Category Archives: faith

Sunday Adventure-day

Ever have a day that starts out all laid back. Turns really weird. Then ends with you just feeling… rejuvenated? I just did yesterday.

070614-1My husband and I have started a little tradition of going out for coffee on Sunday after he comes home off the road. We have coffee and catch up from our weekend apart. I look forward to it all weekend, and its become a favorite part of my whole week.

This weekend, due to July 4th and my working at the bar when my husband had to be at the bus, my husband drove himself to meet the band on his motorcycle. So, I didn’t have to pick him up today, but I was up and ready to go when he got home. I grabbed my phone, wallet and helmet and we were off! We rode over to Starbucks, ordered some iced coffee, I grabbed a breakfast item, and we sat down outside to catch up.

After about an hour, we decided to hop on the bike and take a ride around the lake. It was a perfect lake day, and we commented that as much as were were enjoying the bike, we wished we were on the lake instead of on the side. But, hey, baby steps. We get more use out of the motorcycle than we would a boat, so be thankful for what we have going!

A perfect day for the lake!
A perfect day for the lake!

We road over to one of our favorite recreation areas, and sat at a picnic table just enjoying the breeze for awhile. After awhile, we decided we’d head home. We were going to grill hot dogs, and just have a chill evening at home. I asked my husband to stop at the restrooms on our way out of the recreation area, so we headed over there.

When I came back and got on the bike, we went a couple feet and my husband stopped. He told me to get off, as he looked at the back tire. Something was wrong.

Sure enough… flat tire.

Now what?

A park ranger drove by not long after our discovery, and we flagged him down to see if he had an air compressor. Nope. No go. It was time to start calling for help.

If there is anything you need to know about Nashville, its that we all look out for each other. This wasn’t so much a case of “find out who your friends are” as “which one to do we call first?” It took no time at all for us to have help on the way. While we waited, my husband said he was going to roll the bike forward and see if we could see a nail or anything in the tire. I sat down on the ground, and he didn’t even have to push it six inches and I saw it…

That white dot? That's a nail in the tire.
That white dot? That’s a nail in the tire.

 

The discovery of a nail told us right away, just adding air was going to do no good. We were going to have to trailer the bike home. So while we waited, we discussed how to handle it. We agreed I’d stay with the bike, and my husband would go get our truck and trailer and come back. When our friend arrived we loaded the helmets and bag with my wallet (I at least kept my driver’s license so I had ID on me) in the backseat and my husband left to get the truck.

070614-2I could definitely think of a worse place to be stranded! Families were everywhere, so I felt 100% safe the entire time. I called my Mom and caught up with my parents for awhile. I made friends with a dog that was hanging out with his family at the park. I also walked around. A lot. According to my pedometer, did about a mile and a half just wandering around the park. It felt great to do! I want to get more exercise these days, and I grasped the opportunity with both hands.

My cell phone was almost dead (I wasn’t planning on being stuck, so I didn’t exactly try to make the battery last earlier in the day!), so I turned my data off after awhile to try to save what little life it still had. It was kind of amazing to not be able to look at Twitter or Facebook. To not be able to post pictures to Instagram.  I found myself missing having a good paperback book to read, though.

It gave me a chance to just… be. I watched the water and felt the breeze. I enjoyed watching the families have fun together, and it just reminded there is still a beautiful simplicity to life. A simplicity that gets lost in technology and social media. A simplicity that gets lost in deadlines and trying to make the almighty dollar.

2014-07-06 17.30.51
Enjoying nature

What we expected to take less than an hour actually took closer to an hour and a half. After all my walking, I was starting to get hungry. My coffee and breakfast square was long gone. I also was keeping an eye on a couple guys that kept hanging out by a truck beside the bike. They were probably just hanging out visiting, but I was paranoid. And did I mention hungry? Hunger makes me a little irritable sometimes. And apparently ups my level of distrust.

I was super happy to see our truck coming my way, trailer on the back. I walked over and we started to load the bike up right away. We were just ready to get this done. Of course as we start that, the two guys who were hanging by the bike had to leave. Right then. My husband had to take the ramp off the trailer so one could back his truck out of the spot they’d been just hanging out in for the last half hour. It very much added to my distrust, but what really surprised me? I was only mildly annoyed. Normally I’d get super annoyed going, “Seriously? You have to leave RIGHT NOW? Can’t wait five minutes?” But instead I was so relaxed from my afternoon! I was able to just let it go within moments.

It didn’t take long and we were loaded up and ready to go, which also helped me forget any annoyance. Our adventure for the day came to a positive end (so far.)

Let's go!
Let’s go!

On our way out, we saw a deer. I like to think nature gave us a nice little, “Thanks for visiting!” in that.

2014-07-06 18.12.07
Yes, that is a real deer.

We both agreed, we were too hungry to go home and cook. If I’d have gone straight home, I’d have probably just sat down with a bag of potato chips and scarfed them down. Pretty much negating all my exercise.

So we ended up going to Buffalo Wild Wings (a favorite of ours) for dinner. Hot wings and beer on the patio! Which I guess still negated my exercise. But I didn’t care.

2014-07-06 18.41.33 When we got to the restaurant, my phone was at 3% charge. We cut it a bit close there! By the time we left, my phone had completely died. I felt so strange and yet also so… free. I had no purse. My phone was dead. I was literally walking around with nothing but my driver’s license.

Granted had I not been with my husband, I’d have been pretty freaked out and felt very vulnerable. I strive to never let myself be in such a position. But as it was, given the circumstances, I just felt so… light! I liked it.

As we we walked out, we ran into a friend we hadn’t seen in awhile and got a chance to catch up for awhile. I marveled at the friendships we have. On our way home, we both agreed we were exhausted. Full stomachs, the stress of the “adventure” we were sent on by a carelessly dropped nail, the summer heat, and the peace of feeling so thankful for friends we can rely on left us feeling very content and peaceful.

Oh sure, I’m not happy that we have to go into the expense of the tire being fixed. No one likes something like that. And it threw a wrench into our day’s plans. But in the end, I firmly believe everything happens for a reason. I’m taking this Sunday Adventure as a lesson in simplicity, friendship, and faith. Consider it a lesson very well learned.

Stand by your beliefs

Did anyone watch The Voice last night? I don’t generally watch singing competition shows, but I’ve followed this one this year because of one particular singer on it.

Holly Tucker caught my attention a year and a half ago at the MDA Muscle Walk in Waco. She sang a couple songs, and I couldn’t stop gushing over her talent afterwards. (Here is a video I took of her singing “Hero” that day.) I declared that she’d be a star some day, if she’d just never give up on it.

She’s on The Voice this year, and has made the top 10! Last night, she sang, “How Great Thou Art,” choosing to stand behind her belief in God and proclaim it to the world. She gave me chills. She brought tears to my eyes. God bless her, she stood strong against the critics that were sure to come.

Yesterday, a horrible, horrible tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma. A week ago, a tornado hit Granbury, TX. Last month, a fertilizer plant exploded in West, TX. At the end of last year, a shooter walked into an elementary school in Newtown, CT and killed 26 people.

And you know what I saw every single time. EVERY time? People sending prayers and thoughts to the victims and the survivors. An overwhelming number of prayers going up to God to give them all strength and to hold them in his arms. And I loved seeing that.

Why? Because I am sick — absolutely SICK — of people being made to feel embarrassed for believing in God. Holly said in an interview that her choice of song last night was not to push her belief on others, but to show who she is.

WHEN DID IT BECOME WRONG TO SHOW WHO YOU ARE??

I’m tired of people being told they can’t show they are praying because it might offend someone who doesn’t believe as they do. Why? Why can’t they pray to their God and ask for his strength? Why do they have to deny a part of themselves so as not to offend someone else? At what point do they say, “You telling me I can’t pray offends ME.”

Why is it only okay to proclaim you’re sending prayers up when something bad happens? Or when something really great happens? What about all those other mundane normal days? Isn’t it okay to pray then? Because, frankly, there’s more mundane days than horrible or amazing ones.

I’ve read a few of the critics of Holly’s song choice. Some saying she did it because she knew people would eat it up. Others saying they didn’t like seeing a gospel song on a singing competition. To both, I say they are entitled to their opinions. But to Holly I thank her for having the guts to do it. To stand behind her beliefs and not be afraid to show who she is.

People have been persecuted for their beliefs for thousands of years, and even in this country that was founded on freedom OF religion we’re still fighting persecution. If you proclaim belief in God you’re a “bible thumper” and society mocks you. If you sing a Christian song you’re “doing it for the votes.” If you pray in school, you get expelled.

But I am here, right now, to tell you I am a Christian. I believe in God. I pray every day in my own way. I have faith that He has a plan. And if that offends any one, I am not going to apologize. I’m simply going to say that I am still me. I’m not here to push my faith on you. I’m here to simply ask you respect that its part of who I am. Don’t ask me to deny my God… because I won’t.