God. Is. Love.

It feels so good to have a home.

I was raised/still am very Charismatic. I've never been in a church service where the Holy Spirit was moving and I was weirded out by what was physically going on in the service. That might be my favorite thing about my upbringing. I'm totally comfortable responding to the Holy Spirit in any place under any circumstance doing whatever He is asking. Even if it might seem embarrassing to some. My comfort zone is stretchy.

The church I am about to become a member of is very different from the church I was raised in. Well, I shouldn't say VERY. Just a little bit different. But I like it. It's a non-denominational church on the move, progressing each service toward the wonderful community of believers God has called it to be.

It's great because there isn't a lot of commotion, but the Holy Spirit is still very present in every service. That's one thing, though, that clashes with my idea of church.

God and His Holy Spirit are present in places they are called upon, desired. Whether it's the small Baptist church on the corner of Main or the 1200 member Pentecostal church on the other side of town. We call upon the same God, He desires and responds to the same kind of praise. He is present where He is loved.

It's like every service at this church is planned for me because the pastor knows it's just exactly what I need to heard. It's just exactly what I need help in, need convicted of, need more of.

For example, this last week was about love. It may sound simple, but loving is hard for me. It's hard for me to love the people I love and the people I don't even like. And I know I'm not the only one who struggles with this, although for a long time I thought I was.

Think for a second. It's hard to love people sometimes because they hurt us, because they don't love us, or because they are just plain annoying at times! It's hard to love because it's hard to put your heart out there, to risk not being loved back.

That's where we're wrong.

If we were really meant to live in fear of getting hurt we would never be able to love anyone. It's not us though, it's not our hearts on the line here. It's God's heart through us. We are a way He can express His love for other people.

Sure, there is a level of humility in loving. Not wanting to love someone because they've hurt you, for example. But that's the thing, it's not my heart, it's God expressing His heart through me. When this divine act of love teleportation takes place we feel it too, obviously, because it's through us.

How do we get this kind of love shock flowing through us? Exactly my question. Good thing I paid attention on Sunday. The pastor said this:

Step 1: Understand how much God really loves you.

Let me ask you this. Do you really understand how much God loves you? I don't think there is anyone who can answer Yes to that. But it might be possible for us to get a better understanding, one that fills the confines of our earthly minds.

So let that be your prayer this week. To really understand how much your Heavenly Father loves you.

P.S. If anyone needs scripture references, you can email me or facebook me. :)

Save Save Save!

Have I mentioned I love my job??



We're the only clinic in this town that is open on Saturday. All day.



However today was a day I will record as an enhancement to my life. All thanks to a 50+ year old man.



He was awesome.



He is an ex-competitive waterskiier. He explained to me how to gracefully go back over the wake once you're out in the open water. He told me how to solo ski and how to ski backwards. He even gave me some pointers to give to my dad about driving the boat. I was super excited.



I told him about the gentleman who told me it was all downhill after you turn 20. This guy said it wasn't until you turn 40. Then he gave me some really great pointers on how to save money. I explained that I save anywhere from 20-25% of every paycheck I get. He said that was great and when I turned 50 I would be patting myself on the back. He told me to invest in the stock market, which is actually the second time someone has told me that so I think I'm going to look into it.



He gave me some good advice that you can benefit from too. Young or old, especially young but don't count yourself out if you're old. He said to really think about what you're spending your money on now. Because when you're wanting to retire and you look at what you've got, you won't remember what you even spent your money on when you were younger. As in, eating out, buying new clothes and shoes, new cars, boats, campers. Every time you go into the gas station, ETHAN, don't buy a bunch of junk food. Seriously, start keeping tabs on how much money you spend per week on stuff that-a month later-you don't even remember buying. Then start putting that money into savings and you will not be disappointed. And it's never too late to start, as long as you're receiving some sort of income. Ethan wanted to go out to eat tonight, but I think we're just going to stay home. Like I said, it can start right now.

Oh My Baby

As you may or may not know, I just recently started working for an Optometrist. I've been working full time so I haven't had much time to blog, but I got off early today so I decided to catch up.

I really really like my job. A lot. I've wanted to do it since I was in the 6th grade. There are 2 things I love the most, number one the kiddos that come in. If you know me, you know I have a heart for the elderly. I mean I like all people, but I really just have passion for the eldery. But for some reason every kid that has come in has stolen my heart. All the boys look at me terrified and the girls just gawk. Yesterday a little boy came in and asked if I had a son like him, and I told him no, then he asked if I had a daughter, and I told him no, then he asked if I was married, and I told him I would be soon. Then he got really sad. I'm pretty sure I crushed his dreams, he was about to propose. Then I took him to the exam room. Which if you're little and you're without your mama, those tiny rooms packed with oversized black equipment can be a little intimidating. I started dialing his prescription into the feroptor when he noticed a tv up high on the wall. I don't really know what they're for, I've never turned one on before, but he started begging me to "Please please please just turn on the TV." I asked what he liked to watch and he said "Cowboys." It was that moment I regretted telling him I was about to get married, I can handle the 13 year age difference ;)

The first time I went to the eye doctor I was 11 and in the 6th grade. That's when my infatuation began. I don't know if it was the fact that I got to skip school to go, or that my dad got to skip work to go with me. Sometimes just doing something with my dad can make it the most awesome thing in the world. Funny how I'm 20 and that still works. I remember 2 things about that visit.

1. Popping a zit in the mirror and my dad laughing that the doctor didn't want my nasty zit all over his exam mirror
2. The puff of air

If you've ever been to an Optometrist before then you know exactly what "The Puff of Air" is, and you're probably shivering right now just thinking about it.

Professionally it's a pressure check/pre-screening for Glaucoma.

Unprofessionally....

Here's how it goes down. I lead the patient into the prep-room. Check their Visual Acuities, Color Blind, Depth Perception, laugh and joke with them, ask them to slide up to the table (still laughing and joking and talking about their interests). Little do they know... Ask them to please align themselves with the machine, ask if they can see the light. Keep talking then kind of slip in "just a quick puff of air" then laugh when they jump to the ceiling. Getting the first eye isn't so bad, it's the second eye, when they know it's coming, that takes a little more persuasion. It's actually pretty fun...for me... :)

All summer my baby has been parked in Iowa. Or should I say raced up and down the gravel roads until she's so dirty you can't even tell what color she is. I've had Rylee's G6 here for several weeks while she had mine up in Iowa. I gotta say, her car is all that and the bomb. It's sleek, cute, and very nice on the inside and outside. But it's only got a 4 cylinder. I didn't realize how much I appreciated my V6. I love driving my car, we connect on a foot/gaspedal/engine level. When you get in you immediately notice the race car style curvature on the odometer and air vents. You start the engine and it sounds like a tractor. You take off slowly down the road. With no change noted in your mind, you look down and you're going 45 and a 35 zone. She's a sneaky speed beast. It's like the air coming through the ventalation system gets trapped in the car and surrounds me, filling my brain with whispering thoughts of "a little faster a littler faster don't you want to see what I can do" Ohh the temptation. I say all of this to justify the three times I've been pulled over (2 of them on the same night) the new set of brakes I had to get and the fact that I've had to get new tires twice. I've had her for 4 years. My mom drove her one day and now she understands why all of those unfortunate events have happened, my dad not so much. It must be something only girls can connect with.

Relaxation?

Just drove for 8 hours straight..as in, me-Brandy- was the one pushing the pedal. I guess when you turn 20 your dad will finally let you drive your own car all by yourself ;)

My dad is quite the driver, to put it in terms that won't get me in trouble. We caravaned back to Arkansas, the King in front, my Silver Bullet taking the rear (yes I named our cars). While mom was driving she was never more than a car's length in front of us. We could wave from the front seat and they would wave back. But while dad was driving, they were never in view, or at least very rarely. It's like he's trying to beat a speed record. Can we make it back faster than we did the last time? Pretty much he's awesome.

As you may or may not know, my extended family and I just spent the past week adventuring through the Black Hills. To answer your first question, we drove. Honestly, I have never heard of anyone flying out there, it's so close to where we're from. To answer your second question, we took 3 SUVs. To answer your third question, we had a blast.

Over a three day period we visited/explored/hiked:

The Corn Palace- yes a building made out of corn, right up my alley :)
Wall Drug- counted 67 billboards advertising it.
Mt. Rushmore
Sylvan Lake- twice
Crazy Horse
Cosmos
Spearfish Falls
Roughlock Falls
Devils Tower- in Wyoming
Custer State Park
Horseback Ride through the Black Hills
Wind City Cave
The Mammoth Site
The Air and Space Museum
The Badlands
Cabelas

Under no circumstances are vacations supposed to be relaxing.

We stayed in cabins in the Badlands one night. And a lodge nestled right behind Mt. Rushmore the rest of the nights.

Pretty much, it was one of the best vacations I have ever taken. For one thing I LOVE prairies, indians, cowboys, the 1800s, and the West in general. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century. For another, I love my family, and I don't get to spend much time with them. So my family plus the West equals pure perfection.

Wyoming was my favorite part, for the pure reason that I have an unnatural infatuation with all things Western. Wyoming is like the capitol of the West. I know what you're thinking, I love cowboys, I picked the wrong boy. Not so, I don't want to marry a cowboy, I want to be a cowboy-or girl. I want to be a cowboy that has all the resources town offers available at every given moment.

There were a lot of hilarious adventures on our trip, too many to list right now. I think my butt has gone numb. I'll post pictures on facebook

Goodbye

Please, do not read this title and panick. I am, by no means, going anywhere. I just want to talk about goodbyes. Unfortunately my keyboard is sticking for some reason, so you might see some words that look like: sa i lve tis ect. Don't worry, it's going to Dad's Fix It Shop this weekend. No replacement iPads though, that's for Rylee.....

Anyway, goodbyes are interesting. I find myself wondering why they're called 'good'-byes, when 9 times out of 10 I don't want to leave the person or the place. Sadbye or dreadbye would be more appropriate.

Everybody has a different way of going about their goodbyes. There are people who like to hug and cry and hug and babble on about how much they're going to miss the person, there are people who hold it together through the hugging then let loose in the car/plane, and there are people who just put on some sunglasses and walk away nobody really knows if they're crying or not.

I don't know about you but I am definitely the sunglass type, I would even go so far as to sneak out to avoid a goodbye. Because honestly, if I love you enough that I'll cry when I leave you, I'm probably going to see you again very soon. Then it's like we never had to be separated.

Worst goodbye ever, the day we left Iowa. We had the van and the black truck parked in front of the house. Dad's whole side of the family was there. Kids were running around eating cake (I dont know why) laughing and playing. I don't really remember much, kind of like a wedding day it just happened so quick, but I do remember playing one minute and being buckled in the van looking out at my family in front of my house the next. Then it was like "wait a minute what's going on?!" Poor Rylee didn't have a clue where we were going. Then the truck and van started pulling away leaving my house and family in the rearview while my best friend chased us down the street on his bike. Almost everyone was wearing sunglasses.

Family Time

I haven't updated in a week! Probably because when I'm around Ethan I forget about phones, facebook, email, computers, pretty much everything but him.

Most of you know, I love sleep. Pretty much a bomb could go off right outside my house right before I fell asleep and I could still sleep like a baby.Very few things affect my nightly sleep. But last Saturday night I slept for maybe an hour, I was so excited to pick Ethan up from the airport!

Airports in general are tear whisperers, in my opinion. Probably because everytime I'm at an airport it means I'm leaving someone behind. I was a red, teary-eyed zombie with long curly brown hair that morning. My dad said it was just the airport.

Whenever I saw Ethan, it was like I'd never seen him before. Imagine- tall, cute boy carrying his suitcase sees his shorter tan girlfriend, drops his bag to the floor in the middle of a crowd of people, dashes 3 feet before she jumps up into his arms and they stand there hugging like the first time they ever hugged for a long 5 minutes. Then she starts crying, promising to never leave again, while he strokes her long hair.. Yeah my parents waited in the cafe.

The first night he decided to stay with my mom's parents. This is the All-American family. As in- everyone's perfect. Beautiful, smart, successful, each has perfect athleticy/musical children. There is a specific place for everything, and everything will be in that place, perfectly. Ethan loved the kids.

One day, my grampa asked if we wanted to take a load of corn into town. We agreed and followed him to the other farm on the fourwheeler. So we get there and he loads two wagons, while we stand around and look at every piece of equipment he owns. After about 30 minutes he walks over and says

"I only have one extra seat in this tractor, so Brandy you'll have to run back to the other farm."

Like as in, only him and Ethan are going. Oh this is good. But there was nothing I could do, so I jumped on a fourwheeler, went back, and nervously waited for a good hour and a half. Apparently they just talked about the land, ethanol, my grampa's property, Ethan's ambitions, nothing too damaging.

Ethan man-ed up and decided to stay with my dad at another farm. Then they became best friends. My dad is a swell guy, most boys adore him. They went and checked cattle together, they stayed up all night telling stories and sharing secrets, then they made friendship bracelets and went to the courthouse to sign the adoption papers. Umm you signed the wrong papers Ethan!!

After sitting on the gravel road watching the sunset while staring into the never-ending sea of green, Ethan promised to quit making fun of the way I talk about Iowa.

Now we're back in God's country, spending some much needed time with Ethan's family. I'm probably going to paint the shed with his awesome Mama, take his little brother out on a brother/sister date, and learn everything I didn't know from his dad. And his family is coming to town this week too!! I love love.

To Ethan

Alright, this post is pretty much for Ethan. To prepare him for his Iowa adventure.

Some things you should know about my family (nothing personal).

Mom's Side:
My Papa is the one who needs to have the best impression of you. I am his first grandkid and he often refers to me as Rhonda. Like as in he always refers to me as Rhonda, rarely gets it right on the first try. That's not because he doesn't pay attention. It's because I remind him of her with my continuous "deal making." The way to his heart is through work. Act interested in his routine life. Offer to open gates in the morning when he does chores. I still haven't figured out what you should call him yet. See around here we don't do that Mr. First Name business.

My Grama ..will probably ask you 1400 questions. Not prying questions, but weird questions you've probably never been asked. Like "does your church have pews?" or "do you nap often?" or "I bet the sun shines a lot brighter in Arkansas, you're probably sick of all these open plains?" She might be the gentle-est person I've ever met.

My Aunt Cary's family. They're cool. I've been watching the kids all summer. My uncle might be a little taunting, but you can just give him a mean face and he'll leave you alone, trust me I've been doing it since I was 3. Be nice to Darin and he'll be your buddy, he's your best bet to get in with the kids. McKenze 12. Darin 10.

My Uncle Tom's family. In quite contrast to your Uncle Tom :) They are fun, but not affectionate it in any way. Well except for Jack, but I think the only affection you'll get from him is a smack in the face. Ben might not talk to you at all, he's 7. Don't take it personally, he doesn't talk much to anyone. Paige 10. Ben 7. Jack 3.

My Aunt Tammy's family. Her husband Kyle, is a lot like you. Super friendly and outgoing. I think you'll get along well. Juicy toot is her son. He might be shy at first, but I think he'll warm up to you. He's your ticket to being friends with Jack. Gracie 9. Gabe 5. Gillian 2.

My Dad's Side.
They're a whole nother tribe.
My Grampa. Already likes you since you always send the flowers to his house. He will tell you as many stories as questions my other grama asks you. Just listen ATTENTIVELY. Which is sometimes an issue, as your mother pointed out. Most of them are funny, so if you accidentally don't hear, just laugh at the end. Or if he's laughing, then you laugh too.

My Grama. I still haven't figured her out. Bingo is her thing. As you know, you will be joining us on tuesday for a game. Just be attentive (there's that word again!). Don't speak at Bingo, unless you are yelling Bingo. My dad might try to tease you during the game, don't get distracted. It's intense! You will probably meet a lot of old ladies that night too. Tell her you fish, she'll like you. Oh one more thing, Bingo starts at 7, but she'll be in the lincoln at 3:30, honking the horn, literally.

My Aunt Monica's family. They will try and tell you embarrassing stories about me, none of them are true! Seriously, anything about squirrels, just tune that out. They have 2 kids.

My cousin Nicole's family. Christian 13. Jeremiah 9. Glorya 7. She's nice, but will probably try and tell you things about me, which are also not true.

My cousin Zanniell's family. Heaven 13. Zedekiah 9. Zariah 7. Abiah 7. If you haven't noticed, we like IAH. I call her ZB, it might bother her, not sure. See ZB used to be her initials, now they're ZZ, I just haven't made the switch yet.

My Aunt Gina. She is awesome! She might seem like she doesn't like you at first, but then whenever you're alone with her she's totally different. She let me drive her car when I was just learning, ya know like 8 yrs old. She lives to fish. She has one son.

My cousin Luke. I don't even know what to say. Avoid! He WILL try to scare you away. He will act like he doesn't like you. He will have a mountain dew in his hand at all times. He has a son, Colton 2. And a wife, she's cool.

My aunt Tina. Bryce's family! They'll ask you a lot of questions, tell you a lot of stories. Basically good conversation. Bryce 19. Ryan 16. Brooke 12.

I think that's everyone you'll meet. I love you. I love you. I love you. See you at 10:45!!!