Lights out - Uh-huh

Bob and I aren't exactly avid hockey fans. We are fairweather at best. I recall a time in my life when Nikki Washburn and I were avid fans - for me mostly because Craig Simpson was cute and so was the majority of our high school hockey team. I was SOOO NOT into hockey that I waited after a game to have Craig Simpson sign my jersey. The up side was that I was briefly seen on Evening Magazine with Simpson signing my back. The down side is that I missed (read didn't care) to have the less attractive Mario Lemeuix sign it who walked out just behind him. Big mistake in hindsight. Who's ever heard of Craig Siompson 20 years later?

Later in life I watched a few games and kept track because my neighbors Chuck and Marrene Meckler were big fans.

When Bob's friend and ICC worship leader, Brandon, started talking about the winning ways of the Pens this season, Bob caught a little bit of the fever. And since about mid-April, Bob has paid attention. And since the Penguins were pitted against the Philadelphia Flyers in the playoffs, hometown of my boss/radiologist, I caught the competitive fever too.

So we've been watching. And last night was the third game of the Stanley Cup Finals back here in town. 0-2 we were crossing our fingers because hey - it's the 'Burgh. It was awesome to watch the players make a break in the first period and score against a seasoned and skilled team like the Detroit Red Wings. The second period had just begun and they were on a roll.......

Lights out. We lost power. For two hours. The whole rest of the game.

And today we woke up to news that they had won. The third period possibly one of the best in hockey history.

I guess we were just not meant to be avid fans.

We'll try again on Saturday night:)

God was there

Well, the first service with Bob and I leading worship is over and God was there. It was awesome because He was there, pushing us both to look vertically - not horizontally and when we did - it was to His glory.

"I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord - the maker of heaven and earth."
Psalm 121:1-2

Testing - one, two

Well, tonight we had our final home practice. I think we were both on edge. Bob is nervous because there's no one to cover his mistakes and I'm nervous because - well, the same thing. But as I was typing that, it occured to me that we do. We have Jesus Christ covering for our mistakes - and WAAAAAYY bigger ones than a missed note. We have greatest accompaniment you could ask for - the creator of music Himself.

There will be much praying before. I'll let you know how it goes.

Gas Prices

GULP - gas has officially hit $4 in Western PA this weekend. It is unnerving, to say the least, to watch as the price of absolutely everything goes up when you are already in a major penny pinching mode. It has had me thinking all day - about visits to the family, our tenth anniversary (as yet unplanned), how we can cut any further just to make ends meet, and other family and friends that are either in jobs very vulnerable to this cost increase or in situations with similarly small margins for this kind of budget crunch. Another area of trust and prayer. I am grateful that I work very close to home. I am grateful that we have two tiny cars. I am grateful that Bob's buddy sometimes rides him to the job site. In God all things are possible - loaves and fishes, loaves and fishes.....

Hope that you all are finding ways to cope. If you have any ideas, please share. My newest ideas have been all Aldi's all the time, no junk food, trying to quit smoking and a garden.

Yellowpages.com

Doing the right thing is H-A-R-D. And this has been a really challenging test. I have been fighting to try and resolve this issue with this company for the last seven weeks to no avail. I patiently followed up with our account rep and his boss. And nothing. Before I called the first time, I felt compelled to do this the right way - approach it professionally and honestly and without throwing a fit. I've prayed about it over the last seven weeks and still they are unwilling to budge to let us out of our 12 month contract despite the fact that Bob has received exactly zero calls. We made it clear we wanted to try and resolve this honorably and to keep our agreement but the complete lack of results has made it financially disastrous. We made call after call and made suggestions for an amicable dissolution. They would have none of it. And I got angrier and angrier that there is no requirement on their end to do ANYTHING! Anyway, I was a moment from putting a stop payment on our account when I read a devotional the other day on waiting on God. He works in his own time. Our time appears to be running out with the money but rather than rushing into a rash decision, I changed the payment arrangements and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and sent an email to our Congressman. I am still praying. I know that if God says no, it's for a greater yes...... Patience.....

A Sad Day for Steven Curtis Chapman

I am overwhelmed with sadness. This morning on the radio, I heard that the Chapman family lost their five year old daughter in a freak accident in their own driveway yesterday. Please pray for their family. I'm a fan of his music, had watched a Christmas movie this year that he was in and watched countless videos. In all of them he had a way of drawing you into his family and sharing the love his family had with his fans. Particularly the sharing he did about his family's adoption of those beautiful little girls.

http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/

A little prayer...

On Saturday Bob and I headed up to Casa de Clackerino for some work on the house. The stone guys hadn't finished up the side of the house that he needed to put the meter socket on so we were going to hope it was done. They are moving in tomorrow so the clock is ticking. But before we left I walked into the computer room and told him I thought we should pray together before we left and since I prayed on Monday when he had his bad day, it was his turn. He said okay, grabbed my hands and threw one up there. What a blessing. Just being able to type those words when I dreamed of a day that I could pray to my Father with my husband.......

And then later in the day when a number of things went right, we were able to reflect back on that prayer. Okay - so everything didn't go smoothly but in retrospect, it worked out okay. He got on allen wrench stuck on the end of a bolt from the meter socket. It was freakish and weird. I shouted like I had just won the big jackpot when I pulled it out and laughed that what we thought was "wedged" stuck appeared to be more suction stuck. Then he couldn't find where the numnut contractor put this pipe out to the temporary service. They cut it way short of the phone and cable pipes and Bob probably dug for a half hour. He lost his temper pretty handily and then voila'! He found it. Nothing went horribly wrong. Lots went pretty smooth and even those things that didn't, turned out fine in the end......

Weird dynamics

Right now I have restless mind syndrome. Common but a bit frustrated. Can't get to sleep. Thinking about lots of things.

One is that there's a certain someone - who will remain nameless - that puzzles me. I'm thinking that I'm puzzled because I don't know who I am when I'm around them. I like the person, admire and respect even. Like how they interact with others but when it comes to me, I am not sure how to take them. I'm not used to people not liking me but the me I turn into when I'm around this individual isn't very likable. I'm awkward and I feel like they bring out the worst in me. I feel competitive even though I'm not competing. I feel diminished and condescended to although I don't think that's the intention. So it cycles and I am worse the next time.

I need to pray about it. There's a thousand different lessons in it. And the fact that I'm not angry or resentful about it could mean that I'm starting to learn that you can practice agape love with folks that aren't your cup of tea. And with some prayer, I bet this "thing" goes away or at least becomes unnoticaeble. But for now it's on my mind.

Straight from audition to debut

Trust in Jesus. There have been so many opportunities to practice this over the last few months. And here is another. I remember longing for Bob and I to play and sing together and yet another wish God has fulfilled. Bob and I will be leading worship next week. And now that it's going to happen, I'm VERY nervous. Bob can handle it - no problem. And I'll be relying on him to help remind me that this is a God thing - not a Dena thing. I'll sound good by His grace and NOT my own doing. And as long as I concentrate on this being to the glory of God I know He will carry us. It's funny - in all my wishes, I relied on the talent God gave me to sing. And now that it's here - smile - my ability to sing a pleasant tune isn't enough and He's given me the chance to give the glory back to Him. How awesome.

Don't know what we'll be singing yet but I'll keep this up to date. Please pray for me. My trust in Him and the strength of my voice and my nerves through Him. Humility and trust. What a wonderful chance to show Him how much we love Him.

Nana Update

A quick update on our beloved Nana. I've been a bit remiss on this but truly no news has been good news. I had a good long talk with her last weekend on Mother's Day. She's had good days and bad but her overall health has been holding steady. But her mental state is the best news. This new found sense of playfulness has sustained. My grandmother seems to finally be understanding that she is worthy of love. Oh, she's still a little surprised at it but she's coming to accept it and it is allowing her to be the woman God created her to be. And it is a joy to watch.

All those pictures earlier this week were from the letter I sent her. Wanted her to know - particularly with our conversation - that we really appreciated everything. She wants to know where everything went and to whom and then that we appreciated it. So I hope that letter will help.

I'll do better with keeping you updated.

"Audition" Update

I just wanted to update that I passed with Brandon last night. He gave me the seal of approval. I kind of just sang along with them while they practiced - some melody but mostly harmony. We had some of the songs we practiced and he didn't even need to hear them. Who knows how they'll use the offer, but I think we can handle helping out with the summer band absence.

Oh and I heard this awesome song today that you have to check out. Natalie Grant - "I Will Not Be Moved." It is really a great song and it would be great to try out a song like this when the band returns in the fall.

GreenHouse!!!

I was so encouraged and excited about my plantings earlier this week that I thought I'd go for broke. My dining room table is now full of mini greenhouses. Flowers and vegetables. My hope is that I've just saved myself a bunch of money and the bonus is that I get to watch these little seeds become seedlings right before my eyes! This week I so enjoyed the miracle of watching a little seed pop up after only a few days. God can do miracles with tiny little seeds - imagine what He can do with a life!

A guy from work commented on the zinnia seeds that I planted from the ICC mother's day present in a cute little watering can. He said by the end of the summer he wanted to have a salad grown in my office. And it got me thinking. While I'm not sure that it would be socially acceptable to house my mini-greenhouses at work, I should try it at home. It's a time investment and it will mean I have to choose a spot and make myself a little garden -ugh! Hard work. But I'll enjoy it. I'll keep you updated. And I'll try and post some pictures later so you can check out my indoor garden!

Here's my list:

FLOWERS
marigolds
salvia
poppy
zinnia
snapdragons
wildflowers
gazania

VEGETABLES
beans
broccoli
lettuce
spinach
peppers
tomatoes
basil

Biggest Loser EIP Update

Breakthrough week after two weeks of no movement. I lost 4 pounds as of Friday! There was a time when it would have been more - then again in a time not long ago, I would have been upset that my metabolism wasn't at the level of even 10 years ago. But I'm pleased. And it's a step in the right direction. And after today when I acted as Bob's electrician's helper, it made it all the more clear that I simply cannot continue to lug around this extra weight. It makes me feel FAR older. Many other parts of me can hang. My knees cannot and it's upsetting. I have to take better care of myself consistently and that means changing my perception of my body to match it's current state.

The competition at work is really encouraging. We are divided into teams but it's great how all of us have banded together to help each other. It's the human condition and barring the one guy now involved, a female affliction that we are never happy where we are. And this has helped to focus me on my goal of getting to a healthier weight - not a hot weight :).....

But this week gave me a kick start. Yeehaw! Let's keep it going!

An Audition of Sorts

Last night my typical list of things to do got bumped for something unusual. Bob has worship band practice tonight and Brandon asked if I would come with tonight so he can hear me sing. ICC has a bit of a worship team conundrum for the summer. All the regulars but Bob are off to the ends of the earth for various summer activities and we are without a backup plan. So Bob suggested that we try and help out - guitar and voice to lead a few fill in weeks. So they want to hear how I sound. Presumably to make sure I don't sound like some of those American Idol wannabes on the first few shows. At first I was kind of backpedaling. I had a momentary lapse in confidence - what if I'm really not very good! It made me nervous and uneasy just to make it almost official. So Bob and I practiced several songs last night and I'm much more comfortable. I'm not saying I sound fantastic but I feel better and I think we could manage. Suffice it to say that he's a better guitar player than I am a singer.

I have to say it's actually kind of cool to work with a guitar. When you want to change key because the song is too low, Bob just capos the guitar and moves it up a half step. Not like a piano where moving it up means you have additional sharps or flats and that changes all the notes and chords. Pretty cool and he can get songs into the range that really works for me!

He really wants to do this which was one of the things that helped me push through the lapse. And he did offer a comment that has made me think a lot since he said it. "I think you need to just let it rip. I think you are too cautious." He's totally right. And it has some pretty far reaching applications - I need to stop being worried about looking bad and just sing my heart out. Say a prayer! I'm gonna belt it out tonight - for better or for worse.

The Couch Room

** Updated with additional pictures**

Okay - this weekend we got our new stuff situated. Over the last several weeks we have been blessed with hand-me-downs from both sides of the family. It has been so exciting to get everything arranged around the house.

A full pantry and a full freezer - that's a change for the better. We don't usually shop like that - stocking up on meat and veggies when they are on sale. And I now have every spice known to mankind. Those are thanks to Nana as well as some other little things that some will recognize with a smile. A bullfighter and a game that I remember from Sunset Drive.

And our livingroom got a makeover thanks to both Nana and Bob's mom and dad. A new couch from Nana and some awesome end tables and coffeetable from Bob and Pat. So we did some moving around to make room - or so we thought. We thought that we'd move that beast of a pull out sofa into the spare room with my new electric organ (see below) from Nana and make it my room and still have it be the guest room with the pull out bed. YA RIGHT! That sofa was WAAAAYYYY too big to move - no way to manuever it anywhere. So we moved around some other things to create - drumroll please...... - THE COUCH ROOM!

I don't hate it. Thought I would hate it and I don't. And since it's going to be that way for awhile - that's a good thing. You'll have to tell me what you think once I post the pictures:) Be gentle :)

Sister Songwriter!

What a surprise! A few weeks ago Carrie revealed that she had written not just one song, but four!! I asked if she could sing them so we could try and get Bob and I to figure out accompaniment. I got a package in the mail yesterday with the tape of her singing the songs - and cleverly I might add. I swore I heard her harmonizing on the tape on one of the songs and I even called Dan to find out who it was. He was certain he had seen Carrie recording alone. I thought I was going nuts. I have to admit that I was a bit jealous when I heard it because I heard the perfect harmony with a voice that really complimented hers and I thought, "I thought siblings were the only ones that could harmonize that naturally."She explained that she had recorded her own harmony and sang with it. That would explain it. Shame on me. The songs are really good and will sound great with additional voices and a guitar. I can't wait to work on it. Bob's started calling her the Queen of all Media between her books and now her music!

Emily and I were emailing back and forth today and she was joking about how creativity and intellect skipped over her. I know she was just kidding but I got a little defensive about it. Wanna know why? I think I have two of the most amazing people for sisters. Emily busted her butt to get through nursing school. Learned more discipline than I ever did and has become this awesome Director of Nursing at her nursing home and has produced four of the most amazing kids in the state of Ohio. And she loves her family and the people who live at the nursing home so intensely that I figure her heart must be the size of the heart-shaped state she lives in.

I am so blessed that God gave me these two people and that they have to love me :).

More answered prayer

I got to spend last evening in the computer room with the door closed. In at least one season in my life closed in a room was punishment, but last night I found myself smiling more than once. I was closed in the back room because Bob was meeting for the second week with a great guy from church discussing the book of Job and the story of Joseph and getting to know each other and God better. They are gaining a bond in Christ and growing closer to Him. The hits - they just keep coming!! Not just one godly man as an answer to my prayers but a handful. Thank you Father for the grace that comes barreling down the pipeline daily.

Ups and Downs

I've had such a weird week. Like a roller coaster - a very emotional roller coaster.

- Biggest loser - In facilitating the contest, it didn't occur to me that I would become discouraged but as I lost WAY less than I'd hoped by the first weigh in, I realized this was going to be challenging to keep my focus on what I'd set out for. Health and feeling better not a number. But God is working on me. I'm getting there.

- Money - I had a very real reminder that God is in control and I should learn to trust Him. After a day crying several times about our finances, I came home to wonderful surprise sent by my mom and a gift directly from God. I got on my knees and thanked Him and confessed my lack of trust. Then I got on the phone and thanked my mom for letting God work through her.

- Friends - I spent the better part of the weekend dreading going to my friend's shower. Money and appearance being my two stressors were the two things I was focusing on until my ride there when God clearly told me that this was not about me. And after arriving, He took the reigns and I had a nice time. Good time even though it made me long for the close friendship of Susan again.

- Emotions - Up and down and frustrated and sad for the last handful of days. Hormones? Maybe. But definitely hard to keep giving the thing back to God. I just feel so tenuous.

So I continue to pray. And hold my tongue and keep myself from sobbing...... What a wreck. And I say that with a smile and a shaking of the head.