Sheesh!

This blogging everyday business is getting harder and harder. I find myself either with nothing to blog about or without the will to blog.

Today, i've been overwhelmed with thankfulness as I officially started my Thanksgiving holiday.

I'm thankful for Mrs. Wanda and Michelle who told me yesterday that I deserved to not come in today and start my holiday early.

I'm thankful for the precious smiles and the funny little laugh of my nephew and the sweet way he puts his head to mine that makes me smile not matter what.

I'm thankful for my sister who has increasingly over the years become my best friend.

I'm thankful for Ross, the brother I always wanted.

I'm thankful for my mom's welcoming smile and my dad's big hugs that are so tight that I get a little dizzy. But I love it.

I'm thankful DVR without which I wouldn't be catching up on 24 right now.

What are you thankful for?

P.S.

I felt the need to share a little laugh with you guys in the form of "Stewart" from MadTV. This skit is H-I-Larry-O-U-S!

I crumbled...

I finally gave in a made my blog "Christmasey" after I'd told myself I wouldn't. I just wasn't happy with the way it was looking at the moment and I couldn't really find a cute not-holiday-ish background to use for right now. So, I just gave in and went for it. At least I have a month to enjoy it. I'm sure the day after Christmas I'll be creating a new look. Enjoy!

I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me

I was asked by Mocha Club to write about why "I need Africa more than Africa needs me." Mocha Club is a community-based website where members can start a team and invite friends to join them in giving $7 a month – the cost of 2 mochas – to support a project in Africa. Mocha Club's vision is to provide a way for people who don't have hundreds or thousands of dollars to make a difference in Africa.

(The directions were to write "about 200 words" on this subject but I'm feeling that I might go a little over. Forgive me. Please.)

"I need Africa more than Africa needs me."

That sounds kind of backwards, right? I've got way more than anyone in Africa could ever imagine having. Shouldn't they be the ones needing something?

Sure Africa needs a lot. Millions of children are dying every year of AIDS, preventable diseases, starvation and war. UNICEF says that 5,500 children under the age of five die across the 21 countries of the eastern and southern regions of Africa. AND the majority of the deaths are largely preventable. More than 300,000 die in as little as two months. TWO MONTHS. I can't even remember what happened in the last two months because I've been so wrapped up in my own life. Did we elected a new President? Huh?

Anyway, I think what this statement means is that we need Africa to change our view of the rest of the world more than Africa needs us to "help". Now, I put the word "help" in quotations because we see Africa as this feeble continent of sick and dying and poor people rather and a continent that is rich of a hopeful future and an opportunity to display the glory of God.

I heard a man speak last night who had grown up in Africa. He and his sister were the only white kids in an African village. He said he would pray every night that he would wake up and he would be black. This was 54 years ago. You know, 54 years ago, America was fighting over Civil Rights. This four-year-old white boy was praying that he was black. Interesting? To say the least.

This man, when he was seven, lost one out of every four of his friends to preventable ailments such as small pox and measles and poisonous snake bites. He didn't get any of those diseases because he had gotten the vaccinations but he was stuck with the memory of holding his friends in his arms and coaxing them into an early death. That man was Wes Stafford, president of Compassion International.

Besides his life story, something else he said stuck with me. He said that we shouldn't look down on the poor and the impoverished. We shouldn't look down on them with eyes of pity and feelings of guilt. We should look at them as God looks at them -- beloved and blessed. Rich in righteousness and promised with hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

Africa is a nation of hope. A nation of opportunity for us Americans who live an ocean away and feel we can't do anything. We CAN do something. And as a Christ follower, I don't want to look at Africa with pitiful eyes and a soul full of guilt. I want to look at Africa with a humble heart, knowing that I have much more to give than I think, and relishing in the fact that God is getting the glory from every cent of that $15 that is taken out of my bank account every month. Fifteen dollars isn't a lot to most of us. But my $15 is helping several kids in Zimbabwe get an education. And that's a whole world of wealth to them.

Jesus said in Matthew 25, (Walden paraphrase) "If you done anything for anyone, especially those "less fortunate" (and I can totally see Jesus using air quotes here) -- fed, clothed, quenched thirst, bailed out, given shelter -- you've done the same for me."

Our ministry to others is our ministry to Jesus Christ. And we can't do any of that without Jesus Chirst. How neat is that?

James (1:27) tells us, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

So I think I've come full circle. Why do I need Africa more than Africa needs me? James just slapped me in the face with the answer -- to keep myself from being polluted by the world. I've never been to Africa but I have been to Honduras and New Orleans and the Latin slums of Arlington, Texas, and those people, who have no more than the clothes on their back, are happier, or should I say more joyful, and believe more in Jesus Christ inspite of their circumstances than I am with all the material things that I have in my possession.

So, if only to change my outlook on life, I truly do think I need Africa more than Africa needs me.

In closing, I ask you to share your thoughts in my comments, and challenge you to maybe even blog about it yourself. Take time to think about it. I was presented with this a week ago before I committed to even try to blog about it. Join in the worthwhile care of recasting the damaging images that force pity over partnership. Come back Dec. 1st to see what Mocha Club is doing about reforming that image.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig!

So I got home from Greensboro today just in time to get home, unpack, change clothes and get to church. I'm glad I did. It was really good. And Mandy sang. Again. And she rocked. That girl could make "Mary Had A Little Lamb" sound good. She needs a record deal ASAP. She writes her own songs. Any takers?

The final two hours of the road trip today were spent following live stats of the final in Greensboro. College of Charleston (Boo!) and Furman. We wanted Furman to win because, well, they knocked us out and we didn't want College of Charleston to win because they've won for the past four years. Furman came back after being down two games to one and won in the fifth game. It was great!

So now I'm washing clothes since I can't do it tomorrow because I have a basketball game and I'm leaving Tuesday to go to Jackson for a few days for Thanksgiving. Yay! I'm so excited to see my family and a few friends.

I think I just heard the dryer buzz. Gotta go!

P.S. I think I just broke my pinky toe. Again. Owie!

Bummer

Not much to say today. My girls got beat in the semifinals of the conference tournament and that's a tough pill to swallow after the stellar year they have had. Plus, the team we lost to was never considered a team we could lose to in the tournament. And there's a lot of history between our team and their team too, so it was tough to lose to them.

It was a five-game thriller/heartbreaker. I felt like I was watching the final. One thing I know though is that not one of those girls can say that they didn't give it all they had. I know they had to be exhausted after that battle and it's tough to go out with a loss, but they cannot say that they didn't leave it all out on the floor. We just got outplayed. For everything we did, they had an answer and there is nothing you can do about that.

We should be on our way home right now but Dex decided to let the girls stay for the night and be able to visit with family rather than jumping on the bus and riding for eight hours. We will be leaving tomorrow morning and should get back by 3 p.m., hopefully.

I'm glad that both my Bulldog football teams pulled out wins today though. Go State! And Go Samford! The Samford Bulldogs have a winning season for the first time in about five years and well the MSU Bulldogs...we'll just chalk it up to another "rebuilding year". Whatev. I'm just proud that Anthony Dixon got 170 yards in his final home game. Way to go out, A.D.!

Did anyone hear about Tony Romo taking a homeless guy to the movies? Yeah. The guy was supposedly begging for money outside of the theater and Romo just told him to come on inside. What a guy! Good to know we still have some gems/gents out there.

I'm completely wiped out now. It's only 8:50 p.m. here in Greensboro and I feel like it should be midnight! I just can't wait for my three day vacay in Jackson which is coming soon.. I'm so excited to see my family it's not even funny.

I hope everyone had a great day. Ole Miss still sucks and Go Red Raiders!

Broadway Light and Snowy Days

Today's One Minute Writer prompt is Broadway. I couldn't pass up this subject since it's one of my favorites. Being a child of a music teacher and musical lover, and the sister of a music teacher and musical lover and former Broadway star "wannebe", Broadway has always been a big part of my life.

Even when I was little, I was always watching video tapes of musicals. I learned to love the stage and always wanted to be the star. And the Tony Awards are a special occassion for my sister and me.

I always went to see the touring musicals that would come to Jackson and was always around when my mom's students would do school musicals. My sister and I also loved to make up our own musicals and perform them for family members.

I can remember the first time I actually when to a musical on Broadway in New York. I was a freshman in high school and we went to see Titanic: The Musical. We sat on the front row, and I cried. It was amazing. The music was great and the acting was even better. We were sitting right above the orchestra and you could see to the side of the stage people waiting in the wings for their cues to go on.

Two years later, I saw the ultimate show, The Phantom of the Opera. It was, yet again, amazing! No wonder it has been running for so many years. It's incredible! My favorite seen while always be "Masquerade". The costumes are unlike anything and that song is so powerful.

Then for my senior trip, we went to London. While we were there, we saw The Lion King. Oh my. Wow! If that show doesn't change your life I don't know what will. The costumes are crazy inventive, with headdresses and animals attached to characters and such. And the voices. Oh, the voices. I have no words for them. We were on the second row for this and I was sitting on the very end. During the first number, Circle of Life, the animals come down the aisles from the back. So for 75% of the song, I was face-to-face with actors and actresses in full costumes, interacting with me. It was incredible.

After the show, we got to go to the alleyway where the stage door is and meet some of the cast. The kids that played young Nala and Simba were so great. I don't see how they did it. They do the show for two weeks and then go to school for three and so on.

Seeing that I have a song for everything, my life pretty much revolves around music. It makes me happy. There's nothing like a good song to put me in a good mood and if I can sing it, that's even better.

On a completely different subject, I woke up to snow this morning. We are in Greensboro, N.C., for the Southern Conference Volleyball Tournament and it's cold. Really cold. We woke up to a sheet of white on the ground this morning. Definitely not snow plow worthy but it was snow. I thought our trainer was going to pee his pants. Anyway, it was fun to see and I took a quick snapshot to share.

Not much to say...

Not much else to say except the express how pumped I am that I'm going to be at home in Jackson in about five days. I get to see my mom and dad, my sister and bro-in-law and that little guy you see to your right. Isn't he presh?!?!

I also get to see a few of my friends and see what progress Casey has made in the wedding plans.

Yay!

It's late here in Greensboro and I'm majorly tired. Goodnight all!

Just Call Me Napoleon

I'm starting to think that I might have had a Napolean complex when I was younger. I was definitely always smaller than everyone else. 4'11" in eight grade can always do the trick. Of course, I shot up maybe four inches when I got to high school, but that really didn't make much of a difference. Plus, that's neither here nor there.

I'm told stories all of the time that I liked to boss people around, which is weird because I was also a pretty shy kid. Maybe I was just shy when it came to certain people but again, I digress. I'm told that my Sunday School teachers used to call me Miss Katie because I liked to boss everyone around in the class and don't even get me started on when Lauren Brown and I were ever in the same class in kindergarten. We ruled the roost.

I always wanted to be the center of attention, making up plays with my sister and singing songs like "Louisana Saturday Night" for anyone and everyone while doing my little dance. I still get a little nervous feeling being in front of the crowd for the first time but I think it's more of an adrenaline rush than nerves.

Anyway, I was always the boss. In playtime at school, I made sure that everyone knew what their roles were in the imaginary games we played. I bossed the boys and they listened. Man, I was good. I was always the teacher, the captain, the train conductor, the song leader, the queen of the mountain.

When my mom taught at Siwell, I attended the elementary school across the street. Everyday, along with other teacher's kids, including my best friend LB (Lauren Brown, whom I still call Lauren Brown even though she's married and has a new last name), would be escorted across the street by our favorite Siwell custodian, Thomas Taylor.

Very often, when I would reach my mom's room there would be about 15 or 20 minutes of class time left. Usually, Lauren was with me or I was with Lauren in her mom's room, but we immediately assumed our jobs as nametakers and disciplinarians. That's right, imagine an eight-year-old telling a ninth-grader to "Sit down and be quiet or his name would go on the board". And don't make me threaten the evil check mark. Boy, oh boy! That's trouble. Yes, people, I put the fear of God into some 14-year-olds...or maybe I just made them chuckle a little.

Anyway, as time went on I found myself being a leader in everything, although I was much happier just being a follower and taking orders. Some Napolean I was. I was captain of the cheerleading squad in eighth grade and then eventually as a senior in high school. I was one of three eighth graders to do the announcements in middle school as part of my Student Council Secretarial duties. I was the teachers' pet but yet I could also often be the first one to start an argument with a teacher who thought she/he knew it all or could say what every she/he wanted to certain students.

And although many bigger kids (boys, mostly) liked to pick on me because I was little, I never wasted an opportunity to give it right back to them. Yes, I cried. But eventually, they paid. I never got into a fight because truthfully, I would have gotten my hiney kicked. I learned to use my words. Cold as ice as they say.

Maybe I was a Napolean, or maybe I was just a kid who new when to stand up for herself and would rather do the bossing around instead of be bossed around. However, I always had respect for others, especially the grown-ups, I was never mean-hearted (ok so maybe that one time in the caf when that boy was mean to me, but he deserved it) and had good intentions. I apologized when necessary and showed compassion every chance I got. I spoke (and still do speak) the truth in love and hopefully people respect me for that.

So call me Napoleon. Whether or not, he was a good or bad guy, or was overcompensating for his lack of height, whatever. He had a passion. I don't think that's such a bad thing.

FYI...

FYI...NBC.com's video is the epitome of sucky. I'm trying to get my Chuck fix while I work and it just keeps stopping and starting. It's like watching a bad DVD. I even tried surfthechannel.com and hulu.com (Thanks Betsy!) and it does the same thing so I'm guessing these sites get their streams from NBC.com. Ugh! I've missed sweet Chuck for the past two Monday's and I'm going to miss it again next Monday. And I can't afford TiVo or DVR like all you money-makers out there. I might have to write a letter to NBC. Maybe. Or maybe not.