Uncle Rico

So we had 5th quarter after the EF football game at our church tonight. It was pretty fun. We had about 75 kids come. We decorated and made paper footballs and had a paper football tournament. Then we had guitar hero and a Jeopardy game and music videos going. Anyway,
Jeff gave a short devotion about Uncle Rico at the end. In case you don't know, Uncle Rico is a character from Napoleon Dynamite. He is like 35 years old, lives in his van, and all he talks about is his high school football days. His famous quote is, "Back in '82 I could throw a pig skin a quarter of a mile..." He basically left his self worth and identity back in '82. Jeff encouraged students to not be like Uncle Rico. Being a football player or a cheerleader or being in the band is great. We should be able to enjoy those things. But God never intended for us to define ourselves through those things but rather to find our identity in being a child of God. Pray for these youth. It is so normal in the teenage years to "find yourself" but they look EVERYWHERE for it. Our biggest goal for these youth is for them to find their identity in Christ. So please pray that we will know how to teach that and show that.

i'm quirky times seven

i'm quirky times seven

Kate at my messy nest tagged me to do a 7 quirky things post.

In no particular weird order....

1. When I pronounce words that end in a p, I very dramatically overemphasize the/p/ sound. Like when I say top or mop. I don't even realize that I do it until someone is like, "Why did you say it like that?"

2. Since we are on the topic of pronunciation, I must admit that I have picked up the East Texas accent. It is out of control. Instead of saying, "Why?" I say, "Whaaaaa?" and my name is not Sarah anymore, it is Sayruh. And Jeff is now Jayuff.

3. I am way anal about cabinet doors being closed. I can't stand for them to be left open. At school I put rulers through the door handles of the kid's closets to train them to conform to my standards of door shutting.

4. Ok, you know those mechanical pencils? Well, most people click the bottom of it with their other hand when they want more lead. I click it on my forehead.

5. My husband is crazy. He taught Colin to say "Dooky" the other day. What is even sadder is that I thought it was funny and I kept encouraging it. Now I am regretting it because he won't stop saying it.

6. I am the most gullible person in the entire world. If you tell me something, I believe it. My friend told me that the little bumps in the road (you know...the lane dividers) were for the blind people that drive. I believed it. And then I was thinking, "How do they see the traffic lights?"

7. I hate tea. I know, I know. I am not a true Texan. But I just can't do it. It is disguisting.

Now I tag:
Taylor
Sharon
Jenni
Mary
Mom
Joyia
Sharla

The results of Ike

So Ike came through on Saturday and hit hard. Harder than I had expected. We were without power for over 24 hours and some people still don't have power. While our power was out Jeff and I decided to go see if we could find a restaurant or a store open to get something to eat. What we found was the entire city of Marshall in pitch black. The WHOLE city was out. The next morning we went out and here is some of what we found.



a tree that split right across the street from my house

a tree uprooted and fell on the roof of this field house thingy at ETBU

assessing the damage

this is the street we live on. Just barely hanging on.

i don't know who's house this is, but this is awful.

Our yard is littered with branches leaves and pine needles. I went to WalMart today to replace all of the food that had spoiled in our fridge. It didn't occur to me that Walmart's food in their fridges had spoiled too. So there wasn't much there. Oh well. Anyway, while some of the damage is bad, Marshall is blessed. It could have been worse. I know students and teachers are blessed because they closed school for today (monday)!

What else is there to do on a hurricany day?

Layers of Me

LAYER ONE:
Name: Sarah
Birth date: April 6
Birthplace: Arlington, Tx
Current Location: Marshall, Tx
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: dirty blonde
Height: 5′3ish
Righty or Lefty: Righty
Zodiac Sign: Aries

LAYER TWO:
Your heritage: 3/4 german
The shoes you wore today: old tearing apart brown flip flops
Your weakness: chips and salsa
Your fears: not having friends
Your perfect pizza: pepperoni from Papa Johns
Goal you’d like to achieve: to learn to be a whole hearted servant of God who does not think about my own needs/wants

LAYER THREE:
Your most overused phrase on AIM: I don't use AIM anymore.
Your first waking thoughts: crap...(i think that's my new favorite word)
Your best physical feature: i have cute feet
What you miss the most: sleep

LAYER FOUR:
Pepsi or Coke: Coke.
McDonald’s or Burger King: McDonald's
Single or group dates: both!
Adidas or Nike: i don't freakin care...I can't afford either one
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: I hate tea
Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: cappuccino.

LAYER FIVE:
Smoke: no
Cuss: honestly...occasionally when I am startled or hurt
Sing: love to
Take a shower everyday: yes...in the mornings
Do you think you’ve been in love: Yes
Want to go to college: maybe for a Masters...i don't know
Liked high school: meh
Want to get married: not again.I will stay with Jeff FOR----EEEEE----VERRRRR (like on Sandlot)
Believe in yourself: Sometimes.
Get motion sickness: yes
Think you’re attractive: Sometimes.
Think you’re a health freak: crap no
Get along with your parent(s): Yes.
Like thunderstorms: i guess...there is a hurricane on the way!!!
Play an instrument: I play piano...used to play violin

LAYER SIX: In the past month…
Drank Alcohol: no
Smoked: no
Done a drug: no
Made out: well.....I AM married...
Gone on a date: we've gone to dinner
Gone to the mall: we don't have a mall
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: no
Eaten sushi: No.
Been on stage: well technically yes. Our attendance clerks office is on the stage at our school so I had to go get info from her. Oh....yeah we were in stage at church in view of a call
Been dumped: no
Gone skating: No.
Made homemade cookies: ooooh good idea
Gone skinny dipping: No.
Dyed your hair: no but I want to
Stolen anything: No.

LAYER SEVEN: Ever…
Played a game that required removal of clothing: no
If so, was it mixed company: no
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: no
Been caught lieing? yes
Been called a tease: I don’t think so.
Gotten beaten up: No.
Shoplifted: yeah I stole a small toy from Toys R Us when I was little. My dad took me there and made me give it back and apologize.
Changed who you were to fit in: yes...I'm done with that though. It's not worth it.

LAYER EIGHT:
Age you hope to be married: I wanted to get married later in life because I wanted to live on my own for a while. But instead I got married when I was 21
Numbers and Names of Children: Colin - 13 months
Describe your Dream Wedding: didn't really care too much about the wedding. I just wanted to live with Jeff.
How do you want to die: I want to die with as little regrets in life as possible. I want to die knowing that I have been a faithful servant
Where you want to go to college: don't know if I will go again
What do you want to be when you grow up: I wanted to be a teacher...and I am
What country would you most like to visit: Israel, New Zealand, or Germany

LAYER NINE:
Number of people I could trust with my life: a few
Number of CDs that I own: i have no idea. I just listen to my MP3 player
Number of piercing: 4 - in ears
Number of tattoos: 1
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: a few times for awards at school when I was little and once for our wedding announcement
Number of scars on my body: none that I know of
Number of things in my past that I regret: I regret my past attitudes about things

YOUR TURN! If you decide to play…let me know cause I wanna read your 9 layers!

These feet were made for walking...

Our little man is a walking machine. We walked all over the backyard today.

It looks like he's saying "Bring it" with his hands.

What a goofball. I guess he was trying to show off his new teeth on top.

There is never enough time

I had a day off today and it was nice. I had to go to the doctor for a check-up and then get lab work done. It took FOREVER! I waited for a long long time. But it was kind of nice to just sit there and read a magazine...I never get to sit and do something mindless. Then I went and got a haircut. It was much needed. I was looking scraggly...if that is even a word. So today was the first time that I didn't have to worry about time. I didn't have to be anywhere I try to squeeze in a bunch of responsibilities.

I get frustrated with the aspect of time. I'm only given so much to do what I am called to do. I am only given 9 months to get kindergartners to the level they need to be at. We are only given an hour on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings to teach youth about the God that loves them. I am only given around 3 hours every night to spend meaningful time with my son. I am only given about 30 minutes do some form of housekeeping so I don't kill myself by tripping on something. Then I am only given a short time to go to sleep so I am somewhat functional the next day.

But that's the thing. I don't want to be "somewhat functional." I want to be effective and inspiring. I can't be those things unless I find time to rest in the Lord. I am so struggling with that right now. I can fit in work, parenting, youth ministry, and time with Jeff. But is hard to find time to listen to God, to worship him, to talk to him, to learn about him, to read his word. I'm not saying that as an excuse because I don't want to. I DESPERATELY want to. I am hungering for that. I am afraid that me not being intimate with my Savior will eventually cause me to burn out, become ineffective, and lose purpose.

On another note...I just need to talk about how much I love my husband. He is grand. My 2 favorite things about him are his sense of humor and how disciplined he is. He is SOOO awkwardly funny. He says the most ridiculous things that make no sense. He is so relational about it to. He uses his humor to connect with other people. People are comfortable building a relationship with him. God will and is using that aspect about him for HIS glory.

Also, his discipline is something that never ceases to amaze me. He never wants to do anything half-way. He takes everything he does so seriously. He is disciplined in school, in youth ministry, in his relationship with the Lord, and with being the husband and father that God has called him to be. I love him for that. I love that I am taken serious and that he sees me as something worth fighting for. He sees alot of the things he does as something worth fighting for. It has been amazing how our love for eachother and for Colin has taught us more/helped us understand more about the love Christ has for us. Anyway...I love my husband.

Gustav

Please be in prayer. Gustav is hitting New Orleans right now. Marshall has already received a few thousand evacuees from down south. The Civic Center is housing some. ETBU is housing people with medical needs. Then they have a list of who would house more people that come. If there is more, First Baptist will take some, the Cumberland Presbyterian, then Crossroads (that's our church) would be next. Maybe it won't get to that point, but if it does we are a little nervous. Our pastor is in Israel right now, so Jeff is the only minister on staff right now. So he would kind of be in charge along with the head deacon.

But whether they come to our church or not, please pray that God's people in this area would seek opportunities to minister through this. Pray for the evacuees. I cannot even imagine being forced to leave my home and not knowing if I will even be able to go back. Pray that their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are met. Also, I don't know what this means for possible new students in our district. 3 of our schools are already full, but maybe we will take them anyway. If that happens, pray for teachers to be able to meet the needs of students with as much patience as possible. I really don't know what will happen. Maybe it won't happen, but pray anyway. It's just a time of uncertainty and we don't know what to expect. Thanks for your prayers!