Happiest Place on Earth

Happiest Place on Earth

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Has It Really Been Three Weeks...

... since I went silent?

I am going to work a bit on "back blogging" now, as I like to call it...

See below for new posts...

Lisa

Monday, May 26, 2008

Paradise '08...

For those of you who don't know, Phil and I spent Memorial Day weekend in Missouri/Kansas, participating in an intense, extensive time of worship. It was awesome.

It was not the kind of awesome that you usually experience. It was not the been there... done that... got the T-shirt and wear it everywhere I go kind of awesome. It was different.

Our day out in the field started with no direction, which, to be honest, got on my nerves a little bit. Except it really shouldn't have, because as Phil and I began talking, I know that God used those moments to work in my heart. I don't think I really want to get into all of it, and a lot of you who read this blog regularly have already heard the story (or lived through it), but let me just say that it is a pitiful thing to nurse wounds you didn't even realize still existed...

At some point it started to rain. I admit there was a tiny, little bit of lightning, but I counted the seconds between the lightning and the thunder, and it was like 30 miles away, so we stayed on the field (although Phil did run up to the tree line where we'd left our lunches, because we didn't particularly want to serve our group soggy sandwiches). During this time, spontaneous singing broke out. I liked that. The rain lasted for about 10 minutes...

We experienced a group time together, which was good...

Our late morning silence time was a bit on the interesting side. I really don't think most people understand the significance of silence. Most days, I don't fully "get it" myself. I had a difficult time getting settled in a place where I felt like I could completely focus my attention on God. The first place I chose was inhabited by a great multitude of tics. The second place I chose was also inhabited by tics, as well as some other friendly insect creatures, but perhaps the worst part about that spot was that when I sat down I came to realize that the ground was a good deal wetter than I had anticipated. Finally, I climbed a tree...

I did not climb very high, mind you, but I did climb, and that's saying something since I don't believe I've been up in a tree in well over a decade...

I decided to read about Nicodemus... which led me to the passage about the master and the talents and the servants who invested them wisely and the one who didn't. And then I felt like I was getting absolutely nowhere, so since there was a breeze I went ahead and let the pages of my Bible blow at which point I came to the parable of the lost sheep. And in the end, to be completely honest, I exclaimed, "God, You are so confusing!"...

Carefully climbed out of the tree... found Phil... headed toward the field for the Sacred Assembly...

Let me insert here that this is the point at which I should have applied sunscreen. However, I am sometimes an idiot, so I now look at bit like a lobster, seeing as this is the worst burn I have ever experienced, hands down...

The first part of the Sacred Assembly was good. It was probably better than good, but my mind was wandering to a few other issues at the time, so for me it was just good...

Then, one of our girls started to feel light headed, so I took her up to the first aid tent. Actually, we were headed to the ambulance, because I thought that was where they were administering first aid, but as it turned out there was a tent right out on the field where they were equipped to serve warm Gatorade, so that's where we ended up... She really didn't feel well...

I stayed up there with her for probably 30-45 minutes. During this time, some of my favorite worship songs were being played on the field, and I have to admit that I was a little on the irritated side... again... because I would have liked to have been down there. At some point, another one of our girls joined us, and I went back to the group. I was able to clearly see our girls in the first aid tent from where the rest of the group was, and if they needed me to come back, the doctor had Phil's cell number. They eventually rejoined us, as well, when they had partaken of all of the warm Gatorade their bodies could handle...

The major turning point for me, during the Sacred Assembly, was a song I'd never heard before. It was called "Words to Build a Life On"... I think. At any rate, I do not have the lyrics right now, but I sent a message to the guy who I presume is the author of this song, and when I do have lyrics... or music... or whatever, I will share it.

There is something amazing about reading Scripture aloud and singing to God alone for hours on end! I was not ready for this time to be over when it was...

We spent some more time as a group, munched more sandwiches and snacks, and made our 1/2 mile trek back to the bus. We did not stay until sunset. I would have liked to, but it didn't seem to be the best choice in our particular set of circumstances...

I know that this writing has not done justice to what I actually experienced at Paradise. It was very personal and internal. I would definitely do it again (minus the sunburn).

Lisa

Friday, May 23, 2008

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Book Review, "Dawn's Light"...

Well, it's been a while since I've reviewed anything. If you have read any/all of the Restoration Series by Terri Blackstock, and if you intend to read the fourth and final book, "Dawn's Light", then you may not wish to read beyond this point. The review will be full of spoilers, so... really... if you don't want to know what happens, read the book first and then come back to read and comment on my review of it! This is your last chance! If you don't want me to spoil the plot line for you on this one, then STOP READING NOW!!!

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Over the past few years, I have become a huge fan of Terri Blackstock. I appreciate her writing, and her stories are inspiring. They are the kind of books that you simply cannot put down, so you find yourself closing the back cover at 2 am. "Dawn's Light" was not an exception to this late night rule. The Restoration Series has been an interesting one to follow. I have heard other Blackstock fans say that they did not like the series as well as some others she has written. I feel that the Restoration Series was definitely penned from a different perspective than some of her other works, and the depth of spirituality was beyond what I would have expected. I absolutely loved "Cape Refuge" and "Newpointe 911". I loved the Restoration Series, as well, and re-read the first three books before I cracked the cover on the new one...

One thing that I always appreciate greatly is when an author is not afraid to kill her main characters. This takes guts. Unfortunately, it has become somewhat of a pattern for Blackstock to kill, maim, or somehow compromise the integrity of beloved characters when she reaches her final book in a series. This is OK... just predictable at this point.

In the Restoration Series, Beth Branning's death was foreshadowed throughout. I am writing this knowing full well that Blackstock, herself, may claim that she didn't know she would kill Beth Branning until the final heartbeat, and that may well be true. As I mentioned above, I do not have a problem with killing main characters. I do, indeed, have a problem with the fact that Blackstock took 197 pages of her 406 page novel to drag us through the brutal beating and murder of a 13 year old child. And that doesn't even consider the stalking before...

Perhaps I am just getting soft, and a good murder mystery doesn't appeal like it used to, but I have read review after glowing review of this book, and I have to stop and wonder if these are written by the same readers who hated Dee Henderson's "The Witness" because of the quick and somewhat unexpected death of one of the main characters. (If only they'd read the back cover carefully before picking up the book)...

There were a couple of other problems with "Dawn's Light", for me, as well. Did we really need to see the return of Craig... again? I think Blackstock brought him back just to convince us all that he really was "saved". The plot of "Dawn's Light" could have stood alone without re-inserting the ex-fiance' on the intended night of Mark's proposal. It was just extra dramatic fluff...

Also, speaking of tying up loose ends, we all knew that Brad Caldwell would also have to "get saved" before the series could close. Of course, it is Beth's death that is the catalyst for this, and then the grieving Branning family suddenly sees the purpose in God's sovereignty, and what... all is well? It was unreal, but hey, that's why it's fiction, right?

I am well aware that this review will be highly offensive to some, either because they loved the book or because they feel that my theology just took a leap off the deep end. Please understand, I'm not exactly knocking evangelicalism here, but the abruptness of events that ended this series was amazing after we took half a book to kill a child.

The more I think about the finale to the Restoration Series, the more I think it would have sat better with me had it been split down into two novels. But it wasn't, so there's my opinion.

Oh, and for those who are interested in technicality... There were a whole lot of typos.

Lisa

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Happy 4th Birthday Caleb!

Can that be right? Time flies, but that's nothing new. In some ways it's hard to believe that Caleb is already 4, but in other ways, it seems like he has been a part of our family forever, and we have often had to remind ourselves, "He's only 3..." so I guess it feels right...

Caleb had a great birthday! We have kind of strung it out over the past couple of weeks to be honest. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we celebrated at Shedd... Then, we celebrated again with Phil's mom and dad... Then, Phil took Caleb to see "Go, Diego Go" live, as a "Daddy time" thing, but also as an early b-day thing... And finally, the big day arrived!

We spent the morning playing at the park and taking pictures, which was a lot of fun. This is the first time I have ever decided to take one of my children's b-day pictures myself. I think they turned out well. I am posting a few (translates a lot):
In the afternoon, we ate at "The Fishy Restaurant" (AKA Long John Silvers), because Caleb has wanted to go there ever since he saw the big goldfish on the outside of the building. We enjoyed it far more than we thought we might, and Caleb certainly did, because he informed us that he is going to choose "The Fishy Restaurant" for all of his birthdays!


In keeping with the nautical theme, I made a "Finding Nemo" cake, which Caleb liked... but he said it didn't look like a cake... go figure...
After the cake and ice cream, Caleb opened his presents, which were mostly Thomas the Tank Engine related... of course...
We pulled as many things out of their boxes as possible, and then we rushed off to Seth's baseball game, where Grace, Caleb, and Ian played on the playground while Seth practiced...

And then proceeded to whine while Phil and I tried to watch the game...

Upon returning home, we watched "Finding Nemo"... But Caleb fell asleep about 3/4 of the way through... which is just a shame, since I will now have to watch it again with him (I love the movie)... It was a good end to a good day...

Lisa

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Outrageous...

So... today I dropped Seth off to walk in the Little League parade...

And no one ever blocked the street off...

So there were a whole lot of very little people walking down one side of the road...

While traffic continued to flow down the other...

And I was not a very happy Mommy...

Seth also had pictures (taken in a barn) and his first game today. I like his team and coaches a whole lot better than last year. They are actually taking the time to teach the kids how to play baseball, if you can believe that! And Seth is making friends and having a lot of fun...

So... I am a happy Mommy again...

But I still think something needs to be done about the parade policy...

Lisa

Friday, May 2, 2008

As A Matter Of Fact...

... Yes, My Hair Is Purple!

Lisa

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Another Amazing Weekend...

Saturday marked the first "seek-rets" event... The "Super Seek-ret Sleepover"...

I have been working toward this event for a long time. Really, I wanted to do something like this several years ago, but these things take time, and before I could actually get the thing off the ground, there was no ground from which to get it off... long story...

I put a lot of planning into this day. And since I have a bit of an aversion to doing anything small, the event grew to epic proportions... until it was really more like a retreat than a slumber party... but who's really keeping track, right?

I had a busy week leading up to the "Super Seek-ret Sleepover"... It included painting Grace's room (which still needs a third coat)... but I suppose I really need to tell that tale and post some pictures at another time... The point is, I was already pretty tired...

A couple of hours into the event, I actually said to myself, "Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work"... Nothing terrible had happened or anything. I was just wiped out. But, I'm not in the wrong line of work...

This ended up being one of the most amazing weekends ever... again!

We had such a great time doing facials... manicures... pedicures... hair... and make-up. This was followed by a photo shoot, which was definitely the most truly "fun" part of the day/night for me. We did crafts... shot a few guys who tried to crash the party... watched a movie... and had an impromptu talent show... and then we had a group time that was actually a bit on the shocking side for me...

I know that a lot of these girls came to have fun, and to tell you the truth, that was a huge reason I planned this! It seems that somewhere along the line, many of these girls have already gotten the idea that it is impossible to live a life that is pleasing to God and to have fun at the same time. That breaks my heart, because most of these girls were 11-14 years old! So, I really wanted them to have a lot of fun!

I had planned a short devotional time, and to say that I "planned" it is really stretching. I had a folded up piece of paper in my back pocket that had three verses on it, and I wanted to share a few stories about my life as an 8th grader... I wanted to challenge these girls to think about giving God a chance to fill their lives... I thought this might take 15-20 minutes... tops...

Well, I think it was about an hour and a half later, when we finally got up! It was just incredible. God used our time together, and He spoke to me... and to the adult leaders... and to the girls who were there. And, you know... even then... we were having a great time!

I talked with several girls later about different issues they are facing in their lives, and the more we talked, the more I started to think, "Yeah... this is why I'm here"... not just in the immediate sense, but... well... in the big picture.

Then we consumed two colossal ice cream sundaes... and I went home to print pictures and put together a quick slide show. I returned to the firehouse in time to incorrectly arm the building and crash on the sound room floor for about 2 1/2 hours, without a blanket or pillow...

I cannot wait until our next seek-rets event... details coming soon...

Lisa

PS Below is the new and improved slideshow... with lots more pics... L.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Amazing Weekend, Part 3...

On Sunday after church, we left for Chicago to celebrate the beautiful princess Abby's 4th b-day...
As always, we had a great time with Brad, Sheri, and Abby. Here is a picture of their family after I finished torturing them in my make shift "studio"... hehehe...

I had a great time taking princess and pirate pics, while my children went pillaging... and plundering... and basically enjoyed themselves at Abby's party. Memorable quotes include, "You're in the crock pot!" and, "There is no Gooser!" both stated by Grace while playing duck, duck goose... I think everyone was tired at the end of the day, but that didn't keep Abby and Grace from staying up giggling to all hours of the night... Are we ever in for it in Florida!

On Monday, we took the kids to Shedd to celebrate Caleb's b-day a little early. Originally we had planned to take him in May, but it just worked out so well that we decided to do this while we were already in Chicago. As a side note, it was cheaper for our family to become members at Shedd for a year than to visit once, so we can now go back if we find ourselves in Chicagoland again in the next 365 days...

We had a really fantastic time, and I am posting another slideshow below, because I am finding that they are less time consuming than scrapbook pages, and let's face it, I am already behind on this post (thank goodness for the ability to backdate on blogger...) The slideshow, itself, is about 4 minutes long. Please take note that I have become fascinated with sting rays but could not include all of the pictures... I forgot to include the pictures of the pregnant, male sea dragons... no kidding... I absolutely assured Caleb before our trip that there would be no monkeys at Shedd, and he was sorely disappointed... but not for long... and we found Nemo...



To close, here's a fun pic. of the kids with the Chicago skyline behind them, even though everybody was far too tired to pose at this point...

Lisa

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Amazing Weekend, Part 2...

I had never participated in 30 hour famine until this year. To be honest, it kind of seemed like a programmatic form of a bad cliché…

Several of our teens really wanted to do this event, though, because they had done it in the past and really enjoyed it. So… Phil, working collaboratively with another YP, jumped right in and planned the event.

We kicked it off with the previously mentioned Caedmon's Call concert. My original plan was to go to the concert and then to return home… and I wasn't really going to do the famine thing… and I certainly was going to eat…

But, as it turned out, our amazingly faithful babysitter was able to stay the night with the kids, so I figured I'd stay the night for famine… And as long as I was going to stay the night, I figured I might as well take in the whole event… fasting and all… And thus began my first experience with 30 hour famine…

It was really… well… wow…

There were definitely some very funny moments…

The best one was probably when the teens were carrying garbage cans full of water through the streets at night and my group (which was the first group to go) was stopped by the police. This officer pulled up, stopped his car, got out, and just looked at us. I found this rather irritating, because I think that if a police officer has a problem with something you're doing, he should at least acknowledge that you are there and state his issue. At any rate, he didn't. So… I walked right up to him and said, "These teens are participating in 30 hour famine to send money to World Vision to help feed hungry kids." To which he replied, "Well, you just don't see people carrying garbage cans through the street at night all the time." And I said, "No, you sure don't". He asked if we were going to be out all night, and I told him that we weren't and that we were just headed to the firehouse (which was about 10 feet away). And then he never said I could leave or anything, but I just did… and I shouted back to him that there were a couple more groups on the way…

And you know… I never realized how outrageously funny it was until Phil started cracking up, but I never bothered to explain what walking through the streets at night with a garbage can full of water had to do with famine… or World Vision… or anything. And, the guy never asked! At any rate, I guess it was probably the seemingly drunk people in the drug store parking lot who were yelling at us that made the complaint. I wonder if the police picked them up?

There were definitely some frustrating moments…

The most obvious one was that my now infamous no show guitar and piano player continued to add to his record of… well… not showing. I could go on a tirade about this, but for the moment I'll refrain. I am left wondering, however, what direction I want to go with SWAT, because it's getting old real fast to practice our rears off for something and then end up not being able to do it due to lack of musicians. The SWAT members who were there did a fine job with the resources we had, but it wasn't fair to them… at all… that it panned out that way, and I don't intend to put anyone (including myself) in that position again. We will certainly continue to practice and work through the issues we currently have, but we will not be available for performance of any type until I know that we have enough committed people to do it right. And I mean it… I don't care how "ready" anyone else thinks we are or how much they beg. We'll be ready when I say we're ready… and more than that when I feel like God is saying we're ready… and not a moment before…

And there were definitely some amazing moments…

The thing that will probably stand out in my mind for the rest of my life is the 300 candles illustration. We started with 300 lit candles, and Phil and Aaron took turns blowing them out… one at a time… every 3 seconds, to represent the number of children who die every 15 minutes because of hunger. It was very moving, and I think I'm a little more focused now on finding ways to make a difference in the world at large. I have felt this way before, but in recent years I have become so consumed with myself that it's often easy to forget there is a picture far bigger than me…

In the end, our group raised something like $12,000.00 (in combination with matching funds, grants, etc.) to feed hungry kids. And that's going to feed a lot of kids for a long time…

My view on 30 hour famine has changed… drastically…

Lisa

PS Click play below for a short highlights slideshow… L.