Thoughts that run through my head...

Random Facts...

2006-08-04T13:54:00.000-05:00

I don't really have anything to write about, but I'm on a streak of posting once a week and I feel the need to keep it up. So I decided that I would post some random facts that you may not know about me...

*I am the youngest of four. My sister and oldest brother were both adopted because my mom was told that she could not have children...then she became pregnant with my brother Josh and 3 years later with me. So, I am a miracle child:)

*My great-great-great-grandfather, Pleasant Wimberley, founded the town of Wimberley, Texas located in the Texas Hill Country...check it out, it is beautiful! Oh, and Blair and I are considering naming a son Pleasant...or not.

*I always eat peanut butter and syrup on my pancakes.

*Every time I enter a library, a Hallmark store, or a Tuesday morning I almost immediately have to go to the bathroom...is that weird or what?!

*I'm kind of a nerd. I was in all these Advance Placement classes in High School (sometime ask me about my Calculus Club T-shirt) and I graduated from Baylor with a 3.7 GPA and a BBA in Marketing.

*My favorite household item is my label maker. I'm a tad bit obsessive compulsive and I LOVE to label things. I label the light switches, Keely's toys, file folders...if it will sit still long enough, I will label it.

*My biggest fear is expired food. For real...I'm really afraid of eating something that has been sitting in the refrigerator too long and it making me sick. So what this really means is that I waste a lot of food. I clean out my fridge about every 5 days.

So there you go, I hope you all feel you know me a little better.

A Confession...

2006-07-27T14:27:00.000-05:00

Being a part of a relevant church makes you tend to shy away from many of the traditional "churchy" things that many of us grew up with. Deep down I think that I still cling on tight to some of my traditional church values, but I rarely let it seep out because I don't want to come across as lame or uncool. All that said, I grew up going to vacation bible schools every summer and was involved in pioneer girls (the non-denominational version of GA's). Although I loved singing "He's got the whole world in His Hands" and doing all the motions I figured we wouldn't go that route with Keely because these days that might be considered cheesy.

Then I was introduced to Miss Pattycake...and I write this post to confess to all (and especially my UBC community) that I am a Pattycake fan. My mom actually bought the first Miss Pattycake dvd. My entire family immediately made fun of it. I mean, this lady wears a green pinafore with felt cut outs glued on the front "two hands to praise with and one heart to love God." She also has this ridiculous hat and bright red lipstick. If her looks weren't enough, the shrill of her voice might drive you crazy. She sings all these Pattycake Praise songs and pats, and taps, and claps, claps, claps.

After about 3 seconds of watching it I had made up my mind that Miss Pattycake would never enter my household...until I saw Keely's reaction to her. As soon as Miss Pattycake appeared on the screen Keely's eyes locked in. She watches her so intently and you can honestly tell that she is hanging on every Pattycake word. And then when the music starts, Keely laughs and claps and even though she can't stand yet, she still tries to tap her foot along.

This past week when I picked Keely up from mother's day out, they told me that they had music time that day. Her teacher said that all the other kids smiled and listened, but that Keely clapped and danced and literally had the time of her life. They said that she was so excited after music time that she wouldn't take a nap, so they took her out into the hallway and had music time all over again with just her.

I fully attribute Keely's love and zest for music at this young age to Miss Pattycake. In the video that we have at our house (that we watch everyday) there is a song called the Praise Parade and before it Miss Pattycake says that "Even the Bible tells us to Praise God with all sorts of instruments and if you don't have any instruments at home you can praise him with singing and clapping."..and that's exactly what Keely does.

Not that Keely fully understands what Miss Pattycake is saying yet, but I love that she almost always gives out a little squeel each time Miss Pattycake says "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord"...mostly because it is a good reminder to me. So to that I say, Thank you, Miss Pattycake. Thank you for teaching a 28 year old a valuable lesson on Psalm 150 and thank you for giving a one year old a glimpse of what it means to live life to the fullest.

Blog, Blog, Blah, Blah

2006-07-19T13:48:00.000-05:00

Okay...so it's been exactly 91 days since my last blog post. What might you ask has been so important in my life that I have not found even 2 minutes to sit down and let you, my blogging fans, know that I am still in existence. Well, they might not seem like much, but here are a few things that have been occupying my time:

#1 We had family in town at the end of April for Keely's baby dedication. It was a lot of fun...I love baby dedications at UBC because since they are so few and far between I think they mean a lot more to everyone.

#2 Right after all the fam left, we headed to Dallas for my 10 year high school reunion. It was a blast...well, for me. I don't think that Blair necessarily had that much fun. Just a side note, here is a photo of me when I was about to be a senior in high school. It's sad how little I have changed. As I recently told a friend, it's okay that I've had the same hairstyle since 1992 because it is what some might call "classic" or "timeless."

#3 Wedding Season. As some of you may recall, I am a wedding coordinator so the summer months can get a little hectic and this has been the busiest summer of all. I don't want to complain about being busy because that means I'm actually making money, but it just takes away from having time to do other things. Beginning the weekend of May 20th, I coordinated 4 weddings in 5 weeks. I have plenty of stories/mishaps I could share about them, but I'll save that. I think I might just compile all my wedding stories and write a book about it someday...it's some good material!

#4 Family Reunion. Every summer, my mom's side of the family has a big family reunion. Usually we can get out of it, but this summer my mom was hosting it so we had (I mean got) to go. It actually ended up being pretty fun...who knew you could have fun with extended family members?

#5 Roommate Reunion. Every so often my college roommates and I try to get together for a little get away. Now that most all of us have kids, it's getting harder and harder, but we all managed to get away for one evening and spent the night at the Westin in Stonebriar. It was a blast. I love my college friends...they never change.

#6 Keely's Birthday Party. On July 8th we had a little birthday party for Keely. It was a lot of fun, but required a lot of preparation as well as clean up. My parents came down and brought the bounce house and the bubble machine (yes...they own both)

#7 Keely's Actual Birthday. Believe it or not, Keely turned 1 year old on July 13th. To celebrate, Keely's Pop & Nana (Blair's parents) came in town for an extended weekend. I was much more sad than I was expecting for my little one to reach this milestone. It just means that she's not really a baby anymore....tear, tear.

#8 Back at UBC. During the entire time that everything above was taking place, we have been trying to get the ol' UBC building ready for services and this past sunday, July 16th marked our return. Some of my fellow UBCers have written about the day and done a better job than I could hope to so I will just direct you to their pages (Craig, Adam, Matt) There was a big article in the Waco Trib about the church on Sunday and check out the cover photo....

So for all of you who have simply thought that I've been avoiding you or just been absent from everyday life, as you can see I really have been busy...it's not something I just say. What, you might ask, has changed so that here I sit in the middle of the afternoon able to blog and blah all at the same time? It is something that in the past week has truly revolutionized my life. As of last Monday, Keely has officially become a one nap a day child. It is the best thing that has happened to me since she started sleeping through the night. So now, instead of taking two short naps during the day, she takes one long nap (typically 3 hours in length) during which I can do important things like sit at the computer and blog. Hopefully this means that there is more to come....

Catch up...

2006-04-19T10:56:00.000-05:00

I kind of suck as a member of the blogging community. It has been a month since I've posted anything, but please know it's not because I don't want to...it's simply that I don't take the time to sit at the computer and do it (notice that I said I don't take the time...not that I don't have the time).

You all have probably been wondering what I have been up to, so here is a brief update:
*I coordinated a wedding reception at which the cake table collapsed with both of the cakes on it. Amazingly, the cake parts were all in tact...it was just icing damage. The baker came up and fixed them before the bride & groom arrived.
*Blair and I helped out with Countdown Retreat with Legacy Family Ministries. Countdown is a class designed for engaged couples that was started by our friends Byron and Carla Weathersbee. Blair and I go on the retreat every year and lead the "weekender" class. It honestly is always one of the highlights of my year....I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is getting married.
*My brother's wife had a baby...Luke Andrew Wimberley. Unfortunately, the poor little guy has had a rough first few weeks of life. He had to have surgery at 3 weeks old to correct Pyloric stenosis (a malfunction with the valve between the stomach and small intestine). The surgery was almost 2 weeks ago, but he is still having some difficulties...they will see a specialist tomorrow.
*We took Keely to Diadeloso...I LOVE diadeloso and I especially love that I can email or call all of my college roommates and tell them that at 28, I am still going out to celebrate the day of the bear.
*Keely almost choked on a cellaphane straw wrapper...it was quite scary. Two days later, the entire 2 inches of cellaphane came out in her diaper. I saved it.
*We spent Easter weekend with my parents and went to eat at their country club after church on Sunday. There was an Easter bunny and she came back to Keely probably 8 or 9 times because Keely loved her so much. It was hysterical. Keely would start flailing her arms and giggling and then she would reach up and grab the bunny's ears...we have it all on video if you are interested.

I know...it is quite an exciting life that I lead. Here are a few things that are upcoming:
*I'm very excited for UBC skate night this Thursday
*I'm pumped to hear Rob Bell in person on Sunday
*Keely's baby dedication is going to be on April 30th and both of our families are going to be in town.
*My 10 year high school reunion is on May 7th...it'll be great fun. I'm gonna have to write a post about what I was like in high school.

So, that's about it....more to come....I promise.

Brotherly Love...

2006-03-10T21:42:00.000-06:00

Yesterday as I was driving up to Dallas to spend the weekend at my parent's I was daydreaming about possible blogging material. I kept thinking about my brother Josh and wishing that I had a particular story to tell about him just so I could introduce him to all of you.

I am the youngest of 4 and Josh is the closest to my age (he is 3 years older). I wish you all could meet Josh because I have this feeling that if you all did, you would like me a little bit more. He's smart, he's goofy, he's really funny...and in a weird way, he looks a lot like Blair. I laugh so hard at Josh's jokes...and he at mine...which is why we love to be around each other so much.

When I was a freshman in high school, Josh was a senior. He would come pick me up from cheerleading practice every afternoon and he would pull up in our orange volkswagen pop up camper (yes....we had one) wearing a long, nasty black wig and big hat. He would honk the horn like crazy and flail his arms. Outwardly I acted mortified, but inwardly I thought it was hysterical.

I've often told Josh that he needs to start a blog, because he would quickly gain quite the online following. He has all these theories that he is passionate about that are perfect for the blogging community. Here are just a handful:

1. The Jumbo-tron: Josh has put together a 5 step process that he promises if followed will get any spectator on any large screen in any venue...I can attest that his face has been on the giant screen at every sporting event I have ever been to with him.
2. Shaving in the shower: This is obviously geared toward men, but he swears that shaving in the shower has changed his life and he is on a mission to convince all men to do the same.
3. Change is negative money: This is one that I do not ascribe to, but Josh hates change. He thinks that pennies and nickels should be abolished and he is also skeptical about the dime.

So I was just hoping that something would happen to segway into talking about Josh in my blog so that I could share the above thoughts...then today I receive this email:

Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 19:12:58 -0800 (PST)
From: "Josh Wimberley"
Subject: 23 seconds from peeing next to rudy...

Many of you have read or been a part of my legendary brushes with fame over the years. I'm sure a day doesn't go by that you don't recall the time I made Bill Clinton raise the roof, or hugged Gervous from Survivor at the Hawks game, or when I bumped into Alan Greenspan in the white house....I know, I know, wonderful memories that make you smile on a weekly basis.

Well, I'm sorry to inform you that I may be losing my touch. I was in Houston at a conference a couple of weeks ago where Rudy Giuliani was the featured speaker. It was a big conference so no one-on-one time with Rudy allowed, at least not for me, although I figured with my track record I would find a way to meet him.

You may have already read the title to this email so I'll get to the point....yes, if I would have waited 23 seconds to pee I would have peed next to Rudy at the urinal. The way it played out I was washing my hands when he came in with his body guard to take a leak. There was no one else in the bathroom and I actually thought about heading back to the urinal next to him disguised as one of those wash hands before peeing types (man, those people are weird by the way), but figured the body guard might make a move to stop me.

I finished thoroughly cleaning my hands with soap using the intertwined fingers method I learned from Jimbo Wimbo and walked out of the bathroom. I waited a couple of seconds then walked back in but the body guard gave me a nasty look so I yelled out "Diareaa!" and ran in a stall as a cover up. OK, I didn't do that but in reality walked right back out and acted like I was drinking from the water fountain. Rudy and Bodyguard blew by me at the water fountain on their way to a secret hiding place before giving his speech at lunch. Under normal circumstances, I would be peeing next to Rudy and adding this to my list of brushes with fame.

Oh well, I am either truly losing my touch or the fact that I pee at a much faster pace than the 99% of human beings has finally brought on some consequences. The moral to this story....slow down your pace, enjoy life, take your time, and possibly wash hands before peeing because you never know who might be next to you at the urinal.

later,
Josh

You can't read that and not wish that you could spend an afternoon with my brother...thanks for the great material, Josh...since you don't have your own blog, I'll share your stories on mine!

Remember me???

2006-02-22T15:48:00.000-06:00

Okay, it's been way too long since I've posted anything on here, so I need to get back into the routine. I wish I could tell you that I've been really busy the past month working on some big project but it's really that life in general has just gotten in the way. Being a mom consumes more of my life than I ever imagined and I find it harder and harder to sit and do the little things anymore...I'm not complaining though...I love this detour that my life has taken.

Speaking of being a mom...I officially get the "bad mom" award of the week. Keely has had a cough since last weekend. She wasn't really acting sick or running a fever, but her cough got progressively deeper and sounded worse. I finally took her to the doctor yesterday. I actually thought I was being an overprotective mom by even taking her in. When I got there, they took her oxygen reading and their initial reaction was "we're going to have to admit her to the hospital."

Pause here for me to let you know the thoughts that ran through my head:
1. You've got to be kidding me
2. I haven't even showered today and now I'm going to have to spend the night in the hospital.
3. What kind of mom am I that I can't even tell when my child is struggling to breathe??

Well, after a lung xray and a breathing treatment, her oxygen level went way up so they did let us go home. For the next 2 days, though, we have to give her breathing treatments every 4 hours....which is especially fun in the middle of the night.

After 2 hours at the doctors office and running to the pharmacy and medical supply store, I came home and put Keely down for a nap and got a few minutes to myself. I felt really weird....I couldn't figure out if I was going to be sick or if I was tired or what. I just had this hollow, pit of my stomach feeling that felt strangely familiar. Then I remembered....this is how I felt on the day Kyle died. It's a weird mix of adrenaline and fear...that day it was from feeling blindsided by the loss of a good friend, yesterday it was the harsh reality that I can't protect my little girl from everything. I found myself wanting to watch her sleep, count her breaths...make everything better for her.

It also made me sad when I came home because this would have been a "Pastor Kyle" moment. Kyle was our good friend, but in moments of fear/sadness/insecurity he always knew the "pastorly" thing to say to make us feel better. Not the Christian cliches that you might here from other pastors, but the genuine, heartfelt sentiments that showed he honestly was experiencing life with you.

As of now, I think Keely is doing better (hard to say, though, considering I never really thought she was sick in the first place). I guess I just wanted to share because it is yet another day that left me wondering, "When will this get easier??..."

I'm it...

2006-01-20T15:18:00.000-06:00

Craig tagged me....even though outwardly I am acting annoyed, inwardly I too enjoy answering these things so here goes:

FOUR JOBS I'VE HAD:
-- Pharmacy Technician at Trinity Mills Pharmacy
-- Intern with the Junior High Youth Group at Northwest Bible Church
-- Director of Business Development at Allen Samuels Auto Group (it sounds much more exciting than it was)
-- Youth Programs Assistant at Baylor University

FOUR MOVIES I'D WATCH ON REPEAT:
-- You've Got Mail
-- Father of the Bride
-- Moulin Rouge
-- My Big Fat Greek Wedding

FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE:
-- Friends
-- Gilmore Girls
-- Scrubs
-- Felicity

FOUR VACATION LOCALES I'D LIKE TO HIT:
-- The Greek Isles
-- A Cruise to anywhere warm
-- Maui
-- Atlantis in the Bahamas

FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY:
-- carlsoncraft.com (it's who i order wedding invitations through)
-- ubcwaco.org
-- drudgereport.com
-- babycenter.com

FOUR FOODS I LUST AFTER:
-- Ninfa's cheese chile relleno
-- PF Chang's Honey Chicken
-- My mom's flank steak with pilaf
-- My mom's homemade beef tamales
(My mom is an AMAZING cook...unfortunately, that gene is not hereditary)

FOUR CHANGES I'D MAKE TO THE HOUSE: (I can only choose 4!)
-- A new front door that has a window in it
-- New landscaping in the front
--A built in entertainment center in the living room
--A larger back porch

FOUR BEERS I LIKE:
I'm a nursing mom...plus I don't like beer. I'll take a diet coke, though.

FOUR TAGS:
-- Blair (maybe this will bring you back to the blogging world)
-- Heidi (come on heede...i know you love these things too)
-- Ben
-- Janalee

Storyteller

2006-01-19T10:03:00.000-06:00

I love to tell stories. Part of it is that I like to talk, but the other part is that I love to see people's reactions to my stories. My favorite stories to tell involve my family. The top stories in my repertoire are probably:

* When my brother sold a home video of OJ Simpson to Inside Edition
* When my dad accidentally drank my brother's contacts

If you haven't heard them, ask me about them sometime:)

I'm not very artistic...I can't draw, I can't paint, but I can tell stories. It is my art.

When I was in college, I used to give my roommates pointers on telling their stories, because they wanted their audience to listen as intently as mine. I would sit and listen and then critique with things like, "Your build up was too big" (that's a way to instantly kill a story) or "Cut out the minor details" (too many details can confuse as well as bore your listeners).

I come by my storytelling honestly...my dad loves to tell stories, and so does my brother. I also married a storyteller. Problem is that when we all get together at holidays we compete to tell each other's stories and the winner is usually whoever can talk over the other three which explains why some have described my family as "loud."

I've been reading in Matthew some of Jesus' stories. Matthew 13:10 says, "His disciples came and asked him, "Why do you always tell stories when you talk to the people?" In the Message, Jesus' response to this question is,

"to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it. 14 I don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing. 15 The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. 16 "But you have God-blessed eyes - eyes that see! And God-blessed ears - ears that hear! 17 A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance."

All the prophets and righteous people in the old testament had longed for the coming of Christ and here were the disciples who got to just sit and enjoy being with him and listen to his stories. I can't imagine what it would have been like to actually hear Jesus tell stories...in a weird way I would maybe equate it to when I watch Scrubs and one minute I'm chuckling at the funny jokes and the next I feel my eyes well up with tears during an "a-ha moment."

I imagine that he would pause at all the right moments, use hand gestures when necessary (but not distracting ones), he would smile and wink at the little kids in the front row, and like all good story tellers, he would always leave his audience wanting more...I wish I could have listened in person.

Journey

2006-01-11T09:08:00.000-06:00

So it's been a while since I've posted and I have yet to do my official "new year's" post. I've actually been avoiding it...I don't want that much accountability for my resolutions. In previous years, I was only letting myself down, because I was the only one who knew my resolutions, but now all of you are going to ask how it's going and I'm going to be embarrassed by January 29th when I admit that I've already given up on them.

I have all the stereotypical goals for this year. On a personal level, I would like to exercise more regularly and hopefully as a result lose a few pounds. I also want to be a better wife, mother, and friend to all those I'm in relationships with. In my professional life, I would like for my business to make money this year:) And then I have some spiritual goals. Sadly, these are always the hardest to attain.

I'd like to say that this year I will read the Bible all the way through and journal my thoughts on each and every passage...but I know that is not attainable. I would also like to say that I will read various books by famous authors that will give me a better understanding of who Christ is and how scripture is relevant today, but I know that this will probably not happen either since most books I read these days are chewable and don't have words.

What I have decided, though, is to start a journey set up by my parents church, Watermark. They have devised a year long guide through the New Testament...just the New Testament, I can commit to that, right? It's actually only one chapter a day, Monday through Friday.

So now three days into my new year (oh yea, I function on school years not calendar years so my new year started with the Baylor semester on Monday) and I walked on the treadmill Monday, in the park with Blair & Keely yesterday, and am about to hop on the treadmill again. Over the weekend I caught up on the readings from Matthew that I missed while I was still on holiday last week and I finished this weeks third reading this morning. I'd say, I'm off to a good start.

Journey with me if you would like...

Still Celebrating...

2006-01-02T16:55:00.000-06:00

So this is the year of the never ending Christmas...which is why I have not been posting much lately. We left our home in Waco on December 21st to come to Dallas and then flew to Colorado the next morning. We were there with Blair's family until the 29th when we flew back to Dallas to have Christmas with my family over New Year's. We are actually still in Dallas since my brother & sister in law are in from Atlanta and we wanted to get a little hang time with them. Here are the highlights from our two week long Christmas:

*Had beautiful weather in Boulder (around 65 the whole time we were there) and had picture perfect views of the mountains from the Brownings living room the whole time we were there.
*Keely got to meet her Uncle Gavin, Uncle David, and Aunt Jenna (Blair's brothers and sister in law) for the first time...it was great fun to see them all interact with a baby.
*Drove up to Frisco (got to see snow) and met my friend Susan for lunch...it was fun to see her and catch up.
*The Brownings had a holiday open house so that friends could come and see Keely...about 70 people came and some even brought presents:)
*Had maintenance problems on our flight home so we got delayed in the Denver airport for 3 hours (not fun when you are a normal passenger...really not fun with a baby).
*Went to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags with my whole family...it was really crowded. Blair, my brother Josh, and I waited an hour and 5 minutes to ride the Titan...it was totally worth the wait.
*Santa brought a bounce house to Grandma & Gran Gran's house (my parents) so all the adults got to have an enjoyable Christmas inside while all the grandkids jumped their hearts out.
*Tonight me, my mom, and my sister in laws are just hanging out at the house while all of our husbands are off at the Winstar casino just across the border in Oklahoma. In most Texas families, the men bond together through hunting...in my family they do so while gambling.

It has been great hanging out with family and relaxing while grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. took care of Keely, but I am ready to be home. I am ready to see friends, sleep in my own bed, watch my own tv, and be back to my old routine. We should be headed back to Central Texas tomorrow sometime so until then...

Hole, Whole, Wholly, Holy

2005-12-23T21:26:00.000-06:00

My friend Lee Ann emailed me this after she got Jen's Christmas card in the mail a couple of days ago:

"...there’s a hole in the picture. It’s like you can see where he should go on the right hand side of the picture. How is this fair? It’s just not. It sucks. I’m angry for them, I’m sad for them. I hurt for them. The absence of him in their picture hurts. A lot. It leaves a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes even now. I wonder when the pain of the event will become less raw and less exposed and less likely to creep up? How long does that take, I wonder. Especially for them. I don’t know….but I’d like to. I just can’t get used to the hole in their picture…"

I couldn't agree more...it just doesn't look right, like their family is not complete. I think that even people that didn't know them would look at the picture and automatically know that something was missing.

Then I had one of those moments. Blair stayed at home with Keely while I ran to Walmart to pick up a few items before we left for Colorado. Since I was by myself, I took the liberty to turn the volume up and listen to a little DCB.

I have most of my "moments" while listening to Dave's songs...partly because the words have taken on a completely new meaning since Kyle's death...partly because I can imagine him singing his heart out on every song. This time, though, it was number 4, "Wholly Yours."

But the harder I try
The more clearly can I
Feel the depth of our fall
And the weight of it all
And so this might could be
The most impossible thing
Your grandness in me making me clean

Holy, Hallelujah
Holy, Holy, Hallelujah

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries holy, holy God
You are holy, holy, holy
I wanna be holy, holy God

Here I am all of me
Finally, everything
Holy, holy, holy
I am wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly yours

I am wholly yours

At that moment driving down Hewitt Drive, I was overcome by an overwhelming sense of feeling whole...but only as a result of His holiness. I found myself praying the rest of the way to Walmart that in the coming days, weeks, months and years that Christ will continue to fill those holes...be a husband to Jen, be a father to Avery, Sutton, and Jude, be a pastor to UBC, and be a friend (in the truest sense of the word) to us all.

Thank you Lord for making us whole again.

BLANK

2005-12-19T22:03:00.000-06:00

I feel pressure to write something, especially after Craig's post today. I've started 3 different posts so far, and have erased all of them because they were lame. I have to admit, I don't feel like I have adequately paced myself on this whole blog thing...I may have busted out of the starting blocks a little too quickly and written some of my best material already. Since I can't come up with anything worthy of creating a good post out of, I will entice you with bits and pieces of several different posts that I have considered:

1) This weekend I drove to Dallas to attend my nephew's baptism. Yes, my sister is Catholic and she asked me to be the Godmother. When I arrived, I introduced myself to the Deacon who would be performing the baptism and he asked me if I were Catholic. When I replied no, he wrote the letters "CW" next to my name. I wonder what that means...
2) About a week ago, Avery spent the night at our house. She wanted to sleep in Keely's room with her so that it would seem more like a slumber party so she slept on the floor next to Keely's crib. After I tucked Avery into her sleeping bag, Keely woke up a little bit and started to cry. As I was leaving the room, I heard Avery say, "It's okay Keely, I'm here with you."....I definitely have a lot of thoughts here that I will convey at a later date.
3) I was listening to my Sirius satellite radio and heard an ad for Richard Simmons radio show and I had this thought...When it's cold outside, does Richard Simmons put on an overcoat or does he just go outside in his tank top and little shorts?

That's all I got right now...hopefully after some sleep I can come up with more.

It's all Greek to me

2005-12-17T21:20:00.000-06:00

I begin with apologies to my sweet husband Blair for posting this story for all the world to see, but I felt it was too good to pass up.

The night before Kyle's funeral, we were up late talking to my dad who had driven in to be with us. Blair and I were going back and forth sharing stories and memories about Kyle. It was like we were afraid that if we didn't verbalize them, then we might forget them forever.

Blair began talking about Kyle as a pastor and he said, "I mean, he was just so sharp when it came to thelogical stuff. He knew Greek words and Hebrew words, but he always spoke so conversationally in his sermons that it all came together and made pefect sense even to those of us who don't know all that stuff."

Then Blair continues, "Like, remember Jordan, how he did that talk at the Hub a couple of weeks ago about the Message of Minevue....I'd never even heard of Minevue, but it some Greek word for prayer, I think."

For those of you with a copy of Kyle's book on (Re)Understanding Prayer, please turn to chapter 3, titled "The Message-A-Minute View." Sweet, Blair. This brings up two chracteristics of Blair's friendship with Kyle:

#1) He had so much confidence in him as a pastor that he could completely misunderstand a statement that he said and just chalk it up to the fact that Kyle had a Seminary education so surely this was part of his Greek vocabulary.
#2) He loved Kyle so much as a friend that he hung on his every word, even if he had no idea what those words meant.

I hate it that Blair didn't mention "Minevue" until Kyle was gone...he would have gotten the biggest kick out of this story.

Family Tradition...

2005-12-15T21:30:00.000-06:00

I love Christmas time. I love the decorations, the lights, the music, and most of all, I love the family traditions associated with Christmas.

We always would put our Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. I remember one time putting on my Cabbage Patch Christmas album (and when I say album, I actually mean a record) while I hung all the family ornaments on the tree. My favorite of all my mom's Christmas decorations is her nativity scene. All the pieces are white porcelain...very understated, but beautiful.

When I was growing up, everday between Thanksgiving and Christmas, each of us would take turns hiding the baby Jesus. Yes, you heard me right...we would hide the baby Jesus. We would come home from school and whoever was the hider for the day would take the baby Jesus out of the Nativity scene and hide it somewhere in our house while the other three of us sat with our eyes clenched shut. Once Jesus was hidden, they would yell out "okay" and the search would begin. Sometimes Jesus would be found quickly, sometimes it would take the better part of the afternoon for us to find him. Over the years we got to be pretty creative in where we hid Jesus...in the cookie jar, the trash can, inside the Battleship box.

My whole life, I thought this game of hide and seek with Jesus was a Christmas tradition in every family. I remember in junior high being at a friend's house after school and their baby Jesus was laying in the manger of their nativity scene in broad daylight. So I asked what I thought was an ordinary question, "Why isn't your baby Jesus hidden?" This was my first realization that hiding the baby Jesus was only a Wimberley family tradition.

In my later years, when I asked my mom why she had us hide the baby Jesus she said that her reasons were twofold:

1) She wanted to teach us that you have to search for the true meaning of Christmas.
2) She wanted us to realize that you can find Jesus in anything...the cookie jar, the trash can, even in a game of Battleship.

Pretty clever lady, that Judy Wimberley is. I'm not sure that I grasped what she was trying to teach us when I was younger...I just liked a good game of hide'n'seek, but now I'm so appreciative of the foundation that she and my dad were building for me.

One of the things that I love most about UBC is that it is comprised of people who all find Jesus in different places...in Coldplay songs, in Country Music songs, during an NFL football game, during a game of scrabble, at Truett Seminary, at Cricket's, managing at Dell, waiting on tables at Ninfa's...and I could go on, and on and on. I love engaging life with all these people who do not separate the sacred and the secular, but who honestly "Love God, embrace Beauty, and live life to the fullest" on a daily basis.

I think that next year, I will hide the baby Jesus for Keely.

Mute

2005-12-14T19:50:00.000-06:00

Every year sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I lose my voice. It's weird, I don't have a sore throat, I don't run a fever, I just wake up and I can't talk. Today was that day.

It is very annoying to not have a voice. The volume level of my voice is really something that I take for granted. For example, today I was shopping at Old Navy and I saw Jack Parker. All I could muster was a raspy, loud whisper of "Jack!"...I repeated it several times to no avail and ended up just having to run up and tap him on the shoulder. In hindsight, I should have just ignored him in the first place because once I tapped him on the shoulder, he couldn't understand what I was saying enough to have a conversation...sorry Jack.

I've had to repeat myself numerous times today. My dad hung up on me when he called this afternoon because he thought we had a bad connection...when he called back he couldn't understand me when I was trying to tell him that I had lost my voice. I finally came to the realization that it would be better for both me and the listener if I were just mute for the day...I wouldn't have to get frustrated with not being understood and whoever was listening to me wouldn't have to strain their ear to hear. Needless to say, today I have lots of thoughts in my head that I didn't get to verbalize. Here they are in no particular order:

*I bought a coat for Keely at Ross that had a designer label and department store price of $58.00. I paid.......$9.99. I LOVE Ross Dress for Less.
*I keep seeing a Dairy Queen ad for a mint blizzard with M & M's swirled into it. It's some sort of Holiday special and I really want one.
*While I was making dinner, I was staring out our kitchen windows looking at a gorgeous sunset (side note here, I'm not kidding when I say that Hewitt, TX has the most beautiful sunsets). Anyways, as I'm admiring the pinks and reds in the clouds, I saw a horse walk by behind our fence...only in Texas.
*About a month ago all my family members were pressuring me to send them my Christmas list. I couldn't think of anything I really wanted so I just made up some things to appease them. Today, I thought of 3 things that I really want for Christmas, but now it's too late. Dangit.
*Earlier this afternoon when I was thinking about my evening, I remembered that episode 2 of Project Runway is on tonight and I had a little flutter of excitement...I also LOVE Bravo.

So thanks for letting me get all that off my chest...and you all didn't even have to ask me to speak up:)

5 months and counting...

2005-12-13T21:51:00.000-06:00

This is my daughter, Keely. Keely turned 5 months old today...man, is that crazy or what! It really is crazy when you think about how many changes a baby goes through in the first year of his or her life. I mean, 5 months ago Keely spent most of her days sleeping and hardly ever opened her eys. Today she was blowing bubbles with her spit and laughing out loud while I was shopping at Target.

I still can't believe that I am a mother. It has been an incredible experience, though. She really has softened me. I've never been a baby person...when I was a teenager I avoided babysitting because I got bored pretty easily around kids. I can't seem to get enough of Keely. At night, after she's been asleep a couple of hours, I tip toe into her room and just stare at her...then I get that crazy urge to pick her up just so I can cuddle with her, but then I remember that you're not supposed to wake a sleeping baby.

Kyle was so happy when he found out we were pregnant. He and Jen were actually out of town when she was born, but the day they came back they brought us dinner and we all four just sat and stared at her. When Keely was about 3 weeks old, she made one of her first outings to Avery, Sutton, and Jude's birthday party (Kyle's kids). As Blair and I were leaving, we heard giggling behind us...those of you who know Kyle will always remember that giggle. We turned around and Kyle was just giddy with excitement as he watched us push a stroller out to our car. As we were snapping the baby carrier into the car, he yelled out "This just makes me so happy...I love it!" It's rare to have friends that are genuinely happy for you.

I'm sad that Keely won't have memories of Kyle, but you can bet that her mommy and daddy will tell her plenty of stories so she won't ever forget him.

Rookie...

2005-12-12T22:05:00.000-06:00

So this is a new thing for me. To be honest, this is very intimidating. I actually think that I'm a pretty good writer, but the fact that this is going to be out in the open for the whole world to see terrifies me. You may ask then, why am I doing it??? Well, I feel like I have a million thoughts running through my head and blogging them might help me make sense of them all. Also, Kyle always encouraged us to journal so this is going to be my lame attempt.

The last six weeks have been a whirlwind. Six weeks...in some respects it seems like six months, but I can also so clearly remember even his facial expressions that it seems like 6 minutes. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, my good friend and pastor, Kyle Lake died on October 30th when he was baptizing a member of our congregation at University Baptist Church.

I was there, on the front row, in plain view of the entire ordeal...although I don't feel like I saw anything. I honestly did not realize what was happening, but for some reason I jumped from my seat and ran and grabbed Jen...his wife. She is my best friend. We aren't cute friends, though. When I was in college, we used to term some people as "cute friends." Cute friends are two girls that share clothes, finish each other's sentences, and hug and hold hands. Jen and I are not like that...we are real friends. Neither of us are very emotional so we roll our eyes a lot at people who are. We don't share clothes because she has an obsession with working out and I have an obsession with abstaining from working out. We also don't finish each other's sentences...although I think we could, but that would make us too cute.

I was with her the whole time. At first we panicked together on the side of the stage when we heard people in the background asking if he had a pulse. Then I just grabbed her and started praying out loud. I really was just trying so hard to protect her from the sights and sounds of what was taking place that I think I protected myself as well. Jamie Dudley drove us to the hospital. I sat in the backseat with her and held her like a baby...I think she held her breath the whole way there. They put us in a private room in the ER and about 15 minutes later, a doctor came in and told us that Kyle didn't make it. Me, Ben, Jamie, and Blair were the only ones there with her. She didn't cry, she didn't scream, she didn't get sick to her stomach, she just laid down on the floor.

It was a very surreal experience, and even now, six weeks later, I can't believe that it happened. Sometimes when I think back to that moment, I imagine the doctor coming in and instead of telling us that Kyle is dead, he tells us that after all the chest compressions they have been able to get a steady pulse and he is recovering in a hospital room and we will be able to go see him in a few minutes. Then we all start crying because we are so relieved. Man, how I wish we could have experienced that relief. Instead, we just all sat there...numb.

I still feel a little numb. You would think that after six weeks reality would begin to set in, but it hasn't. When I pass a grey volkswagen, I still look to see if Kyle is driving it, I still refer to their house as Kyle & Jen's, and I still expect to see an email from him in my inbox about the next leadership team meeting.

It just sucks...there's no way around it, but I'm hoping that by writing all my thoughts, it might start to suck a little bit less. More to come, so get excited...