Happy Little Trees

The time has arrived. It’s almost time for the unofficial Beth’s Adventure Club (BAC)* to begin. Membership is free to those who are good travelers and long for adventure –whether that adventure be in an alligator invested area or in a shopping outlet the size of 100 football fields. Consider this, my friend, your Call of the Wild.

Some adventures we will take: 1) the Village Church’s Saturday evening service, 2) Big Bend, 3) Brazos Bend state park, 4) New York City (to tour a salsa factory), and last but not least, 5) the San Marcos mega-outlet (not for the weak).

There will a fitness and endurance test before you’re allowed to officially be in the club. Or you have to supply three references who will testify on your behalf of your fitness and level of endurance.

We'll also get badges after we complete trips. And we'll put them on our backpacks to remember the times.

*The BAC is in no way in competition with the Stan Kwan Adventure group – which I hear is pretty Stantastic. http://web.mac.com/stantastic268/iWeb/Site%202/Welcome.html

The days are ticking by. Soon I will be in Africa. I'm almost done with raising support. I have about $600 to go which is amazing when I started out needing $3200. God has humbled me so much by having me ask for money. It's made me really want to give more to other people that I know who need support. Like my friends that work with Crusade and YoungLife. It's not easy.

But I've seen that if God calls you to something, He will provide. Today's Oswald Chamber's My Utmost For His Highest (Oct 13th) was amazing.

Moses knew that he was called to go, but then didn't get to actually do what he was called to do for a long time. God put some things on my heart a few years ago, but it hasn't happened yet. I also remember in college really wishing I could be "called" to Africa. But I didn't feel the call. I can see now that God has taught me things through life that I needed to learn before I was ready. And perhaps (just perhaps), there are some more things to refine in me before he opens the door for the desires of my heart that I feel he's given me.

Sorry my blog is about J.Crew one day and God the next. In the world, not of the world, I suppose. :)

My J.Crew catalog came in my mailbox yesterday. I like to flip through the pages and pretend I can afford the clothes. Or I try to put the styles I like in my memory bank so I can pick up similar ones at Target.

I also like to pick out my boyfriend. Back in the past, he was this tow-headed, blonde guy with scruff, blue eyes, and a dashing smile. He was usually laughing in pictures or carrying a canoe. He wasn’t in my issue this time, so he might have moved on.

Or sometimes I pick out clothes that I would like my one-day real boyfriend to wear. Of course, if my real boyfriend shopped J.Crew, it might weird me out that he paid $33 for a ringer tee.

If you buy something from J.Crew, they usually send you the coveted sale catalog. I found a stretch skirt I really like, so I might buy it, even though I hate the fact I don’t get to try on something before I buy it (which is the whole purpose of the catalog). Hmmm…I just realized something. I’m ready to make a commitment to a boyfriend I find in J.Crew, but I’m not sure if I can commit to the skirt.

Note: Back in my days in NC, Brenda and I made some ornaments out of J.Crew models (guys only). They were really cute. Both models and ornaments.

Trudge. Trudge. Pray. Pray. Feel lighter. Pray more. Float. Sigh. Praise! Thanks.

It’s the time of year, if I lived somewhere besides Houston, I would be slipping into sweaters. I miss sweaters. I miss feeling hugged by my sweater. Sweaters are good friends. They keep you warm. They’re cute. They’re fluffy. They tell the world, “Look at me! I’m cuddly!”

I used to have a ton of sweaters. I had a drawer or two just for sweaters. Now, I have about one real sweater, and the others are thin sweater substitutes made of cotton.

My one green sweater gets worn every time I go home to Kentucky during the winter. We usually take lots of family pictures, and I think my family might get suspicious that in every holiday photo, I’ve got on the same sweater.

Good things about sweaters: soft, cuddly, fuzzy, and warm.

Of course there is a dark side to sweaters: sweater fuzz flying into your mouth, sweating in a sweater, an itchy sweater, a sweater with two large inappropriate red dots (flashback from a very embarrassing sweater labeled “Cherries” from 1st grade—thanks, Mom!), the turtleneck sweater that prohibits neck movement, and the never-attainable-because-it’s-too-dang-expensive cashmere sweater.

I joined a band.
I fell in love (from a distance) with an entire Christian skateboard team. [It's really hard to check for wedding rings when they're moving around so fast!]
I stopped working out.
I got a free haircut (not from myself this time).
I made new friends.
I wrote a couple of songs.
I went to two mega-women’s bible studies.
I organized a mega-party.
I had Starbucks with Laurie.
I went to Target and spent less than $10.
I got a new life plan.
I found an old friend.

All this done with God’s guidance and without watching any t.v. It’s been good to be me this week. :)

When I had braces, I had a guide that said, "When in doubt, leave it out." It was referring to the various foods that you could and could not eat. I need to rephrase it to some lessons I'm learning about myself which would be, "When in doubt, trust God."

Over and over, God asks me, "Do you trust me?" Not being positive in my answer sometimes allows me to get myself in a pickle. And look like a pickle. And act like a pickle. And feel like a pickle. It's not a good thing. Nobody likes pickles that much.

Over and over, I have to realize that God has my life. Every situation. Every minute. Every relationship. Never fear, Jesus is here. And that God loves me. As a pickle. And as a girl/woman named Beth.

With too much time on the internet this weekend, I rediscoved my old favorite website www.kristenhartland.com. I met Kristen's sister-in-law, Susan, through a Bible study. I only met Susan once, right after Kristen had died, but I am forever thankful for her sharing her family's story. It has been a special joy to pray for them. Kristen Hartland was a young wife and mom who had breast cancer twice. In between her cancers, she had a baby named Sam. Her and her husband's story is precious and sweet. She's someone you'll definitely want to meet in heaven.

I'm going to try to close my blog this week to fast it. Can you fast a blog? Well, I'm going to. I'm such a write-a-holic. I love to write, but I think that God has some things to teach me this week as I prepare for Ken-YA! (You have to say that with a karate chop at the end.)

Special thanks to friends this weekend who let me know that: God loves me, has a plan for me, I'm not psycho (just sometimes experiences tendencies like that), Africa is going to touch my life in a way I cannot imagine, being "Beth" is good, loving people 1 Cor 13-style is not easy for humans (need God), and that I'm beautiful. (and so humble -- hee! hee!).