reverb

If you've been around for a while, you might remember that last year I took part in #Reverb10, a blogging event where you wrote on a given topic every day during the month of December as a way to reflect on the previous year and prepare for 2011. Tomorrow is December first and I've been looking forward to starting #Reverb11. I got an email yesterday from the creators of last year's topics and guess what...


There is no #Reverb11. 


Womp womp. What last year's creators have urged their blogging community to do is come up with a list of daily prompts for themselves and reflect on the year that way. One of the authors, Kaileen Elise, posted her list on her blog as an example. Something seems funny to me about writing my own prompts and sometimes I err on the side of temporary laziness so tomorrow I'll be starting writing from her list of prompts. :) I guarantee a lot of people will...


So below is Kaileen's list of writing prompts for the month of December if you would like to join in. I don't promise that I'll get to them all, but I'm looking forward to the challenge! 

See you tomorrow, friends! 

1. Where did 2011 begin?
2. Who did you meet?
3. What books did you read?
4. When did you struggle?
5. What did you discover?
6. Who was important to you?
7. What do you hope to remember?
8. Where did you spend money?
9. When were you most scared?
10. What questions did you ask?
11. Who surprised you?
12. What did you learn?
13. When did you feel the most relaxed?
14. Where did you leave a mark?
15. What movies did you see?
16. What did you accomplish?
17. When were you the most grateful?
18. Who touched your heart?
19. Where did you visit?
20. When did you cry?
21. Where did you spend your time?
22. What were your favorite songs?
23. Who did you miss?
24. When did you take the easy way?
25. Where did you eat?
26. Which blogs did you enjoy most?
27. When did you celebrate?
28. What are your dreams for next year?
29. Who will attract into your life?
30. What do you want to do in 2012?
31. Where do you hope to be on Jan 1, 2013?

And I thought I'd end this post by sharing a few photos from our pre-thanksgiving cookie decorating party! Enjoy!

Sometimes Trey takes a break from law school... and sometimes I make weird cat cookies.

And these are a series of terrible photos of me, Robert, and Memphis sitting on the front porch playing with my dslRemote App before taking our family Christmas photos. Don't worry, we didn't take them on the porch... it was way too sunny for anyone's good.

living free

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you are as much enjoying this day as we have been. So far I've spent the entire morning drinking coffee in my pajamas and chasing the puppies around the living room while attempting to watch the parade. I'm grateful to spend the day with family and I can't wait for the rest of the gang to get here for our annual black friday fun. If you've seen the Target commercials, you have a clear picture of how my grandma and I act on this day... stretching, strategizing, and joking about knocking people down for the good deals. In reality, nobody ever has anything specific they're after but traditions are always good fun.

Anyway, this morning I thought I'd share some things from my journal from last night. I hope it's a blessing and a sweet reminder to you of grace this morning.

In thinking about the law given in the old testament and why it was given to us, to Moses, with such extreme demands of perfection...

Moses's people met the law's birth with a resounding "okay, we can do this" only to quickly realize afterwards, just like each of us eventually do, that their confidence was far from reality. That perfect, unattainable law was given the people to reflect how perfect and unattainable our God is. Or should be. He has that right. In the light of that law is where we realize we cannot dream of measuring up and thus where grace becomes so sweet. Romans 3. Through the unattainable perfection of the law our sin is revealed. Through the revelation of our sin, His grace is magnified. He is that unattainable perfection but let's never overlook the fact that He made Himself fully attainable to us through the grace that is Christ.

So then we reach a point of recognizing grace and yet striving still to hold to the law in an effort to please Christ. Or perhaps we create our own laws-- our own list of things we have to do and not do to be a good Christian. If we are truly living in faith, that's our desire, right? Yes... but I believe that I, like many people who strive to be good, often reach a place of being stressed by that pressure. His yoke claims to be easy and His burdon light, (Matt 11:30) but I fall into that category all too often of feeling guilty that I've failed to spend enough time with him today or guilty that I didn't serve in a way I could have or stressed that I'm not continually growing in the way other people may seem to be. There is a difference in guilt and conviction. We live far too often in self-created guilt rather than recognizing the gift and sufficiency of His grace.

It isn't supposed to about me continuing to measure my growth that I might be living exclusively by my list of spiritual disciplines and thus pleasing God. No, that puts me falling back under trying to fill a law. And remember that that law is unattainable for the sake of my recognition of my imperfection. No, in Christ there is freedom. Romans 5. Galatians 5. And if there is truly freedom, then I don't have to stress that I am doing good things out of the overflow of my heart. I need only to be a Mary and sit still at the feet of Christ. Our focus then shifts from whether or not I am constantly growing, serving, doing the right thing, being who I need to be, upholding all the laws I have created and put in place as disciplines... it shifts from the weight and the pressure of all my self-given demands simply to the face of Christ. That is and will always be what is most important.

And is that to say those disciplines and laws are bad things? No, surely not. That's the same as calling the commands to not lie, steal, murder, etc. irrelevant and useless. No, we still desire to uphold those things but it shouldn't be necessary for it to be our constant focus. My goal is not to lead better or write deeper blogs or live in high spiritual regard. My eyes rest only upon the beauty that is Christ. That is never exhausting. Because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He offers freedom, full freedom, from the law. Why continue to create more law for myself?

Let all of that soak into you as you celebrate being thankful today. Are you celebrating the full freedom that Christ's grace offers us, or are you continuing to load yourself down with the weight of trying to fulfill unattainable laws, created only to show you your imperfection and your deep need for Christ? It's a lot to think about and definitely lends to some soul-searching. I'd love for you guys to join me in praying today that God would reveal to each of us where our true focus is. I pray that for you it is the face, the glory, and the grace of Jesus.

I'm off now to get ready for the day and maybe help mom make the dressing. Today is bound to bring the annual event of my dad not believing me and getting out the camera manual to figure out how to set the self-timer for the family photo... it's the same button every year. (If you're struggling here also, it's the one that looks like a clock...) I love family. Really.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Enjoy the day!

celebrate

Well, continual blogging has been a continual fail. I retract all claims that I was going to blog daily. Maybe finishing up the semester has proven to be more of a priority than expected, though I venture to say that isn't necessarily a bad thing... I have two back-to-back large presentations tomorrow and then am technically free for Thanksgiving, meaning all total that I have about a week and a half of actual college classes left. Where did it go? Slow down! I'm not ready yet...

Speaking of time flying, Monday was a day of celebrations in our apartment. Laura Sue got the only female part in Dinner Theater, our sweet little Patty finally turned 21, Babbs and Will celebrated one year of dating, and I spent the entire day smiling about the fact that for the past six months I've been blessed enough to date the boy who constantly leaves me speechless. (As in right now, when I've spent the past ten minutes trying to even think of a sufficient ending to that last sentence.) Someone asked me a few months ago if Daniel was all I'd ever dreamed of and with all honesty I told her no. No, he isn't. Cause I don't even dream that big. He's a whole lot more than I ever dreamed of asking for. So this is a public thanks to you, friend, for always being my biggest fan... for dancing with me in the kitchen when I can't sit still any longer, for constantly speaking Biblical truth into my life, for being the weirdest person I know, for always pretending, for knowing how to make me smile, for stopping every 30 minutes when I have to go to the bathroom, for constantly being patient, honest, and sincere, for always being proud of me, for loving cupcakes and pet dinosaurs, and for always watching me smile in the rearview mirror. A million miles of blessings. I love the truth that the Lord has made everything beautiful in it's time. So grateful.

I guess you could say my friends and I celebrated all the excitement by going downtown last night for the NeedtoBreathe concert at the famous Georgia Theater. It burned down earlier in my college career, and I'm excited to say that just a few weeks before I leave Athens, not only did I get to see a show inside but I got to see an epic show inside. There's nothing quite like the college concert atmosphere and certainly nothing like watching your favorite band with all your best friends. There were so many of us and we couldn't have possibly laughed more and had a better time together. I'm grateful for the incredible friends I've spent the past four years with. Words can't quite express it...

I didn't even take my camera last night. Sometimes I feel like I spend too much time trying to get decent pictures and I miss out on just enjoying what's going on so I left the photography to my more talented friends. (Who just so happen to be Malaysian and Romanian. Maybe I can blame my lack of skill on my lack of diversity? Kidding.) I'm sure Duane got some sweet pictures. I'm still waiting to find something in life that he's not fantastic at... let's call this his official congratulations on getting into med school.

NeedtoBreathe played for legitimately about two hours and we danced and sang to every minute of it. At the very end of the show (after a 3 song encore) they went up to the balcony of the theater and played acoustically for a little while. I'm a big fan of that, so I thought I'd share it with all of you. :)

Ignore the fact that you can hear all of us singing in the foreground...

And somehow this song melted beautifully into this one...

Love it. And when the night finally ended, the first song that came on in the theater as we were leaving was "Get up off of that thing, shake it you'll feel better..." A definite change of pace plus the excitement of finally opening the doors and feeling the breeze was clearly the perfect recipe for a room of dancing college students. It was one of those days when you think "Really, must we grow up?" I'm not going to, I've already decided. Just watch.

I really do plan to get back to writing about more important things very soon, but for now I'm off to a precious little consignment furniture store in downtown Watkinsville with a sweet friend. Who knows what kind of treasures we'll find. Last time I went to a consignment shop I bought a giant mirror in the middle of camp but that's a story for another day...

gratitude

It's impressive how the very day after I decided to blog every day I already forgot to write, isn't it? With all the hustle and bustle around here yesterday, it fully slipped my mind. We hosted about 30 people for a Thanksgiving potluck yesterday and I venture to say it was a big success. The smell of turkey and dressing cooking in a college apartment is a rare but highly appreciated one. Unfortunately this morning our house seems to look a bit like a tornado happened here last night... which is made more interesting by the fact that the party actually happened next door. Still, a morning of cleaning for us.

This morning I walked slowly through Psalm 78. The Psalm tells the story of the history of Israel and points out how time and time again the Lord provided for the people and they met Him with dissatisfaction and a bold request for more. As you read through the blatant miracles He showed them and things He provided for them, their lack of appreciation seems appalling. It seems no wonder that the Psalmist refers to them as "A stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him." (v.8) It talks over and over again about the miracles He performed (dividing the sea, guiding them by a cloud, water from the rocks, manna from Heaven...) and how "they forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them." (v.11)And God continues to provide even as they continue to push Him.

And as I read this story, I can't help but think to myself "how ungrateful. How on earth could you not realize all the Lord was doing for you?" I think often we have a picture of these people parading around in the desert for 40 years enjoying watching the Lord work and being marveled at how He was providing for them out of nothing. But that perspective isn't biblical. Let's not forget that they spent that time wandering in a desert. Let's be real, I'd probably be in a bad mood too. But as I think about their lack of gratitude and prepare to pick up the first stone stone to toss at them in hopes that it would knock some sense into them, I'm reminded of what a picture this is in my own day to day life as well.

"In spite of all this [all God had provided despite their demanding and ungrateful hearts], they kept on sinning. In spite of his wonders, they did not believe." (v.32)

I began to ask myself this question this morning: What areas of my life has God provided in, yet I continue to selfishly demand more? I know the answer for me. I'd challenge you to think through it for yourself. We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends last night. Have I truly been thankful for all God has provided? I spent a little time in prayer over the specific area of my life I knew He was drawing attention to this morning, thanking Him for exactly what He has currently provided and not asking for any more. I'm always touched and reminded of a prayer I wrote out in my journal sometime about a year ago. If nothing else ever comes, thank You for what You've given today. May that be the minute by minute cry of my heart.

Now, God shows the Israelites grace and mercy time and time again but He doesn't allow them to continue to walk all over Him. Because let's be real, who dares to think they have feet big enough to walk all over God? Toward the end of the Psalm he talks about some of the ways He lovingly disciplined the people and I found it to be really interesting. What I also felt was interesting was the very end... when God decides it's time for change and He "chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them." (v.70-72)

It's humbling, isn't it? That after all of that God would choose a little shepherd to lead. I've been meaning for a few days now to blog about leadership (maybe I will finally get around to it soon) but I love the picture here of David's willingness meeting with his obedience. I think I would've said "Me? You want me to step into leading something so difficult?" I'm afraid I might've rather stayed with the sheep. I'll write more later about how often God calls us to jump big time... like from a flock of sheep to the nation of Israel. It's often unexpected but it causes a lot of dependence on Him. I see a lot more coming out of that... let that be a teaser for tomorrow's post. Or maybe even later today? Who knows.

But for now, the washing machine is done and I need to go do some work on campus. Think about it today-- What areas of your life has God provided in, yet you continue to selfishly ask for more? Could make for some interesting realizations for you too.

writing

In this current phase of my life I think a lot about what I want to do... what I want to be. And you know what I so often come back to?

I dream of being a writer.

Maybe I picked the wrong major. (I know I didn't...) A lot of days I feel that even if I really have nothing to say, I just want to write. I've talked about a life dream of writing a book one day. I've talked about how I like to write to process things. I've talked about how often I feel the Lord gives me things to share and how I'm blessed to hear if it touches even just one heart.

Now, you might say "Laura, you're not that good of a writer..." and maybe you're right. But that's okay. One thing I know is that much like anything (and much like I'm being constantly reminded lately as Laura Sue and I yet again make attempts at pursuing running) the more you practice it the better you get at it. When I read back over my posts from last December, I'm touched at what a different caliber of writing and sharing I had when I was writing on such a consistent basis. Through that, and through the fact that there are tons of blogs that I read each and every day, I've made a decision. As I continue to intake more and more information (I've become a big fan of reading lately) I've got to have some method of processing it and pushing it out again.

So I'm going to start writing every day again.

How long will that last? To be honest, I'm not really sure. But it's something I've been contemplating for a while and goodness knows if I've ever had the time, it's now. All my posts certainly won't all be deep, they won't all be eloquent, and I surely don't expect anybody to read them all. But hey, it's worth a try, right?

On a wholly unrelated note, I read this blog today from one of the bloggers who is currently in Ecuador with Compassion International. I got started on this by thinking "I want to blog with an organization like that..." and got fully sucked into this blog. The funny thing is that I read for quite a while before realizing that this blog was written by my recent favorite author, Ann Voskamp. I'm an idiot? But I love the way she writes, the way she listens to the Lord, and the way she serves. The Farmer she refers to is her husband and I love the way they love and serve together. It makes my heart smile when I read about her watching him love the Lord's people and recognize God's provision in their lives. Isn't that kinda how it's supposed to be? I can't wait to continue to see their Ecuador story unfold. Put that blog at the top of my daily stalking list.

That's all for now, dear friends. I'm now going to go finish making cornbread for our Thanksgiving potluck tomorrow with about 40 of our closest friends. I'm making my grandma's homemade dressing. I've made with her and made it with my mom, but never on my own before. I have mild confidence that I can do it... I hope.

november

A quick catch up on just a few of the random things happening around here as of late:

I recently got to spend a some time with my favorite brother and this little guy in the great city of Nashville. I can't wait to see them both again at Thanksgiving. This year I'm just really excited about being with the entire family. My cousin just got back from being in boot camp (eek!) and I'm thrilled at the thought of having the whole family back in one place again. Plus, how could I not be excited about our annual day-after-thanksgiving girls shopping trip?! It's not so much about the shopping as it is the fact that my grandma and I have already begun making jokes about working out so we can knock people down to get the best deals. At some point we'll draw out a map, practice our distraction techniques, and challenge each other to work on our game faces. Never serious, always amusing.

Last weekend I got to spend some time in the mountains with one of the sweetest families I know. It was Teague's Tootin in the Timbers weekend and you might be surprised to know that outside of these two instagrams, I didn't take a single picture. Maybe I just figured I'd leave that to Wesley and Emma... Anyway, I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. It was wonderful just to relax, to look out at God's beautiful creation, and to laugh together with friends. The Teagues are more fun than I could ever explain. Can't wait to see them all again soon. :)

This one is from an old chapel and cemetery we found while hiking (slash driving up the worlds most narrow mountain round). We also went apple picking, watched football, played lots of games... Can I go back? Please?

Okay, in an effort to have as much fun as humanly possible before I officially leave for Mississippi, we as roommates sat down and created the "Things to do before 2012" list. It's now full of ridiculous things, old traditions, and a couple things that are there just for the sake of ten years from now being able to say "One time, when I was in college...". I've only said it a million times already but I have the world's greatest roommates. When I got home last weekend, Anna and I sat down and shared an entire list of things we'd wanted to tell each other while we were apart. I'm gonna miss that more than anything.

I'll just never understand why people can't tell us apart...

Last Friday night was the bcm homecoming dance and these, my sweet friends, were my dates. [cause my real date lives way too far away ;)] Anyway, we had an absolute blast at the dance and went downtown for milkshakes afterwards. It was definitely a much needed night of fun and fellowship. Bcm dances are by far the most fun-- who doesn't want to dance with 100 of your best friends?

That's my quick update for this lazy Monday morning. I promise to post soon about what the Lord is teaching me and all such things but for today, I need to go get ready for a lunch date with an old friend. She's having a baby. Where is time going? Slow down, life.

And to close, a video of the best part of the football game last Saturday in Athens. Enjoy :)

Jay

I've been anxious to write for the past couple of days but haven't yet simply because I really had nothing pertinent to write about... I've just missed writing. I'm looking forward to December coming soon so I can start on Reverb 11 and get back in the habit of writing daily. But tonight's late-night inspiration to post probably won't be my greatest work. (it is 1:20 am as I start this...) In fact, you might laugh at me or you might just not care much at all. And that's okay with me.

See, last weekend we lost a very special member of our family.

We knew it was coming, we've known for years, but on the car ride home from the mountains my mom broke the news to me that our sweet 13 year old dachshund, Aj, had finally gone. Like most hard situations in life, I didn't really know how to process. I know my grip on Daniel's hand tightened as I heard the words and I tried really hard avoid my usual inappropriate reaction to sad news-- the laugh/cry combination. I cried, don't get me wrong, but it was one of those cries where you hold it back and you end up with a headache at the tears welled somewhere behind your eyes. He's just a dog, right? Not really... He was a huge part of our family.

Coming home was different. Quieter. And our other dog, Claire, has gone into a sad state of depression. She's never lived without him. But here, almost a week later, I'm just now really processing. Laura and I watched Marley and Me tonight (seems like a terrible idea, yeah?) and as I cried with the characters in the movie, I couldn't help but think about some of the sweet stories of Aj that made me laugh over the past 13 years. The main character is a writer who keeps a column of stories about the family dog. The rest of this blog is dedicated to telling a few of those stories and chronicling the grumpy, chubby puppy that he always will be.

One of my favorite pictures of Aj last Christmas. I love that old gray chin.

I don't remember much about the day we got Aj. Despite his frequently grumpy exterior, he's our Valentine's Day pup. What I do remember from going to get him, though, is that he wasn't the one I wanted. But he was Robert's dog, not mine, and it's absolutely fair to say that Aj picked out Robert, not the other way around. That puppy crawled up in his lap and looked at him with this "I'm coming with you, okay?" face that really left him no option.

We would play together a whole lot when he was a puppy. I remember getting in trouble for dropping a hula hoop on him once. He loved tennis balls more than almost anything (though he never mastered bringing them back) and I used to tie his leash to the skateboard and have him pull me across the garage. We'd race home from the bus stop and he could run faster than me. (which is sad, I know.) He loved popcorn and I taught him to catch it in his mouth, convinced we'd join some sort of circus one day and show off our tricks. He knew the word popcorn almost as well as he knew the word cheese and we used to laugh at the way his floppy ears got wet when he drank water.

In third grade I did a writing project about Aj and each week I would write and illustrate the next book in the series. The only ones I can remember off hand were Aj Goes to School and my personal favorite, Aj Get's Glasses. They were quite the hit in Mrs. Jones' third grade class. My mom still has every last one of those books.

Aj almost always had birthday parties complete with hats and unfrosted cupcakes. One time the neighbors came.

I don't remember a whole lot about him being little but we moved across the state in between third and fourth grade. I do remember that in the process of moving, we packed up Robert's red bunk beds and found petrified dog poop underneath. Surprise? When we got to the new house it seemed so big and so empty. I was nervous and unsure of things but I remember Mom putting Aj on the floor and him taking off running laps around the house with more excitement than I'd ever seen.

When I was little, if I'd whine he would whine right along with me. And nobody ever tickled me without getting bit if I called for his help in the fight. Sorry, Dad... 

For thirteen years, literally every single time Robert or I would go up the stairs he would take off running and barking at full speed. We made him chase us as kids and he never grew out of it.

He barked at everything and at nothing. Mailmen, butterflies, wind... nothing was too swift to get by our guard dog.

The first time Aj met Daniel was one I don't think any of us will ever forget. Last Christmas we were all sitting in the living room late at night. Aj, who until then had payed him no attention, got out of his bed, walked across the room, and looked Daniel square in the eye. He turned around, walked halfway back to his bed, paused, and passed gas louder than I've ever heard any small dog before or since then. Always a warm welcome in the Register household.

Aj's legal registered name was Aj Red Rocket Register. Yep.

One Christmas he got a sweater from Santa... unfortunately he was way too chubby for it and it made his little legs poke out to the side so far that he couldn't stand and had to resort to laying on the ground flopping around like a seal until someone took pity on him and took the thing off. We always said he looked like a football with legs but at least he made a good garbage disposal.

Aj's favorite past time was to grab the end of the roll of toilet paper and take off running across the entire house. The reason we keep the bathroom doors closed is very similar to the reason we keep the pantry door closed... Aj proved himself at an early age to be half puppy and half goat.

I loved that puppy a whole lot. He'd wait for me every single day at the bus stop in middle school and snuggle up with us on the couch every night. He wasn't always the friendliest, his barking drove me crazy, and he certainly got overshadowed by his assertive little sister, but he was great. He cried me through some tough times, stuck with me when our favorite boy went off to college, and got old just at the same time as Buster did in Toy Story. He was a mess, but he was a huge part of our family and everyone was sad to see him go.

So this one's for you, Aj Red Rocket.

Good night, friends.