Adventures in the Swamplands - Day 2

Dear Traveler's Log,

No wait, that's lame. It sounds too much like a diary and diaries are for my seventh grade girls.

Well, here we are in day two of our Louisiana adventure. I think today could be summarized by alligator wrestling and Louisiana cuisine. And by alligator wrestling, I don't actually mean alligator wrestling. That was meant more to draw you into what we actually have to say. Sucker! This morning was game time for Michael and I. It was officially time to see the entire crazy family all in the same moment. Don't underestimate our small family. Families are like scorpions, the smaller ones just have a more concentrated dose of crazy. They can be especially overwhelming when they come at you all at once. It's pure insanity I tell you. Technically our day started around 1:30 today at lunch. There was a lot of sleeping done on our part to say the least....and again, by "our" I mean my part. When you're in Louisiana it's all about the food. I'm not one for loving seafood but I have come to embrace the po-boy. I don't mean to overemphasize the power of the po-boy to tempt one into gluttony, but the family filled up at lunch, ordered one for the road and by dinner time someone had stolen Michael's half eaten sandwich. Yeah, it's that good. So there we are, the family sitting around the table, basking in the cajuny goodness that was about to come when the oddest thing happened. I've spent the last week drooling like one of Pavlov's dogs at the thought of a seafood po-boy, particularly a crawfish po-boy. The waitress came around the corner, asked for my order and I said "I'll have a barbeque sandwich please." WHAT? Who said that? It sounded like me and I felt the words roll off my tongue, but why would I do that? I drive past Railhead BBQ twice a week, but I fly 600+ miles to get BBQ roast beef in New Orleans. That's like my brother, a self proclaimed San Antonian flying to Beijing for traditional Tex-Mex fair. Ludicrous.

As you can see, this was a pretty big deal to me. After lunch we made our way back to my cousins' house and I somehow got roped into doing manual labor...aka painting. What? Since when does Christmas vacation involve painting a house? It was supposed to be a project for my brother and I, but my brother disappeared right as I started painting and didn't show up back in the house until after my dad dropped me off at the hotel. Nice. Thanks and Gig'em Michael. Love you too bro. And here we are, back at the hotel making pizza rolls in the microwave and eating them straight out of the box. Oh look, we're back to cuisine. See, in Louisiana, it really is all about the food.

A Swamp Divided,

Laura and Michael

Adventures in the Swamplands - Day 1

Once again it's Christmas, the time of family festivities in Louisiana....oy vay! In honor of the next five days, my brother and I have decided to document our family fun for your reading pleasure. It's sure to be a staggering work of heartbreaking genius. Well, at least it should be mildly entertaining...maybe. No promises. Anyway, our excursion was underway at precisely 20:34 military time when my brother and I were reunited at the Louis Armstrong International Airport. Can't you just hear the saxophone...wait, is that Bill playing? It's good to see he's keeping himself busy during the down economy. Anyway, we're still in the airport and the adventure has already begun. We go to the baggage claim and head to the only conveyor belt with people. Now see if you can follow our logic: a plane lands and five minutes later everyone in sight is gathered around a single luggage return...that must be where the luggage is going, right? Not so my friend. My brother looks around and informs me that NONE of the people were on the flight. That's crazy talk. But I decided to indulge his delusional fantasies of flying with other people. Oy! So, we walk up and down the baggage claim...several times actually. Still no fellow passengers that my apparently Alzheimer's ridden brother recognizes. Without a word, Michael suddenly storms out of the baggage claim area and charges through the rental car kiosks into an undecorated hallway that looks like it should have an "employees only" sign at the entrance. All the while, I'm trailing behind trying to figure out which demon has possessed my brother. We FINALLY reach the light at the end of the tunnel/hallway and emerge in a "secret" baggage claim. AHH Success! I guess my brother isn't delusional, Alzheimer's ridden or demon possessed after all. What a relief, especially on the last one. I left my holy water at the house. I mean we weren't all boy scouts and I needed space for my yachting shoes.

I must confess that the rest of the night was a bit of a let down after that adventure. Although we did have dinner at a Northern Italian restaurant and I swear it was run by the Corleone Family. Anywho, that's all for tonight. But no worries, there's more to come tomorrow!

A Swamp Divided,

Laura and Michael

Adventures of the Traveling Microwave

So our microwave is dead, but don't worry we got another one. It's very pretty and new. We'll probably show it some love tonight during dinner...and then again tomorrow and the next day. But with this new microwave sitting very nicely in our kitchen, that leaves a melted one sitting on our kitchen table. Now what do you do with a melted microwave? This question has left Kristie and I stumped this evening. You can't just throw it away...it's too big to fit in the trash can. The third week of every month the garbage man comes around and picks up tree branches and leaves from the curb, but a microwave doesn't exactly fall into the category of foliage. This leaves one other, and possibly very entertaining, option. We could leave it on the curb and hope someone comes by to "reuse" it. Maybe they won't notice that it's melted at the bottom and the door won't shut. They'll get the microwave home, notice that said microwave is dead, put it on their curb, and then the cycle continues. Thus we have our traveling microwave making its way around Dallas. We have a dream of it traveling around the world, but I guess we'll never know. Good luck dear microwave.

Signature of Divine

I believe I have found one of my new favorite songs. New favorite cd might be more accurate. This weekend I downloaded the NeedtoBreathe cd and I'm pretty sure CR would say that I'm addicted to it. I just can't turn it off! There's one song in particular that I love, and I think it's because of something my community group has been doing for the past 30 days. A few weeks ago we decided to start praying through 30 names/characteristics of God. I'm sure by the title of this blog you already figured out the title of the song, but another name for it is "Yahweh." Here are the lyrics, but you should definitely have a listen.

Cathedrals have tried in vainTo show the image of your face.But we are, by your design,The signature of divine.We'll always sing your name.Forever and today.Yahweh, Yahweh...Great is your glory when you go before meOh, we sing...Holy, Holy...Your ways are lovely. So high above me.YahwehThe fortunes of kings and queensAre wasted chasing what we've seen.Cause we are, by your reprieve,The beauty framed by your suffering.We'll always sing your name.Forever and today.Yahweh, Yahweh...Great is your glory when you go before meOh, we sing...Holy, Holy...Your ways are lovely. So high above me.YahwehTake me, and pull me through.Cause I can't move without you.I won't leave you alone, you say.It will be okay.Yahweh, Yahweh...Great is your glory when you go before meOh, we sing...Holy, Holy...Your ways are lovely. So high above me.Yahweh.Yahweh, Yahweh...Great is your glory when you go before meOh, we sing...Holy, Holy...Your ways are lovely. So high above me.YahwehAncient of Days...Yahweh!

They Grow Up So Fast

I think I'm starting to catch a very small glimpse of what parents feel as they see their kids grow up. I know I've mentioned this before, but I have a group of 7th grade girls I've been tracking with since they started the 6th grade and will follow all the way through high school. For the most part I would say the past year and a half has been seeing the girls get to know and trust each other, as well as my co-leader and I. It's definitely a process. Tonight at our Christmas party, I feel like the Lord was doing everything but writing it on the wall as to why these relationships with these girls are so important. It was kind of a fun moment actually, but everything in me was wishing that it wasn't happening the day of our Christmas party. Tonight one of our sweet girls let us know that she currently has her first boyfriend. Aww, so fun but OH DEAR! Being a girl and one of her leaders, I of course had a million questions to ask her about this new boy and what this junior high relationship looks like. Just from what I've seen so far, dating in junior high is FAR different than it was when I was in junior high...much more intense. With this being the first boyfriend experience of the small group, and then also the fact that it was during our Christmas party, I decided to ease my way into the million question interrogation of boy and relationship. I started with the simple fun questions of asking how it happened and then worked my way into the embarrassing questions. I don't think she's happy with me right now for asking all these questions...especially when I quietly asked if they've held hands yet. Let's be honest, this is important stuff to know! Anyway, as I was driving home tonight I was thinking about my past dating experiences. I couldn't help but just thank the Lord for saving me from so much during my junior high and high school years...even college really. Even though during that time frame I would've probably very quickly voiced how frustrated I was by the lack of boyfriend, I can now see how the Lord just saved my heart from so much stuff. That's so much of what I want for my girls! I want for them to be able to look back and see how the Lord protected them and walked them through different life stages like dating. I realized tonight that there's so much that I want to talk to them about and teach them. I know that in the dating and life arena I don't have much wisdom, but I'm so excited about sharing my life with these girls and telling them what the Lord has taught me thus far. I think this small group is in for quite the ride over the next five years and I can't wait!

Casualties of Hostessing

The idea of hosting large parties can sometimes stress me out. The largest party I've hosted on my own was for probably about 15 people. Not too bad right? Not much cooking was involved and all I had to do was provide the place. Easy right? Tonight I decided to take another step in the world of hostessing. Some might say I jumped in the deep end too quickly, but when I volunteered my home I thought I was up for the task. What was I thinking? Cooking for 30 people scares me more than anything in the world. The thought of needing everything to be prepared on time and hot for when everyone arrives, AND then ready to eat is just impossible to me. Fortunately for me I have some stellar friends who make it all but impossible for me to screw up. Now fast forward to the party. Everything was ready on time and warm. Lots of compliments were given on certain dishes that were served. Recipes were even asked for by many. Tonight my team decided that they wanted breakfast for dinner and to have a pancake bar. Nothing too complicated there. In terms of the pancakes, I had one griddle for the stove and one of my partners brought his griddle that plugs into an outlet. Sadly the first round of pancakes were burned directly ONTO my griddle, and no I didn't do it. So that left just one griddle...placed right in front of my roommate's microwave. Now fast forward again. As we're cleaning the kitchen I noticed there was something a tad bit wrong with Kristie's microwave. OH SHOOT! Apparently griddles can melt microwaves. Who knew? While Kristie and I have had a good laugh about it, what are we going to do in terms of cooking food? I guess we'll go microwave shopping this weekend...or tomorrow so we don't starve.

Here are some pictures of the damage.

Some Perspective...

Over the past five days I've been a bit surprised by how affected I've been by Displace Me this past weekend. I can't get the stories of the children in Uganda out of my mind...and I don't really want to. In spite of everything I saw in the videos, the one thing that seems to ring true for each of those kids is the joy that they have in spite of everything they're going through. I can't even begin to imagine what life is like in Uganda, but I'm confident I wouldn't make it a week there. Not to mention that I would probably spend every night in tears.

I'm sure the videos I keep posting are getting a little old, but I'm starting to see how important it is for people to be aware of the world around us...not just sweet home United States of America. This is a trailer for one of the stories we watched. It's about a boy named Sunday. I'm pretty sure I cried during the entire video...well, all of the videos actually. I just can't fathom what these kids go through. If I could, I think I would pack up tomorrow and move to Africa to just love on these kids. Maybe one day the Lord will send me there, but for now my part is to help share their stories...and I'm glad to do it.