"On The Road Again"

Lately I've seen on the road the sunrise and sunset, mating horseflies hit my windshield, roadkill, rain, really bad rain, the delta flood...I've been in the car alone enjoying my worship with the Lord so much that I missed my exit in Clarksdale to drive to Oxford ending up in Tunica realizing that I had gone an hour out of my way just because I was so in tune with the Lord...that's a bit scary since I was driving...I've been in the car with Clint, which means we sang songs at the top of our lungs to Jesus while driving, I've been in a 15 passenger van with youth singing Disney songs and telling jokes...I've been to Starkville, Tuscaloosa, Oxford, Memphis, Cleveland, Batesville, and all back. I've driven at all times of the day and night such as 7:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m., 4:45 a.m., 7:15 a.m....Its good to drive and be alone...to see nature and its beauty within a sunset, to see the wind blow through the trees...its a good reminder to see the Lord move through the leaves...I also love to be in the car alone because I love to call people that I haven't talked to in forever. Friends are so good.

I went to Starkville to celebrate Kate Poore's birthday and to visit friends. We went rollerskating at the Skating Rink. Oh it was fun. I am a terrible roller skater...but I did have bad skates where the wheels were bent inwards which made things difficult..thank goodness we discovered why I was hitting the walls and couldn't turn so I got a new pair. ;) We had a great group of people come out and it just reminded me of how important it is to have people we love in our lives. We were created for relationships. The Lord longs for a relationship with us. He longs for daily communication, love, prayer...He longs to be our Guide, our Hope, our Trust, offering us everything, but its amazing how I feel He reaches out to us, but we constantly turn to someone or something else that "looks" more appealing. Why is this so? He is there reaching out and longing to help us along this narrow path, taking our hand to walk us across. I often imaging us trying to walk a tight-rope alone with no harness. The rope is thin and high above the ground where there is danger all around us. We think, "if we could just walk fast grasping on to anything in our way" that we will stay on and make it to the other side, but instead we find that those things we reach for are just floating in the air and when we grasp them, we fall. I also imagine the Lord reaching down offering us a hand to hold while we walk across the wire through rain, wind, sun, and snow, and He waits for us to reach, but sometimes we never take His hand. What makes us think we can walk and make it across that tight-rope alone?

God is good. I thank Him for being patient and waiting. I am sorry that it takes me so long to take His hand.

If you didn't know, Derek Webb's new album "Stockholm Syndrome" is amazing. I was so lucky to get to go to his concert and hang out with friends while I was there. Clint and I road up there together and we met up with Becca Varner and Aynslee Moon. This summer I got to know Becca and Aynslee really well through a retreat that our friend, Matthew Clark, put together called "Maytide Makers", which took place in Knoxville, TN. A group of songwriters, painters, writers, and sculptors got together to praise to the Lord by using our gifts with one another and also just to talk. It was so good. I am so glad that I got to go to that concert with them. I also got to see one of my favorite married couples there and that was a surprise: Daniel and Amanda Bray. They are great. After the concert, we stayed around to see if we could meet Derek Webb and all of a sudden, he walked through the doors. I wish you could have seen Clint talking with him. Derek's music has made such an impact on his life and to see him talking with him was such a wonderful picture. Speaking of pictures, I did take one of them and we also got one. His band members were awesome too. Clint pretty much became a roady and got to help Josh Moore move equipment..."Hey Clint, I hear Derek is looking for an opening act??" :)

Well, this is a long blog so let me fill you in on the rest really fast: celebrated all the birthdays in the church at FUMC Cleveland with a Birthday Dinner...lets just say, words can not describe the fun that I saw on stage that night (the preacher playing the electric guitar and singing...so good), Took my youth to a Spiritual Life Retreat at Camp Lake Stephens and we all bonded in our youth group time where we got to discuss really good topics and told ghost stories, took some DSU Wesley Students to see Shane and Shane in Starkville where I got to see alot of people that I love, Oh, and my latest news is that I broke two guitar strings at once while practicing yesterday for worship at the Wesley...wow.

Music to listen to:
Needtobreath--Album: "The Outsiders"
Book I'm reading:
"A Severe Mercy" By Sheldon Vanauken
Praying for:
Discernment on whether or not I am supposed to go to China over Christmas
Excited about:
Africa this summer!!!!

:)