April 28, 2007

more random updates!



dad blowing bubbles at my 28th birthday party at coolidge park!!!!! i bought this giant bubble thing for $1 at walmart, and we had fun. dad and gege were almost interpretive dancing with it...















see? man i wish i could post the video...it was HILARIOUS! gege was concentrating SO HARD!!!










the family wanted just the two of us in a picture...but look at ALL their shadows!!!















homemade cheesecake that mom made was beyond divine...and an awesome metal bird that laura gave me!!













forrest, chris and i spontaneously went to the lookouts game afterwards!!!! the sign outside the stadium said "first 25 cent night!" so we thought we could get in for 25 cents...but it was really 25 cent concession stand night...but forrest paid our $4 each anyway. thanks bro!!









the next weekend at hiding place for moving stuff in...dk and gaye really liked the fritos with cream cheese...HAH! (don't hate me m.i.l.!!!)













we had so much fun. at hiding place was the slatens plus jency, and at hope house was dk, ann, jane and david!! it was the best weekend! we all went to devotional rock - yes, there is a new platform/gazebo/deck thing built there, but it's actually really cool!! - and had a little sunday morning service with a message from ann and music with chris and his guitar. but before that, we got a picture of the "braid clan" - the three on the left - and the "claw clan" the three on the right!!!!



here's everyone (except chris who was taking it!) at devotional rock!!!

random updates!

i'm copying jill by posting tons of random pictures...

brian's claw-foot tub, my toilet, christopher's urinal. art. playdough art.













our first trip to the FINISHED HIDING PLACE!!! i can't believe it's finished. here's an excerpt of why it's called "hiding place":
As children, we all had hiding places. Johnny had a special place in the woods close to his house. Colin and Chris had a climbing tree and a tree house. Lyndsay has always loved to retreat to the woods…and still does. I had two favorites: a big space among the branches of an evergreen at the front of my house and a cherry tree that I could climb up into and "disappear"...There is something magical about getting up high and looking out...As grown ups, we have learned that our true hiding place is really not a place—but a Person. It is our Heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. Psalm 32:7 says, "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."


and it snowed up there!!! the thermometer read "7". and that wasn't counting the WIND! but we were warm and toasty.














elizabeth's baby shower!! she's gorgeous! baby is due june 6. i miss her...














josh's rugby game! chris and i went to see them (utk) play a few weeks ago, and it was just stinking fun - and our first rugby experience. it's a really, really cool game. see how they're holding them up??? it's what they do when it's thrown back in...awesome!!











go josh! go!! (he's #20) they wound up beating mtsu 72 to zip. ouch...













the family on easter. forrest's allergies...whew! this is at my parents' house. front row: forrest, me, chris, colin. back row: john, mom, dad, laura, stacey. (gaye was taking the picture! mom took one before this, but forrest looked wretched b/c he had just sneezed...poor kid.)










hunting eggs! the beene clan came over! this is shoo hunting with mae mae and liza with alice in the background. i love those girls...











then we had our famous easter egg baseball! it was the first time the slatens (except chris) took part in it. i think they liked it!!!

April 25, 2007

latest discovery

I'M DYSLEXIC! *sigh* and i'm too busy to explain. just thought you should know.

April 24, 2007

goin up to the mountain!


WAHOO!! we went up to the mountain, and it was absolutely wonderful. the slatens' mountain cabin is FINISHED - thanks be to God!!! and now it just needs pictures hung on the walls, last minute furniture taken up, little things like that. jency got to go with us, and I JUST LOVE HER!!! see? this was the only picture i had time to send to myself from the home computer...more pictures to come later.

April 17, 2007

unspeakable tragedy and the sovereignty of God

dear annoymous comment person #1 in the previous post, who are you? why would you say something like that and be afraid to say who you are? not that i have to defend myself to you, but i've been working out this post all morning and afternoon in my head. it makes me sad to think that you, whoever you are, respect my views, but that you don't know me well enough to think that i'm only thinking about myself in the midst of tragedy. but why should unspeakable tragedy stop us from living life? in the words of annonymous #2, why should i not celebrate that today was the day that God brought me into this world?

dear annoymous #2 - thank you. you must know me better than annoymous #1.

enough defending myself - i wasn't put on earth to please annoymous #1.

it's been hard to work today. which is funny, b/c whenever people are killed in iraq or car bombs go off in afghanistan and multiple people are killed, i don't really think twice about it. it, honestly, makes me feel a little guilty for being heavy and distracted about the tragedy at virginia tech. i guess it's b/c this one hits just a bit too close to home since i have a dear friend who graduated from vt just last may. i can't seem to concentrate on anything but that, and i just can't stop praying for everyone involved. my friend emailed me and said that she took a lot of classes from one of the professors that was killed. she was good friends and a lab partner to one of the students that was killed. she asks for prayer for her circle of friends - none of whom know (or knew, as the case may be) the Lord. she was "the only conservative Christian that they would consider a friend", and she's needing prayer for what to say, how to act, and how to treat her friends that she'll see at funerals this week. she asks for prayer to become transparent enough for her friends to be able to see the love of God, and for her to be able to comprehend the hard and mysterious topic of God's sovereignty. please pray for laura - for her to have wisdom in what to say and how to pray through this. pray that she is able to experience God's love and be able to pass it on...

one of the articles that i read about the shooter (or was it one i heard in the car?) mentioned that he was very quiet, kept to himself, had hardly any friends and wouldn't even respond to people when they said "hello" to him. he was an english major, and some of his essays were so disturbing that the teachers sent him to counseling. i saw a picture of cho online, and i can't stop praying for his family. his family was very polite, kind and "quite the opposite" of cho. what is it like to be his parents? to go through this? to know that your child took the lives of so many people and changed the lives of dozens and hundreds and thousands more? i've been praying for someone, anyone in the community where they live to reach out to them in love. for them to somehow experience the love of God - nothing is impossible with God.

i was glad i got to go to lunch with chris this afternoon - yes b/c it's fun to eat with my husband and b/c the food was absolutely stupid good - but also b/c i got to hear some of the wmbw afternoon programs that i love so much. jennifer rothschild was the guest on "midday connection". i actually highly recommend listening to the podcast (if you know how...i have no clue how to do that...) it was a really appropriate and beautiful interview. anyway, i don't know jennifer's story, but i did hear that she's a 43 year old blind woman who apparently wasn't blind at birth. she and anita (the host) were taking phone calls and talking about, for lack of a better phrase, the "tough things" in life. a man called in saying that he and his wife had been married for 30-someodd years and she had become paralyzed from the waist down a few years ago. he can't take care of her anymore and he had to admit her to a nursing home. they actually kind of inturrupted him, it sounded like, before he was done with his story and/or question. (maybe it was mentioned before i tuned in that you should call in with encouragement needs or something...) jennifer said that one day when she was reading her emails (her computer talks to her, or reads her emails to her) she got one from a man who said "i have cancer, and i have faith, but i don't know how to have both." a few other "tough" emails came through, and she said she just sat there and cried and that her heart broke for these strangers and she said out loud, "God, why cancer when you can heal? why blindness? [and in the caller's case] why a paralyzed wife?!" she said that so often we'll sit and say "we don't deserve this, God! WHY TRAGEDY?!" and she said with her very next breath, that was so obviously from the Lord, she was saying "why Grace? why Love? why Mercy? you don't deserve those either, jennifer."

rich mullins has a song called "doubly good to you" or something like that. in an interview one time he said that a man approached him and was saying negative things about the title. (i can't really remember what he said...) to which rich responded "well, God doesn't have to be singly good to anybody." that has always struck me. whenever i have a bad day with my arm pain, or i'm hungry for a half hour and complaining, or i have a fight with a friend or a car wreck or anything that barely even resembles tragedy in my life, that echoes in my mind. "even the breath you're breathing is God being doubly good to you - how could you even expect more?!"

who knows why tragedy happens every day? who has an answer for why car bombs go off and suicide bombers succeed with their tasks, or why mothers try to drown their children, or why wives of pastors kill their husbands, or why people have affairs on their spouses of multiple years, or why millions of people die each year simply because they don't have food when we in america have MORE than an abundance...we live in a fallen world. it started in the garden of eden, and it's not going to stop until Jesus returns. like it or not, believe it or not, that's the way things are.

for those of you reading this who know Jesus, mourn the tragedy at vt with hope that there is more to life than just this world and the tragedies here. for those of you reading this who do not know Jesus, please know that He is for real, He does offer hope when there doesn't seem to be any. it doesn't mean that you won't have pain, or disappointment, or difficult decisions to make. it doesn't mean that you won't get sick, or have car wrecks, or experience the loss of a loved one. but it does mean that you can have hope. not hope for things that pass away - more stuff to own, a better name for yourself, no problems in life - but hope for things that will never leave - an eternity with the Living God and unspeakable peace. it's for real people. and for those of you who want to read even more than what i've already rambled about...

Philippians 4:5-7 The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

it's true, and i have proof. i knew a family in college (my roommate knew them better) whose son committed suicide. carrie said that when she went to the funeral, the mom had unspeakable peace - she would hug crying people and encourage them with the peace that she had in her heart. does that happen without something bigger than yourself? no! that only happens when you know the sovereign God of the universe.

Romans 8:37-39 ...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 61:1-3 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.

i could quote all of psalms. just go read them. all of them.


More, by Andrew Peterson
John 12:24
This is not the end here at this grave
This is just a hole that someone made
Every hole was made to fill
And every heart can feel it still--
Our nature hates a vacuum

This is not the hardest part of all
This is just the seed that has to fall
All our lives we till the ground
Until we lay our sorrows down
And watch the sky for rain

There is more
More than all this pain
More than all the falling down
And the getting up again
There is more
More than we can see
From our tiny vantage point
In this vast eternity
There is more

A thing resounds when it rings true
Ringing all the bells inside of you
Like a golden sky on a summer eve
Your heart is tugging at your sleeve
And you cannot say why
There must be more

There is more
More than we can stand
Standing in the glory
Of a love that never ends
There is more
More than we can guess
More and more, forever more
And not a second less

There is more than what the naked eye can see
Clothing all our days with mystery
Watching over everything
Wilder than our wildest dreams
Could ever dream to be
There is more


from "Lay Me Down" by Andrew Peterson
All of the death that ever was, if you sat it next to Life,
I believe it would barely fill a cup.
'Cause I believe there's power in the Blood!

HAPPY DAY!



happy birthday TO ME!!! hooray! yes, it's true. my brother's and my birthdays are just a week apart, only he was born two years before me. we were actually both due on the same day - april 2. i'll do the math for you - i was 15 days late. mom was in the hospital for them to induce the next day and she went into labor at 3am. joy! she said that if she hadn't been awake when i came out, she wouldn't have believed i was hers - i had chinese looking eyes and TONS of jet black hair! maybe i'm not hers...maybe i got switched at birth and my real mom lives in novescotia or something. hmm.....my favorite "me" story is the night of april 11, 1977 - that's the night after forrest was born - she had a dream about a little girl with black hair named lyndsay. she swears it's true, and i like to believe her!!! here i am!!!! twenty-eight years later...sheesh.

i was supposed to have some simple medical testing done today, but i had to reschedule because i'm STUPID and ate breakfast. i wasn't supposed to have anything by mouth after midnight last night. oh well. it's for the best b/c now chris and i are going to lunch at the broad street grille - the restaurant inside the chattanoogan hotel!! wahoo!! they have a butt-kickin' lunch buffet - like, stupid-good food!! i'm excited. and b/c we (mccallie) use the chattanoogan for a ton of stuff, they always give us gift certificates, which we are definitely using today!! hurrah!

AND today is free cone day at ben and jerry's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i know that they researched to find out when my birthday was and decided to have it on this day just for me. yep. so go to your nearest store and get all the awesome ice cream you want!!! we'll be doing that with the fam later on after our picnic dinner in coolidge park. OH BOY!!!




today is also tax deadline day. get 'em in, people. get 'em in!!!!!!!

i can't wait to use the present that christopher gave me this morning - a PHAT gift certificate to ann taylor loft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! best. gift. EVER!!!! i adore that store. their website is down right now...oh well.

April 16, 2007

duhks day

it's duck day. i would say HOORAY, but i have so much work since i was out on friday...i'll be going down to the lake anyway...:)




in other news, the duhks are rocking my face off lately. check their stuff out.

April 11, 2007

FORREST!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY FORREST!!!
unbelieveable. i hope it's a good one. and i hope mom doesn't hang any banners in your honor...:)


chris and i took him out to eat at the new chinese buffet in town - which is STINKING DELICIOUS - on monday night since we're both so busy this week with emmaus stuff. we had a great time!! i say we definitely need to hang out more often.



and last night, mom and dad went with him to atlanta to the braves game. i called home to see how it went, and dad told me that forrest went home with a game ball!!!!!!!! AMAZING!!!

he said some guy hit a home run that hit the stands about 5 feet from them and bounced back onto the field, and then a guy on the field threw it back up in the stands!! dad said that forrest "jumped head-first down the bleachers" and scrambled with a

bunch of other people and came up the winner!!! i would have screamed "BACK OFF! IT'S MY THIRTIETH BIRTHDAY!!!"

so here is my depiction of my dear brother emerging the victor amongst the crazed people trying to get the homerun ball. WAY TO GO FORREST!!

April 05, 2007

andrew peterson's latest


i know what you're thinking. "here she goes again". i like andrew peterson's music. sue me. ever since i heard that line "well i realize that falling down ain't graceful, but i thank the Lord that falling's full of grace..." i knew his songwriting ability was well above par. that was seven years ago and before his first "real" album was released. now he has six albums, one on the way, and a novel about to be released. his journal entries are some of the most beautiful writings i've experienced. he's a great writer - SUE ME for liking him!!! if you're making fun of me right now, shut up and check him out for real. one way to do it is to read the article that infuze magazine just did on him. it's here. it says, and i quote, "Andrew Peterson is one of the most talented songwriters making music today." see? i'm not the only one. raise your hand if you're as excited about his new novel as me. DUDE!

in other news, it's freezing this morning. no really, it's literally freezing. the weather in tennessee is just wack. last week it was 85. today the high is 50. weird.

April 03, 2007

304 days!!

10 months today people. i can't believe it's been that long!!!! WAHOO!!



in other news, if you get oil-based primer all over yourself, don't use potential hazardous paint thinner to get it off, cheap as it is. just rub vegetable oil (like canola) in it like lotion for a few minutes and then wash it off with soap and water. you may have to repeat the process once or twice, but my oh my! it works!! and you're left with silky smooth hands afterwards!! one of our pastors is completely re-doing a house he bought, and we helped paint yesterday. well, we helped prime yesterday. they told me afterwards that oil based stuff is almost impossible to get off. thanks guys. and i had to sit in the car with plastic sheeting wrapped around my shorts b/c i sat in the stuff. yay.

but the highlight of the evening was when my foot caught the edge of the paint tray. i looked back in a panic to see if i had done any damage. the tray was sitting upright like it was supposed to, but my foot had succesfully dumped its contents in its entirety onto the hardwood floor. no, we didn't have it on the plastic sheeting. *sigh* as chris said to robby (the pastor) when he came up there, i said "words you can't say from the pulpit". thank you LORD that it was literally the one room in the house that they hadn't sanded the floors on yet!!!! so after actually using the spilled primer to paint the walls a bit and robby's terpentining it all away, all is well, and it's actually the cleanest spot on the floor. sheesh i'm clumsy. we really should have taken pictures.

April 02, 2007

excellent blog

http://oldtales.blogspot.com. you should definitely check it out. at least the ethiopia entries.

in other news, it's easter week. do you really understand what that means? do you really GET what you've been saved from - from God's eternal wrath (hell)? seriously. take some time this week to think about that. let it sink in, and praise God for His glorious mercy. sunday's coming...