On Friendship...

"Give me one friend, just one, who meets the needs of all my varying moods."

(Esther M. Clark)

Another Run-in with "The Law"

If you read Sarah's comment in the previous post, she referred to an "infamous" run-in with the cops in Emporia, KS. It's a fine story, so I thought I'd share it!

It was about 3:30 AM. A couple of girls from my high school had come for a campus visit to Emporia State University, so I was doing a bit of entertaining. We had been out bowling and then over to an all-night diner to have milkshakes or something. I was headed back to campus via Commercial, which is the main street that runs through downtown Emporia. A cop (who was bored no doubt) clocked me going 36 mph in a 20 mph zone. I remember him saying, "16 over... that's kind of hefty." I responded by saying something like, "well... it's 3:30 in the morning... it's not like I'm gonna HIT anything." (I know... I would've sent me straight to jail, too, after a snide comment like that!) The officer proceded to ask if I had been drinking. I replied, "no." (I conveniently left out the chocolate milk shake.) He told me to slow down but didn't write me a ticket. :)

The funnier addendum to the story is that a friend of mine was driving behind me and saw me get pulled over. He was going to circle to block so he could drive by and laugh at me. Instead, another bored cop pulled him over for having a headlight out! He wasn't as fortunate, though. HE GOT A TICKET!! Ha, ha, ha!!! KRISTA WILL NOT BE MOCKED!! ;)

I have some other good stories about being pulled over... one in which I had to actually say my "ABC's." (No, Mom... I hadn't been drinking.) But, I'll save those for another day/blog.

Thank you, Occifer!

Well... I got pulled over tonight. After church, a bunch of us went over to Mazzio's. I hate the entrance/exit to this specific Mazzio's, as it always confuses me. There are some strange lights and a median there at the entrance. Plus, it appears more like two entrances than an entrance and exit. As I was leaving, I exited through one of the entrances and drove south briefly on the northbound lane past the median and then into the proper lane. It was about 10 pm, so my thought was... this probably isn't the right way to get out of here, but it's late and there's no one around..... EXCEPT for the police officer in the northbound lane. I obviously didn't notice him until I was half-way through my little maneuver. :(

He flipped around and turned on his lights. He was shortly thereafter joined by another policeman. He asked for my license and insurance. FORTUNATELY he didn't ask for my registration, because I had very randomly pulled it out of my car yesterday and hadn't returned it to the glove box!!

When he came back he said, "so, I suppose you know why I pulled you over?" I nodded and commented that "I'm always confused as to how to exit that parking lot." He then shared with me how HE exits it. I also explained my reasoning about it being late and no one being out there... except for him, of course. So, he told me to drive carefully and let me go. Phew! I didn't even have to playing the crying of flipping-the-hair card. ;)

Beware of the Ides of March!

Happy Ides, people!

One month until tax day. Have you done YOUR taxes? Yeah... me neither.

Significant Relationships

I read this quote recently in a coffee house/book shop...

"Significant relationships are meant for those who place enough importance on them to nurture them." (Unfortunately, I can't remember or find who originally said/wrote it.)

Nurture your significant relationships. And if you don't have any significant relationships... create some and then nurture them. :)

The Little Red Hen

Do you remember the story of the little red hen? For some reason it has come to mind a lot lately. In fact, I was thinking of it again this morning (hence the blog). It has some obvious "lessons" to it. Some of those are helpful...

"If you're not going to help, don't expect a handout."

"You must be willing to risk something in order to reap a reward."

Some are a bit more harsh...

"Don't expect anyone to help you in your labors. You can, however, expect them to show up and take advantage of your hard work in the end."

I'm not sure which lesson is for me. Maybe my lesson is that it's easy to get bitter and selfish in life... especially when we feel like we're on our own. But, then again, what good is life if we can't share what we have with others?

I guess I'll have to think on that a bit more. I'd love to hear your suggestions and interpretations, too.

In the meantime, I'm off to work! Have a great day y'all!

God's Sovereignty

Have you ever been to one of those points in life where you weren't sure what was supposed to come next? Like life had taken some funny detour and nothing looked familiar any more? I may be in such a place. It seems like some of the things that neatly defined my life in the past are slipping away, and I can't quite make out the new definition.

One time in college I was in a similar position. I was within a year of graduation, and had some significant friendships in my life. I was caught somewhere between moving forward and wanting to hang on. That's when a friend made a simple comment that put things into perspective...

"I believe in the sovereignty of God."

Sometimes I hate hearing that. I mean, if God is in control, that implies that I am NOT in control. And, I kind of like being in control (or at least THINKING I am). I'm not sure how that all applies to the spot in life I currently find myself, except to say that I know God is in control. If I keep my eyes on Him, nothing will come my way that I can't handle. And THAT is reassuring.

You might say a prayer for me as I'm sifting through these thoughts.

Encouragement

I got a nice boost of encouragement yesterday (well... Monday, by now). It's really cool to see God working in and around The Gathering!

There's nothing sweeter than seeing and helping people take steps closer to Him!

Live Your Own Truth

I caught the tail end of Oprah a couple of nights ago. The show was basically focused on married women who were attracted to other women, and the overall message was that you'll be happier in life if you admit your true feelings and live those out. She ended the show by saying, "live your own truth."

Isn't the theory that "we all have our own truth" self-defeating?

I mean... what is truth if it can be different for each one of us?

If your "truth" is hidden inside of you, how can someone else tell you for sure that it's there?

More importantly... if the "truth" is inside of you, why are you still looking for it?

If truth is relative, what is to keep it from changing from day to day? Today's truth may just be tomorrow's lie!

I don't know about you, but that kind of "truth" is worthless to me. I want the REAL Truth... the one that is constant... unchanging... unfaltering... solid. I have found such a truth, and his name is Jesus Christ!! He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). He is the way, the TRUTH and the life (Jn 14:6)!

So, if you're on a search for THE TRUTH, you have two options... you can look inside yourself (according to some, it could be tucked neatly right there beneath your own nose), or you can recognize that THE TRUTH is bigger than yourself. You didn't create it. You CAN'T create it! IT CREATED YOU!

Rev Up Those Bagpipes and Get the Music Started!

Well... my neighbor is practicing his bagpipes today... no doubt gearing up for the upcoming "bagpipe season"... otherwise known as "St. Patrick's Day."

I may have mentioned the neighbor's annual St. Patrick's Day party. It's a neighborhood affair. One neighbor stands outside and plays his bagpipes, while the rest of us chow down on cookies and play "dirty Santa"-type St. Patrick games. I told you about the new shirt I bought for the party in a previous post. I just realized that, unfortunately, I have a choir concert the same night as the party. :( However, I'll probably go over a big early and hang out until I have to leave.

Ah, it's a festive time in the neighborhood!