Someone recently asked me what my favorite year was and why. I thought about it and I was shocked to realize that it was between the years of 1983 and 1993. Those years and those experiences were amazing!!
I was asked that question on a trip with a group of friends to Writesville Beach. We never actually made it to the beach because it rained all day. But I realized somethings about myself this weekend.
I grew up unlike any other person I've ever met. I love how I was raised and how we grew up and the life lessons that we were taught!
I didn't grow up doing the normal things that people did. I didn't go to beaches during the summer....I didn't even really know how to pack for a day at the beach. I went to mission's conferences and Bible Summer Camps and Camp Meetings. I didn't spend the long "dog" days of summer in giggles and gossip by the pool with classmates. I spent summers fighting my brother for space on the back seat of our maroon station wagon. Reading books about Hellen Keller, Bruce Olsen, and Nancy Drew while going from Cherokee, NC, to San Antonio, to Oklahoma, and back again.
I turned 13, 14, and 15 in three different states and was even thrown a surprise birthday party by a church full of total strangers. I still have one of the gifts that they gave me! I will always remember standing on the spot where Davey Crockett died and seeing my father cry as he read the monuments in Washington, DC. The San Antonio Zoo was amazing and Oklahoma....well...hot and dry is what I remember most...oh and the rose rocks were awesome! I remember my thrill of getting to sleep in a spare bedroom that had pink roses and boarders of satin on a down comforter. It was so elegant I pretended to be cold just so that I could use it. Or the time we stayed in an old funeral home in Waycross Georgia and I was so terrified that I had to pretend I was Nancy Drew in order to fall asleep. I could literally go on and on with the interesting things we saw and did in our years.
I've struggled the past few weeks with the fact that I'm so stinking serious. I try to loosen up and be silly and fun like everyone around me...but it's a tough sell. It's just not natural for me. Don't get me wrong I LOVE to laugh and goof off just like everyone....but I seem to do it differently. I've been told a few different times that I am older than my age. I didn't take it as a compliment. Boring was how I'd translate that statement. But then when I think about my life growing up.....all I can do is smile and praise God for those experiences.
I know how to give my testimony in written or spoken form. This I am told is difficult for some. I've learned diplomacy and how to swallow something when you think it is absolutely disgusting.....for the sake of the one giving it. I've learned that it is very enjoyable to talk to those decades past you in years and that often asking an older person one question about themselves will not only provide hours of fascinating stories, it will make them smile for a lot longer than that. I've learned that the truth of the Gospel is worth fighting for. And that shaking the dust off your feet, so to speak.....can be a very scary experience. I've learned that God provides alternators from preachers you don't know in Motels 6's in Kentucky. And that Cherokee, North Carolina at night, can be scary to a little girl with a vivid imagination,
But mostly I've learned that God will supply ALL that we need, He still does perform wondrous miracles! And when we are doing HIS WORK He will do the rest. And lastly that the body of Christ is amazing in reaching out and taking in a stranger and making them a sister even if they're only going to see you one time this side of heaven!
So many awesome lessons! I will never forget it. Those years traveling in the back of that Chevy Station wagon was hands on experience in following Christ. So yes, I am more serious than most. More pensive that some would prefer but I hope and pray that the lessons that I've learned and the training I've been given is being used and will be used as an effective tool in the Master's plan.
I Thessalonians 2:12 says..."that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory." That is my prayer.....I trust that He has prepared me as He sees fit for the work that He will entrust to me. Oh that I would be worthy of that calling and that I would embrace the gifts and talents that He's given to me...instead of wishing I could trade them for the gifts of those around me.
Kind of gives a new light to Psalms 139:14...."I am fearfully and wonderfully made!"
Run with patience!
Jaime
Monday, October 13, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
I'm hanging up my coffee mug!!!
So, I've been having these very strange headaches. It's been going on for a couple of months and finally after talking to a doctor friend in Ohio, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and go for a check up. Since I didn't have a doctor to go to I asked around and two different people in my church made the same suggestion. I got the phone number and made the appointment.
So today at 9:10 am I am sitting in the waiting room filling out the insurance papers. At promptly 9:30am (my scheduled apt time) I am escorted through the standard height, weight, and vitals ritual. Then I am taken to the examination room where I figure I'll have to wait for quite some time....I was very wrong. Just a few short minutes after that I am greeted by the sweetest lady. She is about my age and she is the doc. Docs assistant actually, which I think is code for Doc in Training. So she begins to ask me about my symptoms. The why, when, how, where....all the gorey details.
After some time of talking, asking, listening, and typing (she carries around a lap top, gone are the days of hand written folders) she proceeds to administer a neurological evaluation. Look at the light, hold your hands up, squeeze my hands, walk a straight line, walk on tip toes....let me hit you with this hammer......touch your tongue to your forehead. Well maybe not that last one, but only because she didn't think of it!!! It was extensive. I felt like I was being evaluated for my level of intoxication. You'll all be glad to know that I passed!!! So she sits down again...thinks for just a moment and then tries one more thing....."could be vertigo" she says....but your symptoms aren't quite consistent enough.
She has me sit on the examination table and then relax my body and tells me to let myself fall back until she catches me....I think to my self "we've just met, such trust required so soon?" but I did it several times with my head in various positions. Nothing happened. To which the wise young Doc says....well if it were vertigo we would have been able to recreate the symptoms...since we can't.....I'm going to go get my supervising phycisian...ok...great! She needs reinforcements.
So a few minutes later she comes back with older but still young, and very cute doctor (married). He asks me a couple of questions, turns and twists my head a few times. And the answer is no, I cannot unscrew my head and leave it somewhere....he was obviously trying to find out. Then he says to me....how much fluids do you get. I think for just a moment wondering how to tell this man that I don't have a clue. So I said "about 10 classes?" He smiles, and says "and how much of that is".....brace yourself.....here it comes......"caffeine?" Ahh, do NOT go there!!! I quickly look to the floor and stutter, "most of it". He says, "ok, here's the deal, you aren't consistent or progressive enough for a brain tumor, but if you want to do the MRI and go ahead and rule that out now you can. OR you can take the next two weeks and start hydrating with water....Oh and cut back on the coffee".....the words came out in slow motion. Like the freeze frame at the climax of a movie. No...please.....take it back! But he had said it, and he had meant it too! 80 ounces of water and no more than 1...UNO....ONE...cup of coffee every day.
Ahh....Starbucks, and Caribou....I will miss you both!!! Nothing like that nice warm coffee mug in the morning, except one in the afternoon, evening and late night too!!! LOVE my coffee!!! Miss my coffee......it was a comfort to wrap my hands around it and smell the different smells of the rich blends and syrups of the coffee houses, or aisle. The sound of the cappuccino machines frothing the milk, the steam shooting out from the stainless steel valves. The grinding of the coffee grinder and the aroma of freshly crushed beans floating deliciously through the cafe' and into the crispness of an autumn afternoon and the chocolate covered espresso beans used as garnish to a great Cafe Mocha! I used to love to sit and watch the snow fall and listen to the crackel of the fire in the fire place while cradling a Depth Charge or Mint Condition Espresso masterpiece! Gone are the days!!!
And so the verdict "Chronic Dehydration" the solution.....someone in the coffee industry will probably get laid of for the sudden lack of revenue caused by my forced retirement as coffee connoisseur!!!
I will never forget the good times we had....
Now...I must go to bed...meeting Ashley at 7:30am at Caribou........
He did say I can have ONE....I'm baby stepping....
Looking for that Blessed Hope!
J~
So today at 9:10 am I am sitting in the waiting room filling out the insurance papers. At promptly 9:30am (my scheduled apt time) I am escorted through the standard height, weight, and vitals ritual. Then I am taken to the examination room where I figure I'll have to wait for quite some time....I was very wrong. Just a few short minutes after that I am greeted by the sweetest lady. She is about my age and she is the doc. Docs assistant actually, which I think is code for Doc in Training. So she begins to ask me about my symptoms. The why, when, how, where....all the gorey details.
After some time of talking, asking, listening, and typing (she carries around a lap top, gone are the days of hand written folders) she proceeds to administer a neurological evaluation. Look at the light, hold your hands up, squeeze my hands, walk a straight line, walk on tip toes....let me hit you with this hammer......touch your tongue to your forehead. Well maybe not that last one, but only because she didn't think of it!!! It was extensive. I felt like I was being evaluated for my level of intoxication. You'll all be glad to know that I passed!!! So she sits down again...thinks for just a moment and then tries one more thing....."could be vertigo" she says....but your symptoms aren't quite consistent enough.
She has me sit on the examination table and then relax my body and tells me to let myself fall back until she catches me....I think to my self "we've just met, such trust required so soon?" but I did it several times with my head in various positions. Nothing happened. To which the wise young Doc says....well if it were vertigo we would have been able to recreate the symptoms...since we can't.....I'm going to go get my supervising phycisian...ok...great! She needs reinforcements.
So a few minutes later she comes back with older but still young, and very cute doctor (married). He asks me a couple of questions, turns and twists my head a few times. And the answer is no, I cannot unscrew my head and leave it somewhere....he was obviously trying to find out. Then he says to me....how much fluids do you get. I think for just a moment wondering how to tell this man that I don't have a clue. So I said "about 10 classes?" He smiles, and says "and how much of that is".....brace yourself.....here it comes......"caffeine?" Ahh, do NOT go there!!! I quickly look to the floor and stutter, "most of it". He says, "ok, here's the deal, you aren't consistent or progressive enough for a brain tumor, but if you want to do the MRI and go ahead and rule that out now you can. OR you can take the next two weeks and start hydrating with water....Oh and cut back on the coffee".....the words came out in slow motion. Like the freeze frame at the climax of a movie. No...please.....take it back! But he had said it, and he had meant it too! 80 ounces of water and no more than 1...UNO....ONE...cup of coffee every day.
Ahh....Starbucks, and Caribou....I will miss you both!!! Nothing like that nice warm coffee mug in the morning, except one in the afternoon, evening and late night too!!! LOVE my coffee!!! Miss my coffee......it was a comfort to wrap my hands around it and smell the different smells of the rich blends and syrups of the coffee houses, or aisle. The sound of the cappuccino machines frothing the milk, the steam shooting out from the stainless steel valves. The grinding of the coffee grinder and the aroma of freshly crushed beans floating deliciously through the cafe' and into the crispness of an autumn afternoon and the chocolate covered espresso beans used as garnish to a great Cafe Mocha! I used to love to sit and watch the snow fall and listen to the crackel of the fire in the fire place while cradling a Depth Charge or Mint Condition Espresso masterpiece! Gone are the days!!!
And so the verdict "Chronic Dehydration" the solution.....someone in the coffee industry will probably get laid of for the sudden lack of revenue caused by my forced retirement as coffee connoisseur!!!
I will never forget the good times we had....
Now...I must go to bed...meeting Ashley at 7:30am at Caribou........
He did say I can have ONE....I'm baby stepping....
Looking for that Blessed Hope!
J~
Saturday, October 4, 2008
IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE...NO IT'S NICHOLAS SPARKS!
Ok so all week I push and push and push...waiting, anticipating the weekend! Cannot wait until the weekend.
So it's Friday 5....4....3...2...1... I'm out the door! Off to meet Tara and Anna at Barnes and Noble...they are getting books signed by Mr. Nicholas Sparks! I go all the way to the book store....it is literally a MAD HOUSE. People absolutely everywhere! People running to see this man who writes novels.... popular he is, (I think in Yoda speak), who knew? So I circle the parking lot for 20 minutes until I find a spot. Phew, ok good, one hurdle down....now to find my friends.
I walk through the doors of this huge wonderland of printed pages......I love book stores....if only I could take more time to actually READ! Anyway, I start scanning the aisles slowly and carefully looking for the two ladies that I was to spend my evening with....no sign of them....so I pick up my cell phone and call....Tara's voice mail...so I call again....Anna's voice mail. As I leave the second message...I survey the crowds of people hoping to catch site of my friends.
What I see is a bit "novel-ish" in and of itself....clusters of people...(mostly women) standing, leaning, and sitting all over the aisles of the book store. Some reading Nicholas Sparks, other cradling the novels in their arms and chatting excitedly to their companions about how nice he will be, how cute he is, or what their ABSOLUTE FAVORITE "Sparks Creation" is. Again, who knew?
I turn to see a man standing on a table at the far end of the store with a micro-phone in his hand...he talking about something...what is he saying....Oh he's talking about books....HIS books...Ok, that's Nicholas Sparks! So again I scan the enraptured audience in hopes of finding the girls. Nada! But he was cute!
So I call again....and again and yet again....no answer and no sign of Tara or Anna. So I am just about to sit myself down at the coffee bar (obviously!) and relax when miss Anna rings my phone....she says "Hey Jaimers where are you?" I said I'm here, where are you....she said you're here where I don't see you? I thought that response was a bit odd given the fact that it would be virtually impossible to look up and "see" anyone....so I said Uhm, where are you? She said we're at Moes, did you go to the right store or do you know how to get here? (couldn't quite understand due the the noise on both sides of the conversation. I said MOES? Why are you at Moes....Tara told me to come here....after work....so I'm here.....Oh no! She laughs, sooooo sorry! I didn't know....we got done early and we decided to meet everyone else at Moes. Do you want me to come there? No...actually we're just about done here....just go to Tara's we're going to watch a movie.
So I leave the mayhem of the Sparks Fan Club and rush to my car....run all the way over the Chipotle's...because of course I had come straight from work.....I order my lovely steak burrito and for the first time in ages...I ate the WHOLE thing, while driving down US 1 towards Apex....please don't tell Trooper Vick! But hey, I didn't spill it!
So I did finally meet up with the girls at 8:00pm...and all was right with the world once again!
Moral of the story....never underestimate the popularity of a Romance Novelist!!!
Run with patience
Jaime
So it's Friday 5....4....3...2...1... I'm out the door! Off to meet Tara and Anna at Barnes and Noble...they are getting books signed by Mr. Nicholas Sparks! I go all the way to the book store....it is literally a MAD HOUSE. People absolutely everywhere! People running to see this man who writes novels.... popular he is, (I think in Yoda speak), who knew? So I circle the parking lot for 20 minutes until I find a spot. Phew, ok good, one hurdle down....now to find my friends.
I walk through the doors of this huge wonderland of printed pages......I love book stores....if only I could take more time to actually READ! Anyway, I start scanning the aisles slowly and carefully looking for the two ladies that I was to spend my evening with....no sign of them....so I pick up my cell phone and call....Tara's voice mail...so I call again....Anna's voice mail. As I leave the second message...I survey the crowds of people hoping to catch site of my friends.
What I see is a bit "novel-ish" in and of itself....clusters of people...(mostly women) standing, leaning, and sitting all over the aisles of the book store. Some reading Nicholas Sparks, other cradling the novels in their arms and chatting excitedly to their companions about how nice he will be, how cute he is, or what their ABSOLUTE FAVORITE "Sparks Creation" is. Again, who knew?
I turn to see a man standing on a table at the far end of the store with a micro-phone in his hand...he talking about something...what is he saying....Oh he's talking about books....HIS books...Ok, that's Nicholas Sparks! So again I scan the enraptured audience in hopes of finding the girls. Nada! But he was cute!
So I call again....and again and yet again....no answer and no sign of Tara or Anna. So I am just about to sit myself down at the coffee bar (obviously!) and relax when miss Anna rings my phone....she says "Hey Jaimers where are you?" I said I'm here, where are you....she said you're here where I don't see you? I thought that response was a bit odd given the fact that it would be virtually impossible to look up and "see" anyone....so I said Uhm, where are you? She said we're at Moes, did you go to the right store or do you know how to get here? (couldn't quite understand due the the noise on both sides of the conversation. I said MOES? Why are you at Moes....Tara told me to come here....after work....so I'm here.....Oh no! She laughs, sooooo sorry! I didn't know....we got done early and we decided to meet everyone else at Moes. Do you want me to come there? No...actually we're just about done here....just go to Tara's we're going to watch a movie.
So I leave the mayhem of the Sparks Fan Club and rush to my car....run all the way over the Chipotle's...because of course I had come straight from work.....I order my lovely steak burrito and for the first time in ages...I ate the WHOLE thing, while driving down US 1 towards Apex....please don't tell Trooper Vick! But hey, I didn't spill it!
So I did finally meet up with the girls at 8:00pm...and all was right with the world once again!
Moral of the story....never underestimate the popularity of a Romance Novelist!!!
Run with patience
Jaime
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Rich People Take Out Their Own Trash!
So today at work we had a client that was really, REALLY, well off apply for an increase to one of their loans.....it was surprising to see the financial statements and it kind of made us all drop our mouths in genuine surprise.
Only one word for it, impressive....this guy obviously worked hard during his life and I was glad for him....several houses, multiple vehicles, possessions, travel...on and on and on.....human nature tends to put this picture of someone of means sitting in a plush room being waited on hand and foot not lifting a finger......
So I had the chance to call this very lively, fun, gentleman to inform him that his request had been approved. His lovely wife answered the phone and after I stated who I was and requested to speak with her husband she replied....Yes dear, hold on....he's coming back up the drive way....he had to go get the trash can from the street!!!! I don't know why...but it made me laugh...
Rich people have to take out the trash too!
Run with Patience
Jaime
Only one word for it, impressive....this guy obviously worked hard during his life and I was glad for him....several houses, multiple vehicles, possessions, travel...on and on and on.....human nature tends to put this picture of someone of means sitting in a plush room being waited on hand and foot not lifting a finger......
So I had the chance to call this very lively, fun, gentleman to inform him that his request had been approved. His lovely wife answered the phone and after I stated who I was and requested to speak with her husband she replied....Yes dear, hold on....he's coming back up the drive way....he had to go get the trash can from the street!!!! I don't know why...but it made me laugh...
Rich people have to take out the trash too!
Run with Patience
Jaime
November 4th~The suspense is KILLING ME!!
As I sit once again....only 4 years later...throwing things at my television screen I realize....this year is epic. Drum roll please!
I have no idea what's going to happen in a month. None...usually I can guess....slightly educated in the ways of Washington...not an expert...but I like to think I'm somewhat alert.
This election, these people are so vastly different from each other....so incredibly opposite...I can't see the point in a debate.....either you believe your favorite girl...(oops did I say that) or you believe the other guy. So then do debates really do any good? Because the person I like speaks and I'm like..."Yes, that's right go get em'!" The other side sends a rebuttal and I'm pitching a coaster across the room at the TV screen. My point? I believe what I believe and who I believe....and HE isn't going to change my mind....and I'd wager that most every American in this election knows right now who they're going to vote for.....so let's cut to the chase....
Two candidates take the stage....both answer the same questions completely different from the other....both make opposing accusations....someones lying...someones telling the truth....since we, the American people have no way of actually know if he did that and she said that and so on and so forth...then why to we stay up past our bed time to watch something that is supposed to help us decide when we've really already decided.
Get up, go vote....unless you're voting against me...then hit the snooze button!!!
Here's hoping for yet one more glimpse of that "City on a Shining Hill"!
Missing Ronald Reagan!!!
Run with Patience!
Jaime
I have no idea what's going to happen in a month. None...usually I can guess....slightly educated in the ways of Washington...not an expert...but I like to think I'm somewhat alert.
This election, these people are so vastly different from each other....so incredibly opposite...I can't see the point in a debate.....either you believe your favorite girl...(oops did I say that) or you believe the other guy. So then do debates really do any good? Because the person I like speaks and I'm like..."Yes, that's right go get em'!" The other side sends a rebuttal and I'm pitching a coaster across the room at the TV screen. My point? I believe what I believe and who I believe....and HE isn't going to change my mind....and I'd wager that most every American in this election knows right now who they're going to vote for.....so let's cut to the chase....
Two candidates take the stage....both answer the same questions completely different from the other....both make opposing accusations....someones lying...someones telling the truth....since we, the American people have no way of actually know if he did that and she said that and so on and so forth...then why to we stay up past our bed time to watch something that is supposed to help us decide when we've really already decided.
Get up, go vote....unless you're voting against me...then hit the snooze button!!!
Here's hoping for yet one more glimpse of that "City on a Shining Hill"!
Missing Ronald Reagan!!!
Run with Patience!
Jaime
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