Wax On, Wax Off

See anything wrong with the above photo??? 

On November 20th, I decided to get my eyebrows waxed at Cost Cutters located in the Sparta, WI Wal-mart because I was leaving on Friday and wouldn't be back home until December 9th.  And when I got home, I noticed that my left eyebrow was much shorter than my right eyebrow!!

LOL!!!  Hopefully it'll grow back but for now, I'm thankful for brow pencils.  Life isn't great unless you can laugh in the face of ridiculous situations.

Great Life, Disney Life, Cedar Life or Valley Life??

I love amusement parks. Valley Fair, Great America, Disney World/Land--whatever the park, the most sought-after ride I seek; the ride that gives me the sheer thrill of going up and down and around, the sheer fear that this could quite possibly be the last ride of my life, and all the emotions: from the anticipation of getting on the ride to the stomach blowing question, "Am I gonna make it?" is.... the ROLLERCOASTER! Holla atcha girl! (I gotta get some ghetto slang in this blog)

The above paragraph does have a point, if you'll just bear with me, put your seatbelt on, and pull down on the safety lap bar. If you're not at least 40 inches tall, please skip to the last paragraph.

Because my mom decided to stay over in Madison last night with my dad, I went to Blackhawk Church in Madison this morning. The pastor spoke from Deut. 8. In this passage, God is reminding the people of Israel to NOT forget about Him in the lows AND highs of life. Let me tell you I was in a low. The last couple of days have been bad as far as my dad's health goes. He hasn't been as responsive and there was a set back with his feeding tube having to be removed: all of this amounting to a valley in life. So the Spirit began to ask me, "Maria, have you been ignoring Me in the highs of life?"

Yes I have. It's always easier to ignore God when my life seems prosperous; everything is going great. But the lows, that's when I seem to turn around to see who's tapping me on the shoulder. "Excuse me"... "HELLO!"...

There's highs and there's lows on that crazy ride, but I always enjoy the WHOLE ride. There are times that I hate the lows. Duh! I'm human, but today I was reminded that I MUST praise God, seek Him, and enjoy life as if it's the last ride I'll ever take. I was created in a way that a song can speak to me as much as a sermon would. Today we sang "Blessed be the Name of the Lord" by Matt Redman. Here are the lyrics that resounded with me:

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

So as I was walking out of the hospital today with tears flowing down my face. Because there's just those low days that I find my self mourning. Mourning because I have to see my dad in the most dependent state ever. And these lyrics came into my head. I started singing them aloud and I got into the driver's seat and just bawled. I prayed that God would teach me to praise Him in the good and the bad times of life. During the times when the sun is shining down on me or when I'm suffering, I will choose to say, "Lord, blessed be Your name." Amen. I started the car, turned on the radio, and the very song was playing. Through teary eyes, I started to laugh joyously. I LOVE ROLLERCOASTERS. I LOVE LIFE!

Ode to cow and corn.

I've been on a journey. Now granted the journey hasn't been long compared to my 28 years of life--only 2 months. My best friend, Melissa, emailed me one day. She asked me if I wanted to partake in the Rock-n-Roll half marathon with her, her bro, and our friend Emily. After running out of excuses and staring at the online registration screen, I took the plunge. And I have absolutely no regret. I've been a farmer these past two months. Patiently seeing the fruits of the Spirit that Creator has planted, like watching corn grow and attempting to milk a cow. Ok. Not the greatest analogy, but for anyone that knows me, patience is not my most flavorful fruit. But running has helped me. Today, I had the biggest accomplishment. I ran 11 miles. Yep. 2 months ago, my 3mile run was a pain. The only regret about today's run? I chose to have my route go along a road dubbed "rollercoaster road". You can about imagine running on that--not my smartest moment. But I had the greatest accomplishment when I reached the top of the last hill. Now I know how Rocky felt. Let's all hum the theme song. I know you know it: da, da, daaaah, da, da, daaaaah. Da, da, da, da, da, da, dah.....

Dancing in the Living Room

I've been inspired. Inspired for the past few weeks since I've come home from Korea. I've found inspiration by hitting the pavement on my long distance runs. I've been inspired by seeing my dad fight for life--sometimes merely clinging by a thread. But the best inspiration came from watching my 73-year-old mom dance in the living room to the Korean music on the teley (television for us non-Brits). She started dancing spontaneously because in that moment, she was moved to do so. May we all take the time in be spontaneous...live extemporaneously.