Hi-Lo-Ha #2

Hi-the few days I got to spend visiting the Fam in New Hampshire. We celebrated my birthday and spent time laughing and enjoying being together. Dad had a job interview while I was over. Please pray that God provides the jobs for my parents that He wants then to have.

Lo-Losing an Arcade Boat Racing Game to my 4 year old nephew. He picked the hardest boat to drive and I picked the easiest. He killed me and then laughed. Sadness!! I can take it. Way to go Seth Jar. You drive like a mad man!!!

Ha-My parents setting me up while I was over. Long story, but my dad is in no way smooth when it comes to this. The 4 of us had dinner and then played cards. Mom and I lost wicked bad in Bid Whist to the boys, but we held our own in boat racing.

Hi-Lo-Ha #1

So here we go...

Hi- my birthday! I turned 29 yesterday and was showered all day long with texts, calls, and posts on facebook. Near the end of my work day I got an email from my chiropractor's office and I had won a free massage. YEAH!!! Off to dinner with friends and then to Bible Study. I stayed up way to late chatting with a dear friend on the phone. It was a busy day, but a great day. I felt VERY loved!!! Thanks to all who made my day so special!

Lo- there's been this small drama going on with some people at church. Nothing huge and earth shattering, just human messiness. This week the drama continued and I hate that. I pray it will all be resolved quickly and that God will be glorified through it all.

Ha- Two friends and myself went shopping to help one of my friends pick out new eye glasses. We went in to Pearl Vision and were laughing and joking. We all found the need to try on lots of glasses and laughed hysterically at each other. I think the man in the store thought we were slightly crazy, but we are kind of used to that. I think Kim in Harry Potter techno-colored glasses put us all over the edge. While we were talking it came out that the kind gentleman working there, who we named Mr. Pearl Vision, knows a friend of ours from church. Well, long story short, Mr. Pearl Vision and his new bride are going to come check out our church. He must be cool if we didn't scare him away!!

Hi-Lo-Ha!

I stole this wonderful idea from my friend Jaci. On her blog she often shares her Hi-Lo-Ha of her week. Well, I love reading Jaci's and thought it was a great idea. I have been using it at work with the kids. We share our Hi-Lo-Ha of the day often. They laughed at me at first, actually I think several of them informed me of how "dorky" I am. I may be dorky, but we all enjoy it now. I've been doing this for a few weeks now and had been thinking about posting my Hi-Lo-Ha on my blog, but then got nervous that someone that reads Jaci's blog that also reads my blog would know I stole it. What would people think? Well, I don't care what you all think. It is a great idea and I spend too much of my time worrying about the opinions of others. So I will be trying to consistently post my Hi-LO-Ha of the week. I do want to offer a huge thank you to Jaci for sharing your idea and for sharing parts of you life with us through Hi-Lo-Ha.

64 days!!!

I was just checking out a couple of my friends blogs and ran across this idea of giving more at Christmas by spending less, on my friend, Julie's page. It really got me thinking. Yes, thinking about Christmas in October, but why not? My friends and I for years have done something at Christmas to give, like to Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree, or soccer balls to kids over seas that have none. We've done lots of things, but then we always still buy gifts for each other. This year we were sharing how blessed we feel and that we could do some much more blessing of others if we took the money we spend on gifts for each other and gave it away instead or if we spent the time we would spend shopping and wrapping to go help someone in need.

Christmas is only 64 days away!

What are you going to do to make those 64 days more meaningful?

Check this out for some ideas...http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

Girl's Night Out

So I just had a fun girl's night with a fabulous group of ladies. This night of fun was all in honor of Miss Alexis Myers turning 7. I did cute hairdos for Lexi and Cali. Then they had pedicures and manicures from their moms. During all this we enjoyed pizza and a yummy cookie pizza. Next Jen, Sarah, Me, Alexis, Cali, Claudia, and Rachel headed for the mall. What would girl's night be without shopping? Well, Alexis got her ears pierced and was a brave girl. They look great!!! We shopped some and then finished the night with Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. A huge thank you for letting me tag along on such a fun night and HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEXIS!!!!!

"Worship"

Why is it that we use the word worship as an adjective? We have worship leaders, worship bands, worship services, and so many other things that we feel like if we throw the word worship in front of that it sounds really spiritual. I was reminded recently that worship is an action verb. Worship is something we do, not a label for things we want to be spiritual. Music and church and leading and any other number of countless things are an expression of worship, but true worship of the enormous God of the Universe and the same God who knows every minute detail about me needs to flow from me. Worship needs to be something I do all the time, not just something I label as worship so I can feel closer to God. Worship cannot be fully understood, yet can be experienced in bits and pieces. We cannot even begin to grasp all that worship to God can mean. I think that we label things as worship so we can comprehend them. We box God in by labeling things. We need to step out in wild abandon and live worship!!

So I ask myself how? What does living worship mean? What labels needs to change to action in my life?

Stand!

I sit here today broken by sin. Sin is so ugly. I hate it! I hate Satan! Sin eats away at all that is good and we let it happen. So today as I sit here well aware of sin and its effects, I ask you to stand with me against it. I ask you to battle Satan with me. The only way I can truly stand against him is arm and arm with other Christians and held completely in the firm grasp of a God who loves me so much more then I can ever hope or dream. I have committed my life to God- my whole life and yet I need people. I read in a book recently that we are all made with a God size hole in us that only He can fill, but that we were made with a human size hole that God will not fill. We were created for community- true community!! We need transparency with each other. We need to live life in the light and not hide things. We need to do life together, all parts of our life, not just the "good christian" parts. We need authenticity!!!!

So today I commit anew to pursue genuine, transparent, authentic relationships with those who know and love God and who I am choosing to do life with. Will you stand with me??

Vacation

I have just spent the last week on vacation with my family in New Hampshire. We packed 9 into Huggs Hotel and 3 at the Coop and Mom and Dad resided by themselves at the Eagle. I had someone ask me if I would like it better to go away some place with friends that I could really relax and do fun stuff. I didn't have to think long...sure I would love to go on vacation with my friends. We would have a BLAST, but not if it meant I would miss time with my family. We have so much fun together and I need this time with them to remind me of where I came from and to help me know where I want to go. My family means more to then I could describe in mere words in this blog. I am beyond blessed that I come from a family that can cram in to a place, spend a week together, and walk away still loving each other. We had so much fun together doing so many things some of which were...Wii that turned into full contact Wii at times, ice cream, a day at the ocean, shopping, surviving a tornado, Lobster, board games, Beauty and the Beast in Prescott Park, bowling, reading at night before bed, Christmas Brunch in July, and so much more!!!!
So to Dad, Mom, Kevin, Heather, Wendy, Sam, Alexandra, Gabrielle, Harrison, Nadia, Meredith, Isabelle, and Little Buckaroo Seth-Thank you for a great vacation and I love you all so much!!!!

Independence

Happy Independence Day!!! I sit waiting to go walk in the parade with the kids from work. I am excited about today and all the cool stuff we will do. As I sit in the quiet waiting for the kids to wake up I ponder this day. I understand on the human level what today means. I understand and am so thankful for the independence and freedoms we hold as Americans, but I was thinking what does today mean on the spiritual level? I am involved in a Bible Study with ladies from church. We are going through the book "Breaking Free-Making freedom in Christ a reality in my life." So today more then any other July 4th I reflect on true freedom. If I am held in bondage by not experiencing true freedom in Christ then all the freedoms I hold dear as an American mean nothing. So today I stand with new resolve to whole heartily pursue true freedom in Christ!!

New Place To Live!!

So I did it. I signed the lease to my new living arrangement. I move July 13th and the adventure continues. I will be living in the upstairs of an older woman's house. We share the kitchen. She seems to be very nice and has informed me that she is seeing a gentleman friend..."it's not that serious, but he does stay over on occasion". I thought I would share that in case any of you were wondering. I am praying that this will be a great temporary living situation giving me time to save up for a down payment on a home of my own someday. Thanks so much to all of you who have been praying for me and encouraging me through the long wait for a new place. I will have to have you over to sit on my deck and sip ice tea while we look out over the beautiful Kennebec.

Growing up!!

Where is time going? My niece, Alexandra, is graduating from middle school and my niece, Gabrielle, is graduating from elementary school. How is this possible? I can remember, like it was yesterday, pushing Bri in the stroller while Alex walked beside me as we went shopping at Baby Gap in Freeport. It was your favorite store!!! I remember a late night baking session with Heather to make this huge carousel cake for Alex's first birthday and now she is going to be turning 14!! WOW!!!
I am so blessed to have these 2 girls for my nieces. They are growing up to be amazing young women. I am proud to be their Aunt Amy. They both love God and are learning to do life with Him. They both make me laugh and make my heart smile!

Congrats girls on graduating. Enjoy the summer and see you soon!! I love you tons!!!!!!

Memorial Day

This day is quickly approaching and I have been thinking about it quite a bit since I was visiting my Grandmother and she asked me to look at her uniform. She has been a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post 9328 for 40 years. She was just given her 40 year pin a week ago. VFW Post 9328 in Harrison, ME is named after my uncle, Ronald G. St. John. I have several men in my family that serve this post and many women who serve in the Ladies Auxiliary. Memorial Day is a big day for the town of Harrison and a big deal for the St. John Family. The story has been told to me time and time again of how it came to be that Harrison held this event no matter what. Many years ago it was pouring rain and they were discussing cancelling it when my grandfather, who was a quiet but wise man, simply said, "Well, our boys died in the rain I guess I can march in it." That settled it! They have held this event rain or shine every year. I can remember years walking with no band in the parade because it was raining so hard they couldn't play. I have attended the service and parade every year of my life, except one. I was 16 and away on a school trip. I hated it. It has always been a day for family and remembrance. We remember those that sacrificed so that we can be free. We remember and we say thank you. So today I say thank you to some great people in my family that have sacrificed...to my Uncle Ronnie who died on that battlefield in Vietnam, to my Grampa St. John who survived being a POW in WWII, to my Grampa Paul who served in Korea. Each one of these men sacrificed much so I can be free today. I want to say a huge thank you to the women that were left behind and also sacrificed much while their men served. My family has given me a great legacy of patriotism and pride. So with Memorial Day approaching I say thank you for your sacrifice and I have not forgotten!

Mighty To Save

Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
A kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is Mighty to save
He is Mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory of the risen King!!!

We sang this song Sunday in church. It has echoed in my head all week. May I bask in the trueness of Jesus Christ that is stated in the chorus. May I daily surrender all and live out the mighty power of Jesus Christ to save me. May my life sing for the Risen King!!!!

Apartment Searching

So here's the deal, I am searching for a new apartment. Yes, I am looking in Maine. Sorry to my family and friends in SC!! My goal is to live in something cheaper for a few years and really save in hopes that I could buy a place of my own someday. On Wednesday, I went to look at an efficiency apartment. I had prepared myself for it to be small. I realize that I will need to sacrifice to reach what I really want. So I think I am all prepared mentally to go see this apartment. Well, I am glad I was because I will walk you through this place. Don't worry it won't take long it was small. I walk in the door and to my left is a sink, a toilet, and a shower. Yes, right inside the front door. To my left are shelves with a microwave and a hot plate. Then you step through a doorway(No Door) into the bedroom/living room/dining room. Now this room is as wide as a twin bed is long, that's only about 72 inches I believe. There is not one closet in the place. The bathroom/kitchen is so small the mini-fridge is in the bedroom/living room/dining room. As I stood there with this woman I had just met so many questions and thoughts ran through my head. What do I do if I am on the potty and someone comes to my door? Am I going to have to wash my dishes in the shower with me cause that sink is too small to fit a dish in? Where the heck am I going to put the copious amount of clothes, shoes, and purses I own? What do I do if I have guests over and someone needs to use the bathroom, do we all have to go outside? I somehow by the grace of God did not bust out laughing. Needless to say, the search continues. I am still haunted by a question that no one yet has been able to answer for certain. Is it even legal to have your bathroom and your kitchen be the same room??

It's Over!!

I do apologize for the lateness of this entry. The NCAA Men's Championship is over and I did not share the outcome with you all. It was not the girl power year that we were hoping for. Neither of the St. John Sisters is wearing the crown of victory today. I do want to congratulate Mr. Nick Dean for his strong performance and say that it was a pleasure to battle with you until the very end. Congrats to Nick and his Kansas Jayhawks!!!

Now, you may think "Oh no, it's over. How sad". Yes, we will miss basketball, but it will come around again next year like it has done every year of my life. Please don't be sad for I have great news...RED SOX BASEBALL!!!!!

So I bid farewell to the basketball season and stand with open arms to welcome baseball season. GO SOX!!!

Bracket Update

So as I mentioned in my earlier post I am in an online pool with my family. I did forget to mention that Sam has affectionately named the group "Beat Wendy"! It is going well right now. The St. John sistahs are representing with 1st and 2nd place. I will confess that Wendy is in first and I am tied for 2nd with Mr. Tim Monahan. I would also like to give a shout out to my sister, Heather, who is not in the pool, but contributes greatly to the domination of her sisters! You are an inspiration to us both!! On another note, I have to say I am a little disappointed this year with the lack of trash talking in the group. I've pondered the reason for this and have come up with a few possible conclusions. They are as follows in no particular order...
1. The big trash talkers in the family, Kevin and Sam, aren't do so well thus having little to say?
2. Dad is in the group this year and we fear hearing a lecture on "idol words"?
3. All the boys are silenced by the amazing St. John Sistahs?

I will not express which is the most accurate, though I feel there is some truth in them all!!!

I will close with the thought that Wendy and I could not be winning in a very short time so this had to be written while we were on top. Good luck sistah, but I gotta cheer against UNC! Go UCLA!!!!!

March Madness

Even though at this time of year spring comes on the calender it hasn't shown up in the weather yet in Maine. I know Maine can be a little slow in catching up to the trends! So yeah, it is still cold out and we have plenty of snow left, but I Love March!! Why you ask? MARCH MADNESS BABY!!! I grew up with a dad who coached basketball for 20 years. We love the game! College hoops is my fav! I've lost the love I once had for the NBA. It is no longer about the game of basketball and about your team in the NBA. I miss the days of Bird and Magic! Anyway, back to college hoops, I love this time of year. You wait for Selection Sunday to see whose made it in to the Big Dance. Then the work comes...trying to fill in your bracket from 64 teams to 1 team. Whose going to win it all? There's going to be upsets, but who? It's a challenge, but then the fun begins. I am in an online pool with my family so no matter how far apart we are we can always trash talk and try to get the bragging rights for the year. Oh yeah and you get to watch hours of basketball!! I know it's March cause I'm sleepy. It was just the first day yesterday so I purposed to go to bed early, but no such luck. Duke got themselves into a wicked close game and I was too stressed to sleep. I can't believe that I got this far in the is blog with out mentioning that I am a HUGE Duke fan and have been since I was is little girl. Anyway, I stayed up later then I had planned, but Duke pulled it out. GO BLUE DEVILS!!!! Well, that is my March. I am sure I will right more on this subject as the tourneys go on!!

The best of times. The worst of times.

A few things happened recently that made me ponder how so often the best things in life are really hard at the same time. I ask my self why is that??
I was talking with some people recently about my grandfather's battle with cancer. He lived 8 months after he was diagnosed. Those 8 months were spent in and out of the hospital and at times so very sick from the chemo, yet I treasure those days so much. I look back and laugh at all the fun we had. Death came, but we walked the journey as a family. I miss Grampa Paul greatly, but the life lessons I learned from him are forever with me.
I have friend that was doing a report on the Ukraine so I was sharing some of what I had learned about the country from the times my sisters and brother-in-laws were there adopting. I was looking at some pictures from the Ukraine and this concept of the best of times and the worst of times struck me again. The times my family was over in Ukraine was hard. We faced some tough times in their journeys, yet I could not be more thankful for the addition of Harrison and Nadia to our family.
Why is the concept true? Is it true? I think I appreciate things more when it cost me something to have them. I think I give God more glory for things when I have to trust Him to get them.
So today I say thank you God for the best of times and the worst of times in my life. Through it all may I learn to trust God more and to ALWAYS give HIM the glory!!!!

A Blessing!

I recently had a visit with my grandmother. It was such a great time. She is older now and her body and mind can do less then it used to. She just had a spell in the hospital. She was happy to be home, but a little discouraged. Well, sadness is not a game I often like to play so I made it my goal to cheer her up. We laughed and joked. We talked about old times. We talked about days gone by, like when I was a kid and we spent family vacations at Pinecliff and about our trip to South Carolina together last year. It was marvelous! For a couple hours on a Tuesday afternoon we were ageless. We had no aches and pains, no memory loss, no limitations. We sat, me on the couch and Grammie in her chair, and basked in sweet memories. What a gift!! Leaving her is always hard, but this time was a little less hard because she is not alone. We now have someone that lives with her full time. I gave her a hug, a kiss, a smile, and then I say I love you Gram. I waited for the quick , "same to you" in return, but this day it didn't come. She looked me square in the eye and said, "I love you too!" Nothing else was said. Nothing else needed to be said!!

I have had the privilege of growing up with both sets of grandparents and 2 great-grandmothers. I was in high school before I lost any of them. At times I have taken that for granted, but not on that Tuesday. I drove home fully aware of the family legacy I have been left and I felt truly blessed!!!!

Sickness

I hate being sick. I have tried so hard all winter to avoid the colds that have been going around. Well, I failed! I have a cold and it's a rough one. Every thing hurts. I'm not kidding, even my eyelids and my teeth hurt. I'm drinking so much water I think I might float away. I'm just so tired. That's all for me right now!! Be happy and healthy!!!

Teenagers

I have a couple of things to say about some recent experiences with teenagers...

First- Sunday at church a lady asked me if one of the boys from youth group was my son. Now I need to tell of you that this boy looks to be 17 or 18. Now I realize that I am aging and no longer can pass for a college kid. At times, yes, I no longer get carded when I go out, but honestly do I look like I have a teenage son?? Please be truthful with me...I can take it!!!

Secondly- We have great kids in our youth group at church. We call it Floodgate!! I pray that God will open the Floodgates of Heaven on us. We meet every other Sunday night and I love it. We have such a blast with them. Just like other areas of church planting I must be patient. I want to have this awesome, huge, amazing youth group now. I pray that I will be patient and purposeful in my waiting. I pray that I will enjoy the part of the journey we are on. We just started Floodgate in December. I love the relationships I am building with the teens. We are going to a concert and hockey game together on Saturday. I am so looking forward to it. We have so much fun together.

I work with teens all week and then hang out with a bunch more on Sundays. I am thankful I am no longer a teenager, though I don't wish to be a teenager’s mom yet either!! Teens face a tough world out there and life can get messy for them. They make me want to bang my head against a wall one minute and hug them the next minute. The teenage years can be tough and I am so thankful I know a group of teens that is letting this "old" lady walk part of their journey with them! Floodgate Rocks!!!

A Family Favorite!

I wish to dedicate this post to my brother-in-law, Sam!!

The Italian Sandwich- Yummy!! Some of you may read this and be greatly confused. I must clear some things up though. I feel it my civic duty to try to educate some on this wonderful sandwich. The true Maine Italian Sandwich consists of a ham or salami(mostly ham for us St. Johns), provolone cheese, tomatoes, pickles, onions, green peppers, salt, pepper, and oil(Some of us delete the onions and peppers). Many of you may be thinking "Yeah Am, been there ,done that, had a ham and cheese sub a million times." I must correct you though that this sandwich I speak of is not a sub. Yes you may have had all the above named ingredients on some sort of bread before, but you may not have had an Italian Sandwich. The ingredient I left out on the list above that truly makes an Italian an Italian is the roll. It is soft and light yet at the same time not too airy and has just the right level of doughy goodness to it. The perfect Italian Sandwich cannot have too much bread to it. The ingredients cannot be overpowered by a tough, thick sub roll. They must be gently wrapped in a soft, subtle Italian Sandwich roll. This roll I speak of is almost like a hug for the ham, cheese, and veggies. Now some(I will not name names, but I did dedicate this post to him) have called it a "glorified hot dog bun". I can only say that I am outraged by this injustice. To this person I say, you may be from the "Live Free or Die" State but buddy you might die never being free to eat another delicious Italian Sandwich again! I am deeply sorry for your lack of taste and can only hope that as you spend more and more years in our family you can gain the superior level of taste in food that we have. I hope this clears up any misconceptions about The Oh So Delicious Maine Italian Sandwich!!

Oh Deer!!!!

So last night I was driving home after giving Miss Sophie Wells her first haircut, which was so fun by the way. I was on Rt 1 in Bath and was talking to my mom on the phone when out of no where a deer runs into the side of my car. It scared me so much. I yelled out, "Oh My Word A Deer Just Hit Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I think it was a little scary for my mom on the other end of the phone. She talked me through it and helped me calm down. I made it home and thought there wasn't any damage to my car from what I could see though it was dark out. Well, this morning in the light of day you can see a good size dent in my passenger side door. Thanks Mr. Deer! I am thankful that it is nothing more serious, but for real did he need to run into my car? So I am putting out there to all other deer...Please stay away from my car!!!!

Celebrating Life

I am reading a great book called "Cold Tangerines-celebrating extraordinary nature of everyday life" by shauna niequist. It is a great book and I am pretty sure I will have more posts in the future about it, but last night I was reading and fell in love with a line from her book. After how I have been feeling about the passing of my friend's dad, the words spoke deep into my heart.

So here it is..."We can't stand in the way of death, but when it comes, we can stand in its face together, and celebrate life and celebrate family and celebrate having loved fiercely and expressively."

I want to love fiercely and expressively so that when death comes this quote can be true for those left behind!!

Loss

We've all had people in our lives that we are so close to and then as time goes on we loose touch. Life moves on and we move on with it. You can go years with out thinking about a person and then something happens and they are thrown back into your world for a moment. This just happened to me with a friend of mine from my childhood. We were really close in elementary and middle school and then through high school and after are lives took us different paths. We have run into each other a few times over the years, but haven't kept in touch at all. Well, this week his dad passed away and now this person, that I hardly know anymore, I can't get out of my mind. I hurt for him. I hurt for his family. I knew his family well and I my heart aches for their loss. I have lots of fun memories of my friend's dad and times I spent with their family. It is in moments like this that we take a look at life. So today I look at life as a whole. The good and the bad and I say thank you. I say thank you to a good God for life. I say thank you for all the fun times I had with the Gregoire Family. I say thank you for my family. I know that my friend's dad loved this good God that I say thank you to and I know Paul is now dancing with the angels in Heaven!!

Today

It is rainy and I feel yucky. I refuse to say that I am sick and passionately deny the existence of a cold. I have a headache and a runny nose, but I am NOT sick. I will fight!!! Water is my friend today. I am drinking lots and running to the potty every 5 minutes. I am at work and it is quiet here. I rejoice in that yet I fell like taking a nap, so I blog instead since I am pretty sure my program director frowns on naps unless he is taking one! I chatted with my sis in SC today. Always a joy!! I am going to see my friends kids play basketball this afternoon. How can the Garland children be in HS? I am getting old! That's OK though I am enjoying life and that is to be celebrated. Life is to be celebrated and I am trying to do that more!

I am out of water so I will go get more now!!

Peace!

1st try!!

I thought I might give this a try!!!! Hopefully it works.