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Seriously?

‘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

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I actually don’t mind eating the pudding…

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

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Little Life Lessons in Disguise

I cannot lie- these past two days have been tough! I got my jury summons in the mail a few weeks ago and groaned. Then forgot about it…..until a few days ago, when I realized I had to appear April 8th (yesterday). There were so many reasons in my head why I could not go: homework, sleep, wedding planning. Unfortunately, none were truly valid excuses, so I got up and made my way to the courthouse yesterday morning. Although I was grumbling the whole time, I was optimistic that the process would go quickly, and I’d be home by noon yesterday for lunch. HA!

Let me tell you a story about a girl named Stephanie. She was doing a really great job of keeping calm and not complaining too much…but when jury duty stretched out into yesterday afternoon, patience was gone. And when I learned I had to come back today, I was extremely grumpy! After two full days of jury duty (I was in the last panel for questioning, but was not picked) I must admit that I am tired, hungry, and grumpy. I had forgotten my scarf at home, so my head was uncovered in prayer today. I had optimistically forgotten my lunch at home, hoping I’d be home to stay home, but no…

God had some serious tests of patience for me! Just when I thought I had perfected that skill, He showed me that there is always room for improvement! I am slowly learning that the more you trust in God, the more He shows His presence and mercy. Learning these things in Sunday School ten years ago, and living these things are two very different things to be sure!

-Stephanie

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