beautiful eyebrows

Hair seems to be on my mind a lot lately. Not other peoples hair, but my own. I seem to have a lot of it and in all kinds of places! Not to get too graphic here, but really, do I need all this hair? In my vain attempt to look beautiful, I consider doing all sorts of things to get rid of this unwanted hair. There are many techniques including cutting, waxing, bleaching, threading, epilator, laser, tweezer and yes of course, my favorite shaving. I have tried most all of these except for laser. I can't say that I find any of these to my satisfaction. There is always something that's not quite right like the fact that there is excruciating pain inflicted upon you. And so then the question becomes how much pain do I want to tolerate? There is also another component to all this hair madness. And that is where you go to get these services done? It seems that there is a salon on every corner willing to do one or more of these services for you. How do you know which one to go to? Well, I can tell you from personal experience where not to go. In comes 'Exhibit A' to our upper right. This pictures shows you what happens when one chooses to go the cheap route in eyebrow waxing. I walked into a place the other day and asked, "do you wax eyebrows?" "Yes, honey, sure, we do for you" came the response. Immediately, a strange feeling came inside of me and I instantly remembered the "Beautiful Nail" video. For those who haven't seen it, you must:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8126430922330991484&q=genre:comedy&pr=goog-sl&hl=en
So, I ask, "how much?" "Fi dolla, honey" "Okay, I say" Several painful yanks later, I look into the mirror. I have to look long and hard to find my eyebrows. Where did they go? Oh, there I see them- two thin lines brushed across my forehead. I guess I can't complain I have too much hair now - at least not on my eyebrows. I won't even go into details of how my chin ended up. The red splotch on my face has not gone away yet. Lesson learned. Pay the extra money and get it done right. No more nail places for my eyebrows anymore. I am going to a specialist!

If anyone has any advice on who, what, where, and how with the bikini wax thing, feel free to let me know. That's next on the list.

etymology of yada

It dawned on me that maybe not everyone knows what yada means. Perhaps you have heard the phrase "yada yada" on Seinfeld or mentioned from time to time in conversation. The word yada or yada yada means meaningless, boring, or empty talk. The etymology of the original Hebrew word yada means "to know in relational sense, to recognize and experience" This was often used in the phrase Yada Yahweh, which means to know and experience God.

So, I thought that yada would be a good word for my random talk. It will often be empty and meaningless, but hopefully from time to time, interesting. Until then, feel free to add your own yada yada and join the club.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is not typically my favorite day of the year. In fact, I usually start to dread it a couple weeks beforehand. As a single person, I have come to view the day as "Single Awareness Day" and nothing else. This year, I was hoping to avoid some of those feelings. I threw myself into preparing for my girls Bible study and thinking about how to make it special for them. Very unexpectedly I had a special moment yesterday that totally changed my perspective and actually allowed me to enjoy the day. I was debating whether or not to share this as it is a special moment shared with God. It's kind of like one of those intimate moments shared with a loved one. You just don't share those with everyone. But as I was reading my Bible this morning, I came across this verse, "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops." This is Matthew 10:27. I knew this morning that I not only had permission to share this with friends, but that I was also to share it with my girls this evening. And that, I did. Okay, back to the story. I am driving to work Tuesday morning and it is freezing. I turn on my iPOD and click over to my Jars of Clay songs. In particular, I wanted to listen to one of my favorites, "Love Song for a Savior." I have loved that song for many years now. Anyway, I am singing along, when the chorus comes on, "I want to fall in love with you" and I begin praying those words. Its not that I don't love Jesus already, but I want to love Him more and I want to fall in love with Him all over again. So, I am singing along in my off-tune voice when I hear Him say, "I am already in love with you." At first, it didn't quite register, but then I realized that God was saying that to me. To me! I could hardly believe it. The God of the Universe, the Creator of all things was speaking into my heart not only that He loved me, but that He was in love with me. I felt the lump forming in my throat. The tears are welling in my eyes...and the song continues. Right as the words "and the tears will fall down and we'll pray" are sung a single tear rolls down my cheek. Now I am convinced! I am overwhelmed and overjoyed. Can you believe the sweetness of Jesus? To think that He would say this to me the day before Valentine's Day is just too much. How He knows our hearts and our minds and gives us just what we need. Needless to say my countenance was changed and I no longer gave into the dread of V-day. I honestly felt fine today and didn't even mind all the flowers, balloons, teddy bears, and chocolate displayed everywhere I went. I enjoyed the day secure in knowing that at least one Person loves me. And moreover, I was able to share this story with the girls and let them know that if God said this to me, He is saying it to them as well. How He loves them and cares for them and wants so much the best for them. I hope they heard that tonight - from Him. I heard it and I will never forget.

overwhelmed

This weekend was our DNOW weekend at church. Disciple NOW is our in-town retreat for junior high and high school students. I have been a part of many DNOWs and I am yet again amazed at how God works through this weekend. God is HUGE. And if you don't think so, it is simply because you have not experienced Him. There is simply no denying it or getting around His Huge-factor. Students were loved on, taught and challenged. On an exterior level one might point to the many things we collected for Christway Mission as our highlight this weekend. And while I do give much praise and glory to God for the car, appliances, TVs, furniture, and money collected, I point to tonight as the biggest victory. Our students were given the opportunity to share in front of the big group what God had taught them this weekend. Wow. They shared from the depths of their hearts. They were so brave. How encouraged we all were to hear the many different ways God worked in their lives. Most touching to me was a girl who shared a very deep hurt in her life. I was moved to tears as my heart broke for her. I literally experienced heart pain with her. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever felt pain in your own soul on behalf of another? I have. It seems to happen most when I intercede in prayer for others. Its as if God allows you to feel a little of what they're feeling so that you know how to pray for them. And for that reason I am okay dealing with some pain. We had a great weekend filled with laughter and truth and healing. It was awesome and it is such a privilege for me to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of students. My heart is full. There was purpose in this weekend. Not each one is like it, but I will cherish this one for a long time knowing that I got to see God's hand at work in our midst.

a beautiful collision

The heart breaking makes a sound. That is the first line in David Crowder's song titled "A Beautiful Collision." Have you ever thought about that before? I do every time I hear that song. And I heard it again on my way home from DNOW tonight. So what does it sound like? What kind of sound does a heart breaking make? Is it a quick, high pierced shriek? Is it a long, low bellow? Perhaps it depends on what caused the break. And who hears this sound? God? The angels? Anyone else? I know I don't. But I certainly feel it. And I wonder did Jesus' heart break during his life on planet earth? If so, how many times? When? Did it break on the cross? Did it sound different than our hearts breaking? So does God really hear the sound every time someone's heart breaks? That seems a bit overwhelming to me and a bit noisy. But I guess God can handle it. In fact, I believe He does. He does hear and He feels. I bet He feels just as much as we do or more. And at least for me, that gets me through the break. Knowing that He can hear and knowing that He feels. And beyond that I know that He heals. He binds up the brokenhearted and heals their wounds (Psalm 147:3). And that is all I need to know.

my current addiction

I just wanted to get this off my chest. I am totally addicted to the lpm blog. I check it like 10 times a day. Not a good thing. I installed Google Desktop which some how knows that I care about that particular blog and it tells me every time there is an update. Ahh! Too much information. Did they read my cookies?? I think one of you will get that. So what cure is there for my poor soul? Perhaps my own blog will relieve this some, but I doubt it. At least I am not trying to read all the comments that are posted. For those who haven't checked it out yet, here is the url: http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com. Now you can get addicted too.

My First Blog

I can't even believe I am doing this. I am not one to banter or chat very much, but something about this blogging deal has drawn me in. Perhaps it is because you can share those random thoughts that come into your head or voice a comment that often has no ear. I am not sure. I don't even know how often I will blog or what I will say. But I like the idea of having a place to share some thoughts, ideas and just some fun chatter. Hopefully, you will join in and share some of your own fun or insightful thoughts. I want this to be like a fun hangout place, a place where my friends and I can come together and laugh and play. I look forward to hearing from you!