bloopers

I received this email today with church bulletin bloopers and I couldn't help but to share my favorites.....

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be, "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice. 

Ushers will eat latecomers. (seat)

Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King!

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict. 

Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get. 

A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance. 

The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: "I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours

Which one is your favorite?

Tricia's Tracks

A few months ago, my cousin Devon Diller, 5th grader, & her best friend Sophia, decided to put on a Bike Memorial to honor her mom, who passed away January 29th, 2010 after battling Breast Cancer. Tricia would have loved it - her friends & family together in the outdoors.

With the guidance of a few of the Woodside moms, Devon designed the T-shirts, put together the prizes, the baked goods, made an announcement at her school, & more! Devon is an event planner in the making and did an incredible job! 

  

 

 

Over $15,000 dollars was raised for Tricia's Foundation, 200 plus people came out to ride including our family & other people who knew Tricia in the community, & the weather could not have been better! Nana even made our family pink scarves so that we would all stand out. What a great day to celebrate Tricia's life together! 

  

   

Things that I took away on a personal level:

1. I want to take up road biking.

2. Biking hurts your "Patootie" as Pattie Cox would call it (aka Bootie).

3. Need to get in shape asap - that ride should not have rocked me like it did :)

4. It is hard to believe that we are coming up on a year without Tricia - I miss her!

wHy.....

there are many things that cause me to ask the question WHY... 

some silly like....

why does think it is ok to follow behind a young boy with flaming hot Cheetos just in case the kid drops one & he can eat it off the ground. His answer "i am hungry".                                                                                                       

my answer "stomp on the Cheetos so that he does not eat 

...you have a gatorade & gelato in your hands!"
            AND

why did i order my book in LARGE print...

it is like carrying around a brick
& I don't even wear glasses.

and some serious like....

why was my dad out of a job for the past two years? 

yes, during that time, i had my fair share of why questions - 

why us Lord? 

Why now? 

Why aren't you listening? 

Why not that job? 

Why is this taking so long? 

Why do they always go with the internal candidate? 

You are all powerful, why can't you move in someone's heart & mind to make a decision to hire my dad?

i seem to be taking this questions approach to the Lord in more than just this department of my life. 

good or bad thing? i am not sure.  

maybe it is me thinking that i could solve this problem faster & better so i ask questions to help the Lord come up with a great plan? 

who do i think i am that God needs my help? 

maybe it is how the Lord is choosing to teach me in this season of life? 

maybe it is a lack of trust that the Lord's plans for me 

are WAY better than anything i could come up with?

Maybe it is my stubborn spirit refusing to begin the refining process? 

Regardless of the motives behind my questions, the Lord has turned these questions into teaching me many things about Him over the last couple years. 

i am learning that my why questions are 100% heard & understood by God, 

but God is not a vending machine. 

With a vending machine, you put in the money 

& know exactly what kind of snack you are getting back - 

the one you selected of course. 

With the Lord, you put in your questions and requests (paralleling the money) 

& you have NO idea what he is going to put in the slot for you to grab 

or how long it might take to drop into the slot,

(perhaps like a broken vending machine for symbolism sake 

but only if broken vending machines were awesome) 

but you do know   

it will be the best thing for you. 

So when I put in my requests & expected them to come out exactly how i ordered 

and it didn't, 

i found myself putting up barriers in my relationship with the Lord 

rather than fully leaning into the refining journey that the Lord planned for me 

while my family & i waited for the awesome snack. 

So if you can imagine with me,

 what do you do while you are waiting for the snack to drop? 

You might kick it hard, 

you might yell, 

you might even cry because you are so frustrated, 

you might ask someone for help, 

you might unplug the machine 

& plug it back in for ANY glimmer of hope that this snack will drop. 

Then you might shake it 

and YES the snack moves just a little 

& then you get others to help you shake it - no progress. 

and then, 

FINALLY, 

the vending machine super hero walks up 

& says "guys guys, let me get that for you" 

& he takes the candy out of the machine 

and places it right into your hands, 

barely breaking a sweat...

WHAT?!?! 

Well let me tell you - 
at moments in this journey, 
i think my whole family could say we wanted 
to kick, 
scream, 
laugh at silly things people told us (like my dad needing to shave his mustache),
smile because we were SO encouraged by the amazing community of people around us,
scream again because we saw the "snack" move & then stop,
& then slump down in a deep, comfy chair
until the Lord pulled us up for another round.
All those moments when my dad & the rest of us were tired & wondering WHY, 
I am sure the Lord was shaking his head saying,
GUYS GUYS this is not the best "snack" for your dad and the rest of us 
so WAIT for ME 
to give you my best! 
This is a process!
So we wait, 
are encouraged, 
wait, 
rest in who God is & his promises, 
wait, 
learn something else to refine us in our walks with him 
and THEN..

the vending machine super hero! 

(Side note, the vending machine super hero does NOT  portray accurate characteristics of God - like God was with us through the whole process. He didn't just show up one day. There are definite theological loop holes in this analogy, but there are some similarities. Go with it.... )

on october 15th, 
bob clark, a long time family friend, 
shows up on our doorstep one Friday afternoon, 
after a long interview. 
He has been contacted out of the blue for a job in Pleasanton. 
The Lord laid it on his heart to go into his next interview saying 
my dad and him come as a package deal. 
You get Bob, you get Bill. 
Tears came down 
as Bob told my parents,
the company agreed
& the deal moved faster than we could keep up with! 
My dad interviewed in Pleasanton that Monday, 
Tuesday received a contract, 
Wednesday signed papers, 
& Thursday was his first day of work! 
Clearly a gift from the Lord & an answer to prayer  - 
THE LORD HAD PLACED THE SNACK RIGHT IN MY DAD'S HANDS!!! 

HE HAS IT UNDER CONTROL, 

He is enough, 

his timing is greater than my own, 

he is our provider,

his character is never changing, 

he is faithful 

he is strong when i am weak.

i am so encouraged by the example my parents set for each of us kids 
as well as the many people involved in their lives. 
For two years, they stuck close to God's side, 
pursuing him wholeheartedly, going to his Word & prayer for answers. 
Yes, they had normal human reactions like getting mad & frustrated, 
but they never failed to remind us that through the ups and downs  
God is still God & he is faithful to those who love him. 
They new the best snack would come as long as they stuck with the Lord. 


Looking back as a family over the two years, 
we were all encouraged at how faithful the Lord 
was to always provide prospective jobs. 
There was never a day that a job was not brewing 
or dad wasn't waiting to interview or hear back 
or working on a project. 
When one door closed, another opened. 
How faithful God was to keep him busy, 
give him perseverance, 
& even give him humor in the process. 
i could not be prouder of my dad!


It was evident that the Lord used this time for many things - 
for my parents to grow stronger & deeper in their relationship with each other, 
for the Lord to speak through my mom each week to the 80 women in her Bible Study who were also going through trials, 
for the Lord to allow them the strength to pour out on other married couples, 
for my dad to be more involved in his tennis game & those relationships,
for us kids to walk through this in our different ways & learn more about the Lord, 
for others to be encouraged that the Lord is working even when we can't see it, 
for our family to be more closely bonded,
for the reminder that prayer is important & softens your heart,
and the list just keeps going! 
God's glory shone through these why questions 
because He taught us all more about himself! 


He always listens, but He answers in his timing. 
He answers in a way that will always bring his name glory 
so that others might come to know him. 
Why it took two years for this time to come, 
I will never know, 
but I do know these things....
being in process means it is all about perspective. 
i know the Lord appreciates us sharing our genuine & honest heart before Him with ALL our questions, joys, pains, hurts, burdens, etc. 
BUT it is our willingness to stick with him 
& to replace our perspective with the Lord's perspective. 
I can only surrender my responses to the Lord in difficult times as i spend time with him, reflect on his character, & read his word so that i build my trust in him & attempt to see things how He does. 
these are truths that i can cling to. 
I know he is trying to drill this concept into my head 
& it takes discipline to be obedient. 
Seems much easier to complain, mope, compare, make excuses, lose your faith, 
but really how much greater to cling to the hope that only comes from walking with the Lord through the ups & downs. 

PSALM 66

our rejoicing prayer on October 20th,

the day the Lord provided his perfect

JOB!

LET US NEVER FORGET WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US!

Crosby Carving Contest

Another fun weekend with the Crosby Clan.

1. Alan & I spent the morning wandering through Downtown Modesto's 

Farmer's Market with a great pastry & coffee. All I could think as I walked through was "loving this small town feel, the smell after it rains, being with alan, then pause...what is that horrible sound & who will make it stop? oh just the honky band that never quite took it on the road. How did they get in there? I am going to bring my flute next week and play mmm BOP & My heart will go on..feel free to support me. Getting back to the greatness of the morning...i loved all the pumpkins, veggies, almonds, the old man that scares little kids at the fruit stand with his fake rat, & talking to his mom's cousin Dale making the best home made kettle corn. All i needed to top off that morning was a horse ride through the orchards with my man, a flannel, & my cowboy boots. My heart just might be growing for Modesto. 

2. The Kegeris's came to visit.

so fun to give them a taste of Alan's hometown ...

The rain destroyed our thoughts of a corn maze... 

SO we went with what was comfortable...

Mexican food,  GIGANTES (woohoo world series!), Coffee Shop! 

very thankful for great friends & how God is using them to challenge us to be better people individually and as a couple!

3. Watched "How to Train a Dragon" - GREAT 

& had many fun memories with Alan's sister, Ashley.

4. Finished the weekend with Reta's famous 

Taco Soup & a pumpkin carving contest.

Audrey & Taylor
the designers of the sad face

Trying to think of something creative to carve..

i like taking out the guts...
alan does the carving

there is the finish product...
we named him "horris the hillbilly"

Horris at night

who's do you think won?

waiting for the results

justin, ashley & alyssa
designers of the pirate pumpkin

that's right we won...even made a pumpkin cry!

SEANYBABES GOT HITCHED

October 9th was the day Seanybabes got hitched! The grandparents set them up and the rest was history. He slid a ring on his finger and up-ed his man status. I inherited an amazing sister! No, she is not THE Courtney Cox from Friends, but she's MY SISTER Courtney Cox, which is ten times better - about time that a girl got a sister!

Great weekend in Carmel. We went kayaking with zillions of jellyfish..GROSS and cute little seals popping up next to us. I felt like I was greatly disturbing the jellyfish environment each time I put my paddle in the water. It was like I could hear them saying "Ouch, Come ON, you just hit me in the head and gave me a headache!" I am almost positive that the "Save the Jellyfish" group would have been pissed at us.

On Friday night, the rehearsal was in full swing &  we shared fun memories about Sean and Court around big dinner tables. The tears were flowing, but so was the laughter. I cannot express how much joy I felt that weekend. My brother - the older brother that I have always respected, admired, looked up to, the one that would shove his toes up my nose because he thought it was funny, the one who could barely handle watching Hook without hiding under his movie theater seat, the one who carpooled with me to school while listening to Saves the Day, the one that moves as slow as a turtle, the one who embraces life's adventures in Argentina, Alaska, New Zealand, the one who loves the Lord & helps me to know Him better - had met his match. He has the privilege of living side by side with one great girl that compliments him in every way, makes him smile ridiculously HUGE (we have to help him tone it down in some pics), embraces the fun in life & most importantly, challenges his walk with the Lord. They're a couple that love & serve others more than themselves, challenge others to live with higher standards, bring people together, and the list goes on. They are so much fun and I could not be happier that they get to spend the rest of their lives together and with our family! Check out the pictures to come in...cAuGhT iN a 4 x 6.

1 year and 6 months ago...

Alan Crosby asked me on our first date! It is hard to believe that we have been dating for this long. Feel like I have known him my whole life and sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself. Love that He enjoys celebrating the milestones. He planned to surprise me at work, but when I got off earlier than expected, I guess I ruined that plan...ooops! So he showed up at my house with flowers & hanging from the 18 flowers were little notes that had the months we had been dating on the front and fun memories from each month on the back! I was sooo impressed! Then, we tried this great place in Berkeley called Angeline's - highly recommend it! Great Southern Cooking.

He got the fried chicken
but was SO satisfied with the service...
Alan's #1 selling point!

looks like poop but it was great - jumbalaya!
The mac and cheese & dessert were my favorite..
oh and the sweet tea!

Now doe ce doe.....

Friends, hay, old western movie projected on barn, square dancing, fiddle music, cowboy boots, and fun! What a great weekend spent with the Crosby Family!

helpers for the night

justin, alyssa, alan, & i

alan's grandparents

giving directions from
the sidelines