What a great Thursday

Today was an awesome day. My fence installers came today and started working even though the delivery truck had a flat tire this morning and were running late. Then at 12 I left my house to go see Meredith Brock, hair stylist extraordinaire, in order to get a new do. I stayed at her house until about 3:45. I must say I am totally digging my hair. It looked so bland and just blah before, but now I feel like some girl punk rocker. It is amazing what a fun haircut can do to a girl. A little color and few strategic snips makes you feel like a new person. Then when I got home the fence posts were up and all that is left is to fill in is the boards. So sometime tomorrow little Scooter will get to play outside and run around off a leash. He is going to love it.

Also, I found out today that some of my small group girls from Columbia are going to be coming up October 13th and they are going to come to church with me that Sunday. I am super pumped. These girls are now seniors and I miss them so much. We were together from their freshman year and I had to leave them right before their last year of school. So that Saturday is going to be wonderful as I get to hang out and hear what is happening in their lives.

Companies

Since moving into our house we have had to deal with several companies in order for our house to function. Some we bought things from, some we had to ask them to do a task for us, some gave us a certain service, you get the idea. Well in all of that I think something has gone wrong with 9 out of 10 of these "requests." Now I am guessing since we have had a lot of problems then I could totally be to blame, but I feel like I represent the average female. I don't have too much knowledge of handyman things or technical stuff, but if you explain to me what you are talking about then I am smart enough to know what is going on. So back to the story. With all these companies there have been two types of interactions. One attitude is negative. These people are either uncaring or sometimes rude about the problem I am having. They take the stance that the money is more important or their time is more important than my sastifaction and happiness with their product or service. The other attitude is positive. These companies tell me again and again that they are sorry for any confusion or problems and will do everything they can to fix it.

I had one company frustrate me so much that after the phone call I was so emotionally spent that I burst into tears. Poor Wade got a phone call of me barely being able to talk and all I could say was, "They were so mean!" I can't believe that any phone operator would ever treat a customer like that. I am not just one sale of a fridge or one fence installation. I could be an ongoing customer. I have friends and family members that purchase your products and I am more than willing to tell all of them to cancel their cards and head to your fiercest competitor. And the one major way to make that not happen is to tell your phone operators to treat the customer just like you would your best friend (or whoever they hold in high regards) and be apologetic for my problem. Break me a deal if it has taken me 5 phone calls to finally get this problem solved. I promise it will be worth it when it is time for me to purchase a dishwasher, add on to my cable, or refer a new customer to you.

So thankful

Wow...yesterday was incredible. We had our first Sunday at Butler High School and people showed up and I mean lots of people. Elevation Church had 162 people come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior yesterday! I am in awe of how God is using our church to reach so many people. Now that we are in Butler I feel like we are so perfectly placed for new visitors. I mean it can't get any easier trying to tell your friends how to get to the school because it is right off 485. So after a awesome Sunday morning we had a night of prayer and worship at Butler that night. It is beautiful being surrounded by believers who are truly thankful for all that Christ has done in their lives. They are excited to sing to Him and snatch up any opportunity that they can clap, shout, or holler about the absolutely astounding things this church has seen and is going to see. I love it!

After such a great Sunday it is hard to go back to trying to search for jobs. I am trying to completely hand this over to God, but with each day of finding nothing to even apply to it gets very discouraging. I think I have been to more company and random business websites this past week then I have ever been to in my life. My internet history is like 3 pages long. But I will stay on the hunt and if you know of any companies or businesses that employs a graphic designer then I would love to hear from you!

A Saturday Mash of Thoughts

I am chilling at my house right now while Wade is setting up for the first Sunday of our campus being at Butler High School. We are so excited to see how God is going to use this strategically placed high school to bring more lives to Him. Wade and I were talking about what to expect for this Sunday for both campuses and we have some pretty high expectations. I believe God is going to definitely show up and more than likely shatter anything our little minds have come up with.
We are starting a new series this week called "Sun Stand Still" that I think is going to be really amazing. The band is going to play an original song that is specific to this series. So don't miss it!

In other news, this week most of our fall shows are having their season premieres. There is one show that I absolutely love called Bones. It airs Tuesday at 8 on Fox. There are a couple of reasons why I love this show. 1...It has David Boreanaz the guy who played Angel on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" and I liked both of those shows when I was a teenager. 2...David Boreanaz, called Booth on the show, is an FBI agent and for some reason in between high school and college I wanted to be an FBI agent. 3...The leading lady, called Bones on the show, is a forensic anthropologist. Now I never wanted to be that but I did want to be a forensic scientist in college which probably means that I would have looked at threads and hairs instead of bones. So as you can see I have a lot of random interests in the show and it makes me love it! Yes, I am a complete nerd and I am not ashamed. Make fun, throw your jeers, but I will embrace the dorkiness.

And finally, Monday someone is going to come install a backyard fence for us. You don't know how excited I am about this. Having to walk a beagle on a leash in your backyard multiple times a day is no fun. Scooter wants to smell everything in sight. He wants to go in everyone's yard in order to stay on the "trail" and he will wait forever to use the bathroom. Plus, being in our house all day makes him go kinda crazy and then he chews on random things which isn't good. So come Tuesday when that fence is finished I will be doing some kind of crazy dance maybe I'll even throw in some cartwheels or something. You never know what's up my sleeve.

Check Me Out (getting real sermon series)

I designed this series poster a few weeks ago for Mt. Horeb and forgot to put it on here. This series was called "Getting Real" and it was about having hard conversations with God and others. I went with a coffee cup since it is a good symbol for conversations. I took the coffee cup picture myself in my kitchen. The text at the bottom if you can't see it is the different sermon titles for each week that the pastors want on the poster. It is in a handwritten type font to continue a theme of conversation and being personal. I like the old feel almost coffee stained look. It feels warm like you have been sitting there with that cup often and someone is across the table listening.

Hello Fall

Well the weather has cooled off and it feels wonderful when you step outside. I was actually able to wear a 3/4 length shirt in the non-air conditioning Pathfinder yesterday afternoon and I was comfortable. Anyway, one of my favorite things about the nice weather is taking Scooter out in the mornings. The wind is blowing gracefully through the trees and there is this beautiful fall morning scent that I can smell. So as I was taking in this wonderful morning I looked down at Scooter. There he was standing, nose up in the air, ears flapping behind him because of the breeze, and enjoying this weather as much as I was. I think Scooter enjoys the fall morning scents more than I do.

A month in Charlotte

It has been a little over a month since we have moved to Charlotte. God has done some amazing things and has shown us to always trust him and have faith. Here are some things that God has just blown me away with:

1. Wade and I are part of Elevation. I go to a church that is passionately pursuing the people that haven't met Jesus. They are doing anything they can to share the Word of God, love on them, and serve them. And they expect everyone that is already at the church to do the same.

2. I am making friends. I was a little worried about not knowing anyone when we moved. But God has already been placing people in our lives to welcome us and to have fun together. And I know the longer we are at Elevation the more God will bring new friendships and new faces to us and also deepen the ones we already have.

3. Our house is amazing. The process to getting our house is kind of humorous, but I absolutley love it. I love how everything is set up and it will be perfect when some little kids are running around.

4. A job. I still don't have one, but God is showing me that everything is in His time. My faith is being strengthened and I know that God is going to show me the most amazing job for me when it is time.

5. Wade. Wade has a lot going on with his new job, but he is still so interested in how my day has been and what he can do to help me. I don't think explaining how amazing Wade is on a blog would do him justice, but he is my best friend and I cherish every moment with him. I am so thankful that God blessed me with such an amazing husband.

Shiny Toy Guns

I may be doing some stereotypes, but I believe that men will constantly switch between channels. Like If Wade and I are watching a show, then during a commercial he would want to switch just to see what other things are on. However, he always switches back before the show starts back again. I on the other hand can watch one channel all day without ever changing the channel. And there are probably three reasons for this:

1. I am a woman...we want to make sure we are ready for whenever our show begins again and we really want to be faithful to our show.
2. I am really weird...There are many sub reasons that can fall under this category, but I tend to get lost in the shows. I may be totally into a show, but if I do a channel switch my mind totally blanks out and not until way later do I realize that I haven't switched back in time and now I am engrossed into two different shows at the same time.
3. I LOVE commercials...I get so excited about seeing a really well made commercial. It has to have good music and actors and a good story. I want a mini show for my commercial.

So, there you go. My totally random stereotypes of men and women and tv. I am sure every single one of you fits into it perfectly. And just to let you know at all times I have a favorite commercial and usually it is because of the song that is playing. So right now my favorite commercial is for the Motorola Razr. Good music (Shiny Toy Guns), good looking actors, some sweet ninja moves, and some definite chemistry. Men, how could you flip to a different show and miss this?

Emotional over Biblical People

Can I just tell you how much I love the Old Testament. I was just reading from 1 Kings and I must say I get so hooked! I start reading about all the kings and their successors and I can't stop. So I finally got to Elijah's story this morning and as I read I came to this particular moment in Elijah's life.

Elijah had just won this victory over all of Baal's followers and yet when Jezebel says she is coming after him he flees without thinking about how God is in control of the situation. We did a series on this back at Mt. Horeb in our youth group and we mentioned how Elijah was kind of cowardly and how he had little faith, but as I read today I just thought about how exhausted he was. He thought by God defeating the pagan gods that there was victory. I am sure he imagined that Ahab and Jezebel would turn back to God and everything would be good again, but it wasn't. There were still battles to fight and Elijah couldn't handle it at that moment. He actually prayed that God would just take his life right there, right then. He needed rest. So God gave him that. God let him retreat and comforted him, but when it was time to fight again He gave him some encouragement...there were others waiting to fight alongside him.

I really emotionally connected to this passage today. I actually thought of Elijah as this real man that was in such a desperate time instead of just some Bible character that I could color in a coloring book like a Barbie Doll. He prayed to the God that we pray to. He cried out to our God and he was given peace by our Father.

We have a personal relationship with the God that rescued Elijah. What do you need to be rescued from? What are you crying out to God for? Do you need rest? Know that God is going to give you the peace and rest you need, but it is only to keep you going for the rest of the fight. And he has some encouragement...He has others to fight alongside of you. It is okay to be desperate and hurting, but remember you have the all-powerful God guiding you through it.

The Pick Up Artist

I will admit it, when Wade and I veg out in front of the TV at night it sometimes goes to a random reality show. We've been known to get addicted to some of these pretty lame shows and there is no reasonable explanation as to why.

One show that we saw from the very beginning is "The Pick Up Artist" with our fave guys Mystery and his wingmen Matadore and J Dog. They are teaching a few guys that our culture would say are losers and putting them through "pick up artist" school. You would have to watch the show to know all about IOIs and negs, and kino, but it is basically to help these guys become more comfortable around women and think of it as a privledge to the women that they are even being hit on.

So why am I sharing this reality show with you? Because as Wade and I took Scooter on a walk the other day he told me that even though he didn't know anything about Mystery's methods he thinks that he was following the guidelines when he met me. Yes, you read that right, Wade thinks he is a natural pick up artist. Thankfully, the only one he showed this gift to was me and I totally fell for it all.

So I figured I would leave you with the commercial for The Pick Up Artist just so you can see Mystery and his two wingmen to his left and right.

Schedules and Routines

I feel like I am finally about to see the light of day again. For two and a half weeks straight I have been basically sitting at my computer all day doing random graphic design projects. And it has been without any kind of break. No blog checking, no surfing the web, no doing much of anything except move type around and pick colors. So I am pretty excited that some of the projects are at least ending or wrapping up.

Not only has that been going on, but I am also still trying to make our house organized so we don't come in stressed out, I am supposed to be looking for jobs, and I am running tons of errands concerning our house or the bills or our car.

Anyway, it isn't that I mind doing all these things, in fact I love doing most of these things (not errands). But when I don't have a schedule or a set routine I get a little overwhelmed. I listened to a sermon called "Downtime" by Andy Stanley (thanks to our staff wives lunch) and it has really helped me out. I look back at this last month and think how different it could have been if I had established a routine of when things are going to get done and what things should just be taken off my to do list. I know that God wants our lives to be productive and He wants us to be hard workers but He also wants us to enjoy all the little things that make life so special...the things that make our lives so unique.