Psalms Devotional

Two years ago, my writers' group embarked on a big task: we wanted to put together a monthly devotional on the Book of Psalms. And just before Christmas, our efforts resulted in a book that we can hold in our hands:


As noted by the title, the devotional covers thirty-one days and can be used repeatedly throughout the year. Each devotional ends with an application portion, which will hopefully challenge you to apply the Psalm to your life.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy, here's a link that will enable you to do that.

Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

A friend of mine has a "disclaimer" on her blog that states:

If you read much at this web address, you may be overcome by the warm fuzzy thing. Is my life one big warm fuzzy? Of course not. I would think it would be similar to yours. . . . So for every warm fuzzy moment recorded here, there are 100 other moments that have been messy, forgiven, and washed with His grace.

With that in mind, I'm choosing to focus in this letter on the joyous times that I've experienced throughout 2010.

When I looked back over my calendar from this year, I noticed one overwhelming theme: God provided a year full of special events for me. I met Colt McCoy and his family at the Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner; I cheered while attending a TCU baseball game and a Mavs game; a friend's dad taught me how to shoot a gun; I took Mom to the Orange & White Game at UT on Easter; I attended the Legends Dinner with special guests Troy Aikman and Brad McCoy; I attended a gala at the Modern Art Museum; I watched my friend's kids perform in a ballet and a baseball game; I listened to Beth Moore teach in Dallas; I made a road trip with a friend to Colorado and spent time there exploring Denver and the surrounding area with Mom and Erin; I had my picture taken with Mack Brown at his women's football clinic; Erin and I made a road trip to Lubbock to see the Zac Brown Band and watch UT beat Tech; I celebrated my birthday first with a friend at Carrie Underwood's concert in Dallas and later with more friends over dinner and dessert; I took in my first UT home game and was present for the retirement of Colt's jersey; and I recently heard author Shauna Niequist read portions of her latest book Bittersweet at a book signing in Mansfield.

But more life-impacting than all of these events has been the opportunity to invest in the life of a little girl, whom I've never met. Over the past three summers, my friend Susie has served as a counselor at a camp for orphans in Zambia, Africa. When Susie returned to Zambia this past summer, she was greeted with shouts of "Auntie Susie!" from all of the girls that she has shared Jesus with over the previous summers. Christine quickly commandeered Susie's attention, and pointing to each of the girls in the group, she said through her broken English, "And yes, and yes, and yes, and yes, and yes, and yes, . . . [and then, pointing to herself] and no!" Susie didn't understand at first, but then she realized that Christine was supset that she had not been able to attend the Christmas party last year because she had not been sponsored as part of the Father's Heart ministry with Family Legacy, unlike most of the other girls in Susie's group. Christine had obviously been thinking about that for every bit of the seven months since the party. And when camp wrapped up and she was leaving on the bus, she screamed out the window, "Auntie Susie, remember the party!"

Susie not only remembered the party but also found someone to sponsor Christine before I'd heard her story. Despite the fact that Christine now has a sponsor, I can't get her story out of my mind. There have been many times in my life that I have felt like I was left out of the party. But it makes me smile that Christine was willing to boldly ask for her chance to attend the party, and I can't wait to hear what she thinks when she finds out that she will get to attend this year's party!

I knew that there were other girls who didn't get to attend the party, and so I chose one of those girls to sponsor. Sponsoring Theresa has given me a broader perspective. I've realized that there are those who don't crave a gift but just want the chance to go to the party--a party where God's love will be demonstrated and where the attendees will be reminded of God's gift of His Son and of the party that He is preparing to throw for all of us in Heaven.

That simple message is where I want my heart to stay this season. Joyous times await!

A Seat

About two months ago, I saw on Facebook that the band Green River Ordinance would be playing a concert at a small venue here. And since they call Cowtown home, they were planning to record this particular concert for a live DVD. I had just recently heard about GRO from a friend and enjoyed the songs I'd listened to, so I decided to purchase two tickets to the concert and live taping. I thought it would be a fun way to kick off December.

I knew it might be hard to find a friend who would be free on a Friday night in December, but I took my chances because I knew I didn't want to go alone. I talked to several friends about going, but in the end, none could go.

I decided I'd be brave and go alone tonight. I figured I'd know at least a couple of people who would be at the concert. So I got ready and went to the venue. During the time that I was trying to find a parking place, a tidbit of information that I'd learned earlier in the week about the venue came back to me: There are only a few seats at some tables; don't expect a lot.

As I got ready to walk across the busy street in front of the venue, my courage left. I realized that without a reserved seat, I would be on my own. I'd have to stand by myself or hope that I could find someone I knew. And I wasn't up for taking that chance or barging my way into a group. So I left and came home.

Since the tickets were relatively cheap and I wasn't a long-time follower of this band, I didn't grieve not going. Instead, I tried to figure out why I couldn't go to this particular event even though I've gone to plenty of other events on my own. I realized that I need a seat that I can call my own. A reserved spot, even just a small one, that I can call my own.

Thankfully, I don't have to worry about this when it comes to Heaven. Christ has gone to prepare a place for me, and I can take comfort knowing that I don't have to worry about finding a seat there.

Favorite Christmas Song

Each year at Christmas, one song seems to stand out for me. In the past, I've featured "How Many Kings," "While You Were Sleeping," and a list of my Christmas music must-haves.

This year, Francesca Battestelli's "You're Here" won my heart. I heard it several times last year, but this Christmas, it was the song that I wanted to hear again and again. Its message--that God chose not to leave us on our own--is comforting year-round.

I found the song on YouTube set to a scene from the movie The Nativity Story. I hope it blesses you!

Activities & Adventures

I've been away from the blog for so long that I thought I might have trouble logging in. I've been pondering so many different things and haven't made the time to put them into blog posts, and some I don't even have the words to put into posts. So to avoid another month-and-a-half-long delay, I thought I'd ease my way back into the blogosphere by sharing some pictures of recent events so that my non-Facebook friends can catch up.

Back in December when The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show aired, they announced that Colt McCoy had won, among other awards, the Davey O'Brien Award for the top quarterback. Since the award is based here in Cowtown, I wondered whether fans could attend. I made a phone call the following day and found out that fans could attend . . . for a price. Friends tried to get me tickets in the main room, but it wasn't meant to be. So I accepted my seat an adjoining room and hoped for an encounter at some point during the evening. God blessed me beyond measure with getting to ride the elevator with Rachel Glandorf, Colt's fiancee, and getting to chat with her later in the evening along with his mother and father. And for one brief moment, I was able to shake Colt's hand and get a picture with him, albeit one with a man's head in the way. If I didn't have the pictures, I probably wouldn't believe that I had actually been in attendance. It was such an amazing evening and a lot of fun to dress up and attend such a formal event. (And in honor of the recent Academy Awards, I want to thank Krista who shot the first two photos and who let me borrow a sparkly ring; my sister who let me borrow the dress, earrings, and purse; TJ who let me borrow the wrap that kept me warm all evening; and all my friends who asked me about the event and then listened to me go on and on about it.)

Not long after the Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner, I attended an awards dinner at the zoo with my co-workers. I had never been to an event at the zoo, so it was fun to come at night and honor a special person, eat delicious food, hang out with my co-workers outside the office, and listen to a great band.

I've always wanted to learn how to take better pictures, so I took a one-night photography class at the end of February. Below is one shot that I took while I was there. I loved filling the frame with the subject matter that was on the teacher's shelves. I have so much more to learn and now really want a camera with more manual settings.

Then, I set out on my sports weekend. First up was attending the TCU baseball game versus Texas Tech. It was a perfect spring night (in February!) and the Horned Frogs got the win.

Next up was a Mavs game with amazing court-side seats and the gold parking pass, which added a whole new dimension to things I would buy if I was wealthy. And dinner at the buffet on the platinum level wasn't too shabby either.

And finally, there was the shooting range. I'd never shot a gun before but wanted to learn how. My small group leader just happened to have all the connections - a gun and a father who works at a gun range. He was a great teacher and had me shooting "tight groupings" in no time. I can now check off "learn to shoot a gun" on my bucket list.

So what activities have been keeping you busy?

Thin Places

Memoirs tell stories from a person's life, and for whatever reason, usually leave me thinking more about the particular person featured in the memoir. Mary E. DeMuth's memoir is different. As she artfully tells stories from her life, Mary takes the focus off the personal tragedies and hardships that she faced and points instead to how God's grace carried her through those times. After finishing the book, I sat thanking God for the "thin places"--"snatches of holy ground, tucked into the corners or our world"--that He has given me throughout my life for they are treasures, just like Mary's memoir.

[Disclosure: I received this book for free as part of the blog tour.]

Where to Put the New Stuff

After Christmas each year, it's a process to find places for the gifts that I've received. Sometimes it takes a while because I need to get rid of some stuff in order to make room for the new things.

That same process applies to my calendar as well. With the start of the new year, I wanted to be open to trying some new things, like working out at the gym, starting a new Bible study, volunteering in the church nursery, and other various activities. I thought I had done a pretty good job of "cleaning" out my calendar to make room for these new things, but it seems that I didn't clear off quite enough time. In my calendar's defense, I've also said "yes" to a lot of last-minute, one-time events like movies and shopping with friends. The effect of all that has been a blog that has remained empty of new posts for most of the month.

As I get used to the new schedule, I'm hoping to get back to blogging more regularly. I've pondered a lot of things this month and hope that I can process them more through writing about them in the future. In the meantime, please know that I haven't forgotten about blogging; I'm just trying to carve out a block of time for it.

Welcome 2010!

It's the beginning of a new decade! I somehow missed that piece of info because no major attention, like that in 2000 with Y2K, was given to it. And yet, I'm not sure that will affect how I approach this year.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately and have lots of ideas in mind for my new one-word resolution, but I've had a hard time trying to narrow it down. Here are some of the things that have caught my attention:

--to live and love and blog boldly (courtesy of MckMama)

--to live free of the world's expectations (courtesy of Ted)

--to pray new prayers (courtesy of Ann Voskamp) & ask for His perspective

--to give increasing attentiveness to His presence (courtesy of Krista)

--to simply enjoy the moment(s)

So, I'm just going to ponder this a bit more.

In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the devotional I've selected for this year: Streams in the Desert. So far, the messages have been perfectly timed - exactly what I've needed to hear each day.

So what are you planning to read this year?