's life!

    It's time to PAY IT FORWARD.

    Part 2 coming...

    Tuesday, June 10, 2008

    Down Time?

    Sometimes we all need a break. I guess today was my turn for one.

    Last weekend was a very busy weekend. Heck - all of last week was a very hectic week and I think my body has finally crashed.

    Was supposed to go to the zoo with Chloe's class today... I didn't make it.

    Had a migraine all night long. That led to some sort of stomach thing.

    Spent the morning throwing up. Spent the afternoon (ALL afternoon) sleeping!

    Continued prayers would be appreciated. Another big weekend ahead of me. No time for sickness!

    Thank you, Lord, for this reminder...

    Matthew 11:28

    "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

    Thursday, June 05, 2008

    The Secret

    I'm currently in the middle of a GREAT read. I can't hardly put this book down.

    Now I know I complain a lot about customer service - but I read something this morning that could be the secret. So many times we look to the employee as the one who has the problem. After all, shouldn't they be HAPPY to at least HAVE a job? One would think so, but maybe it's more than that. Maybe it's all in the way they're treated by their employer.

    Years ago my father owned his own insurance agency. I used to tell him ALL the time that he was the best boss in the world. I didn't work there, but I saw the way he treated the people who worked for him and I was impressed. Very early on in my life, I learned that if you treat the people who work for you well, you have NOTHING to worry about. Translation: if you trust them and give them opportunities that challenge them and encourage them, you will have an employee for life and it will automatically make them a better employee! I know, it's simple thinking, but I believe SO MANY companies don't get this concept!

    I'd like to share with you what I read this morning that, if more businesses put into practice, would improve overall customer service...

    "...the most important people in this business are our employees! Some people will say customers are most important, but if we create the right atmosphere where our employees enjoy their jobs and have opportunities for growth, they will get a kick out of their work! Then that feeling will spill right over to the customer!... We remind them that they're not just working for a quick-serve chicken restaurant. They're working to create an atmosphere. "

    That's my favorite line.. "They're working to create an atmosphere."

    It's true, isn't it? How many times have we said, "I'm not going back there" simply based on the atmosphere or the experience. Here's what I know I'm checking out when I visit a restaurant...
    • Friendliness
    • Cleanliness
    • Timeliness

    In that order.

    I want friendly service first. If I don't get it - I'm probably not returning.

    I want a clean environment second. If I don't get it - I'm probably not returning.

    I want my food served in a timely fashion. If I don't get it - I will think about coming back - but only if 1 and 2 are present.

    So - this caused me to take a moment to think about the church. Without our volunteers, the church would not, could not, operate! Period. Our volunteers are the heartbeat to everything we do and they better know how much they matter. They better know that they're making the difference. Not just A difference - but THE difference! We're not selling chicken sandwiches - we're selling Jesus Christ. What do you think the list my look like for those checking out church for the first time? I would bet it looks very similar to my list above.

    Are we working to create an atmosphere? You bet! Do our volunteers know how important their role is? I sure hope so! And I pray that it spills over to the guest on Sunday morning.

    Tuesday, June 03, 2008

    Summer is Here!

    Had a BLAST this weekend. Went here and played in the water Sunday and Monday. If you haven't been before, here are some of my suggestions based on my experience...
    • When they tell you that you can check in as early as noon, don't believe them. They don't actually "guarantee" your room until 4. We weren't in until 5:20 p.m.! The good news was, they granted us a late check-out the next day because of our delay.
    • Book a room for 2 nights. Honestly... it's worth the extra night. We didn't see a quarter of what we COULD have seen had we been able to stay one extra night.
    • Bring your own food. They don't allow coolers in the actual water park, but you can bring them in the rooms. Food prices are very high.
    • Visit the candy shop before you leave. KILLA chocolate! Oh - and caramel apples the size of a human head!
    • Be prepared to WALK a lot! It's a lot of walking and a lot of climbing up to the slides.
    • Even though I'm sure it's a great experience in the winter months - if you can, try to visit in the summer so you can use the outdoor swimming facilities. It makes it so much more worth the money you pay for a ticket!
    • Wait until you get inside the park to get towels. You can get as many extra towels as you need from the towel stations set up around the park... but if you ask for them at the entrance of the pool - they limit one per person (so I couldn't get them for my entire family unless they were actually WITH me).
    • Wear sunscreen even if you intend to stay inside the entire time. I have but 2 words to say about this... Skylights. Sunburn.
    • Bring extra money for the arcade! You can't even get INTO the water park without going THROUGH the arcade. Smart design!
    • Make sure to cancel the automatic $45 they charge your credit card to open a "line of credit" so that items can be automatically debited from your water park wristband. NOT a good idea, especially if the card you booked the room on is NOT the card you plan to pay the room with. (Note.. true story - this happened to my niece. She booked the room on her debit card and only had enough to pay for the room. Everything else was going to go on her boyfriends card. They proceeded to bill her $540 for a line of credit for $45 for the 12 people in her party WITHOUT her knowing anything about it!) Be careful.
    Overall - it was a good time and I would go back! :) FUN WEEKEND!