a late night thought

i love the phrase "i'll sleep when i'm dead." i know i'm twisting the intent of that thought here, but i'm sure not going to be sleeping when i'm dead. i'll be partying, celebrating, and worshipping! and i'm guessing those down in hell won't be sleeping either.

this "revelation" will undoubtedly seem silly in the morning after i've had some sleep, but it just struck me tonight in a way i've never thought about it.

a tumor, discipline, and rain

there's a woman that i know from church who had surgery on saturday to remove a brain tumor. the doc said it would be difficult to remove because it was located right behind her eye. (it actually set a record for the largest brain tumor in our hospital's history.) before going under the knife, she was told she would only have 2 months to live. but her surgeon prayed with her and her daughter before operating -- everyone was at peace about the surgery. afterwards, the surgeon came out elated! he had completely removed the tumor and it was noncancerous! immediately after she came to, she recognized her friends and family, which is unheard of after this type of operation.

on friday and saturday, the prayer warriors spread the word about the woman's tumor -- people were praying in kearney and across the state, in colorado, in texas, and probably other places. those prayers were answered by our Great God. it really convicted me because i know so many people in seemingly hopeless situations. i pray for them, but do i believe God will heal them? i usually pray that God will surround them while in their crappy situation. is that how i ought to be praying?

< subject change >

i listened to a joyce meyer podcast yesterday and wrote down the following quote: "Discipline is what we must have to make us do the things we should do in order to have the things we say we want to have." i can't say i've ever thought of discipline in that light.

< another subject change >

the schools in town opened late yesterday. because of snow? sadly, no. it was because of rain. we were in a flash flood warning and a wind advisory most of the day...which makes for a crappy combination. i came home at lunch and noticed my backyard and the museum i live next to was completely flooded (see pictures below).

yay for winter not being over!



it snowed all day thursday and a bit friday morning!

road trips are amazing...

...especially the last-minute variety. they have a way of inspiring and rejuvinating me more-so than the planned trips.

my latest last-minute road trip occured this weekend. Becky and i were tentatively planning a short snowboarding outing, so we were really bummed when she had to work on saturday. we decided to shift our plans to a day later and crossed our fingers that i could take monday off. on saturday morning i called my boss and he gave me the day off. after clearing my schedule and sending a few emails to work folks, i left for colorado at around noon. i listened to podcasts on the drive and arrived in town early enough to do some reading at a coffee shop before Becky got off work. then the evening was full of yummy food and really good conversation.

we slept in a bit on sunday, but still made it in good time to the resort for a wonderful day of snowboarding! we started off taking some tougher and longer blues and it was amazing!!

in the middle of the morning, i had a spectacular fall -- i think i redefined the meaning of a face-plant. when i stopped sliding, i was face down and my goggles and glasses were around my neck and packed with snow. the inside layer of my goggles were ripped and my poor glasses were bent up. (i had earlier made a comment that i should buy a new pair of goggles, but didn't think it would be absolutely necessary!)

after lunch and a few more runs, Becky and i independently considered taking a short black diamond trail. i thought i was being overconfident (which probably caused my earlier fall), but i couldn't say no when Becky brought it up. the run was so incredible and i only fell once! it wasn't near as difficult as i expected it to be! let this be an encouragement to anyone who is contemplating learning snowboarding -- after only 6 days on a board, you too could successfully take a black! (and i had a hard time learning it the first two days!)

when we got back to town, we raced to a local restarant for Becky to meet some classmates to do homework. this brought back so many memories from study parties at letourneau -- a bunch of whacky, geeky girls doing electrical engineering homework! fun times!

then we went back to her place and had our own church together, since we missed it that morning. it was amazing! i love reading, discussing, etc the Bible with a good friend! (i am continuously amazing at how far God has brought me -- i was running from Him until 8 months ago!)

we relaxed and packed on monday morning and then she went off to work. i went to a ski shop and bought some goggles and gloves (which also needed replacing). my goggles broke at the best time of the year -- everything was 20%-80% off! my new gloves are really cool -- they have wrist guards and extra padding on the palms and knuckles! i can't wait to wear them on the slopes!

my drive home was filled with talking with Mrs C (something i don't do near enough) and listening to more podcasts. i made home just in time to go to church -- a wonderful way to start my week!