Author / Bethe

by Bethe

Strangely Quiet

Goodness me, it’s been more than two months since I wrote last. Not to worry, the reason I haven’t written anything is because I’ve been so gloriously busy enjoying life that I haven’t had the time or desire to write much. I’ve noticed that whenever I date someone, my blog seems to go dark… probably because I have someone who will let me prattle off everything that’s going on in my head, and there’s no need to recount it twice. And thus you, my blog reading friends, must suffer.

But this special someone isn’t just anybody… and the silence won’t last forever. I must get back to writing, if for no other reason, so as not to let my writing muscles atrophy simply because I’m having fun.

Since I last wrote, I have sunned myself on beaches on two different continents. I’ve trekked out to West Texas AND East Texas, had more romantic dinners than I can count, spent time with some amazing friends, made some new ones, and lived a few adventures. The highlight of my summer was a week-long mission trip to Colombia – my first trip to South America, and my first big mission trip since high school. It was an amazing experience which I plan to recount on here as soon as I get a free moment.
And in between all the thrills of an absolutely lovely summer, I’ve seen first-hand God do some crazy-big things in my life, and in the lives of people closest to me. We sure do serve a pretty amazing God, don’t we?
More later…
by Bethe

Watermelon on a warm summer night


For me, summer tastes like watermelon. And Sonic strawberry milkshakes. It smells like softball dirt. And suntan lotion. It feels like bare feet on cool grass, and it looks like fireworks.

Which means that summer is here, and I am already reveling in its goodness. Tonight after a pedicure (one of my very favorite things) I ran to the grocery store to pick up coffee and milk… because goodness knows what would have happened if I had sleepily stumbled over to my coffee maker at 6:30 tomorrow morning only to find that I didn’t have enough Cinnamon Spice Dunkin Donuts coffee to make a pot. Let’s just say it would have been horrible. So I ran to the store, and there it was: a display of ripe watermelons, right there at the door, just begging to go home with me. And they were ON SALE.
There really was no other option but to stick one in my shopping basket. I was so excited by my summer discovery that I completely forgot to pick up the milk, but never fear, I came home with TWO packages of coffee. Disaster averted.
I went home and cut myself a huge slice of watermelon, turned on some classical music, curled up on my couch and finished my latest book, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. It’s one of the biggest fads in the literary world at the moment, and I must say that I loved every minute of it. For all my reading friends, it’s a must-have on your summer reading list.
And it’s even better if you pair it with a watermelon and classical music. Trust me on this.
by Bethe

She’s alive!

Boy, I stink at this whole blogging thing these days. I would apologize and feel bad about it, except that I don’t, so I won’t. There’s so many exciting things going on with life at the moment. If only I could tell you everything, but some things will have to wait. So I’ll just wink at you through my computer instead.
In the meantime I’ll post a picture from my last dinner party – this was my second annual Easter lunch. Last year we had about 20 people, this year we upped it to 30. I’m not sure if that means next year I should plan for 40, but if that happens I think we’re going to have to add another wing to the house, or serve meals in the bathroom, because this year I had folks squished into every spare nook and cranny of my house I could possibly find. And I loved it.
I’m already gearing up for my next party – a wedding shower brunch for a dear friend. Oh the possibilities! Of course, that’s not until June, so just this past week I started getting the itch to have some of my Sunday School girls over for a big spaghetti dinner on my back porch in the next week or two. Maybe that will hold me over…
by Bethe

10 Quirky Things About Me

My family shows love by bringing each other drinks at work.
Just about everybody in my family has backed into each other. I backed into my sister’s ex-boyfriend. Then my mom backed into me with Sarah’s car. Then Sarah backed into Lindsay’s car. It’s dangerous to park in our driveway.
I collect sassy aprons. I’ve found it makes cooking more fun.
One of my great joys in life is throwing a party. Because of this I collect dishes and could probably host a sit-down dinner for 30 without borrowing anything.
I carry a little yellow inhaler on my person 24/7. You will NEVER find me without it.
I love fireworks, Christmas lights, and gift wrap.
My current food addictions include pears, avocados, and chocolate pop tarts.
You will never see me eat cheesecake, meat on a bone, or fish. Unless the fish is sushi, and then I love it.
I can never remember if Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are cities or states.
by Bethe

Yes, still here

Hello friends. It’s me, the girl who never ever writes anymore. I’m still here, still kicking. I’m just having more fun than any girl should be allowed to have. Some days I find myself feeling so busy, and then I reflect back on my last three years of life, and I am so thankful that now when I’m busy, it’s because I’m doing things that I tremendously enjoy. I have a countdown feature on my beloved iPhone, and it tells me that it’s been 77 glorious days since I graduated. Let me tell you, life after school is pure heaven.
I survived working another marathon. This one just about wiped me out, yet helping out brings me a lot of satisfaction. After five years, I’ve come to really like the people who run this event and look forward to it all year. And working the finish line yet again gave me “the bug” to run a big race. For the first time in my life, I felt the desire to run a full marathon… all 26.2 miles. We’ll see if the bug is still alive and well come this fall, or if it has been replaced by yet another new hobby. If nothing else, I’m still determined to run a Half in honor of that milestone birthday of mine this fall.
I saw a rodeo at Cowboys stadium with my sister’s community group. After watching these bull riders, I’m seriously considering permanently trading in my stilettos for my pink cowgirl boots.
I recently met the governor. He came to town to stump for my state representative, and since my job has a strong community relations aspect, I stopped by to do some networking and represent my employer. I had to elbow my way through a bunch of old republicans to finagle this picture.
My sister and I saw my very favorite band, Needtobreathe, play at the House of Blues the other night. It may have been one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. I love all their songs, and they’re ten times better live than on their CDs. We had standing-room-only floor tickets, and my fire cracker sister looked at me and said, “We’re pushing our way to the front… follow me.” And then my super petite sister elbowed her way through a bunch of huge guys until we were only a few feet from the stage. I was so proud. What a fun sister bonding night.
I’ll leave you with the greatness of Needtobreathe.

by Bethe

Book Nerd


I’m such a book nerd. All that reading fun had to be put on hold for a few years while I was in school, but ever since I graduated, it’s back to my old nose-in-the-book ways. It’s one of the few new year’s resolutions that I’ve actually kept.

In the first seven weeks of 2010 I’ve finished six books and started two more:

Forgiveness: Breaking the Power of the Past by Kay Arthur and David & BJ Lawson

I taught this in my Sunday School class and absolutely loved it. It pointed out something I already knew too well… that forgiveness is a difficult but great act of obedience, and if we can muster up the courage to do it, we will be blessed. It has fantastic scripture references that could change your life. Go read it now.

This book reminded me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a gift from fellow book nerd DB a few years back. South of Broad is a very well written book about a group of social outcasts who survive their senior year together in the 1960s and then reunite again 20 years later to save their friend who is dying of AIDS. The book was beautiful but contained some harsh language and subject matter that was unnecessary. It dealt with race issues, abuse, class distinctions, and a whole mess of other things.
I’m not going to lie… I was so glad to finally finish this book because it was B-O-R-I-N-G. I’m a huge fan of the classics, but these characters grated on my very last nerve. The writing was fantastic, but I hated everybody in the book, which made for a painfully long read. But this has been on my “to read” list for about 8 years now, so I’m glad to have finally conquered it. Now it can go back to collecting dust on my book shelf.


The Chronicles of Narnia
I’m listening to the entire collection of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia books on CD. I “read” them as I work in my kitchen, which makes cooking dinner (and doing dishes) so much more delightful. So far I’ve finished the first three: The Magician’s Nephew, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Horse and His Boy. My mom read me these books as a kid, and it’s fun to go back and relive the adventure as an adult.
What I’m reading now:
Another loaner from my dear mom and resident book expert (she read something like 45 books last year), I’m only a few chapters in but am already loving this story of a few black maids in Georgia in the early 1960s and their interactions with the white families they work for. The book is written in a black southern dialect that’s thick as honey and beautiful to read. I’ll let you know what I think when I finish it.
Everybody knows I’m a sucker for a good Beth Moore bible study, so when this book came out I couldn’t resist buying it, even if it IS the more expensive hardback edition. Since I’m a girl, I automatically deal with crazy insecurities every day (as do all my girlfriends – even my most perfect, gorgeous, well-adjusted girlfriends… they just do a good job of hiding it). Not only that, but I’m a crazy people-pleasing, approval-craving kind of girl, so this should be fun. I just picked it up today, so give me about two weeks and I’ll be quoting you all sorts of scripture on the subject… watch out.
So, my friends, what are you reading? I’d love some recommendations to add to my ever-growing Amazon wish-list.
by Bethe

Valentines Fun

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I came up with a list of some of my funniest, most embarrassing or most awkward dates.
The Money Date
On one of my first dates in high school, the heart throb of my youth group asked me out to dinner and a movie. Only he didn’t bring enough cash, and in my naiveté I hadn’t thought to bring money of my own, so we had to leave the movie ticket line, drive to his parents’ house, and borrow money from them. You can bet that I have never gone on a date since without plenty of cash, just in case.
The Imodium Date
I had been dating a guy for only a few weeks when we went to a little sandwich shop to grab lunch. Halfway through the meal I felt horribly nauseous and had to excuse myself to the bathroom. Once there, I wanted to curl up in a ball on the floor of that nasty public restroom and die a slow death. When I finally emerged after ten LONG minutes of humiliation, my new boyfriend offered to take me home, but I had to hang my head in shame and admit that I wasn’t sure I could make the drive home just yet. So we had to awkwardly stay at the restaurant while I managed to become ill several more times before I could brave the ride home and crawl into my bed. I was so surprised to hear from him again.
Someone didn’t do their homework
On a recent Valentine’s day, a guy surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. And then an hour later, another guy surprised me with another bouquet of flowers. Apparently guy #2 didn’t do his homework to check to see if I was dating anybody.
The Caulking Date
I had to go to a $500 a plate black-tie gala as part of my job, needed a date, and didn’t have any good guy friends I could bring. My sweet friend offered to set me up with one of her law school buddies, but there was one hitch: he had a golf tournament and wouldn’t have time to go home and clean up before our big night out, so he would need to shower and get ready at my house. At the time I lived in an old rent house with a very old shower, so I spent half my Saturday scrubbing and caulking the shower tiles so they’d look good for the boy. He finally showed up at my house, all sweaty and dirty, I answered the door in my nicest black formal dress, and after a quick introduction I showed him to my room. While he showered, my two roommates and I just sat on our couch in the living room and giggled at the weirdness of a strange boy in my bedroom (I was NEVER in the bedroom with him). About 20 minutes later he emerged in his tuxedo, we hopped in the pumpkin carriage and headed to the ball. It was just like Cinderella, but with a caulking gun.
The Eskimo
My first boyfriend in college was was an atheist eskimo. Trust me when I tell you that it ended the moment I discovered my Alaskan friend was an atheist.
The Punch
Once on a date, my boyfriend accidentally punched me in the face. We had snuck in late to a movie, it was pitch-black, and as he whipped off his jacket, his fist hit me HARD in the eye. Of course it was a freak accident, but he felt horrible for the rest of the evening and begged me not to tell my dad. Lucky for him, the bruising was minimal.
The Spill
I dated a guy who was absolutely in love with his car. He put a car cover on it EVERY SINGLE DAY when he went to work – that thing was spotless. So you can imagine my horror (and his) when one hot summer day my rocky road ice cream cone melted ALL OVER the inside of his car. A chocolate, sticky mess everywhere.
The Mojo Killer
I was at a networking luncheon and a handsome stranger (sans wedding ring) got in the lunch line behind me. I was trying my hardest to look desirable yet cool when an old colleague came up to me, right in front of him, and said, “Oh Bethe… we’re all worried that you’re NEVER going to find someone. Are you EVER going to get married????” Awesome.
Probably A Bad Match
On my most recent blind date, I knew things probably weren’t going well when he (1) refused to talk about church, (2) threw down a few cuss words, (3) talked about getting so drunk that he had to walk home the night before, and (4) told me he drove to Dallas three nights a week to play in various kick ball leagues. Really… kickball?? Luckily I was able to drown my disappointment in molten chocolate cake, so it wasn’t a total waste.
And for the most random moment in my dating history: two Christmases ago I got asked out by one of Santa’s elves. Seriously. I said no.
by Bethe

Favorites from Hosea

Tonight was one of those evenings that I wish I could bottle and live over and over. After work I went for a 3-mile run around the lake near my house, then came home and cooked a big dinner. After dinner, I turned on some classical music and settled in to finish studying Hosea. What a wonderful and yet difficult book to study. I’ve been plugging along with the help of my trusty Believer’s Bible Commentary, along with the study notes in my Bible, and a good bit of flipping back and forth to look up cross references. I think I only “got” a small bit of what’s in there, but what I did understand was a complete blessing. Some of my favorites from tonight (chapters 11-14):
“It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.” (Hosea 11:3-4)
I love those visual images of a God who is so intimately involved with his people. Of course, these people completely screwed up. But if He treated them like that, I wonder how He treats us? Does He maybe bend down to feed me? I hope I’m not like these people, who did not realize or give Him credit for healing them, but instead insulted Him by worshiping idols.
“For I am God, and not man –the Holy One among you.” (Hosea 11:9b)
Just in case you were wondering who God was… I love that. I love that I serve a poetic God, and yet at times He can be so extremely blunt. It’s like He’s saying, HELLO… I AM NOT MAN. I AM THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE, SO POWERFUL AND HOLY AND MIGHTY THAT YOU CAN’T EVEN CATCH A GLIMPSE OF MY FACE LEST YOU DIE FROM MY SHEER RADIANCE. IT’S HIGH TIME YOU LISTEN AND GIVE ME THE FEAR THAT I DESERVE!
Sometimes we need to hear that, don’t we? To be reminded that God’s not my genie, not my pet, not just my casual pal. That He leads me with cords of human kindness and bends down to feed me, but that He’s also God and not man, the Holy One among us.
“I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me.” (Hosea 14:8b)
He really does get all the credit for anything good that comes from me. And, I love any verse where God promises to answer prayers. They’re everywhere in the Bible.
“Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” (Hosea 11:9)
Which kind of reminds me of this: “The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous, but it is the ruin of those who do evil.” (Proverbs 10:29)

So that’s Hosea. A book that terrifies me, and yet encourages me, wows me, and blesses me.
by Bethe

Pancakes & Jesus

For years now my happy little Saturday morning ritual starts with me rolling out of bed, making coffee, cooking homemade pancakes, and then spending a few hours studying for my Sunday School lesson. When it’s warm, I study on my back porch and enjoy the fresh morning air. In the winter, I spread everything out on my kitchen table and face out my back window. The combination of good food, warm coffee, and time with Jesus is one of my very favorite things in the whole world.

Right now I’m teaching a series on forgiveness, and let me tell you, if we made a list of all the things I’m good at, this would be at the very bottom. God seems to magnify this fault of mine whenever I teach on the subject. It’s only fitting, because nobody wants to learn from a hypocrite. But the two or three times I’ve taught a series on this subject, I find myself struggling with my own ability to forgive, and yet am blessed as I lean on Him more and more to wash me clean and use my faults as another reminder of why I need Jesus so darn badly.
Here’s some verses that have nothing to do with forgiveness, but verses which I’m currently memorizing, and thought I’d share. They’re great encouragement to my heart.
“Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
John 13:7
“For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:9
by Bethe

How I almost killed my dog… again.

So you may remember that Harley the Wonder Schnoodle had a near-death experience back in November. I came home from church to find that he had gotten into my trash and eaten a few scoops of coffee grounds. Turns out that coffee is one of the deadliest people foods known to dogs. Waaaay worse than chocolate.
So $600, an overnight stay at the puppy hospital, and a good stomach pumping later (plus many tears and some minor hyperventilating on my part), Harley the Wonder Schnoodle was back to his old self. Unfortunately, he didn’t learn his lesson.
And neither did I. I’ve been so good at keeping the door to my kitchen pantry closed. Every time he starts sniffing around the trash I threaten him with a, “If you think I’m going to spend another $600 to pump your stomach if you get in this trash, you’ve clearly mistaken, mister! This time you’re on your own!” And then he gives me that guilty, knowing look of acknowledgement with those sad brown eyes. I mean, surely he understands me… right?
Unfortunately, no. Last night I walked in the door of my house to find trash everywhere. In my kitchen…
In my office…
In my living room…
In my dining room…
And of course, there were a week’s worth of coffee beans in that trash can.
My first reaction was simply to lay my head on my counter, close my eyes, and say, “No. Please no. Not again. I’m having friends over for dinner in a few minutes… this can’t happen now.”
And then I called my vet, hoisted Harley in my car and drove him, crying all the way (me, not him) to the animal hospital 30 minutes from my house. Along the way, I managed to somehow spill a glass of water in my lap. And my cell phone died. I would have charged it but I dropped my car charger in a cup of milk last week. When I finally carried Harley into the animal hospital (with no collar, no leash… I had forgotten both), I had tears streaming down my face, mascara smudged, and a giant wet spot on my skirt (definitely looked like either Harley or I had had an accident). Probably not my finest moment.
The people at my animal hospital are saints. They never once scolded me when I told them we’d been in just two months before for the same exact reason. Nobody judged me for my wet lap. Nobody looked at me funny when my eyes almost swelled shut after I had an allergic reaction to all the dog/cat hair in the tiny exam room. The vet saw us immediately, and we were in and out in less than 30 minutes. And this time for only $200. Turns out a little bit of induced vomiting and some IV fluids and the Wonder Schnoodle was a new dog. And we know that this time the culprit wasn’t coffee, but ham, which can cause pancreatitis in dogs. I’m learning so much these days.
Once I got Harley safely home, and I knew he wasn’t going to die, the dog got a good scolding. You can see where he hides when he’s trying to avoid a spanking.
And you’ll be pleased to know that I’m now the proud owner of a $100 heavy-duty steel trash can (with lid) that is impossible for a 20-pound schnoodle to knock over. At least, I hope.