Author Archives: the88keys4me

Seriously?

Posted on 6 November 2013 by the88keys4me

‘Seriously’ is the word of the week. Let me demonstrate:

The kitchen still has a gigantic hole in the ceiling! Seriously??
Michael just walked across the freshly vacuumed rug in dusty shoes! Seriously??
We ran out of paint for the hallway! Seriously? ( I knew we should have gotten 2 gallons!)
I totally dropped a handrail on my leg…oh, and it left a huge black streak on the wall! Seriously??
I slipped and broke the back of one of my favorite clocks! Seriously??

I think you get the point. The story that takes the ‘Seriously’ award, though, involves the brand new knife we just got from my parents. Can you see where this may be going? I always cut my pizza ( I can’t bite it due to dental issues), and on Halloween night Michael and I decided to have a pizza before the trick or treaters started showing up for candy. Yum! Being that we don’t live in the house yet, we still don’t have much in the way of plates and silverware, so Michael brought me the brand new, very sharp knife. Mind you like most other knives, it is dull on one side and sharp on the other…..or so I thought. I am cutting away, vigorously even though my finger is HURTING. That’s right, cut through the pain! It was not until I started to notice the odd, red designs on the napkin that I looked at my finger and discovered it was covered in blood. The finger bled on and off the next few days, although it did heal nicely in time for Sunday…but still….Seriously??

My friend Johanna was kind enough to point out that Christmas music began on the radio a few days ago- I love Christmas music! However, don’t think that I’m skipping past Thanksgiving here! Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday, one I look back on with the fondest memories and the one I look forward to the most all year. Nothing can compare with spending time with family! Even if I was a little brat and didn’t eat most Thanksgiving food until a few years ago…I mean really? Who eats just mashed potatoes and chocolate milk on Thanksgiving? And sure, I guess I remember being a huge pain when I refused to help with the dishes…but that’s beyond the point! I’m no angel now, ( I will do the dishes, though!) but my eyes are much more open than they used to be when I was younger. This whole season, beginning from the moment ‘Silver Bells’ is heard on the radio, from Thanksgiving, until the old year is gone and the new one is ushered in, is a time of heightened thanks and goodwill- for Christians, Jews, or those who don’t believe in anything at all! Now, of course the Bible instructs us to be thankful to God at all times and for all things, but if you haven’t been so great at that (or if ‘Seriously?’ Is your word of the week….) now is a great time to start! So…what am I most thankful for? This is just the short list, in mostly no particular order:

10. Strawberry Powerade and Oreos. That explains itself….
9. My jobs- even if it means practicing cheesy Christmas music for hours each day, getting up before the sun on Sundays, and making flash cards until my hands fall off! I wouldn’t have it any other way!
8. Running water and heat- Creature comforts….but many people don’t have this, so I’ll enjoy my hot showers a bit more this season 🙂
7. Tucker- I pestered my parents for seven years for a dog. Literally…I even made books explains why I ‘needed’ a dog. And I couldn’t love him any more!
6. Food. Yes, this can be on the list twice- because I say so!
5. My health and the health of those I love.
4. My car- I have many schools I need to travel for during concert season, so it’s necessary to have a car….and I am so thankful it gets superior gas mileage! Go Fiona! (Yup….I named my car…)
3. My friends- my life would be so normal without them. But who wants that?!
2. My family- my parents, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, future in-laws, and….Michael too!
1. God.

What, you didn’t see that coming? Seriously?? Just kidding!

-Stephanie

Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I am a hypocrite…

Posted on 6 October 2013 by the88keys4me

I have so many ideas when it comes to renovating and decorating our new house! I’m small and wimpy, er, delicate, so I usually ask Michael to do most of the work. Making lists is one of my favorite joys, so I’ve made many lists for him to complete. Wouldn’t you know, he hasn’t finished a single one in a long time. Ugh…seriously? Bottom line: Michael doesn’t finish his tasks on the house, and this displeases me. Behead him!
Well…not so fast! I got a nice wake-up call this morning when listening to the sermon at my church. God gives us many tasks on this Earth, including *ahem* loving your neighbor as yourself (as in: Stephanie, be a bit more understanding, would ya?) The most important part of that message is this: we, as humans, are often unable to finish the tasks and carry out all the laws God gives us. Sin gets in the way! Sometimes we rely on our own strength without allowing God to help, sometimes we don’t listen, and sometimes we have doubts that God is here with us at all. So, if I’m not finishing the tasks God sets in front of me, and I’m getting angry with Michael because he’s not finishing the tasks I asked him to do, well…that makes me a big, huge hypocrite! Ouch…but, to be honest, I am human. You know what else? Lots of Christians are also hypocrites. Yes, I did just say that. The good news is that God loves us anyway! I still love Michael, even if he didn’t put up those curtains before we left for church today, and God still loves each of us, even if we don’t finish the tasks He sets before us. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, though…and Michael? I really want those curtains up soon 🙂

-Stephanie

Categories: Stephanie | Tags: , | Leave a comment

I actually don’t mind eating the pudding…

Posted on 27 September 2013 by the88keys4me

I had a bone graft yesterday on my upper jaw. When I asked the surgeon to explain a bit about what he was going to do, it all seemed so simple. I won’t go into details, as it was pretty gory, but the surgeon told me recovery was very minimal. I know better than that…I arrived in the office yesterday morning prepared for the worst and hoping for the best. The procedure began innocently enough, with only about 5 shots of localized novocaine. I knew things were going to be rough when the surgeon zeroed in on my mouth with a scalpel without letting the novocaine numb my mouth- 20 minutes later, after some intense moments of “OH GOD, THIS HURTS! HELP ME!”-kind of silent prayer, the surgeon was packing my mouth with cotton and asking me to come back in two weeks. I had some yummy applesauce for lunch and chocolate pudding for dinner, with some soup on the side- I saved the vanilla pudding for today’s dinner. My mouth is sore, as the surgeon predicted (upping the recovery time a bit after he saw what he had to do to pack the bone in tightly), and when I eat or talk, one of the incisions gets irritated and begins to bleed. Ugh! How irritating that something that seems so small and simple can change my life so drastically, if even just for a few days!
I have found that the same principle applies to house repair as well. I decided to paint some shelves outside, so I knew I needed to take the shelves, paint, and a brush outside. Simple! Something I can DO! Easy! Ha. I picked a windy day, and set up in an area where the sun was beating down and the bugs were swarming. I am sure that if the neighbors were watching the spectacle, they got quite a show- swatting bugs and shading my eyes turned the painting job into some tribal dance designed to pity women who are up to their eyes in stupid ideas. So much for a simple idea…the shelves got done, sure, but not quite as easily as I had hoped!
The notion of being of Christian is very simple- follow God! Ha, done! Although in reality, like surgery, home repairs, and tons of other stuff in life, being a Christian doesn’t always turn out how we think it may. Why? God is in charge! We may have very direct ideas about what will happen, but God is present always, sometimes opening doors we never thought would be opened. When I think about how my life was a little over a year ago compared to now, I can’t believe the difference! It seems that just when you think you have your life figured out, God shows up to change it in the most amazing ways!

-Stephanie

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Just Keep Going!

Posted on 1 September 2013 by the88keys4me

It seems lately that all anyone asks me is “How are the wedding plans?” or “How is the house coming?” To ensure an actual, habital place for Michael and I to live after we’re married in February will mean a TON of work on our house, not to mention all the time it takes to plan the wedding (although Michael still holds out hope that we can just get married at city hall without any of the fuss).

Ok, fine! No sweat!

Except our lives are all sweat lately…sometimes literally. Take, for example, the day I decided to paint the closet in what will be our library. Easy, right? Well, I picked out my color, got out my brushes and the step stool- yes, ready! The first problem occured when I realized the closet was full of holes. Excuse me? Technically, I could have painted over the holes and left them there, but I decided I could definitely fill them in…and so I did. Great. Then they had to dry, of course- on a day when the humidity was at least 157%, it took longer than I had expected. Then I realized I was too SHORT to paint the top of the closet, and I couldn’t reach the far side of the closet without smearing my hair all over the fresh coat of brown paint on the near side….you see what I mean, I hope. The good news is that the closet is now painted (thanks to the help of my TALL father), my hair is no longer highlited brown, and our closet is ready to go! The bad news is that the rest of the house is still a loving disaster waiting to be fixed. Michael and I have gotten frustrated with the renovation process, to be sure, but we are so excited to see our work bear fruit! We finally picked out our vanity for the bathroom, and I was so excited and thankful I could hardly contain myself!

I have to remind myself that when people ask those “How is ___coming?” questions, they do it out of love, care, and I am sure a dash of curiosity as well. See, God loves and cares for us far more than Michael and I love and care for our house, and more than the people asking how we are doing. It is the love of God, and the love he gives the other people around us too, that give us the strength to keep going in our lives. This is so true for Michael and I, EVEN WHEN we find dried up gum all over the shelves in our bedroom closets or find that all the lightbulbs we really need in a particular room have blown all at once….thank you, God and everyone who cares and helps us 🙂

-Stephanie

Categories: Stephanie | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Patching holes isn’t hard after all!

Posted on 19 August 2013 by the88keys4me

Simply because I’m a Christian, and because I dress a bit more conservatively than others and try not to swear in public, there’s a very big misconception about me and many others who also call themselves Christians- that we’re perfect, and have perfect lives. HA! While we know there’s eternal life in heaven coming when we die, we were never promised perfect lives on earth- and it takes nothing more than a new house, an upcoming wedding, and some student loans to demonstrate this lesson in my own life.

I had the unfortunate luck to get a concussion about a month ago. That’s right- hit my head, spin backwards, then forget just about everything except for the fact that EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT ME WEIRD. Bad timing, really, especially since this was the final week of rehearsals for a community musical I was in, plus I was trying to clean out my bedroom at my parent’s house so my brother, sister-in-law, and their three kids would have a place to stay when they visited. Instead of being a good little busy-bee, I was grounded on the couch with nothing to do except imitate a beached whale. Every time I moved, I must have looked like a person on some psychedelic drug and I forgot just about everything told to me. Needless to say, it was a terrible, awful week, and even now, some symptoms are still present from that stupid concussion…I cried, I was stressed, and the more stressed I got, the sicker I got (Weird how that happens. My advice is to always listen to what the doctors say! I really should try that someday…). While it was a nasty bit of time in my life, far from perfect as many may think, God helped me through! I’ll admit, I was more like the desperate Psalmists being angry with God, instead of the ever-praising-Biblical-stereotype, but God still delivered me from trouble anyway.

When I was ready and able to actually stand without swaying like a drunken sailor, I went over to our new house (that is still so neat to be able to say!) and employed my long-hidden skill of spackling, or patching holes in our walls. I would say I am a first-rate spackler, and the good news is that there are many, many holes in our walls- it makes me wonder just how clumsy the former occupants really were…The funny thing is, my life feels like those walls. I have so many holes, and bad times that I really need help with, and God is my ever-present spackler! When I hit my head through the wall in my own life, God carefully patched me up- he’s there when things are great, and even when things feel like they can’t get worse.

Thank God!
-Stephanie

Categories: Stephanie | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

We’re back…again…

Posted on 5 August 2013 by the88keys4me

Since I’ve had a few people say they missed reading the blog, we figured we’d start writing again. And boy, do we have things to write about!
-Michael and I now have a house! It needs some major renovations. And a bathroom….that’d be pretty nice too…
-We’re about to start our second semester of seminary. Yes, more papers and more sleepless nights writing papers at the last minute. Wait, that’s just Michael, I always start my papers on time…er…
-Our wedding is 200 days away. Time to pick some flowers and sample LOTS of cake, I think!
But don’t worry if this feels like many changes. Some things just never change:
-I’m still not technologically savvy, and have no problem shouting at devices in hopes that it helps figure them out.
-Michael still has a beard! Although he does trim it up a bit…
-We’re still two imperfect humans trying to live our lives in thanks of the one, perfect God!

Categories: Stephanie | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Spiritual Gifts, or, Why do I feel worthless sometimes?

Posted on 21 May 2013 by the88keys4me

Everyone on this earth has spiritual gifts from God, Christian or not. It’s true! I’m very good at pointing out spiritual gifts- perhaps that’s my spiritual gift….Seriously, though, what has God given you that you can give back to the world? Romans 12 shows that every person has gifts and those gifts may be different for every person: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” (Rom 12:6-8, ESV). So, let’s use our gifts!

But, what if we have no idea what our gifts are? What if we feel we have no gifts? Ah yes, this is a problem, and one I constantly struggle with. In this world today, people are always striving for better things, to better themselves no matter who it may hurt in the process. Magazines portray perfect men, women, children, and homes. TV shows an idyllic world, and guess what? It’s fake! However, after watching these shows and seeing images of ‘perfect’ people, it gets into our brains and tells us we’re not good enough. I can play piano and organ, but after listening to the classic music station on the radio, I don’t really think I’m that good. The clothes I wear are still somewhat modest, but the magazines are telling me I need shorter shorts, and more revealing shirts or else I won’t be liked- I’ll be looked at as the different one. I need to wear make-up to look nice, and take extra time on my hair. I’ve been so affected by society that sometimes, when I hear that God loves me anyway no matter what I do, there is NO WAY I can believe that. What’s the evidence? I’m not good enough, plain and simple.

Now, I know this is a message we’ve all heard many times before, but it’s always worth repeating. God does love you, no matter what you do or what you look like! We call our gifts ‘spiritual’ for a reason- they’re not meant to be compared to flawed standards of society, they’re meant to be used for God! And God really wants us to use our gifts; imagine giving someone a gift that they stored in their closet for years and never used? Yeah, same thing with spiritual gifts. I myself am still working on this area of Biblical Living in my own life, and it’s not easy. Sometimes, using those spiritual gifts for God leaves us vulnerable under the eye of society and we may feel alone, but it’s important to remember: you are not alone! Not only are you joined by an uncountable number of Christians around the world using their gifts, but God is always with you too!

-Stephanie

Categories: Stephanie | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

No, we’re not gone- just finishing the end of a semester…

Posted on 14 May 2013 by the88keys4me

If you have some extra time, check out this post from Rachel Held Evans- I find it very appropriate, especially now that the sun has come out again!

http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/back-porch-theology

-Stephanie

Categories: Stephanie | Tags: , | Leave a comment

God loves the slugs too!

Posted on 6 May 2013 by the88keys4me

I’m just sitting here with nothing better to do, really. I’ve got a paper I could be working on, cleaning that should be done, and plenty of laundry too. But what I really want to do? Yeah, sit on the couch and read. I’m that kind of girl- sit me down with a good book, and nothing else gets done. So that’s what I’ve been doing! Although I started to feel bad about not really writing anything on my paper, so I got up to look at what I had so far and the Bible popped open to Proverbs 31. UH-OH!

For those who are not familiar, it is a chapter in the Bible describing an ideal wife. “She is far more precious than jewels.” I’d like to think I’m pretty precious. But it goes on from there, folks: “She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household…She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong…She makes linen garments and sells them…She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness…”

Oh.

I think I just ate the whole loaf of idleness today! Now to be fair, God still loves me when I sit around all day like a slug. He won’t love me any more when I do work- that’s like saying my mother loves me more when I do her dishes, instead of making her do mine too. No, I get up and be productive because I can and because it gives me joy to work for the glory of God and it’s honoring my family as well! Plus, it always makes me feel better to have a clean room, clean clothes, and assignments all done at the end of the day…don’t you agree? Ahh, I think I have work to do…

-Stephanie

Categories: Stephanie | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

May 1st has arrived!

Posted on 1 May 2013 by the88keys4me

I am definitely wearing pants. I’ve actually worn a few pairs today, I can’t lie. It’s almost like the pants are hugging my legs- what an odd feeling after wearing skirts and dresses for a month! When my parents and I prayed over our dinner, I wasn’t scrambling to wear a scarf. I called my hairdresser and scheduled a long-overdue trim. Michael is going to cut his hair later today. It seems like life is back to the way it was before April….or is it?

I am changed, for the better to be sure. I’m not sure anyone could come out of a month of “living Biblically” unchanged. I have no clue how those changes will continue to shape my life, but stay tuned- I will certainly let you know!

-Stephanie

Categories: Stephanie | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Blog at WordPress.com.