Did I tell you...

That I'm heading to Texas?  Galveston, to be more precise.  The youth group I lead is joining a friends youth group and we will be helping with the ongoing rebuilding work.  After 10 trips to Mississippi, it's going to be interesting to travel someplace different and do the same kind of work I've done in Mississippi.

Have I also told you that 5 days after I get back from Texas I'm going to Mississippi again?  Just for a long weekend and not with a church group.  Just a couple of friends and Yo Momma.  Ben asked if we would be willing to come help out with the Yellow House.  Everything fell together within a week.  I like how things just happen.  When it all falls into place, I believe it's meant to be!

Now, here's a little plea.  If you are in the area Sunday and want to help out with the Texas trip, there will be a BBQ at High Street Community Church at 5pm.  The cost is $8 per person for the dinner.  There  will also be a raffle, so bring some extra cash for raffle tickets.  (Raffle items are ALWAYS appreciated as well.)  My friend, Todd, whose youth group we are joining for the Texas trip, is in a particular state of stress because not only is he taking a group to Texas but he's going to Mexico with another group two weeks later...school schedules around here do not line up for Easter break this year...so the more people who show up and the more funds raised for the causes, the less stress Todd will be going through.

If you can't make it, prayers for the team would be greatly appreciated!  I'll post more about trip at a later date.  Happy Tuesday!

Praying and watching

It is always a shock to wake up to news of overnight disasters, to see footage of disaster being played out across the ocean.  Living in California, I'm familiar with earthquakes but 8.9 seems unimaginable.  The fact that Japan has had aftershocks as large as the "big" earthquake we experienced in my neck of the woods 21 years (7.1) brings back many memories of fear and a desperate prayers for the ground would just stop shaking.  I'm praying for the people in Japan that have found their lives upended today.

The news was full of Tsunami warnings here, which always brings to mind the Tsunami of 2006 in Indonesia.  Our waves didn't look that much different from normal waves but there were those couple of instances when the water receded farther than normal.  The video below is a time-lapse video of a local beach.  As I watched the news this morning, one of the surfers in the water just started walking back to shore...from a place that he shouldn't have been able to touch the ground.  It was enough to get me running to the next room to show Papa Bear the images on TV.  Nature is awe-inspiring...and fierce.  (Sorry for the commercial before the video)

At youth group after Ash Wednesday service...

As we are "partaking" of the left over communion bread Jon boy starts dipping the bread into a cup of salsa that one of the youth group members had...I can't figure out to get the little accent over the "u" so this may not translate well, but Jon-boy then declared that Jesus was as a little spicy.  :)
 

Preachin'

I'm preaching on Sunday. Every so often, I get the chance to stand up in front of the "big church" and speak my heart...well, with editorials...the youth and young adults don't always get the editorials...okay, the youth kids get a lot more editorials than the young adults. Anyway.

I'm preaching on Sunday. I'm excited about it because I'm going to use the following clip or at least I'll be talking about the following clip in my sermon.



:)

In memory...

Growing up in my family, there were a few things that were a given. One was that we would spend a lot of time in Lake Tahoe, another was that we would travel to Iowa. At the time, some of the travels were not as fun as they could have been. I clearly remember driving for what seemed like days in the back of the Chevy truck (with a camper shell) across the beautiful landscape of...Nevada. I won't ever forget the lightening storms in Wyoming nor will I forget the fireflies that one night camping in Iowa.

The reason for going to Iowa was always to meet up with relatives. Papa Bear's side of the family came from Iowa. Cousin Jean and family (Grandpa O's niece) live in Davenport. Aunt Iva Jean and family (Grandma O's sister) in Burlington. Every trip we spent time each side of the family. They all hold a special place in my heart for the memories and for the people that they are.

Over the years time has taken it's toll. Grandma O was the first of the family to pass away. She died in her sleep the night after celebrating her and Grandpa O's 50th wedding anniversary. Aunt Iva Jean and her husband were staying at our house. I will never forget hearing hushed voices telling Iva Jean that her sister had passed away and the mournful wail of grief that followed.

It was strange visiting Aunt Iva Jean after that. She reminded me so much of my grandmother but yet she wasn't. They worried the same, their voices had the same quality, their skin has the same feel, their hair always done just so, they looked similar being sisters and all. Aunt Iva Jean and Grandma O had the same laugh, though Aunt Iva Jean used her laugh more. Aunt Iva Jean was a little more demonstrative too. Every time we left, I knew that she wished we would stay longer. Both of them weren't the easiest women to get to know yet I know that both women loved their families with every fiber of their being...and they loved each other.

A couple of years ago, when Papa Bear and I traveled to Iowa together, we surprised Aunt Iva Jean and showed up on her doorstep...the same house I had been to time and time again as a child. She was expecting Yo Momma but when she saw Papa Bear and I her exclamations of surprise and delight were there, if carefully tamed. Her eyes lit up and she pulled us both in for good hugs. Her husband had died, the house and Aunt Iva Jean had changed some but she was still the woman I remembered, slightly reserved yet fun, fretting over little things but willing to sit down and visit, wanting us to be around longer.

Thursday Aunt Iva Jean passed away. I have no idea what heaven is like but I know she is there. If we get to meet up with those who have gone before, then she's catching up with Grandma and Grandpa O, her husband Bob and the many who have gotten to heaven ahead of her. If there is a kitchen in heaven, I wouldn't be surprised to find Aunt Iva Jean and Grandma O there, cooking and baking for the people they love...I'm pretty sure that's the picture that I will have in my mind for a long time to come.

Farewell, Aunt Iva Jean. Thanks for the many memories...and love.

Not the hairstyle I desire

For the past week I've been getting up extra early and taking my middle-school age cousins to school. Their Mom had to go out of town for family stuff and their Dad leaves for work early. G.G. picks them up from school, but I got the morning shift. Which is fine. I can change my routine and help out. I'm not complaining.

I've done surprisingly well with the change. I am not a morning person, but I've faked it and felt pretty productive the days that I went straight to work after dropping the girls off. That was, until this morning. I think it had to do with waking up at 4:45am to a consistent, irritating, unidentifiable sound outside...or was it inside? Didn't matter, I was awake off and on until 6:25 when the alarm I had forgotten to turn off, sounded. Then I "slept" in 15 minute increments until 7:22 when I pulled myself out of bed. Couldn't put it off any longer. That's when I saw it.

I don't know how it happens, I know that I could never replicate it if I tried. There on the top of my head was this hair. Wild, crazy, just woke up bed hair. My bangs were standing straight up from my head...but not quite straight cuz they did this little wavy thing at the top. I looked like a rooster. No joke. Brushing my hair only made it worse, it then fanned out a little and got bushy. How does this happen??!!

About a minute later the rooster look was replaced with the wet dog look followed by the put together Brittany look. I like that one much better...it also won't scare people in the school drop off zone quite as much. I'm so tired that maybe I won't move much during the night. Hopefully the rooster won't reappear in the morning...but I promised Papa Bear not to crow if it does.

Happy Birthday!

Today is Papa Bear's birthday. I won't give away his age.

There are many things that I could tell you about him. Despite knowing him all my life, there are many things that I'm still learning about him. He's strong and quiet, with a wicked, dry sense of humor. He looks a little gruff, but just watch him with Little Miss P and you will see that there is a big softy underneath the exterior. He's super political (just a warning) and getting more vocal as the years go on. Papa Bear feels things deeply, has a heart of gold and is the best person to have watching your back. He's a pretty cool guy...and I'm not saying that just cause he's my Dad.

Happy Birthday Papa Bear! You are loved...and if we were in Iowa, I would take you out for ice cream. =)