Super Random Sunday

MY FRIEND JOE:



A peaceful Sunday afternoon and I should be taking a nap. Except I'm not sleepy. Yes, you read that right. I'M NOT SLEEPY. WTH??? Yesterday was my first day back on my beloved coffee. A tiny half cup of fresh brewed with an equal amount of steamed, sugary, vanilla soy. Oh, it was pure, blessed heaven! I even used my china coffee cup and made a celebration of it. I didn't take a shower yesterday, but I had my lovely coffee in my jammies, jacked up monkey hair, and fine china, watching my son dance to some music in a commercial. It was a good day! Such a good day that I thought I'd repeat it all again today. Another hot cuppa with steamed soy, except with extra room for a shower. It really was a lovely morning. The smell of coffee no longer makes me nauseous and I'm actually remembering the love affair I've always had with it. So I'm now wondering if missing my coffee for the last three months has really contributed that much to my fatigue. I guess so...

SELF-DISCIPLINE:



Last night I baked two breakfast casseroles for our ABF's Diapers and Wipes Shower for Baby Girl H AND a bundt cake for tonight's Super Bowl party we're attending. I ran out of ingredients half way through and when I realized I'd have to hit the grocery store for a much needed item, I figured I need to get a little creative or grow a back-gone in the aisles. I knew I had $4.15 left in this week's budget and literally could not do these three baked items without eggs. So I got two dozen eggs, browsed the household cleaner aisle (longingly looking at the box of Magic Erasers), and literally looked down at the floor all the way to the checkout line. I knew if I wasn't careful, all that Valentine candy was going to beckon me sweetly. But I got out of the store only spending $3.70 of my remaining $4.15. I was pretty happy! Still 45 cents under budget this week.

MY FRIEND ALISON: About a month ago, I found a blog that had a model with the cutest little kitchen apron. So I emailed a few of my friends that have a great reputation on the sewing machine, asking if anyone would be willing to make one for me. But these friends also have several monkeys of their own, so I didn't have high hopes that I'd really get any takers. But my friend Alison emailed me last week asking if she could still do one. YES, yes, yes! I'll happily pay for time and materials! And TODAY at church, yes, a mere...6 days later...Alison meets me at bible study with The Cutest Apron EVER! Here it is with my earlier mentioned Super Bowl Party Cake.



Which now that I look at the cake on this blog, looks like a bad drugstore Valentine puked all over a bundt tin. Hmmm. So glad it tastes REALLY yummy!

MY FRIEND ANDY PETTITTE:



Okay, so he's not a personal friend, but he was the speaker at today's worship service. If you don't know Andy Pettitte, he's a professional pitcher for the NY Yankees. All I can say is that I SO NEEDED to be there! Without going into a lot of detail, let me just confess that my heart was not in a good place today. I did not want to be in worship and sing praise songs that make me cry. I did not want to go listen to a professional baseball jock talk about what amazing blessings God had given him by being able to play in the Big Leagues and make millions of dollars and blah, blah, blah. But I went anyway and I'm so grateful for it. First off, he started by saying, "You are probably thinking, 'What do you know about hardships, you have a good family, you make a lot of money, you have a good job. Which is true. But I want to share with you with you a little about my life and what God has taught me with some of my struggles..."

As Mr. Pettitt shared his testimony, some of his points really struck a deep chord in me. He basically pointed out that God's plans for ALL of us include delays and defeats, but that if we really have faith in Him as our Savior, that we HAVE to hang tough and stick it out with whatever is placed in our paths. He shared some of his personal delays in his life: not making the team, not getting to the major leagues when he felt ready for it, not getting healthy quick enough after being on the disabled list, etc. And he shared some of the defeats he struggled with: getting traded when he loved the organization he was with, the death of his best friend, watching his son and daughter recover from a tragic four-wheeling accident.

I know this sounds silly, but I felt like God was using him to speak to me personally.

Mr. Pettitt reminded me today what Jeremiah 29:11 says:

"For I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and hope."

It's a scripture I've read many, many times before, but for some reason today they just seemed to really click with some personal struggles lately.

So thank you Andy Pettitte for reminding me to focus where I need to focus: On HIM. Thank you for reminding me that our circumstances (good or bad) are not a reflection of His Love for us. That His love is unconditional, unswerving simply in His sacrifice for us. Thank you for reminding me to hang in there...that obedience and faithfulness in Him is what's important. Thank you for reminding me that delays and defeats are not a reflection of Him abandoning me, but just part of the bigger picture that has a miraculous Plan. Thank you for overcoming your fear of speaking and coming to visit our congregation. Because it's like you said: I was not there by accident today. I was there to hear just as you were there meant to speak.