faceblogmail

i so can't decide on a given day between facebook, blogging and email. they all compete for attention and each have their advantages and disadvantages. it would make it so much easier if you all would join facebook and we could just communicate that way. it is by far the fastest way to keep updated and communicate back and forth. let me know if you are interested and i can get you hooked up.

celebrating

vitamin d! finally some dang sunshine in this town. we are joining a private pool so we have daily entertainment lined up. i decorated our little side porch with lime green chairs, red pillows and flowers and a chocolate brown rug. my friend beth declared it "just a little happiness". i have to agree and i sit out there regularly soakin up the rays. we have had just enough rain to soak my flowers regularly and i even got a potted palm to simulate (on a VERY small scale) a feel of the coast!

pray pray pray

we are just exasperated about our house in nc not selling yet. it has been 10 mos and we are bleeding cash and beginning to feel hopeless. while i know god has taught us some valuable lessons about purging (space and stuff) i am tired now and ready to move on. michael's ministry is going well and it would feel so much better to know that was behind us. we are having to move the kids school AGAIN! you know how many endless hours i spent trying to get them into the school they would go to once we bought a house and since we haven't been able to do that yet they have had to revoke our transfer due to crowding. pray for sweet harrison who is struggling the most with the impending change. frankly i don't want to make new mom friends either!

vacation or staycation??

we are really struggling with the need to get away this summer (plans to go to NC for several weeks) with the need to quit bleeding money. with travel costs up and the house not sold we really should stay put but are so longing to get back to family and some outdoor beauty. i am hopeful we can miraculously save a litte in the next 6 weeks to make going a reasonable decision.

women supporting women

i am coordinating a group of ladies who are planning an inter generational women's breakfast. our church is unique there is truly a mix of every generation. i have so benefited in my own life from the energy and enthusiasm of younger friends and the wisdom and encouragement from older ones. i long for others to experience that so i am hopeful our time together at breakfast can become a regular occurrence and that new friendship, spiritual growth and even some serving others will be born from this event!

fearing 40

so i am still NOT ok with my impending fall bday. any ideas you may have (short of my idea of hitting the caribbean with my 25 y/o body) to make this a special one to look forward to...i am all ears (or eyes if you email or facebook me)

serenity now.....serenity now....serenity now....serenity now.....

monkey mind and mantras

i am reading eat, love and pray. i can so relate to this twisted soul. she is the written merideth on grey's.

she describes when you can't quiet your mind and your thoughts are swingin from limb to limb as monkey mind. i SO have monkey mind; especially when i try to pray. she also describes the art of mantras both the english versions (just sayings to live by) and the eastern kind that you chant to focus yourself. i have modified and made my own and am going to try to remind myself of this often:

there is no trouble in this world so serious that it can't be cured by: a hot shower (i often pray here), a good drink (some days a starbucks and some a cocktail!) and the bible!

i really like my new mantra!

celebrating

the search. i am so on a journey and always frustrated by not having reached my destination but i know intellectually it is not about the arrival but the ride there. i need to internalize this and re-wallpaper my mind from complaining to celebrating...

friend re-charge

i am SUCH and extrovert. i have noticed a new found energy coming off my weekend with my mom/sister, the girls weekend in KC last week, starting a women's bible study tonight and my upcoming trip to dallas. i just get fired up from the laughter, warmth of friendship and of course the shopping that always goes with girlfriends and my mom and sister. i didn't even buy anything and still had a blast shopping! i won't lie--i found plenty that i so wanted but...i am just so grateful that i have these opportunities. i get the same feelings after a night out in fl with my girls there. i swear i probably would have looked for a new job by now if it wasn't for the business trips back to pvb that i can't imaging giving up!

so thank you my friends!

nascar and mushrooms

my my my am i getting a mid-west education. i am attending my first nascar event complete with garage and pit passes and it is mushroom hunting season. did you even know either was possible for a big-haired red lipped dallas girl??

my friend from college, kim, is married to one of the truck series drivers- david starr. they are racing this weekend in kansas city and we will be their guests. we have been elevated to "super kewl" status by the nascar crazed fans from our church because of our "connections". there is even a dress code...a nice one! we are soon to be in the know for all your nascar questions.

apparently mushroom hunting is big fun and very secretive. morel mushrooms are super yummy and apparently very expensive and elusive. they pop (literally you can hear them?)up this time of year and people have their secret spots not to be shared with anyone. michael has been invited (hates mushrooms) and then there was a write up in the paper about how hard it is to break in if you don't have a spot. very competitive this morel mushroom hunting. not sure if he can go yet but will keep you posted?!

celebrating

bigger kids. my kids are growing up and i like each stage more than the last. i never wish for diapers, bottles, midnight feedings! i love kids who dress themselves (big milestone for brennan now getting his clothes on by himself!), who can toast a waffle (harrison the new breakfast man at our house!) and even kids who can sit through a whole meal without getting up 400 times (don't have any of those just yet!). we can tell tatiana to brush her teeth and get in bed and we actually find her there with clean teeth! aleksandra did create a spectacle at church yesterday with two different sandals on coming through the communion line for all to see (neither of which is the shoes i laid out to match her outfit) but at least she got "ready" by herself.

my peeps

i have had the chance to be with my mom and sister last weekend, i am going to kansas city to meet my high school girlfriends this weekend and several really good phone conversations with old friends recently. it is amazing how much i have moved around but still feel outside my comfort zone without my peeps! it has been good for my soul to connect on a deeper level where i am comfortable lately. my trips to fl have saved me many a month! i am praying i gain some of my own peeps here soon.

global worldview

i am increasingly aware of how limited a worldview many people have and i have to confess my prejudice against this. i see it on the news with all this campaigning. i recognize this is merely by exposure that your view gets expanded. i pray that i will be tolerant, compassionate but not content to leave folks in my path limited. i so want my children and those around me to experience the joy of broadening their mind, views, geography etc...but have to find ways to share the world that are not condescending. my natural reaction to the encounters with limited worldview is to run away and only surround myself with those like me. that is not so much an option here as it has been throughout my life up to this point. my day to day friends here are mostly like me but we serve a community that is not and are called to minister daily to these neighbors, school friends etc... they are ok with only this place perspective and i am not. hmmmm

multi-generational blessings
two of my friends here are unlikely. one is my babysitter, sarah, who is 20 and the other is my 84 y/o angel jane stingley. they are quite a pair and they both make me smile all the time. sarah was a rodeo gal in high school and is now in nursing school and helping me with my kids. i hear her spirit of adventure and no fear attitude about life and i am reminded of myself at that age before the responsibilities of life grounded me (not a bad thing!). then i see my jane who graduated from college in the early 40s and settled here in the mid-west to raise her family and has such a rich history and wisdom to share. she recently lost her Roy and our friendship has become something to keep her busy. she needed a "project" and as you know we are that. what a gift both these sweet spirits have been for me; not deep yet but good for a grin and encouragement in this season of life. find yourself and older or younger friend. it will bless you!

whackamolies and booties

this one has been storing up for a while and i feel like i am finally releasing so much pent up blogging...

celebrating

a little contentment. i am ashamed to say that my disposition has improved with new digs (we moved again) and my husband finding a little balance between work and home. i know we are supposed to be joyful always...i'll keep prayin on that one

whackamolies

maybe you can figure it out. we asked brennan what he had been learning at church and without thinking he responded "all about the whackamolies". 'scuz me?? can you say it slower son? WHACK-A-MOLIES in the bible he promptly says slowly (and loudly). the only other biblical word we could decifer was tabernacle. they had been learning about the tabernacle at church for several weeks so clearly he took something from the lesson. we will rest in the fact that he is learning something; even if it includes some made up people group?

too much tv you think?

another brennan crack up came when he said "you can say to people who breathe on you 'have you been chewin on a skunk'" and you must do it with a thick brother cadence. apparently he heard it on cory in the house-disney channel. he says it all the time and loves to get the laughs.

harrison heard us talking about brennan and in an effort not to have is brother thought of as funnier than him... he piped in when i asked him to do something for me..."talk to the booty because the hands off duty" NICE

girly girl

as a young mother you can't wait to have your little girl and dress her up and show her all the finer points of girlyness. i got more than i ever bargained for. EVERY day i am challenged with aleksandra needing "more mom stuff"...make up..jewelry..REAL purse and real purse stuff inside...lipstick..mom clothes...listen to my ipod...cook like a mom (with lovely mixtures of tabasco, grapes, lemonade, cookies, goldfish, butter...) it never ends! EVERY DAY....just now i was told i was the baby and she was the mommy and she needs the computer to do whatever she wants!

2 is a bratty age not a temperature

what the *&%#^ with this winter. who lives here??? i have never worn socks so long in my life..months now without my cute toes showing!

deep not wide

i am really meditating on depth in relationships lately. thanks to those of you i share one with. it is more important to me than i knew.

pinky swear

i came downstairs and found my girls in the middle of a pinky swear. it all came flooding back. the older sister "negotiating" with the younger one. i am sure i never did that! tatiana was for sure getting the better end of the deal!

celebrating

new digs! we moved into our new place and it is so much better. i found myself singing dixie chix "wide open spaces". i have committed to setting up "house" here complete with pictures on the walls. Even if we are only here a few months i am committed to it being a cozier few months than the last.

appreciated

they had a pastor's spouse appreciation celebration today and i bet i got 50+ sweet cards with such kind words, gift cards and cash. people are so thankful we are serving here and it does fuel me to hear their encouragement. i never realized how many people are watching our marriage and my mothering. very humbling and frightening! people really seemed to acknowledge the support of a pastor and how it impacts his ministry while still recognizing my own ministry. i am very thankful for these sweet people and the opportunity to serve alongside them.

i was especially grateful to get a couple of cards from the girls i hang with most often. there words reminded me that god continues to add to my tapestry of amazing women that have propelled me to this place. i always grieve so much the moving on and assume each time there will never be another friend like....and each time he graciously supplies.

peace and purity?

in my study this week i came across a verse that i wonder if it will challenge you like it has me. mark 9:50; "salt is good, but if salt loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? have salt in yourselves, and be at peeach with each other." salt purifies. i am really meditating on this one right now....

new normal

i heard that in a sermon and it has applied so many times since this. he used it in refernce to our life with god after redemption. we find a new normal with god at the center.

celebrating something

i have seen our own lives adjust to a new normal several times in the last few years. less stuff, less space, less restaurants, less money and less of most of what we thought we needed and found pleasure in.

what we have to celebrate is that our new normal is just fine and we have all we need and more still. i am convinced that is why we have been forced to stay in "this normal" in order to find acceptance and contentment right here.

i wish i could claim to be so super spiritual and say i am content. i am doing better at embracing life right here and now but i am still sorely lacking the grateful heart i should have.

tragedy provides perspective

a family here in our town just lost their 17 mos. old only child very suddenly last week. many of our freinds from church were close to this family and have been devestated. i feel sure they would trade anything for more days with their little girl. what persepctive about what we hold tight.

i am privldeged to have been a part of this tragedy by praying for them and coming alongside our good friends as they grieved and tried to comfort tara and scott. seeing them survive last week and all looking for their own normal now is evidence of god at work. i wish there was some verse that could explain these sudden tragedies but there isn't.

for those of you that were praying with me, thank you. i understand that tara and scott have place their faith in christ and are seeking a church. they have lots of friends at our church so many are hopeful they will visit as they seek to find a new normal in their lives both literally and spiritually.

we have the opportunity to invite them to a get together at our home that many of their other friends will be attending. please pray they are able to come and enjoy themselves, feel welcome and experience what we have found in authentic friendships.

winter wonderland

enough already. i have my kids home today with an early out and they are expecting 4-8 inches this afternoon and throughout the night. it looks like we will be experiencing a lot of togetherness at the campbell house!

it really is very pretty to look at. everyone is blaming the worst winter in recent memory on the campbell's arrival to st. joe. GREAT!

little joys

i am watching little house on the prarie with tatiana. we were reading the chapter book and got into school work and lost our place. i love the memories of this show as a kid and the committment to family they show. it made a snow day not so bad after all!

sister for sale

harrison informed aleksandra today:

"if you were my daughter i would sell you for a cheese sandwich"

such love.....

black wednesday?

i heard that this past wednesday is called black wed for three key reasons:

* credit card bills from the holidays are coming in
* new years resolutions are broken and
* the weather is generally getting to people


celebrate something

i can't say i felt black for any of these reasons. i try not to charge things, i don't make resolutions and i was depressed about the weather back in dec. so nothing particularly unique about weather blues in january. i guess that is reason to celebrate?

i am not going to lie and say i am super chipper this january.

facing 40

my son so kindly reminded me this morning that i am "kind of already like 40" since i turn 40 this year. i sharply rebuked him that 40 was still a ways off for me (10 mos.) so if anyone asks, his mom is in her 30s.

many of my friends from growing up are all sharing their stories of impending 40th celebrations and now i feel even more pressure to do something to mark some occasion that i don't even want to acknowledge is approaching. jana and i are sharing this journey together through another blog--not open for public consumption--and tossed around some ideas but the pressure for it to be just the right celebration has me paralyzed.

it kind of feels like y2K all over again. will you remember where you were, what you were doing? will it live up to all the hype? well that one ended in a canceled trip to paris and spending the evening with people we don't even see anymore and probably a hang over the next day? not giving me high hopes about my 40th.

how to convince

we do not have strong men's or women's ministry or community groups aspect to our church here in st. joe. these are both passions of mine and i just know if folks here just experienced what we have they would be changed forever and would give up candle parties, sports watching etc...to be a part of what god is doing through his people gathering. our church has a wonderful inter-generational congregation that could offer rich community if they just catch on.

michael has a men's ministry kick off next weekend so please pray for this and as i pray and plan for a spring/summer women's event. we are starting a small group in our home in march so pray that as i have enjoyed relationships with each of you that god will use these blessings to create new scenes in our tapestry here in st. joe.


...........peace............