Today was odd

Today was strange to say the least. It wasn't bad but some incidents happened.

It started out well with me working on the other side of the building. I am getting to know Carmen, James, and Jason well. Its actually quite nice to get to know different people. We are on the same team but I did not talk to them much because I was in a different room with Rose and Bertha. Jason and I are developing a friendship. He is a brother in Christ so its so cool to be able to have another friend to talk to about Jesus. On that subject, Noah and I are communicating again. He even prayed over the phone for me. It was nice. The Lord had His reasons for Matthews (the boss) business decision.

When I got home today, I talked to my sister Alicia. She had mentioned that another sister (Rhonda) of ours had called. Alicia called Rhonda back and delivered some bad news. My grandfather had passed away. My reaction has been weird because I did not see him much but when I did he was so good to Alicia and I. I do have fond memories of him . Part of me was reluctant to go because every time our family gets together something blows up. Its sad and I hate it. I will elaborate more about that another time. The other part of my reaction was that I was freaking out. I was racking my brain trying to figure what to do about my job. I did not want to ask Matthew for bereavement time especially during the weekend of a major project I was supposed to be on. Also on Saturday coverage was slim so I had decided not going to the funeral. I did not want to ask for time off. Ricky encouraged me to do so and not to worry about work. I feel guilty for worrying about work and not crying as most people would. So I called Matthew and got his voicemail. I left an urgent message. 2 minutes later he texted back and ask if he could help me by text messaging. Well considering it was finals night for him at school, that was my only option. So I told him the news and about skipping the funeral. He made arrangements for me to be off and offered his condolences. Then I called Noah and he said his prayer over the phone. After that I drove up to Sprint and Jason prayed with me as well. If you are wondering why my own husband does not pray with me, its because it makes him uncomfortable. we are working on that. God knows what he is doing.

Between the time I found out about the news and going to Sprint, some strange incidents happened. We had decided to take a drive just to get out of the house. We ended up at a railroad crossing and witnessed a police chase. The scary part was that the railroad arms were down and the truck that was being chased zoomed through the crossing and broke one of the arms! If we had been in the right lane, we would have been rear ended really bad. So after we left that area, we ended up witnessing a police car almost rear ending someone. Between all of this I had been calling Erica, texting Matt, and making arrangements we saw an unmarked police car speeding as well. Ricky finally said we are going home and staying in where it is safe!

So I will be attending a funeral and not coming back to work until Thursday. That is going to drive me nuts. If I want that much time off from work, I would have rather taken a vacation. However God is with all of us. Its not just a trite phrase. Its the truth. I know His will is being done. The great thing about Him is that He is big enough to handle our grief and anger but will be there on the other side to comfort us.

Happy Anniversary!

Today I celebrated two years of marriage with Ricky. We had our official anniversary trip last weekend in Galveston. We walked the sea wall, had dinner at sea food restaurants, saw the Titanic exhibit at Moody Gardens and took a ferry ride. We had a great time. We stayed in a cheap motel but it had a view of the gulf. We found some seashells and took a drive on the peninsula. Galveston is not like the Caribbean but it is a very nice place for a vacation. Its just 4 1/2 hours down IH 45. Waking up to ocean waves is awesome! I would love to move to the ocean but we fear hurricanes. Maybe we will end up in a waterfront town some day. We will see where God takes us.

Some other things have happened as well that made me realize God knows what he is doing. To get a little background, as I mentioned I work at Sprint. The center I work at has a low morale due to the various stressful jobs. I have been seeking comfort in knowing that there are fellow Christians in the workplace that will take time to sit and pray with me. Noah, Travis, Rose, and Sean have been my spiritual friends at work. Its been a blessing to talk to any one of them to rejoice Gods love. However recently, the company has been frowning upon many things that make the job bearable. There was an HR meeting that outlined the "proper" behaviors of how a company runs. In this meeting they covered many topics that I find quite ridiculous. For example if you ask someone how they were doing, that could be considered prying into private lives. Or if you give someone a hug, you are liable for sexual harassment. Also don't you dare think about sending a smiley face over IM. Someone might get offended. No personal conversations. You must be focused at all times. Oh yeah, no praying please or saying Have a blessed day. Someone might go to HR and say you are forcing your beliefs on them. Please don't have personal conversations at work. It might be distracting. All of these previous demands that are being taught in businesses are ridiculous! I certainly understand that you are at work to perform a job. I know that we need to keep a level of professionalism as well. However I feel like our rights to be who we are have been infringed on.

With all of this being said, this brings me to the past few weeks of events that reflect some of this . Noah and I have been friends for awhile. We joke around and share personal information. But those stupid pesky rules reared their ugly head first with a coworker commenting on what I say to Noah. Then his manager pulled him into the office and scolded him about me talking at his desk. The problem I have with that is, If I caused the problem, why didn't you address me? Corporate America plays this telephone game where they tell manager 1, ,manager 2, manager 3, specialist 6 and finally you. So I had no idea I was causing any type of problem until Noah brought it to my attention. It put a damper on our friendship and we don't pray any more together or talk much. It is kind of sad. However there are some changes being made to my job structure. I will be sitting in a different part of the building and working with people who I usually don't work with. I started this transition yesterday. It was weird not being in the same room with Noah, Rose, Sean, and Travis. Change is an adjustment so I was having a hard time with it. God knew what He was doing though because He used me today to comfort a friend on the other side of the building. Jason came to work glum. I told him if he needed someone to pray with him, I will be glad too and that we could go outside. He surprised me and said "lets go now!" So I said a prayer for him and he felt better. God wanted me to be a prayer warrior like Noah was for me. The Lord used Noah to help me impact people just the way he was with my husband and I. So all is not lost because Noah was put in my life to help me along the way. So I am optimistic that things are looking up. Noah and I will be friends again some day. As for prayer partners, God wants me to move on and help those just like Noah served me. Praise God for pointing this out!

Every day I experience the smallest things that tell me that God has it and not to worry. I will close with a prayer.

Heavenly Father we praise you for everything you given us. I thank You for bringing Noah to our lives during hard times. Thank You for giving me the opportunity to be a prayer partner to Jason. I ask for continued blessings on our marriage and thank you for touching Ricky's heart. I ask these in the name of Jesus

Amen

Something Awesome happened!!

I was opposed Listening to Christian music in the past. I thought the music was cheesy and that DJs on a Christian station made me feel inadequate. Recently I started listening to KCBI that is based out of Dallas. It is listener supported meaning it only survives on donations from people and some businesses. I started loving the station because the DJs were awesome and the music was great. The DJs also pray on the air every hour for military and various people. The website allows you to send prayer requests in. (trust me there is a point to this!:-) ) I listen to the afternoon show with DJ Rob Rion. He had just announced that if we wanted to request a song, please call it in. I called in and made a request for Salvador's Aware. Its a powerful song and it says volumes of who God is. Rob is a very nice DJ and he took 3 minutes talking to me and wished me a good day and played my song. Right after the song was over, he recited a verse from Psalms. Here is the problem. I have no idea which chapter it is. I have racked my brain, flipped through the book of Psalms, asked my husband.....No luck so far. I tried to send Rob Rion an email but there was not one available at the station website. Well after listening to the radio, I said "Fine I will just call him and ask!" Well that plan did not go the way I wanted only because it had been a week and of course so much has happened since last Thursday. All was not lost though because Rob took time to talk to me, ask me how I was and so on. We had a very nice chat that lasted 8 minutes. In the world of a DJ that is a long time. He was humble and even told me if I hear him say it again, call immediately. He was cordial and really a sweetheart. It made me confident that God is using these people in a positive way. I could go on and on about the morning show people but I will save that for another day. The Lord has blessed us. Even when things aren't going the way I want them, He sends me something to keep my chin up. It could be simple as my friend bringing me a cookie or having Rob Rion take time out of his day to talk to me. It was awesome. Its not a big deal but these small seeds are important in our walk with God. You can never forget who He is.

Memorial Day

Today was a really nice day. Ricky and I went to visit my dad at his apartment. We cooked fajitas and swam in the pool. With it being memorial day, I was off but it wouldn't have mattered. I would have been off by default because I don't work Mondays. We played volleyball, got our eyes filled with chlorine and ate too much. :-)

Memorial day usually is not taken very seriously. Most people see it as a way to party and vacation. I certainly understand that. At church yesterday, the pastor mentioned the purpose of the holiday and why we observe it. Those people who fight for our freedoms every day should be honored and remembered with dignity. Some of the activities that take place on this holiday does not do that. I am talking about getting way too drunk and not having any regard for others. The pastor said that we have freedoms that other countries do not have. Until recently that has been true. However if you talk about what you worship in the work place, you find yourself in the office facing your boss and hearing a stupid lecture on why its not okay. It is still an improvement from those countries that have oppression of religion, but if we keep it up, we will end up like that and all the fighting for our freedom would be for nothing. As it is we are taking prayer out of schools, talking about removing "In God We Trust" off of dollar bills and altering what we say at Christmas time. I understand that not everyone worships the same as we do but we are throwing up Kwanza and Chinese New Year like pennies. Then it comes Christmas time and oh no, Don't say it! I certainly don't like to speak politics but this is how I feel about our oppression that keeps seeping into our culture. So our military is fighting and risking our lives but if it keeps up, it will be a lost cause.

I did not come from a military family but my friends and family have relatives that have served our country. Ricky's grandfather fought the Japanese in World War 2. My best friend Sarah has her boyfriend in the navy, her brother who is serving right now, and her father who was in the past. My friend Beth got out of the navy 2 years ago. Ricky's cousin is in the air force. There are many more people that I probably could name. They all deserve the honor that this day is meant for. Some are still alive. Others have passed on. We hold them in our hearts and thank them for their time and sacrifice.

All of you who took your time away to keep our freedoms, we thank you. God bless you in everything you do.

This is interesting

I never thought I would start the blogging process. I thought it was strange that people would post their thoughts on line for the whole world to see. I still believe in writing a diary but I figure I could give this a try. This will be an experience I think.

My husband and I have been married for almost two years. We have been together for almost 5. We met at a karaoke bar. Its funny because we are not much on clubs and parties but it seems we were in the right place at the right time. The first night we met we spent hours talking and sharing deep secrets with each other. Within the few weeks we knew each other I knew we were meant to be.

I am 26 years old working at Sprint. I have been there for 2 years and 5 months. I put off school due to finances and stress. My interests are reading, cooking, traveling, and music. I am not much of a party person. I like to go karaoke but that's about it. (hence how I met Ricky!)

Ricky is 29 years old. He is not working right now due to health problems. He is a very bright individual. He has so much going for him. I know God will direct him and use Ricky for his gifts.

We are Christians and proud of it. We are witnesses by the way we live. We have not always been due to the mistakes we have made in our lives but I know that we will be forgiven of our sins. We attend a United Methodist church in Fort worth. We were raised differently but chose the church we attend because of the way we worship. We are conservative worshippers. Ricky likes to listen to traditional liturgy in a formal service. I like the praise and worship songs of the contemporary genre. Our church provides a service that fits both of our needs. By mentioning this, I am not trying to promote a denomination. I believe that different churches were created to accommodate the diverse population.

We are wanting to make a difference in the lives of others and witness the Good News to others in many ways. Ricky wants to create a ministry that will witness to the people who love to play role playing games. It may sound unconventional but we are told to go and make disciples. I want to go on a mission trip. I want to help with post Katrina clean up or assist the Methodist conference in southern Kentucky.

I will continue posting with updates of our journey. Good night!