The Sexton Story

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A Reason to Celebrate...

Praise You in This Storm

written by Mark Hall (Casting Crowns)

As the Christmas season approaches, I am reminded of the REAL reason we celebrate CHRISTmas. The birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ! What an awesome reason to celebrate. I've also started thinking, how can I celebrate this season in a way different from any year before....considering this has been a year like none before! That's when I started praying and searching for some way that I could uniquely celebrate--for me--and for those of you who want to read (and sing) along this season (and who knows....this might just continue all year long!).

I started thinking that so often it's music that I connect with and use to pull me through the ups and downs that I've been facing, so with that, I'm going to share some of the videos/songs that I have used over this past year to get me through. It's my way to connect back to the unconditional Love from Jesus. Sometimes it's because the song is in my head all day, reminding me of God's promise, other times it's because a song reminds me of a scripture that I need to read again (or find for the first time in the Bible and not in a lyrical list), and sometimes it's because I've thrown my hands up and said, "Really, God?" because the song is answer to my current situation. My hope is that these posts will encourage you the way the have encouraged me...or maybe they'll help you understand how, in the face of the year that has unfolded, that I can still Praise the Lord and know that God is good. I was going to wait to start this little 'gift' on December 1st, but just felt pulled to start today...maybe it's the rain? Maybe it's the leaking laundry room (at my parent's house? Maybe it's because I can't get this song out of my head today...but, then again, it's not my timing is it?

So today, I start with Casting Crowns "Praise You in this Storm". If one thing has been true about this year, it's that it has felt like one looooonnnnngggg storm. Here's food for thought...Steven and I joined an amazing Life Group this year, I think our first meeting was in February and for EVERY time we've met, our friends have been praying for one of our parent's cancer...not kidding! If you don't think Cancer is a storm, call me and we'll chat. But even when the storm was bad, there was a Praise to be found...something worked, something was caught early, the medications worked, the family grew closer, and on and on and on. I keep asking myself why all the good stuff has to be so quickly followed by a bad thing, but then realize that good seems that much better when you put the bad in perspective. THAT is why I continue to praise, even in the depths of the storm.

The lyrics to the song, along with the related scripture are below, according to the Casting Crowns website.

Romans 8:28 / 2 Corinthians. 4:16-18
Psalm 42:5 / Psalm 121:1-2
Job 1:20-21 / Daniel 3:16-18

I was sure by now
God, You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth
(repeat)

Though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

2005 Club Zoo Music (BMI) / SWECS Music (BMI) (adm. by EMI CMG Publishing) / Word Music, LLC (ASCAP) / Banahama Tunes (ASCAP) (adm. by Word Music, LLC)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Surprise Party!

Today was a special day at work. The girls decided to organize a surprise birthday party for me:) Several months back, some of us were talking about parties and I mentioned I would probably never have a surprise party. They started planning and had me completely clueless--I really thought we were doing a lunch and learn! Even some of the unit staff were in on the covert operations:) Thank you, Thank you,Thank you to my wonderful work family!!

As a special gift, they created a wordle:

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Pinterest Junkie!!

SOOOO, my new guilty pleasure is Pinterest surfing. If you haven't heard of Pinterest, it's like an online bulletin board of ideas (Pinning your interests). I've been pinning a lot of clever ideas (and maybe bugging Steven with some of them), but this is my first attempt at creating SOMETHING I've seen. Kim Christopherson's video for the DIY Infinity Scarf is found at http://studio5.ksl.com/ ...I modified this one a little bit because I wanted to make it quick and didn't have many t-shirts that were cut-worthy. Not bad for 20 minutes of NO-SEW work!! My circles were much smaller than 9-inches and I made the spirals about 1 inch. This is especially comfy for people, like me, who like the idea of scarves, but get too hot to actually wear one. I'm excited to try more!!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

What a fall....

So clearly I haven't been updating this blog too much, but I think our crazy summer/fall speaks for itself!
July we had a lot of fun as Dominic showed pigs at the Hendricks County 4-H fair.

Then there was All-Star Baseball....well, that might not have been quite as much fun. August there was the State Fair...Steven and I went several times, including the night that the Sugarland concert tragedy happened. Amazingly enough, we decided NOT to go into the concert that night, even though we love Sugarland and hadn't missed a concert in years.
September--We had a lot of little league football games that we got to see, but I didn't take my camera and didn't get too many good pictures. We did have the chance at the end of September to travel to Missouri to watch Sarah's military graduation. While we were there we also went to Bass Pro Shops and the St. Louis Zoo. And as for October, well let's just say October 2011 is best described at www.maryandwinnie.blogspot.com !!

Sarah after graduation...gotta love the military issue glasses!!

Steven and Jaidyn checking out the elephants at the St. Louis Zoo

St. Louis Zoo

Friday, August 12, 2011

My Friend, Laurie

Summer 2006

November 2010

Heaven got a special delivery this week, as my dear friend Laurie finally got to end her cancer battle and join Jesus...where she will have perfect, cancer-free body. I've known Laurie since my Pre-internship at Riley in the Summer of 1999--12 awesome years. Laurie had an amazing throng of friends and was a tremendous friend to all of them. Some of these friends (and probably family) had the idea to ask each person that knew Laurie to write a letter to her beautiful 4 year old daughter, Casey, so that Casey could try to understand how awesome her mom was. I thought about what I would write for a long time and really mulled over this idea...wishing I wouldn't have waited for Laurie to pass away to put some of these things in writing, but it is what it is. Anyway, I realized that I didn't want just Casey (and her daddy Cory) to know what a great person Laurie was, but I wanted everyone to know...so my blog post today is my letter to Casey, so that everyone can get just a glimpse of Laurie.

Dear Casey,
You don't know me well, but trust me that I've been praying for you long before you were even born. I know that no words can even begin to describe your beautiful mom, but I'm going to try my best to share with you how much I love her. Your mom was my mentor, my spiritual inspiration, and more important than anything, she was my friend.
I met your mom in the summer of 1999--she had only been at Riley Hospital a little over a year when I was a student there trying to learn about Child Life. She helped me that summer and even kept helping me during my last year at Purdue and during my internship at Methodist--that is the same college she went to and the same place that she did her internship! When I was ready to get a job, your mom was one of people that interviewed me and really helped me get hired. After I started working with your mom at Riley Hospital she really helped me understand the skills I would need. She taught me how to handle all of the hard stuff about working at the hospital. She taught me how to love people no matter where they came from or what they've done. She taught me how to teach children of all ages about their feelings. She taught me how to be the best Child Life Specialist I could be...and I'm not the only person she taught that to--just ask anyone that worked with her at Methodist or Riley, anyone that was her patient, or anyone that just was around her at work.
One of the things that made your mom so wonderful was how much she LOVED Jesus. She really, really wanted to be the very best person she could be and she wanted to love everyone like Jesus loved everyone. Your mom learned that loving people was the greatest gift you could give anyone and she taught me so many different ways to love people. Sometimes she loved people by doing nice things for them, other times she loved people by giving them a special gift, but most of the time she loved people by listening to them. When she listened to them, she would hear all the things they were saying, but she also would hear things they weren't saying. That is a special gift Casey, not everyone can do that! After she would love on people, she would pray for them. That is something that your mom taught me how to do. So many times I would come to her with problems or with questions and she would ask if I wanted to pray about it. Your mom showed me how to look to Jesus for all my needs, but it took me a lot longer to get there...you know what? Your mom NEVER gave up on me.
That is why your mom is one of the best friends anyone could ever imagine. Your mom LOVED to be with people. She was happy and smiling all of the time! She loved to listen to music and watch movies. She wanted to stay updated on all the cool things that teenagers were doing so that she would be able to help her patients (or at least that is what she says...I secretly think she really liked all that stuff!) Your mom loved to pull practical jokes and she loved jokes that went on for a long time between people. One time your mom hid a troll doll on my desk at work and I hid it back at her desk. We shared that joke going back and forth for YEARS! And I wasn't the only one that she would do fun stuff like that with. Your mom knew that it was those little things that helped build a bond between people. If everyone that was friends with your mom would write down every fun memory that they have with your mom, there wouldn't be enough paper in the world!! Even after I didn't see your mom at work every day, she still wanted to be my friend and we talked a lot! We continued to share our lives with each other and get together to laugh and cry, to share stories, and to share pictures. Most of the time she had pictures of YOU to share:) The week after your mom went to be with God we were supposed to go to the movies together and catch up...so I'm going to have to catch a movie myself and "talk" to your mom that way. Casey, I promise that I will always lovingly think of your mom, and I hope that everyone sharing with you will give you just a small glimpse of all the love that your mommy poured into your heart in just 4 short years. I know she did everything she absolutely could so you would know with all your heart that with every ounce of her soul she loved you and your daddy!