Aaahhh.....

What a cute couple! :)
I love this picture.
It's silly and off center but really sweet and I just had to share it with the blog world.

P.S. Honey, I hope you're ok that I posted this without your permission. ;)

Update on Matt...

This is a journal entry from Matt's dad. He posted it about 4:30pm today.

Day +7 (July 20)

Matt had a pretty good night, but had rough morning. He needed platelets to try and get the internal bleeding (in his vomit and stools) stopped. They have actually raised the threshold of needing platelets from 10K to 40K, so he will likely be getting more transfusions until he can maintain that level.

He was doing well non-the-less, so Di and I decided to both head to the National Marrow Donor Program to speak at their monthly staff meeting. (They had asked us if we would last week) There were about 200 in attendance and another 150 on the phone. It was great to finally meet so many of the people that we've talk with over the last 5+ years. Alexandra even stood at the front of the room and said "thank you" to the crowd. We left right after our talks and headed back to the hospital.

Unfortunately, Matt was throwing up when we walked into the room. The mucusitis is getting worse and his lips are swollen and the pain has increased in his stomach and lips. This pain is the cause of his getting sick. He continued to have a "bad day" until about 2:30 and then turned the corner. He is doing pretty good right now. Hopefully that will continue through the night.

His hair is starting to fall out, he said, "I'm just not ready for that yet, dad" I told him he only had a day or two of it left but not to worry, it will be back before he knows it. More later.

Pray

Click here to view video from a St. Louis News Channel about Matt.

Only a few more hours until Matt will recieve his Bone Marrow transplant. The offical time of surgery is scheduled for 1:30am July 14th. Today there is a woman somewhere in the US who is having cells drained from her body and later they will be flown to MN. for the doctors to give them to Matt.

The road ahead is long. Matt is already sick from treatments to prepare his body for transplant and it is only going to get worse before it gets better.

If you watch the news clip you will be able to see and hear from Matt's parents and you will see Matt in his hospital bed taking medicine.

On their Web Journal they have asked that you take time to pray for Matt today, but also that you would take time to hug your loved ones and celebrate life today - for Matt.
Something to pray:
(a quote from the web journal)
"just believe with us these cells can take over this little child's body and make it new again. He is moaning from the pain fighting high blood pressure and fever as I write. The nights are long as he needs so much care and constant monitoring. He will be on morhine soon for the pain and is on TPN through his IV line for nutrition but he insists on standing in the shower and walking to the bathroom as much as possible. His sweet spirit soars with hope and more love for his family and friends than any of you can imagine. Thank you and celebrate life for Matt today."

Alex & Matt

Thanks for ALL your prayers.
Praise God we have Hope!

Yummy!!!

My new favorite recipe...and who would have guessed Salmon! Not me...but I love it. I actually made it twice last week and truthfully I'd eat it again tomorrow, but I don't want to burn myself out on it. I don't really enjoy eating fish, but I feel like I should for certain nutrient reasons. Well, now I get the best of both worlds.
You have to try this recipe - even if you're not sure. Let me know what you think.
Props to All Recipes.com and to Arnie Williams, who submitted the recipe.
Also, we have Dillions (Kroger grocery) here and they sell individual portions of Salmon for $1/4oz serving...amazing price!
I served it with roasted potatoes, and a spinach salad w/ dried cranberries and a sweet vinaigrette dressing.

Baked Dijon Salmon
Submitted by: Arnie Williams Rated: 5 out of 5 by 993 members
Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 35 Minutes Yields: 4 servings
"Salmon fillets brushed with honey and Dijon mustard, coated with bread crumbs and baked."

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
4 teaspoons chopped fresh
parsley
4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, for garnish
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.
In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard, and honey. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.
3.
Brush each salmon fillet lightly with honey mustard mixture, and sprinkle the tops of the fillets with the bread crumb mixture.
4.
Bake salmon 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

Matt

It's me again...posting for Matt, my little cousin I told you about in my previous post titled, "a must read"

Matt very much wants strangers and friends to sign the guest book on his website. He wants to hit 500,000 signed guests before the 13th. He is getting close.

Please take a min. or two and sign his book, tell him how you found out about him, the city, state you live in and anything else you may want to share (an encouraging word, a prayer, a funny story, anything is fine).

go to www.alexandmatt.com
you can click on the guestbook link there.
also you can click on "journal" to read daily updates of their journey and prayer requests. Pray pray pray for this life saving transplant!

Matt will have his transplant on July 13th, they have been wrestling with the insurance company who did approve his transplant and then yesterday told the hospital it was not approved. I think they are back on track again and insurance is back to their previous verdict to cover the expenses. What a ride!

Thanks again for your prayers - also don't forget to sign the guest book - even if you don't know him he would LOVE To know you are praying and thinking about him.

A Virtual Pet??

Yeah, read my previous post entitled, "opps" then read this one.

So meet Sweetness...who it turns out is not so sweet but ended up costing me part of my blog template. Now underconstruction. Sweetness is a boring pet. All she does is eat fish and fall of the ice and jump back up. Sweetness also looks depressed, probably from the boring life she has. Who comes up with these things and how did I get sucked into it? Good thing Sweetness comes free and can be deleted. ;) Shh...don't tell PETA.

opps...

Well I am silly and in some down time today as I was cruising through some other blogs I ran across a blog that had a virtual pet on it...I thought this is silly but I think I will put one on my blog. Anyway I got it on here and it messed up my whole blog template. Then I deleted it and somewhere along the way I ended up deleting my "favorite Blogs" link and my "links" link.
Crap!
Well one of these days I'll get them back on there but it's not gonna be today.
Sorry.
Technology!

Here I am...And this is a MUST read...

Oh my, how time flies! I cannot believe it's been a whole month since I posted last - although I'm sure some of you feel as though it's been much longer than a month. I actually feel like I have several post ideas in my hip pocket these days, so I hope to be blogging more.

Currently I do not want to post about myself, but about a sweet little boy and his family that would appreciate all the prayers you could pray for them. The little boy is Matt (9 years old), my cousin, and he is in Minneapolis for a bone marrow transplant. After 5 long years of searching they have not found a perfect match but they have found a match that is close so they are going to try it. We are trusting God for Big Big things. We have seen the faithfulness of God in many ways, not to mention His healing touch in the life of Alex, Matthew's big sister, who is now five years past her own bone marrow transplant for the same health reasons.

I could type and type about how precious these children are (like all children). Please Pray, link to their website, just a click away, look left and click "Alex and Matt" or www.alexandmatt.com

Matt's mom, Diane, keeps a jounal on their webpage so you can keep posted of how things are progressing. They are now at the Ronald McDonald house and Matt is recovering from some surgery prep. like procedures to prepare his body for the actual transplant. Things are difficult, his body is under a lot of stress - this seems like such an understatement.

Actual Transplant is Scheduled for July 13th.

The journal entry Diane posted today reads:

I am happy to report, Matt is doing much better..still very sore from surgery and worn out, but pukes are gone and he is recovering as expected. The kid is one tough cookie...he scrunches up his face with pain, but hardly cries. His nurses are amazing and they share good jokes. So, it is getting better...can you imagine how many times I have repeated, "All things are possible with God" in just three days? I will detail more later as the day is packed with more tests. Alexandra is coughing a little, but got some arts and crafts time yesterday here with the RM crew and today gets to go Strawberry picking up at White Bear LAke with them, too. She needs a good distraction and is the best little nurse for her brother...I am quite proud of them both to say the least!

A few days ago Diane posted this verse, I think it is a good word to be praying for all of them.

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27
Posted by Diane Pearl

From left to right:

Austin (big brother), Diane, Mark

Matthew and Alex

My Sister's Wedding...

On May 20th my sister got married and I gained a brother!
So happy for you sis!
Anyway here are some photo's from the day...
I'm sure I'll post more.
Sis, you are beautiful! Bro, have you ever thought of modeling...you are one photogenic person - who knew? :) hee hee

Finally, I leave you with a pic of me and my new brother. We're offically family now, and just like any good brother he looks like he's at least willing to humor me. Thanks for being a good sport Bro!

sleepy = short

I'm really sleepy right now, but I have been wanting to post for some time now and never seem to have time, so I'm making time.
My guess is this will be a short post. Not because of lack of joy but strickly because I'm sleepy.

My little sister is getting Married on Saturday!!! She's all grown up, but she's still my little sister.
My main squeeze and I are driving down to her wedding, it's in Eureka Springs, AR. I'm so glad I will have good company for the long drive. ;)

I'd love to post a picture of the bride to be, unfortunately the only pictures I have of her on my computer are pictures of her in her wedding dress and since the groom has yet to see the dress, I must leave you in want. sorry.

Hopefully in a week or so I will be able to post wedding pics for all to see. It's a small wedding and then they are having a reception on June 3rd for the whole crowd. I think there will be some prime photo opps there, food, fun, family, friends and funky dancing!

In the mean time, I've been looking for a reason to post this pic of me and a certain someone I enjoy spending time with. Isn't he handsome?!

Among The Dandelions

Creation draws me to worship. Often when I'm not even intentional about finding God in creation...it (worship) just comes over me and my heart is drawn to a truth about the Creator. It happens to me, a lot.

A couple of weeks ago my lawn was attacked my dandelions. It drives me crazy to have weeds in my yard, especially my front yard. First I bought a little bottle of weed killer to spray individual weeds in my front yard, 48 hours later the weeds were still there plus more - that didn't work.
Then I bought some fertilizer to spread on my lawn that doubles as a dandelion killer - YES! I was so excited, this was going to work. Well, it did work, but only kind of and it took some time to take effect.
Finally, I decided to get a screw driver and a bucket and get down on my hands and knees and pop each weed out by the root, one at a time.

Guess who met me among the dandelions - God. I know it may sound strange or weird or over spiritualized but it's really true I had a worship experience while I was pulling up those weeds. Here are some of the ponderings of my heart while I worked.

It was a Tuesday. I was pulling weeds and thinking how much I wish my neighbors would work on the weeds in their lawns so the seeds would stop blowing into my yard and taking root. I'm telling you there are some serious "Dandelion Farms" on my street. As I was thinking this I had the thought that there is some symbolism between the weeds and sin, in my life and in the lives of others.
I was convicted about my attitude of I work too hard on my yard for it to be possible for weeds to grow here, and I work too hard for the yards of my neighbors to be affecting my yard. I started thinking if weeds represent sin, do I think that in my own life? Do I pride myself on my relationship with Christ and my time reading the Bible and doing good works and believe that with all that my life won't have some weeds in it? Let me just say that I KNOW that I sin, I fail, I mess up and I certainly do NOT have it all together. So because I know that about myself, how often am I willing to get down on my hands and knees with my tools and pull out each weed one by one?

Truthfully, sometimes I think, "Ah, I'll just take a quick walk across the yard and pull the yellow heads off the top so when people drive by it will look like a nice clean lawn."
Or, "I'll just spray the one's I can see, that'll be enough."
And then in the end, that only takes care of a few. And I have to take the hand that God is offering me and meet Him in the "dandelions" and he brings out the tools and when I let him, he'll pull them out, root by root. And then my life (my "yard") has moments of peace and rest and order - and always a reliance on God.

A friend said to me one day, "I don't like dandelions either, but ya know if you actually just look at them as a flower they're kind of pretty."
That maybe true of the actual weed, but in regards to sin, I think we do this sometimes, rationalize the sin, like, "it's not so bad, or maybe you should look at it this way? What's the big deal?"

I want people in my life who will come along side me and say, "Correnta, I care about you too much to let you leave all these weeds in your life. Let's get out some tools and get to work." Some times those words can come in gentleness and other times I think they need to come out in tough love (even though no one is ever comfortable with tough love - including me...eeeee, uncomfortable!). Thank you to the sweet people in my life who are willing to love me in the midst of my weeds but encourage me to also pull them out.

That Tuesday night, I was tired but I looked out across my yard and thought, "That was work, but it was worth it. Look at my yard!"

Guess what, Wednesday afternoon when I came home for lunch, 5 more dandelions had popped up in my front yard.
I thought, "Well, you can't get them all on the first sweep." So I got my bucket and screwdriver and went to work. All better.

Thursday, same thing.
Friday, even more! This was getting annoying, and then my heart started to ponder, "That's life on earth Correnta. You'll never be completely without weeds. But that's the love and grace of God, that 'while we were still sinners, Christ died for us' (Romans 5:8) and he offers us grace and mercy and forgiveness, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.'(1John 1:9)"

I learned a lot more among the dandelions, but this blog is getting long. If you want to know you can ask me. I'd love to share.

Some scripture that I meditated on in the yard and since then...
1John 1:8- 2:2
Matthew 13:1-30, 36-43
Romans 5:8

Out of the Abyss....

Ahhhh Where did I go?? Well actually I got kind of busy with life and work. Hopefully this will be the blog that brings my mind out of the blog block and back into the blog world.



I just had to write today because tomorrow is a special holiday…Spring Game! And this year K-State is throwing a HUGE all day party to celebrate.
I not completely sure why, but for some reason I love football and K-State football tops the list – no matter how they’re playin’.

So tomorrow morning kicks off Fan Fest, a BBQ contest, a Carnival, Battle of the Bands (no, not “marching bands”), the K-State/KU baseball game, and then at 6pm………..KICK OFF! Purple vs. White.

You know, I’m not a coach or anything, I do know a few things about football, but I think the thing that gets me so fired up over the Spring Game is that it means it’s coming, the long winter is over, the guys are working hard and Fall is coming, Football is returning, OH Happiness!

Now nothing beats out Jesus, he is still Number One in my heart. But God knows all and He did give us football and for that I am grateful.

I’m sure this blog makes me sound crazy. But really it’s just like any other favorite thing, some people like amusement parks (I do like them) others of us would choose a K-State football game over an amusement park any day.

Enjoy your Saturday, and to those of you living in Manhappenin’ I’ll meet ya at the turf!
Bill Snyder Family Stadium that is!

I wish...

I wish I had time to blog....I want to update but there is so much to do and so little time.
Hope to be back soon.

Spring Break...

Tomorrow morning I will leave for Colorado. The organization I work for has been hosting a spring break retreat in Colorado for 4 or 5 years now. This will be our 3rd year at the Young Life camp Fontier Ranch in Buena Vista, CO. It very beautiful there, and restful away from all the business of life. Most of all I am looking forward to some extra time for me and God to hang out. I am totally drianed from this past week. I am also looking forward to getting to know some new students, many students going are new faces to me. Other things to look forward to, they have great coffee there and it is in every building hot and fresh and free!!! I usually have about 5-7 cups of coffee a week but at Frontier I usually have about 4 a day! I love it! :) Also there will be a speaker there talking about our "Inner life" and I've heard he may be talking about how to have rest in your inner life...after this week I think I better listen up!
Hoping for rest, relaxation, new friendships, and most of all resting in Jesus.
Hope your week is wonderful too.
This is a pic of some students and I at Summit last year.

A Thought...

Today I thought a thought I have thought many times but I don't think I have ever expressed out loud. What do you think about that? :)
Here's the thought, "Wind makes me irritable, or adds to an already irritable day."
Really I think that is true for me. Today was very windy, actually as the day wore on the wind intensified. I was a little cranky today but there were times I felt I had my crankiness under control, but when I would step outside, I was cranky all over again. I think the wind is antagonizing. Maybe something like a bully pushing me around or pulling at my hair. Like I said, I have thought these things about the wind before and never expressed them. Thank God for blogs (or not), maybe these were thoughts better left to myself, but too late, I am sending them into the blog world for all to read.

Cranky in Kansas,
C

Monday

I'm on my way out the door for work, but I'm just laughing at how silly my morning has been.
First I had a crazy dream about being unprepared for a task I need to so in May. When I woke from my dream it was 30min. later than I had wanted to get up and I was a little paniced from my dream still.
My shirt for the day has what I call a "lumpy" in it. What's a "lumpy?"
It's that bump you get just off the shoulder when you hang a damp shirt on a hanger to dry, when it dries there's this bump and it is just there until you wash it again. I tried to damp it with water, but it won't lay down.
And the topper of the morning, one last look in the mirror before I roll out and shinning at the top of my head is a little gray hair, it was like bight light just laying there, staring me in the face.
These things are all a little silly but isn't that just a Monday morning for ya.
Hope I'm able to find the humor in things as the day wears on, don't want to have a "case of the Monday's"
Oh, Office Space. :)

Hope your Monday is fabulous!

A Quote

Not much time today for a post but I thought I would share a favorite quote of mine. This quote inspires me to hope and to believe God (not just believe "in" Him but to actually Believe Him).

"Jesus calls people into an actual situation where faith is possible...because he knows that it is only through actual obedience that a man can become liberated to believe."
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

What does this quote stir in you?

A new fave...

Just so you know this is a downloaded image from Target, I am not the model.
Today is a warm wonderful day and I am sporting my Gaucho pants. Although some may think this strange little pant is ugly or weird, I say every day a gaucho pant day!
Several times today I have just thought, "I love it that I am wearing my gauchos." Really I have.
I feel so much freedom to move around and I think they're cute.
Today's new Fave: A Gaucho Day...with flipflops of course.

GROSS!

The following post is not so "sweet" and is atypical of the Sweet Spot.
Someone joked with me today that I "actually" wash my bed sheets. The truth is I am teased occasionally by several people because of my slight paranoia of dust mites. I thought I would educate you all on dust mites for several reasons. One, I think people need to know this. Two, I want to blog but can't think of anything to say and this came to mind today. Three, you may be glad to know you should wash your sheets and vacuum your mattress.

"We live surrounded in filth. Sorry, but it's a fact. All humans shed about 5-10 grams of dead skin each week. About 80% of the material seen floating in a sunbeam is actually flakes of skin.
House dust mites are nearly universal in occurrence - a typical bed mattress may have contain anything from 100,000 to 10 million mites. Ten percent of the weight of a two year old pillow may be composed of dead mites and their droppings. Carpets and household upholstery also support high mite populations. What do house dust mites eat? Human and animal skin flakes (Dermatophagoides - "skin eater"). So in some ways house dust mites are a good thing - they help stop us drowning in our own filth."
Source: http://www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk/video/mite.html
Here's a picture of our little "friend"

These are living things and they are eating stuff, which means they also have waste. Their waste is where they are which means although you may be glad they are eating your dead skin, they are still leaving behind some things too, nasty! Also these little guys are carriers of germs, the cold, the flu, whatever is going around or a part of what they are eating.
So now that I have totally grossed you out and possibly made you a germophobe. Here are some tips to keep your home sanitary. Keep in mind the following are extreme measures you should take if you are highly allergic to the dust mite...so for all of us who are not allergic I think washing your sheets every week or so and doing some weekly vacuuming may just be enough.

"Recommendations focus on "dust control." One must reduce the concentration of dust borne allergens in the living environment by controlling both allergen production and the dust which serves to transport it.
For the bedroom environment:
Replace feather and down pillows with those having synthetic fillings.

Enclose the mattress top and sides with a plastic cover, thoroughly

vacuuming mattress pillows and the base of the bed.

Daily damp dust the plastic mattress cover.

Weekly change and wash pillowcases, sheets, and under blankets, and vacuum the bed base and around the covered mattress.

Replace woolen blankets with nylon or cotton cellulose ones.

Frequently wash all bedding (blankets, mattress pads and comforters) in hot water (130 degrees F weekly). Also wash curtains.

Remove carpet and replace with wood, tile, linoleum, or vinyl floor covering. (If you have carpet, vacuum every day.)

Mattresses covered with "fitted sheets" help prevent the accumulation of human skin scales on the surface (an alternate to encasing mattresses and box springs in non-allergenic, impermeable, plastic covers). "
Source: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2157.html

More info than you ever wanted to know! :)

Think think (part 2 of 2)

In my previous post I mentioned reading and thinking...here are some thoughts rolling around in my head from my reading...

I began reading chapter 3 in a book called Revolution of Character: Discovering Christ's Pattern for Spiritual Transformation, by Dallas Willard with Don Simpson. It's alright. I am learning things and it helps that my co-workers and I are discussing it. I need the cooperative process time for retention. Anyway, here is something I read today that got me thinking... "God is not mean, but he is dangerous..." I'll try to give you just enough context to keep it short, but long enough that hopefully it won't be out of context.

"...Paul summarized the prophetic account of the human self and traced the problem to its root:... Roman's 3:10-18... The very last statement from this collection of Old Testament diagnosis of the human condition reaches to the core of the matter: 'There is no fear of God before their eyes.' Fear of God, the proverb tells us, is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). Although not the outcome of wisdom, to be sure, it is the indispensable beginning. One begins to get smart when he or she fears being crosswise of God - fears not doing what he wants and not being what he requires. Fear is the anticipation of harm. God is not mean, but he is dangerous....electricity and nuclear power, for example, are not mean, but they are dangerous. In a certain sense, if we don't 'worry' about God, we simply aren't being smart. And that is the point of this verse."

WOW! What do I think about that? Still not sure. I think C.S. Lewis was saying the same thing in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when he described Aslan as being good but not safe. Is my problem here just with vocabulary? Is it just that the words "good" and "safe" are more PC or palatable for me than "not mean" and "dangerous?"

A mediation question given at the end of the chapter is, "How can God be dangerous and still love you?" I found myself asking, "Is God dangerous? I'm not sure I can agree with that. I do agree that He is not "safe," is that the same thing?

Just now I checked out dictionary.com to find the meaning of danger, fear and safe, which also got me thinking about the word "awe," click on the words if you are curious too.

Other thoughts on this... In the end I agree, God is dangerous, he will not remove risk from my life, he will not remove all harm from my way, life in this fallen world will not leave me unharmed; but God does promise to go with me, even before me and behind me, I am not alone, I am not left to die or be destroyed and when I leave this fallen world there is a home prepared for me that is safe. All that said, I think I'll still choose to think of God as good but not safe rather than "dangerous" but "not mean." So how can God be not safe but still love me? In the midst of "danger" I am given the opportunity to see where Jesus is, to trust Him and cleave to Him. I also have the opportunity to know more of God, his love, his provision, his rescue, his strength, his sufferings, his refuge, his comfort and his victory; I think this list could go on and on. In safety would I really understand my need for God? I can even lose sight of that need in midst of danger. God is my Father and he knows what I need to learn and to grow and most of all what will bring glory to himself. So as someone who is scared of risk but in love with Jesus, I have found the dangerous parts of my journey worth it. Although, I really enjoy the safe parts! :) I have so many other thoughts and questions about "fear[ing] being crosswise of God - fear[ing] not doing what he wants and not being what he requires" and "In a certain sense, if we don't 'worry' about God, we simply aren't being smart."
Something in me says, what about grace vs. works (this is stirred with the word "requires" but I do long to please God, I don't think I need to be walkin' around shaking in my boots all the time waiting for lightening to strike, but I do think awe and respect are essential, this is God we're talking about - Creator of all things, Savior and Redeemer, etc.

Why do I have so much to say today....longest post ever!
Thoughts to come in shorter posts.