Author / Bethe

by Bethe

Go ahead, stay at home

I’m so behind. This is a national holiday week, and I didn’t even buy a Hallmark card to mark the occasion! What will my friends think? Oh, what a social snafu.

According to ABC, this is National Stay At Home Week. It conveniently coincides with the premiere of the new television season. So just in case you had planned to have quality family time around the dinner table, volunteer for your neighborhood patrol group, feed the homeless or get some exercise…

You’ll have to cancel your plans! Pluck your favorite sweatpants from the bottom of your dirty clothes pile, plop yourself down on your couch, grab that bag of potato chips, and enjoy the greatness of Desperate Housewives, a six-hour marathon of Dancing with the Stars, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, and that new family favorite, Opportunity Knocks (which looks dumb, but what do I know?). Watching TV is a whole lot better than reading with your kids, solving the energy crisis or ending world hunger. You can do that next week. This week is a holiday! Time to sit lazily on your rear end and be irresponsible! If not, I question your patriotism.

And for those of you who are a bit embarrassed that you forgot to buy me a gift for such a grand occasion… you can make up for it by leaving me a comment telling me which show(s) YOU can’t wait to watch this season! In case anybody is wondering… don’t call me Thursday at 8:00 p.m., because I have a date with The Office.

by Bethe

World’s Record (for me)

Today my training partner and I set out to run 9 or 10 miles. We got up at the crack of dawn (my alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday… yikes!) and kicked off our run with a group of other crazy individuals around 6:00.

Neither of us knew the course, which wound its way through the ritzy neighborhoods of Fort Worth, an area I don’t typically frequent. The rest of our group wanted to run 12, and when it was time for us to separate and set off on our own for the “shorter” 9-mile run, the directions they gave us were so complicated that we knew there was a 99.99 percent chance we would get lost. The thought of roaming the neighborhoods of Fort Worth, forcing ourselves to run further than we wanted to, was daunting, so we gave in to the peer pressure and did 12 with the rest of the group.

My legs have never been so tired in my entire life. However tired I have been before, I can multiply that by two, and that’s how tired my poor little legs were at the end of TWELVE miles. But it’s also really cool to say I’ve now run TWELVE miles. Gee whiz, that’s a really long way.

My favorite part of group runs is the breakfast celebration afterward. Eating pastries, or waffles, or sausage, or anything else that’s unhealthy is so much fun after you have burned 1200 calories.

The other good thing about getting up early to go for a long run is the LOOOOONG nap you get to take afterward. Sigh. That part is good too.

by Bethe

No

I’m teaching a Sunday School series on a fantastic book called Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer. It’s absolutely wonderful–go buy it today, it will change your life.

God has spoken to me in many different ways over the years, but this week he spoke very loudly. Lately it seems like a lot of my prayers aren’t being answered the way I want them to. In fact, I feel like I get a bunch of big fat “no’s” and I really hate that. So God and I have been duking it out, and I have stubbornly continued to pray the same prayers over and over, just in case maybe he’ll change his mind. It’s one of those, “God, pretty please, with sugar on top, can we do things my way?” prayers.

And then this week he hit me in the head with a 2-by-4. Sometimes I need that. Through two different situations I heard him tell me, “I know you really want Plan A, but don’t you trust that I have a better plan for you? Won’t you give me a chance to show you what it is?”

And then I opened my Bible and read this… it’s God speaking to Samuel after the Israelites demanded that they wanted to be like all of the other countries and have a “real” king, and not a judge. God tries to dissuade them, but they won’t listen, and demand a king.

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so
he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are
saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as
their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until
this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now
listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will
reign over them will do.”

And then Samuel tells all those Israelite folks that a king will require their sons to be soldiers, put their daughters to work, make them pay taxes, take their best flocks and make them slaves… but the Israelites don’t care, because they want what THEY want… a king.

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a
king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us
and to go out before us and fight our battles.” When Samuel heard all that the
people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered, “Listen to them
and give them a king.” (1 Samuel 8:6-9, 19-22)

God told the Israelites “no,” but they wouldn’t accept it. So finally, they got what they wanted… even though it wasn’t God’s optimal plan for them. In fact, Saul was a disaster.

The Lord has told me ‘no’ many times, and usually I whine and belly-ache and throw pity parties. Then, when he blesses me with something better than what I had hoped for, I feel guilty for being such a whiney thing in the process.

During my first job after college, I begged God to bring me a new, better job, working for a bigger company (and more money… because I could barely afford my rent!). I interviewed for a great job, but he said ‘no.’ And three months later, I was offered the job I have now, which I absolutely love. His way was better.

When I was at my old rent house, one of my roommates decided to move out. I begged God to bring me a roommate so I wouldn’t have to move. Moving seemed like the absolute WORST case scenario. But God didn’t bring me a roommate. Because I was forced to move, it sparked the idea of buying a house, and seven months later (after living with mom and dad and saving all of my money) I had built myself a brand-new house! His way was better.

Or, a few years ago, I prayed that God would help me find a new church, because I really didn’t want to stay at my old one. And God said, “No, you’re not leaving… in fact, I have a new ministry for you!” That was almost three years ago, right before I started teaching my Sunday School class, which I love. His way is always better.

I love that God calls us to be persistent, but sometimes, his way is just better. The answer is sometimes “no.” It’s nice to be reminded of that sometimes. I know that his “no” is probably the best thing that could happen to me. And I need to listen.

“My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the Lord. “And my
ways are far beyond anything you can imagine.”(Isaiah 55:8)

by Bethe

Computer Problems

For awhile there I was updating my blog daily. That screeched to a halt this week when I encountered major computer problems. I thought I was going to be forced to buy a new computer (aak!), but one of my IT coworkers came to the rescue and gave me some scotch-tape options to keep my old computer humming for a little while longer. I know I’ll need to buy a computer in the next year or so, but I’d prefer to save up for something cool, like one of those iMacs.

It’s such a helpless feeling to not know how to fix your computer. Thank you Tyrone for coming to my rescue! Let’s hope this works… if you don’t hear from me, you’ll know it’s because my computer is giving me fits.

Today was a fun day at work. One of the boards I serve on met at one of our local TV news stations. Afterward I got a tour and met a weatherman, the news producer, and ran into a couple of reporter friends. I have been pitching a lot of stories lately, so hopefully my visit will help keep that ball rolling. And it’s fun to sit here in bed and watch the same news set that I walked around today. Sometimes my job is really cool.

Tonight I went to dinner with Mandi, my best friend from elementary school. We met the summer before first grade and immediately decided that not only would we be best friends, but that we could pass as twins. We never noticed that Mandi was tall with brown hair, and I was short with blonde hair. Details like that didn’t matter. Ever since our first summer together, which was spent swimming and playing on the slip-and-slide, hanging out in her “secret” clubhouse (aka–a finished attic her mom converted into a playroom) and picking out all matching back-to-school clothes, our friendship has continued. We don’t see each other very often now, but it’s so nice to see an old friend turn out to be just as amazing now as she was when she was 6.

I’m behind on posting photos… here’s some from about two weeks ago, when a group of friends went to the rodeo. It was so fun to dress up like a cowgirl, although I’m not sure that “Bethe” and “cowgirl” really go together. But it was fun dressing up… kind of like Halloween.

by Bethe

First quilt is finished!

My first quilt is complete! If this quilt were a dog, it would be a sad, scraggly mutt that walks with a limp and is so ugly, he’s cute. It would be a mutt with bristles and burs stuck in his fur, and feet that track in mud all over your white carpet. But the more you know that mutt, the more you love him and realize that he’s way better than any purebred. Because he’s yours.

My quilt is kind of like that. Sad, scraggly, a little lop-sided, but something made out of love. It was birthed through sacrifice (namely an unfortunate facial injury), but I’m proud of it, and I enjoyed making it. Here are some photos (if you squint, it almost looks good).

I have already bought the supplies for quilt #2. No old lady patterns for me, this one is going to be pink and brown and sparkley.

by Bethe

Wednesday Ketchup

Apparently the “p” key on my keyboard is no longer working properly. It works, but I have to Pound it, and sometimes it still doesn’t work. It’s just lovely… my computer is slowly falling apart.
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Thank you to everyone who has sent me encouragement or prayed for me over the past few days. You’ll be happy to know my pity party was VERY temporary, and I’m back to my old self and feeling ready to conquer the world again. And, my quilting injury (on my face) is starting to heal nicely. It’s nice to have friends and family who care.
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I went to church tonight. I love my church. I love the people, I love their focus on ministry, I love that they’re Bible believing, outward focused, servant minded… and fun. I have grown a ton in my 4.5 years (gasp) that I’ve been there, thanks to some wonderful mentors and some encouraging friends who spur me on. So tonight I was at our singles’ worship/Bible study, and I walked out drinking my water bottle. Only when I got to my car, I realized I had left my water in the car. Which means I took and DRANK someone else’s water bottle! EEEEEEWWWW! Excuse me while I scrape my tongue and gargle some ammonia. I have no idea whose it was. Bleh. Gross. Shiver. Gasp.
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Tonight my beloved Rangers were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Not that I was delusional enough to think that they had a chance of making the playoffs, but something deep inside of me still felt a twinge of disappointment. Another year lost.

Okay, I’m over it now. I’m sure next year will be our year. Just as soon as we get some pitching…

by Bethe

I’m throwing a pity party

I throw corporate parties for a living, throw parties for friends at home… so excuse me while I throw myself a short pity party. I promise, it won’t last long.

I had one of “those days” that left my blood boiling and me biting my tongue, and my lip, and my fist in an attempt to not say something I would later regret. It was one of those days that I could only survive by quoting my favorite Bible verses, over… and over… and over.

Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Ephesians 4:1

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Philippians 1:27

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:5

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer to everyone.
Colossians 4:6

But now my bad day is over, and I can curl up on my couch and hide from all of the stresses and frustrations and worries and pretend none of them ever happened. I’m going to drink my herbal tea, have some ice cream (because I really DO deserve it today), and watch my new Office Season 4 DVD (hooray! I finally bought it!).

And tomorrow, I will go out and reclaim my good attitude. I will conquer the world! And I will wear cute shoes while I do it!

by Bethe

Hyperventilating before bedtime

I teach Sunday School in the morning. It’s 10:45 the night before. My lesson is done. My handout is done. I go to print them out…

and my computer has a nervous breakdown. Which causes me to have a nervous breakdown. First it won’t print, then my computer won’t turn on, then it finally does turn on, but still no printer. Or internet. I started to hand-write my lesson (who hand-writes anything these days?) and finally got my internet to work. Luckily, sister Sarah came to the rescue–I have emailed her both documents, and she is kindly going to print them and bring them in the morning.

But I’m left with a feeling of utter helplessness. It’s one of those moments where I would just like to cry. But I’m a big girl, so I won’t. At least, I probably won’t. I don’t know how to fix my computer, or my printer. I only hope that if I leave it alone for a few days, it will miraculously heal on its own. Because otherwise I don’t know what to do. Other than set fire to it, throw it out of a moving vehicle, or use it as a very expensive paperweight.

I’m going to go finish my nervous breakdown and try to catch some sleep.