Insert popular 90s dance moves *here*

My man is headed home! He’s got almost two full days of travel… he hops on one of his two big international flights in two hours, and I get to see him TOMORROW! I’m so excited it’s all I can do not to do some silly 90s “whoop there it is” dance move to the Vanilla Ice soundtrack that’s playing in my head. Maybe I’ll burn some energy by doing the running man when I get home.

Thanks again for praying… we are so blessed to be surrounded by friends and family who are such faithful prayer warriors. I can’t wait to hear all of the stories about the big things God did in India. Unfortunately communication was terrible in the last city they were in, so even when we spoke on the phone it was so garbled that I only understood about half of it, and email wasn’t even an option. I look forward to hearing more over the coming week. And I look forward to hugging Mr. Right’s neck.

What have I learned while he’s gone? To give up control. I decided the very first day that I have zero control over anything that happens on the other side of the planet, so I might as well not waste my precious time worrying.

My man visited a leper/HIV/TB colony.
My man flew in an airplane after his pilot and grounds crew got in a big fight over whether or not the plane was flyable. 
My man drove out to villages so remote they’ve never seen a white man before.
And the worst one – I never knew when I’d hear from him next. 


How would worrying have changed any of those situations?

Instead, I tried to blanket the team in prayer and then move on. Most days it worked well… occasionally I had a pity party, but that was more out of missing my man than worrying about him. My God, in all his sweetness, chose to give me supernatural peace in place of panic.

If only I could apply the same idea to life here. Control is just an illusion. I don’t have any more control over things in Fort Worth than I do in India, and yet I worry so needlessly over so many things here at home. I’m going to pray that God will continue to refine me to the point where I can blanket things in prayer, and then move on. Worrying causes way too much stress… and wrinkles. Why bother?

Home free… almost

The first eight days that Mr. Right was in India have flown by. Seriously. I know it’s only due to the many people who have so graciously prayed for me during his absence – I worried I’d be a total wreck while we were apart, but instead God has given me peace. Peace, and a lot of fun with my girlfriends and family (thanks to everybody who has hung out with me – I haven’t been this social in years).

But tonight was hard. I hoped all day I’d hear from him for Valentine’s Day. And, about 8:00 tonight he called! But what did I do? I cried through half the call. I couldn’t help it – we were talking about how soon he’ll be home, and how much we miss each other, and the waterworks turned on and I couldn’t stop them. I think part of it was frustration that the reception was so bad that I could barely understand him (who would have thought cell phone service in a remote Indian town would be so bad?). There was so much I wanted to talk about – but instead it was a bunch of “huh’s” and “can you repeat that?” until we finally gave up.

I wanted to tell him how I’ve been thinking back to last Valentine’s Day when he surprised me with a gourmet dinner set on a table pulled up next to the fire. He took the afternoon off work and cooked and cooked and cooked so that I could have a special dinner. I wanted to tell him that I’m looking forward to celebrating Valentine’s Day with him next week instead. That I’m counting the hours until I can greet him with a big old hug in the DFW Airport baggage claim.

But all I couldn’t get the words out through the tears. Stupid, stupid tears.

Thanks to my friends who have so diligently prayed for me – your prayers have worked. Please pray that the next three days go by quickly. Please pray for travel arrangements – every flight he has been on has either been cancelled or delayed. Please pray he gets home safely and on time. With 36 hours of travel ahead, delays could add another day to his trip.

And please pray along with me that God would do big things in India. I can’t wait to hear all about it.

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3

Don’t waste your pretty… and other encouragement for single women

I was single for 30 years, and the I will admit that I used to hate Valentine’s Day, because it was just highlighting the fact that I was still single. Probably the only one – or so it seemed. So a few years ago I gave this pep talk to my Sunday School class to encourage my fellow single friends that we could survive our single years, and not only survive… but do it fabulously. Here’s what I told them:

How to survive your single years:

1. Your fabulousness isn’t determined by your relationship status.
Sometimes that’s hard to remember when you see all your friends post pics of their beautiful husbands/boyfriends/babies, and you’re home hanging out with your Schnoodle. But whether or not you have a Valentine does not determine your value.

2. No pity dates. Learn to say no.
It seems like yesterday. I was 24. I had a boyfriend. And yet some sweet clueless boy in my singles group at church cornered me and asked me on a date. To a Joel Olsteen rally. (I couldn’t make this up.) I was so caught off-guard, and so worried about hurting this poor boy’s feelings that I panicked and blurted out “I’ll email you.” My boyfriend was obviously mad when I told him, and it just delayed the inevitable rejection. From that point on I decided that I would learn to be good at saying no. And I did. It’s a great life skill to have. I found that boys really do want a direct answer – and for you, it’s like ripping off a band-aid… you can just get it over with.

No pity dates girls. Even if he tells you that God told him you’re the Ruth to his Boaz. If God didn’t tell you, it’s okay to say NO.

3. Never, never, NEVER settle. Don’t waste your pretty.
We all know that the bible says not to be unequally yoked. Meaning, if you’re a believer, then you need to only date believers. No missionary “I can change him!” dating. Don’t even dip your toe in the water, or you may fall in.

But it’s not just because God wants to take away your fun and eliminate what seems like 95% of the hot guy dating pool. God has a better plan for you – check out Ephesians 5:25-33 and know that having a husband who “washes you with the Word” is such a total treat. Wait for a man who will pray for you. Who will lead you and your children well. Who will love you in the same sacrificial, intentional way that Christ loves his church. It’s worth the wait, even if it seems like you have to wait forever. I promise.

4. Being single doesn’t mean there’ something wrong with you. God’s plans are bigger than that. 
Well-meaning people used to infer that people were single because God had some work he needed to do in their hearts. Like somehow the entire singles department was made up of weirdos, and the entire young marrieds department had everything together.

Ummm… have you seen some of the crazy people who are married out there?  God’s still going to still refine you after marriage. Probably more. But there may be other reasons why you’re still single.

You may be single because God wants to use you to encourage another single girl. I think God kept me single for what seemed like FOREVER because he wanted some older girls to encourage those sweet 22-year-old girls who thought life would end if they weren’t engaged when they got that college degree. My 29-year-old self showed them that life isn’t over if you aren’t living the white picket fence American dream. God is a whole lot more creative than the American dream.

Or, your Mr. Right may not be ready for you yet. God did a major work in my Mr. Right’s life, and we just wouldn’t have been a good fit a few years ago. Plus he lived in Colorado, and I would have hated long-distance dating. But when the time was right… he practically dropped in my lap. He moved suddenly from Oklahoma to Fort Worth and then drove FORTY-FIVE MINUTES to my church – I have assured him that I prayed him all the way here. So keep praying for your future man… he may have a long commute to get here.

5. Use this time to its fullest. Find an adventure.
For me, I decided I would use my time to travel. And I did – three trips to Europe, plus I traveled all over the US and to Mexico… basically anytime a friend or family member was up for a trip, I was the first to volunteer. And because of that, I watched sunsets on the beach in Greece and saw my Rangers beat the Yankees in New York. I also ran a half marathon, learned to quilt, got a master’s degree, took salsa lessons… no need to sit at home on Friday nights wondering where your man is. Go find an adventure.

6. Serve. Serve. Serve.
“Let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

While you’re waiting for Mr. Right, keep yourself busy by serving others. You’ll end up having a blast, and when you’re focusing on others you have less time to sit and worry about when your prince charming will make his grand entrance.

7. Don’t be bitter. Don’t make all guys pay for the sins (or extreme stupidity) of just one.
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger… be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Eph. 4:31-32)


“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)


There’s nothing uglier than bitterness. The cutest girls are the ones with sweet spirits.

8. When you DO date… don’t peace out on your church and your ministry.
We’ve all seen someone do the break-up walk of shame back to church… they fell in love and disappeared from the face of the planet. And then somebody changed their mind, and whoops, she’s back. Don’t be that girl. But if you see that girl… go love on her, because she probably could use a friend.

9. NEVER compromise your morals. Remember your lines and don’t cross them.
Know your limits in advance… because in the heat of the moment, when that cute guy looks at you with those big brown eyes… you’re probably not going to make good decisions. So already have your mind made up – it’s worth it.

10. Remember that God’s timing is PERFECT. He has a plan for you. He keeps his promises, and he has not forgotten about you.
“The Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him.” (Isaiah 30:18)

“Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust you.” Isaiah 26:3

So my fabulous friends… any other advice that I missed? How have you chosen to thrive?

Trading recipes with India

Isn’t technology simply wonderful? I was feeling a little blue that I didn’t hear from Mr. Right yesterday (if you’re keeping track, today is Day 5 of his trip to India). So you can imagine my excitement when I got TWO emails from him, and THEN we got to chat for a few minutes on google chat.

God bless google.

And you know what we did? He told me about his secret recipe for the world’s greatest sugar cookies. I need to make them for a party tomorrow, and was sad I hadn’t remembered to get it from him before he left. But thanks to technology, and my sweet husband (no pun intended), I’m all set. For the record, we talked about more than jut sugar cookies.

God bless google.

Speaking of India, we kicked off our new ESL semester last night, and many of my beloved students were back. I haven’t seen them since late November, so it was so nice to hear how they’d been. One of my sweet beginner students, who speaks very little English but has a big heart, looked at me with big eyes and said…

“Where’s your wife?”

And the crazy thing is, I knew exactly what he meant. My beloved students missed Mr. Right, but they were so happy to hear that he was living a big adventure and that he’d be back to teach them soon. In the meantime, they were stuck with me. 🙂

And finally, this is a scripture that jumped out at me this morning:

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. DO WHAT IT SAYS.” (James 1:23)

Translated: Just do something. Stop talking about how you want to serve Christ, how you want to work in ministry, how you want to love your neighbor or tell people about Jesus someday… and JUST DO SOMETHING. Start serving.

You know why?

“But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom (the gospel), and continues in it – they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:25)

So, what are you waiting for? Just DO something… and you will be blessed in what you do. God promises it, which means you can bank on it. For me, my “just do something” last year was teaching ESL. I was scared to death during my first class (okay, confession… I was scared to death for the first month). But I did it anyway, and it turned into one of the biggest blessings I’ve ever received.

Not just a “churchy” blessing. No, we have a total blast doing it. Many times, just doing something can be a ton of fun. Sometimes you just have to take that first step and try something scary. You never know how much fun you might have.

All I want for Valentines Day is a bouquet of Claritin

I have a minor head cold. Nothing bad, just enough to turn my poor nose into a fire hydrant and my head has turned a bit cloudy. But it’s mostly just an inconvenience.

But when I have a cold, I do gain some embarrassing tendencies. Like searching through every drawer, digging through the bottom of my purse, hoping beyond hope that I can find one stray little white pill that will take away all my problems.

A lone Claritin.

I never seem to have one handy when I need it most. Last night, the same thing happened for my nighttime fix – my beloved pink pills. I searched through all of my drawers, and to no avail, I had to go to bed a sniffly, runny-nosed mess, left to toss and turn and cough all night instead of slipping into a peaceful benadryl coma.

But alas – I found an unopened box of off-brand benadryl in my bathroom cabinet this morning. And even better, I found one lone Claritin in the back of my bathroom drawer, only a few days from its expiration date (not that matters, I’d take a 10-year-old Claritin if it was my only option), just begging me to take it. My day is off to a stellar start.

Oh, and I may or may not be carrying a roll of toilet paper in my purse. Because I forgot to buy kleenex.

You know me. Keeping it classy.

I’m fine… and I mean it this time!

The minute Mr. Right’s airplane took off, my tears dried up. Thank goodness, because I think my eyeballs were starting to swell. I haven’t been emotional since.

I hosted a meeting for church at my house last night, and afterward two of my close friends stuck around to eat brownies out of the pan and catch up on girl talk. It was just what my weary soul needed. After that I climbed into bed and caught up on most of last night’s Bachelorette (snooze fest), before finally drifting off to sleep.

I woke up at 3:45 a.m. to TWO emails from Mr. Right, who was enjoying free wi-fi in the Frankfurt airport while I was in my benedryl-induced coma. Then this afternoon he texted to say they landed safely in India, made it through customs, and are going to try to catch a few hours of sleep before starting their first full day over there. Feel free to pray along with me that God does some big things over these coming days. I was just thinking today how cool it is that the same God I serve over here in Fort Worth, Texas is the same God that people on the other side of our planet are worshipping. It makes me feel so small, and gives me so much comfort that my God is so big.

In the meantime, I have another dinner party with girlfriends tonight. And lunch with my in-laws tomorrow, after a PHOTOSHOOT with my local newspaper. Crazy thing is, this time I’ll be the one in THEIR ad (so random, I promise). Then we kick off our new ESL semester on Thursday night, I’m squeezing in lunch with one of my favorite people, and this weekend I’m throwing a wedding shower for a dear friend. This may go down as one of my most social weeks in a very long time.

En route to India

If were were going to make a list of things I’m really good at, these items would not make the list:

1. Having a poker face
2. Holding back tears
3. Saying goodbye

Yes, my friends, you know what this means. I was a big, sloppy, weepy mess all day Sunday (and this morning… and maybe a little bit Saturday night) as I prepared to send Mr. Right to India for 12 days. I didn’t mean to be a mess. Through the tears and snot I would reassure him, “I’m fine. Really. I promise.” And he would just look at me and see right through my reassurances.

Actually, even the dog could see right through those reassurances.

So I must say that I’m a bit relieved that he’s finally on his way. I think waiting for him to go and preparing myself to say goodbye will be a lot harder than actually having him gone. I’ve scheduled one fun thing after another for the next week, and I’ve reserved the right to schedule a massage if I get desperate. For the record, I am not at all scared for his safety. I’m just sad because I’ll miss him while he’s gone.

In the meantime, please pray for his travels over the next 24 hours (he should arrive in India sometime tomorrow afternoon our time), for his health and the health of the other pastors meeting them over there, and that God would be glorified through everything they do.

Say a little prayer…

The title of this blog reminds me of the song from My Best Friend’s Wedding.

To my praying friends, I could definitely use your prayers!

1. I think I’m sick again. You know, the same kind of sick I was from January-May 2011 (and one time in the fall). I’m not sure and it’s too late to go to the doctor tonight, and luckily I have an arsenal of antibiotics that allow me to self-treat (with the doctor’s blessing). But I could cry. I have to run 9 miles tomorrow to train for my half marathon. I’m hosting a teacher’s meeting at my house Monday night, cooking dinner for a group of people…

And Mr. Right is about to leave for India for TWO WEEKS. Being sick is not the way I wanted to see him off.

I’d cry, but I don’t want to smudge my makeup. I have a party to go to tonight.

2. Mr. Right is about to leave for India for TWO WEEKS. Please pray for his last-minute preparations (there are so many things to do). Please pray for the start of his malaria medicine, which begins tomorrow (and tends to be a rather nasty drug). And please pray that I won’t spend the next two days a weepy (feverish) mess thinking about him leaving. I am determined to just enjoy the next few days of him being here, and then stay blissfully busy while he’s gone. It’s going to be fantastic. (see, this is me convincing myself… nice, isn’t it?).

And while you’re praying, pray for the folks that Mr. Right and our head pastor will be meeting with. They’re headed to work out some logistics so that our church can bring teams for mission trips later this year. It’s a fantastic opportunity, and I am can’t wait to hear all about it when he gets home.

And thanks to my blog friends (Ashleigh) who have so generously offered to hang out with me while he’s gone. Looks like I’ll have a full social calendar next week, and soon I’ll tackle the following week. It’s going to be non-stop chick flicks and quilting and hanging out with girlfriends.

New stuff, old stuff

Lot’s of news on the “new” and “old” front:

We sold our truck. And in true Mr. Right fashion, by the end of the transaction he was besties with the college kid who bought it. We sold it to a missionary kid from South Africa, and this was his first car, which made it sweet. Even sweeter because WE SOLD THE TRUCK!
We think we may have found our new car. A used-but-decked-out Sequoia, complete with DVD players and leather interior. And room for one… or two… or three car seats in the back. You know, in case we ever need them. (Note – we have no need for them now, so don’t even ask). Even better… we’re going to pay cash for it (thanks Dave Ramsey). Fingers crossed that we might get it Friday – if not, then we’ll wait and find something after Mr. Right gets home from his big trip.
We bought a new, gigantic ottoman. We’ve been throwing around the idea of selling our leather couch and love seat and replacing it with a big leather sectional. I always swore I’d never own a sectional, but they are so comfy, and we don’t really fit very well on if we want to lay together on the sofa and watch a movie together. However, we found this ottoman when we were buying our bed frame last week, and when you push it up to the couch, it’s more like a giant chaise lounge, and it’s super comfy! And, an ottoman is much cheaper than buying a new sectional. We laughed, because we’ve added lot’s of new pieces to our house this year, but this is one of the only ones we’ve actually purchased together. Everything else has been thrifted/handed down/generously given to us. 
Speaking of which… our next big house projects are going to include (1) new shelving for my laundry room and (2) extending our back patio and building a pergola. I had to sacrifice my beloved rose bushes, which were in the way, but it will all be worth it by summer. In the meantime, I need to use my new Instagram feed to take pictures of all of our new home projects – we’ve been busy!
I wore this old dress to a wedding last weekend… our third wedding in a month. I absolutely love weddings – and I cry at most all of them. This wedding was on a particularly chilly night and at the last minute I opted to borrow my sister’s dress… which happens to be the bridesmaid dress from my own wedding. So for all those brides who say “And the best part is, you could wear this dress again,” I’m the one bride who actually meant it… see? I just paired it with some sparkly heels and this little beaded cardigan that didn’t fit for most of last year, but thanks to the half marathon fits once again! Hooray! To celebrate I may wear this cardigan every day next week. Would that be weird?

I did the most patriotic thing a civilian can do

According to the video they showed at the beginning of jury duty selection on Friday, serving on a jury is the most patriotic thing a civilian can do. I guess it must rank right above voting, wearing a flag lapel pin, and watching FOX News.

Since I didn’t get chosen for the jury, I guess that makes me a somewhat patriotic person who was chosen last for the PE volleyball game. Or something like that.

Here’s my other thoughts on my two-day service:

1. Reporting for jury selection was surprisingly efficient. The bailiff who conducted it had a sense of humor, didn’t talk down to us, and spoke to us with respect. I was pleasantly surprised.

2. I was wonderfully amused by the “welcome to jury duty” educational video. They pulled all sorts of movie and TV courtroom clips… I was in vintage Law & Order heaven.


3. I was randomly selected to serve on the same day as one of my friends from church. Sitting through jury selection is a lot more fun when you have someone else to talk to. And it’s a lot more fun when you bring a copy of US Weekly.

4. After my name was called, I was assigned to a panel of 24 people and asked to fill out an information sheet for my judge. Questions included “What’s your favorite television show” (The Bachelor, The Middle… so obviously they must think I’m extremely smart). “Have you ever been the victim of a crime” (the guy next to me, wearing his finest gang gear, wrote in “House got shot at”). And… ar

5. Our jury panel got called back Monday for the voir dire process. And guess who the defense attorney was… look familiar?

Yep, it’s the lady from the billboards.

Awesome.

And the leg hiked up in the skirt… I don’t even have words…

6. After a lecture on Friday by the bailiff about the importance of being early to court, our judge/attorneys made us wait in the hall for over an hour past our start time (plus I had gotten there 30 minutes early out of fear of being late). Nobody bothered to stick their head out and let us know that we’d have to wait… for an hour. Nobody apologized once we started for keeping us sitting on wooden benches in the hallway for an hour with no updates. It would have been nice for someone to at least acknowledge that we’re valued enough to let us know to expect a delay, so I could know if I have time to run to the bathroom or go grab a soda from one of the machines.

7. The prosecuting attorneys were probably my age younger than me. And did a terrible job in voir dire. They would ask questions in such a way that none of us could really understand what they were asking. They were poor communicators.

8. The defense attorney was quite intense. She scared me a little. She memorized all of the jurors’ names and every time I heard “Don’t you agree, Mrs. Right?” I would wince a little, as if I was the one on the stand. It was kind of like high school when you hoped the teacher wouldn’t call on you in class. She lectured us on how DWI arrests, if left undefended, could lead to tyranny in America, and that as a juror we were the bedrock of freedom (or something to that effect), and how only 1 in every 100 DWIs leads to death, so we shouldn’t choose to trade our freedom for safety.

9. It turns out that a baptist minister’s wife who happens to be related to a cop isn’t a very attractive juror for a DWI case. Imagine that.

10. I made $40 for my two days of service… just enough to get a deluxe pedicure at my favorite spot.

Thank you, America! It was a pleasure serving you.