My Sissy is 30!

My baby sister is 30 today!!

I fell in love with her in 1978, she drove me nuts in 1988, and she inspires me in 2008.

I am very thankful, and very proud, to have you as my sister, Carrie.

Love you lots!

Happy 30th Birthday!

Family Ties

This is a family picture of a great, great aunt...does she resemble anyone you know??

Awakening

This has been a very busy week for us...a week of orthodontist appointments, on site customer visits, traveling on business, and just overall chaos. It has also been a week where I found myself to be in a really crusty mood. Crusty enough that when we went to Jamba Juice to get our favorite smoothies and they asked if I would like a free boost in mine that Jon said under his breath to me..."maybe they have a boost of Wellbutrin for you mom".

Believe me, if they had one I would have taken it...I was just on edge and not very fun to be around.

There is no one thing that caused it, but I do know that I allowed myself to stay in that cranky fog a little too long and didn't bother to talk to God about it. I decided to come down for some computer time on Thursday evening and listened to my Itunes playlist for a bit. I listened to "Awakening" sung by both Sara Groves, and also the version sung by my sister in law Helen.

Both versions make me teary and give me chills, and have exactly the words I needed to hear this week to lift that fog. I wish I was savvy enough to figure out how to add Sara's song to my post so that you could hear it too (maybe Ken will know?) but here are the words...hope they remind you like they did me.

***

Dress down your pretty faith, give me something real

Leave out the Thee and Thou and speak to me now

Speak to my pain and confusion

Speak through my fears and my pride

Speak to the part of me that knows I'm something deep down inside

I know that I am not perfect, but compare me to most

In a world of hurt in a world of anger I think I'm holding my own

And I know that you've said there is more to life

No I am not satisfied

But there are mornings I wake up and I’m just thankful to be alive

I've known now for quite a while that I am not whole

I've remembered the body and the mind, but dissected my soul

Now something inside is awakening

Like a dream I once had and forgot

And it's something I'm scared of and something I don't want to stop

I woke up this morning and realized

Jesus is not a portrait

Or stained glass windows

Or hymns

Or all the tradition that surrounds us

And I thought it would be hard to believe in, but it's not hard at all

To believe I've sinned

And fallen short

Of the glory of God

He's not asking me to change in my joy for martyrdom

He's asking to take my place

To stand in the gap that I have formed

With His real

And His sweet

And His real amazing grace

And it's not just a sign or a sacrament

It's not just a metaphor for love

The blood is real and it's not just a symbol of

It's not a sign or a sacrament

It's not just a metaphor for love

The blood is real and it's not just a symbol of

It is real, it's not just a symbol of

His blood is real, it's not just a symbol of your faith

So leave out the Thee and Thou and speak now

***

Awakening - By Sara Groves