Amazing Love

This morning I was reminded of the depth of the love that Christ has for us through a simple picture. One of the guys that I work with, Kyle, and his wife Julie just got back from San Francisco after picking up the little girl they adopted from Korea. One of the pictures is of Kyle and Julie standing at the terminal waiting for little Blake to be brought off the plane. The look on their faces is priceless and the love you can see just from the picture is indescribable. I’ve never actually had a picture bring tears to my eyes, but this one did it and I think it’s because it’s just a small glimpse of the love that Christ has for me. Whenever Kyle and Julie first got a picture of their baby, he was trying to describe what it feels like to instantly love someone you’ve never even met. All I could think of was that it was the perfect picture of unconditional love. The baby hadn’t done anything to earn their love. There were no strings attached and from the moment they saw her sweet face, they were in love. Holy cow! What a great picture of Christ’s love for me! He loved me from the moment I was formed in my mother’s womb. He knows everything about me…what brings me joy…what makes me cry…everything. No matter how much I screw up, I know that I’m still loved and cherished.

To see the pictures, go to www.tiffanyfongphotography.com and click on the link to her blog. The name of the post is "Oh Happy Day."

Joyous Laughter

About an hour ago Sharon and I had small group with our 7th grade girls. Always good fun! Tonight we were talking about being a light in the darkness and what characteristics of each could be. One of the choices was nervous laughter vs. joyous laughter. Our sweet Mary quickly spoke up and said "I think Sharon has nervous laughter, and Laura, well she lives in lollipop land." I don't know what that means and I'm not sure if I should see it as a compliment or not. Since she didn't clarify I'm going to assume that she meant that I had joyous laughter.

Love my girls!

Lessons Learned...

from Spencer Williams? Yes, it's true. The last 24 hours have been very educational for me. The day literally began with me learning how to drive a standard, and I must say that I'm pretty close to amazing at it. Every time I ask to drive his mini I always get a very quick no...you know, one of those that clearly was never even considered. So in normal fashion I asked again and to my shock and surprise he said "okay, let's go." After I pulled my jaw off the floor and realized he was ready to change seats, I of course jumped at the opportunity. It felt a lot like drivers ed with me first driving only by taking my foot off the brake and coasting in neutral, but it quickly progressed to changing gears and going around the parking garage. Just to keep the surprises coming, he even trusted me enough to drive around the block a few times. I don't think I even trusted myself that much, but yay Spencer for trusting me! It must have been because it was really, REALLY early in the morning and I only saw one car while we were out.

The second lesson learned really warms my heart. Today I learned that there is a Texadelphia in Dallas. I had no idea!! For some reason I thought the only one was in College Station, and that one closed my freshman year right after I fell in love with it for the first time. My life is truly better now for knowing that Texadelphia is only a few miles away from me.

The third and last lesson learned is somewhat profound. Tonight, after trying three different times to take the short cut, I learned that it really only takes longer to get things done well. I'll spare you the details on what we were working on, but it is with great humility that I must say that Spencer was right the whole time. Why didn't I listen the first time? I must be a slow learner. I do know for a fact that I don't have an ounce of the beaver personality type in me. I'm all Lion/Otter and there's nothing I can do about it!

Well, that's all you get in lessons learned tonight. Apparently three points is all you need to make a good Baptist sermon anyways. Ironically, I think that's true too.

Pity, Party of One

All I can say is that I'm guilty. I think I might be the queen of pity parties, especially when I feel like I'm suffering in some way. The past few weeks I've been going through Job with my community group, and I must say I'm surprised by the people I'm relating to in the first 14 chapters. On any given day I feel like I could say I relate to Job and him not understanding why God is allowing him to suffer...but the shock for me is coming from how I can relate to Job's friends and how quickly I get to that place. My heart can be so sinful and so ugly, and the sad part is that I don't realize it until I'm in the pit looking for a way out. I'm so guilty of looking at the people around me and either getting frustrated with the gifts God has given them and not me...or buying into the lie that only the wicked should suffer. I think that might only make sense in my head right now, but I just can't get over how quickly I can get to such a bad place without even realizing it. Tonight I was working through some of the questions at the end of the study and the last one asked what two questions I would ask God if I knew I would get an anwer. Right now I only have one, but I think I would ask God why He lets me suffer & why it's in the way that I do.

What would you ask?

Client Say What?

It's hard to believe, but come August I will have officially been in the financial planning industry for three years. Or if you want to go by how my VP does time in the business, half a decade. I can't wait until I hit year five so that I can say "the better part of a decade."

I must say that it's becoming increasingly more and more apparent that there can be some crazy clients out there. A few of the guys that I work with and I have been telling war/horror stories of what we've experienced thus far just from our short time in the business. There is some weird stuff! So I've decided to compile a list of the ridiculous/frustrating/hilarious moments that have already been encountered.

*One day I was calling to follow up with a client to see if they had signed the paperwork yet and the wife answered the phone. I explained who I was and why I was calling and she replied with "honey, he died!" After I call the life insurance company, I come to find out that he was murdered and she is a suspect. Awesome....never going out there by myself again.

*A guy that I work with came over from Edward Jones, and he literally had someone drive their car through his office front right into the lobby....twice. After the second time he of course asked for cement barriers to go in front. What were these people looking for...drive thru mutual funds? A literal one stop shop?

*On a trip to the middle of no where with one of my partners, I asked him what the weirdest thing that has ever happened to him in a meeting was. His answer was very short, but oh so funny. He said "Laura, last week I had a lady move from her seat over to the couch I was sitting on and put her head in my lap." If that's not awkward, I don't know what is.

There are so many other stories...but sadly the time has come for me to actually do some work and be what my parents call a "productive member of society." More stories to come I'm sure!

Taking Over the World

So my friends and my clients have started a tradition of sending me pictures of AXA signs whenever they travel out of the country. Most of them write back and tell me that I should move to wherever they saw the sign. I can't decide if my friends are trying to be subtle and hint for me to move far away, or if they're just really excited about seeing the place I work all over the world. I'm hoping it's the second option and not the first. If I move out of the country it's not going to be to become a financial advisor, that's for sure! Anywho, here's one from Versailles, France.

It's kind of hard to see the AXA sign, but it's the tiny blue box in the middle of the picture. Trust me, it says AXA.

Roll Call for the Absent

In many lands and climes this April day
Proud sons of Texas A&M unite.
Our loyalty to country, school, we pray,
and seal our pact with bond of common might.

We live again those happy days of yore
on campus, field, in classroom, dorm, at drill
Fond memory brings a sigh -- but nothing more;
Now we are men and life’s a greater thrill,

On Corregidor * years ago today
A band of gallant Aggies, led by Moore,
Held simple rites which led to us doth all to say:
The spirit shall prevail through cannon roar.

Before we part and go upon our way,
We pause to honor those we knew so well;
The old familiar faces we miss so much today
Left cherished recollections that time cannot dispel.

Softly call the Muster,
Let comrade answer, “Here!”
Their spirits hover ‘round us
As if to bring us cheer!

Mark them ‘present’ in our hearts.
We’ll meet some other day
There is no death, but life etern
For our old friends such as they!

by Dr. John Ashton ‘06

* The third stanza is original to the poem and had been deleted over the years. It was intended that each year, the number of years since Corregidor would be inserted.

What the craic?

So, if all you're seeing is "Bar, Restaurant and Nightclub," you're clearly looking at the wrong part of the picture. Shift your eyes over to the left and take note of the name. How cool is that?! My friend Spencer was in Ireland and he saw this while roaming the streets of Dublin. Oh, also ignore the fact that my last name is spelled wrong. But you still get the idea!

By the way, the title of the blog translates as "Any news?" or "Hello!" I promise it's not shady.

It Ain't Over!

Happy Easter!