Senor the Golf Dog

Today after church I was totally lazy and enjoyed a day watching the Masters. Something that my dad did every year, not the lazy part, but watching the Masters. He always wanted to go, but now he is with the MASTER, and I am pretty sure it is way better. But today, in memory and honor of my dad, I watched the final day in it's entirety. I watched the moments unfold, like watching "professionals" hitting out of the woods, out of the rough, the deep sand bunkers, from out behind trees and from on top of sticks. I. love. golf. Golf is one sport that keeps a person humble. Dad use to say, if you do bad in golf, you have no one else to blame. True. Tough stuff, but oh so much fun, because I love a challenge.

So here I sit on top of my comfy bed watching professionals under pressure trying to keep their feet on the wet ground when I realized that Mr. Senor Harjo was missing out on the action.

So I invited him up on my nice comfy bed since Darryl isn't here..shhhhhh....don't tell Darryl...but you see Senor Harjo is 12 years old, almost 13 and his eye sight isn't what it used to be and those golf balls are small! Just like a kid to get right in your line of vision. "Hey! Mister....down in front, your big ears are blocking that one corner of my view!" I say.

One of the things I love about Senor Harjo is his ears. Perky. Tall. Alert. It is what makes him CHIHUAHUA. But don't tell him, he thinks he is Mr. Senor Harjo, Head of Household (don't tell Darryl either). Plus those ears landed him the title of President of the Neighborhood Watch Program. He's famous. He gives lessons. He gives autographs.

Senor loves golf too. I think it is because he is so mellow. He probably dreams of running free on the nice shaved grass and marking every flag pole. Hey, a dog can dream right? I think he likes golf because it is a quiet game, no loud bells, whistles or buzzers, just hushes, soft golf claps and soft voices of English commentators saying things like, "he is like a weary old fox". No Senor he isn't speaking of you, lay down and watch. It's Sudden Death! So he lays down and I don't have the heart to tell him his back side is bigger than his ears. Oh well.

EEEEeeekkk! I am soooo excited! Sudden death! Extra holes. Senor Harjo is obviously not excited as I am. They are perfectly matched. I didn't really care who won. I loved the father/son combination of Angel Cabrera, but I also loved the chance to see Adam Scott win the first green jacket for Australia. The country I almost became a citizen of when I did a TDY tour there...another story...a love story.

Truth be told...

Alrighty. I have a big announcement to make. Darryl and I are the proud parents of a brand new young girl.

 

Her name is Saralyn, she is 12 years old from the community Napaod in the Philippines.  Truth be told I have to stop going to Christian concerts or we will be parents of an entire country.  Actually truth be told we don’t adopt to make us feel better, but because God commands us to care for the orphans and widows in their distress. We adopt because Jesus says that to whom much has been given, much will be required.  And finally…adoption is at the heart of God. I am so thankful.

Truth be told, the entire night was a night to remember. My original plan was to go alone, because I didn’t want to drag my two biological children to yet another event they didn’t want to attend. Everyone else I knew would be at Bible Study or Church; but then, I got a text from my big sis asking me if I wanted to go the Three in One tour. YES! Next thing I know I am surrounded by good friends and an 8 year old boy doing an interpretative dance the entire concert and in a Baptist church!

Truth be told, I love to dance and I wanted to join the boy in my own interpretative dance. Actually, I wanted to be the blonde on stage who danced alongside Mandisa. Since she wasn’t singing, I thought I could do that. So far, my dream hasn’t materialized, except for in my front room with the Xbox 360 Just Dance 4 Kinect.

 

Truth be told, my big sis was adding her own lyrics to Brandon Heath’s “The Light in Me” The light, You put the light in me JESUS…You put the light, the light, You put the light in me JESUS… You put the light, the light, You put the light in me JESUS… You put the light, the light, You put the light in me JESUS…but you can’t go wrong adding the name of JESUS to anything.

Truth be told, I was mesmerized by the lady in front of me that had the rhythm to clap her hands on beat and do a pop and lock with her head and shoulders. I wanted to ask her can you teach me that, but I am pretty sure despite being a Christian, she would have given me the look. You know the look you give your kids when you want them to stop or leave you alone.

Truth be told, you are never too old to photo bomb or push your friend to photo bomb. The hand to the left of the lady was the photo bomb bully, but the photo bomb lady was a nice photo bomber as she smiled. I can hear her friend now, "If you don’t photo bomb this picture you are walking home!" Then there is me with what I will call “the under conviction face”. That is because God was telling me to raise my hand and get a card to adopt another child, but I didn’t. It’s an ugly face and place to be, I know.

But after the concert, I did, I got a card with a beautiful young girl and God willing we will meet her one day. Plus, I could not imagine walking around with my face stuck like that forever. And BONUS, we received Mandisa's new CD.

 

Finally, truth be told, after the concert we had dinner at Louie’s and had a great time of catching up. A night to remember for sure.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:

to look after orphans and widows in their distress…" James 1:27 (NIV)

A Rock and A Leaf

Go outside.

No really, go outside was a portion of the instructions given by our teacher of the day, Lifeway’s Paul Turner. Then while we are outside find something to bring back in that illustrated our relationship right now with God.

A rock and a leaf is what Darryl and I came back in with to illustrate where our lives are at the moment with God. Which one do you think belongs to Darryl and which one belongs to me? And why do you think that?

We had a blast.

We learned a lot.

We made connections.

And we went outside.

And what a beauitful day it was! I LOVED the days at school that our teacher said, "Let's have class outside!" Today, I relived a special memory of my childhood.

Here is a quick run-down of some of those things I learned at the Lifeway Transform Sunday School Training.

First, when we arrive my husband informs me that the paper we received said the session would be interactive. Ugh! I know this may be hard for some of you to believe, but I like my cocoon, because it is MY cocoon, it is safe. Meeting new people can be uncomfortable and a bit intimidating for me, but like I said in my last post, lately God has been putting me in uncomfortable places. Then I thought if this is interactive then it could possibly mean competition and I am competitive. Then I became sad because I wore cute little sandals that are not conducive to the running that I envisioned I was going to have to do for my breathtaking win. Forget the fact that I have a total knee replacement that I should not be running on and especially in cute little slippery sandals, but hey I have to win, or so I think. Then when I saw the rest of the attendees walking in from the handicap spots I knew I had this! I hope you know I am joking.

Although I like MY cocoon, I really enjoyed meeting other like-minded people. All of this joy in meeting and greeting made me think of heaven and how we together will perfectly sing praises to the Lamb of God. The blood of Christ binds us together not just as brothers and sisters but fellow heirs to the coming kingdom that will never end. Eeek!! Excited!!

An opening video posed a question that has been echoing through my mind all day, “What’s the point of being in Christ if nobody sees Him in you?”

Think about that! Why not, just read it again...slowly...“What’s the point of being in Christ if nobody sees Him in you?” Yeah, what’s the point? Uncomfortable, again? Yes, I am. I fail miserably. So thankful for much grace!

We looked at trends; we talked about community and then came the paradigm shift. Another favorite of mine! Shifting from the pious, legalistic model: Behave/Believe/Belong to the virtuous, honorable model that Jesus illustrated of Belong/Believe/Become.  In other words, churches too often expect people to behave first before they believe and then they will belong. This cute little drawing illustrates what Paul Turner was teaching us.

 

Look at Jesus’ model, he brought in 12 different guys, even one that was pro-government and one that was anti-government and He gave them a place to belong. He then begins to teach them truth in a loving way, never judgmental and while Thomas still doubted he belonged. As far as behaving went: the disciples, just like us, are still are learning to do right, we are all still being transformed and here is a church word…sanctified. Another topic we discussed is speaking in terms that ALL can understand, for me, the big church word sanctification is summed up in that God is not finished with me yet, He is still working on me.

There is more, like “assumptions determine conclusions”…chew on that for a while and now back to my first question. Did Darryl or I bring the rock or the leaf to illustrate our current relationship with God and why do you think? Go ahead amuse us!

 

One. Week One. Effective Immediately.

One

1.

Week One…Starting Over. One week ago today I was told I was being reappointed to a new position after 18 years, 3 months of working with very humble, caring and giving group of people who are known by many as servants. Saying good-bye to a program and people that I have grown to love and which I have invested so much in is difficult, especially since it was not by my choice. The news came unexpectedly and of all ways through an email from someone who sat only a few steps down the hall. Reassigned. New Supervisor. New work. Effective Immediately.

I am thankful.

I am, really. I may not agree with the reassignment. I may not agree with how I was informed, but…

I am ready.

At least I think I am ready. If I have learned one thing over the past two years it is God does not want me in places of comfort. When I am comfortable, I tend to forget the God of Comfort. When I am comfortable, I tend to get lazy. When I am comfortable, I get bored and I am boring!

The Lord has been preparing for me for such as times as these and I choose to trust Him. I will not live in the land of uncertainty and what ifs, because my God is a Solid Rock. He does not shift and waver like the ocean, He is faithful and does not change. His covenant is of life and peace. His thoughts toward me are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give me a future and a hope. I choose to trust Him.

This first week was not even a full week since I was home sick the first three days with the stomach flu. Ugh, very flattering, I know! I really thought I was going to go meet my Jesus! My blood pressure dropped so low the first “hospital” didn’t want me, then my blood sugar spiked up, they could not find my pulse. I am so glad they did not start pounding on my chest. But thank you Jesus, I am alive! I thought I would never eat again; but my appetite came back like a tsunami. I do believe I am on my way to a full recovery.

The next two days (yesterday and today) was visible proof that I need to learn a lot of new things to be successful in this new job. One thing is MS Excel. I am praying for wisdom to the God who gives liberally and without reproach. I am praying for strength because I am already weary. I am praying for the LORD to show me new things that I do not yet know. I am praying to see the LORD magnified. Week one down.

“Your eyes shall see, And you shall say, ‘The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’” Malachi 1:5