What I Didn’t Know I Wanted

Today I realized how much I want something. I didn’t know how much I wanted it until I knew the answer was “not yet.” The mixed set of emotions I feel is staggering. Extreme joy knowing I’m ready for what’s to come, and that God knows I need more time than I think I do to prepare. And yet, there is a twinge of sorrow. The future is exciting. It’s not always how you plan it out in your head (actually it’s rarely how you plan it), but knowing God has something so sweet in store for my future refreshes my soul in a way I can barely contain or describe. It’s freeing to know I have an awesome, BIG God in control. The day will come when God says, “ok, now is the time,” and I will rejoice with abandon.

My Key to Life-Christ

Up until now, the few blogs I have posted have been funny anecdotes about my first year in Texas. If this is a true guide to life, though, it will point to the one who brought me here-Christ. That's not to say there aren't more funny stories to come, but I want this blog to be about more. I want it to show others why I am who I am.

This morning I felt drawn to Psalm 139, as I so often do when I wonder what God really thinks of me. I didn't get far, only to verse 1, before I stopped and sat fully in awe of God.

"Oh Lord, you have searched me, and you know me." Psalm 139:1

God KNOWS me. Not in the casual sense where he'd wave if he saw me in a grocery store, but in an intimate way that NO ONE else does. He has SEARCHED me. Really? You really have to really desire something to search it and know it in the way David describes. I'm valuable to Christ. I don't always understand why, but I am so eternally grateful nonetheless.

How to kill a water bug

If you find a 3 inch brown thing with long antennas poking out behind your book on your nightstand, chances are you have a water bug in your bedroom.

Do not call your husband in Seattle. He'll laugh at you like he did with the gecko. Instead, get your biggest shoes with the biggest heels (not stilletos though-you need more surface area for squashing).

1. Jump on the bed with a big brown boot in your hand, and track the bug until he runs to the middle of the room.
2. Sneak off the bed, with boot held over head.
3. Scream and jump back on the bed when the water bug runs toward you.
4. Sneak off the bed again, determined to kill the stupid bug this time.
5. Hit it as hard as you can with the heel of your boot, trying to ignore the crunch factor of the bug under your shoe.
6. Get the vacuum, and suck it up inside so you don't have to touch the big dead body.
7. Have a glass of wine, and applaud yourself for personally killing your first big bug in Texas.

How to catch a gecko

Did you know geckos are commonly found in homes? They were certainly never found in my house growing up, but apparently it's pretty common in Texas. I found out the hard way.

One night, I was getting ready for bed, and was turning off the bathroom light, when a 3" long creature caught my eye. At first I thought it was a scorpion (I'd heard about those, but never seen one). I got closer, and realized it wasn't a scorpion, thank goodness, but it was a gecko! What does one do with a gecko in their shower?!?!?

I did the one logical thing I knew to do: call my husband in Seattle. He laughed at me. He said they were good, and they ate bugs. That was great for him, but this was my shower, and it had a reptile in it that didn't belong there. I tried to catch it without hurting it, but failed miserably. I gave up, and decided that if I was going to have a gecko living in my shower that he might as well have a name.

So I named him Joe.

A few hours later, I decided to give it one last try. Here are the steps to catch a gecko:

1. Get a big cup-preferably a clear one that the gecko won't be afraid of.
2. Get a plate to nicely push the gecko towards the cup.
3. Get the gecko to run towards the cup, and trap him between the cup and the plate.
4. Feel bad for a minute, because the gecko looks scared out of his mind trapped inside a big, clear plastic cup.
5. Take the gecko outside, and let him go find his cute little gecko family.

How a city girl like me ended up in rural Texas

In January 2005, I married a country boy. Did I know what I was getting myself into? Not entirely. He had agreed to move to Seattle, and somewhere in my head, I thought he would convert to a city boy. You cannot take the country out of the boy, though, so he tried to take the city out of the girl. That failed, too.

The compromise came when we found 35 acres in Northeast Texas that was about an hour from Dallas. In Seattle, it took me nearly an hour to go 20 miles anyway, so an hour to the nearest big city was acceptable.

My country hazing began abruptly, as I moved to Texas by myself to start my dream job. I was quickly exposed to loud thunder, crazy lighting, big bugs, bigger spiders, and geckos in my shower. Country life is a little different than what I'm used to, but I'm learning to love it more each day (especially now that Brent's here too). This is my story. Enjoy, laugh, comment.