The Button King

I remember seeing the Button King as a child. He came to my school in his button covered hearse. My best friend loved it. I think I thought it was creepy. He is quite the legend around Bishopville....as you may have guessed there is little to do there and not much that is "legend worthy." Someone can cover some things in buttons and make a name for himself. Anyway, while I was visiting my mom last weekend I passed the road that leads to the Button Museum and it triggered these memories. I discovered that the Button King actually has an entire website. It is a must see.

This is just one of the many perks to growing up in a small town. There is no end to the exciting things you can see.

meet Jacksie and fat Gretel.

My mom has two dachshunds. We always grew up with outdoor dogs and for as long as I can remember she had wanted a little dachshund, but my dad was anti indoor dog. My second year in college we finally convinced him to let us get her one. (Sidenote: the unfortunate thing about this is that the next day our chocolate lab had 8 surprise puppies......whoops!) So, for mother's day we took her down to the pet store and there were two to choose from. There was little long haired black and tan one and a short haired dappled one. She picked the little black and tan one and named her Gretel. Now Gretel is a character. She had issues from the beginning. She wasn't long like a normal dachshund...she was more compact. She is also FULL of personality and a little high maintenance, but super cute and we have always loved her. She has gotten quite fat over the years, which is unfortunate for her because again, she is not long. It looks like she is a soccer ball with legs. I affectionately call her fat Gretel.

Now, my dad was anti indoor dog, like I said. But about 2 years after we got Gretel, he came home one day with another dachshund puppy. He said he decided he wanted one for himself. The irony in this is that that puppy is, and always has been, obsessed with my mom. His name is Jacksie. He is named after my mom's granddad. He likes to be under covers ALL THE TIME. Below is a picture of him (he is lump in the middle of the bed).

One of my favorite things...

a hammock.

I LOVE hammocks. I could spend most of the day in one...especially in the fall or spring, when the weather is nice. Nothing is more relaxing to me than laying in a hammock with a book. This is one of my favorite things about my mom's house. I also love that she has a front porch with a swing and rocking chairs. Now, if only there weren't mosquitoes!

"Black River"

Woah, black river,
gonna take my cares away.
Woah, black river,
gonna take my cares away.

Woah, dear saviour,
gonna take my cares away.
Woah, dear saviour,
gonna take my cares away.

You're gonna take my bottle, my bible, my mess.
You're gonna take all of my empty and my loneliness.
Gonna take all of the sadness inside of me,
gonna take it all and set me free.

Woah, black river,
gonna take my cares away.
Woah, black river,
gonna take my cares away.

2000 copies is a lot of copies...

On Thursday afternoon I was trying to finish up some work, specifically a document that I had revised multiple times already and I needed to print about 100 copies of it. One of my bosses came and found me and sat down and began to reformat the document I was almost done fixing. 2 hours later he was still messing with it and at around 7:30pm (2 hours after I was going to leave work) he left and his parting words included wanting the document stuffed in the Grace Notes for Sunday as well as placed in all of the welcome tents, info windows and stapled with calendars and cards in the box of every staff member and elder. Now this was the moment I felt a little sick to my stomach for the following reasons:
A) It was Thursday night at 7:30pm (As previously stated) and I don't work on Friday or Saturday and those were the only days between that moment and Sunday morning...when they would need to be printed by.
2) The Grace Notes alone means 2000 copies...front and back.....color.
F9) The document wasn't done...after 2 hours of messing with it I still had to spend another 2 hours fixing it...

So, I borrowed a key to the church and I spent my Saturday night and part of early Sunday morning making copy after copy. It took 3 hours and I didn't finish until 1:30am. Here is a picture of what 2000 copies looks like.

what if?

I read this today in a book I just started about the disconnects between the Christ of the Scriptures and the Christianity that characterizes many of our lives and the American church...

"This is the question that often haunts me when I stand before a crowd of thousands of people in the church I pastor. What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would his Word still be enough for his people to come together"

-David Platt Radical

other's stories

I was reminded today of why it is really important to get to know people's stories. Our stories really do say a lot about who we are. The experiences we have had heavily shape our personalities and how we operate. This is why, many times, you can hear someone's story and instantly know that that is why they are the way that they are or they do things the way that they do them. Most people in life that you encounter that are really just difficult personalities to work with are that way because of something (or somethings) in their past. There is more than likely a story there. Too often we (I) jump to my conclusions about the person, label them as difficult and complain about the way that they are or how they do things, instead of using discernment, realizing that there is probably a story there and pursuing that in the person. When we know other's stories it is so much easier to have grace on them. We can operate out of a place of understanding rather than a place of annoyance or misunderstanding. We can love them in their weaknesses. I heard 2 stories today that helped me step into understanding. I was made aware of my need to be a better pursuer or other's stories, so that I can be a person of grace.

Summers top 5...or 6....or maybe more

Even though the summer is not over, school is starting, and when that happens, I consider summer done. If only the heat index agreed with me. This summer has really been a full one. One full of random fun, road trips, parties, etc. I decided to do a little summer in review post with my top favorite things. These are not in order of favorite, simply in order of when they occurred.

1. 10k and Flying Biscuits- I talked some fine folk into running a 10k with me at the beginning of the summer. It was a random little race in Suwannee, GA. The best part (other than the part where Lauren got a trophey for being 2 out of 2 in her age group) was eating at the Flying Biscuit afterwards.

2. Road trip out west....the Grand Canyon, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite....what could be better. There is rarely a week that goes by that I don't wish that I was still there. It was amazing.

3. Picking strawberries at Washington farms in Loganville. One for the bucket...one for my mouth. They were yummy....so much yummier than the store. It is a shame it is only open for a short amount of time.

4. Birthday Extravaganza- Lauren and Amy took my to the mountains....I LOVE THE MOUNTAINS. Could there be anything better than mountains and waterfalls and sliding down waterfalls into water?....I submit that there can not.

5. Christmas in July- I like parties. I like coming up with random reasons to have get togethers and I like calling them extravaganzas. We recently had a Christmas in July Extravaganza with outfits, potluck (the potluck struggled a bit bc the guest list was 20 somethings), a white elephant gift exchange and of course, the movie Elf.

6. Chicago Road trip- This is the most recent summer occurrence.....a quick road trip up to Chicago. A super fun city, great company, amazing food and my first half marathon done.

Now maybe the heat will die down and usher in MY FAVORITE time of the year!!!! THE FALL! This will be my first fall back in the southeast and I am stoked!

super sad.

My friend showed me this really sad story online. 7 dogs died in the cargo hold on an American Airlines flight this week. THIS IS NOT OKAY! I would drive across the country with my puppy before I would put her in a cargo hold. For one thing, Cali wouldn't be able to handle it. The entire cargo hold would be soaking wet with slobber by the time we arrived in our destination. But mostly because of stories like this!

If I arrived at my destination and someone had to tell me my dog was dead....I would flip out and someone else might die.....I might end up in prison....it would be bad.

13.1....done.

This weekend I completed my first half marathon and I didn't die. I have always wanted to accomplish this and it feels really good to have done it. I went in with an idea of about how fast I could complete the race and I ended up doing better than I thought, which is always nice. I finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes, which is under 10 minute miles.

The winner finished in 1 hour and 6 minutes.....a mere 5 minute mile or so.....maybe next time?....probably not ever! I am sure the winner did not have a sister jump into the race twice and run with them just to show their support and love. And I am also sure they did not have a lovely friend bring them a bagel at the finish line! I am a blessed girl indeed.

I was excited about my time and all-in-all I felt pretty good. I did, however, after I finished, ask myself, "Do I really want to do that twice?" The training for the full marathon begins promptly...as in, I shouldn't let myself lose the ground I have already worked hard to get to, but seriously.....double 13.1? I should probably put off thinking about that for at least a week and enjoy the current feeling of accomplishment.