An Extra Hour

I don't know why, for some reason I thought that my meeting this evening would go longer. I pictured myself home at 9, not at 8. The kids are in bed. mostly. Sarah's been up once already. The lights are dim and I am settling in for the remains of an evening at home.

I have many projects to be working on. I need to prepare powerpoint for tomorrow night's sermon. I'm speaking on "More Than Mud", an expository on God being the potter and we being His clay. Still searching for a potters wheel to use as a visual aid. I also need to divy up my sample bags of clay and attach verses to send home with the students as a take-away.

Sarah's Missionette's Crowning ceremony is a week away and the video is due tomorrow, so Rob and I really need to get cracking on that as well.

And of course, my kitchen cabinets are still torn up and waiting to be finished with 1 and 1/2 more coats of ivory paint. But Lori and I are painting together tomorrow (her in Iowa and me in Texas) so I'm not going to worry about that project till the morning. :)

Instead of starting all those projects, (which I need to and will) I just wanted to blog for a few minutes. It has been forever! At least it feels like it. And I'm so excited about all that God is doing in my life, I hate to keep it to myself.

I'm super psyched about tomorrow's message. God has been tugging on my heart for a few weeks now about this passage of scripture - Isaiah 64:8, and particularily wanting me to expound on the idea of clay never being beyond repair. Clay is such a cool analogy becasuse if it's too wet, it caves in on itself; if it's too dry it cracks under pressure. But the proper moisture level and time heal all circumstances with clay. God never gives up on us either! My mom even reminded me today that once clay has been baked in the kiln, even then it can still be ground up and re-wet and it's still clay! Such a cool concept.

Personally my quiet times have been relatively awesome lately. I'm working hard on scripture memory and really seeking God's peace lately. It's pretty incredible to spend these times with Him. I think that's been the coolest thing about both kids being in elementary school now, a bit more of a routine is established and it's helped my personal time. I miss them so much by the end of the day though! :)

We are ramping up for a lot of cool things at church. Finishing up the cookbook and preparing to sell it, that's pretty cool. I'll be glad to have that project finished. I'm hoping that it will be an awesome keepsake for everyone in the church, as well as a really strong fundraiser for the 90th Anniversary celebration.

Getting ready for Sarah's crowning ceremony in a week, very excited about that. I picked up her gown from the dry cleaners today, and booked the appointment with Jen for her updo. I've got most of the pictures picked out for her slide show and have written the autobiography. I'll have to share it on here. Still debating a song. I love Stephen Curtis Chapman's 'Cinderella' but I break up every time I hear it, that song is so Sarah. And picturing her daddy walking her down the aisle in that white dress, my screen is getting blurry... So excited for this moment for her. Planning on lots of pictures, of course.

A little over a week from now is Missions Convention at Trinity. That is always a really exciting time and I am defintely looking forward to getting to know this year's missionaries. Missions Convention is one of my favorite events at Trinity because we get to spend a lot of time with our speakers and really get to know their stories and their fields. It's pretty incredible.

Missions Convention wraps up on Sunday night and I hop on my Iowa-bound plane on Monday morning. I'm so excited for this trip. I will, of course, miss Rob and the kiddos, but I can't wait to see Mom and Dad and many of my Iowa people. I'm hankering for some sweet sweet corn and a Casey's pizza and some Taco John's. Pretzelmaker will be on the list too. I love Iowa food. :) I can't wait to see the rolling hills (hills, imagine that?? (there are no hills in Baytown, not a one) and the beautiful fall colors and rows and rows and rows of cornstalks lined up like little soldiers in fields. I can't wait to hear that midwestern dialect, I'll feel so normal for a change!! Can you tell I've been a little homesick lately? I love Baytown, I love my church and I love all the ministry, and I'm super invested in every single thing we do here. But I miss my Iowa every day. The reality is though, if we ever leave Texas, I'd miss it just as much I think. We have some phenomenal winters down here and I'm pretty sure I'm going to freeze to death all 5 days up North.

Mom and I are talking about seeing Fame. I remember seeing it in the theater in Chicago with her when I was a little girl. Pretty cool, eh? The remake looks awesome. It will be so good to gal-pal with my Mommy.

Ok. Back to responsibility. I've got some slideshows to work on. So good to jot it all down though. I'll be sharing that sermon soon. Pray that I find my potter's wheel.