BST's Blog

First things first--since I have been gone to TX, one of our very dear friends was hit by an oil truck on a street in NYC. Jonathan Shaub is still in critical condition and facing a lengthy recovery. They have set up a website to help everyone keep up with his recovery. Click here to see more. The Shaubs were my Otter Creek family when I moved here. Sharon was my liaison from the hiring committee. I have been very close to them for 10 years. I even lived with them briefly before getting married. Jonathan and I shared a room and lots of laughter. Please be praying for him.

I am not even sure where to begin in writing about our trip to Texas. What an emotional, wonderful, fulfilling week! We enjoyed what we could HEAR of Sing Song. Gamma Sigs knocked it out of the park for another win this year. Siggies were awesome as "ants". Lara Seibert completely blew me away as a hostess. She's one of the best talents I've ever seen or heard at ACU.

Sunday morning was probably the most incredible service I have ever experienced. I cannot imagine a better day to have been there. They had all the emergency response crew, as well as passers by who stopped (some came from as far away as New Mexico!) come to Highland that morning. At the end of the service, Mike called all the families up who had been in the wreck. Even the Bourlands were there (they lost their son). It was extremely emotional. A couple of the kids shared and then Mike asked the special guests to come forward. This is when things really got teary. He had the Elders and their wives come up and they all surrounded them and prayed over them. At one point I wondered if I was going to be able to pull it together enough to lead "The Lord Bless You And Keep You". It was really amazing.

We got to spend some quality time with Chris, Mike and Diane Cope on Tuesday when the ZOE folks went to their house for lunch. There were some hilarious moments--my favorite was Chris sitting in the recliner in his brace shooting baskets to his inside goal but using Jason McArthur's head as a backboard. It was priceless.

The lectures were all great. I've been going to Lectureship for years and I have never seen the coliseum that energetic! People really seemed to be engaged in the worship. It was such a neat thing to behold. We led every night and got to hear some great speakers...especially Randy Harris. Randy smoked it last night--amazing. If you can--order the CD. It's completely worth it.

I realized while we were there this week that I have been so blessed to have some pretty amazing spiritual fathers over the course of my life. My own father would have been blessing enough, but while we were there this week I was reminded of how men like Ronnie Lorenz, Lynn Anderson, Harold Lipford, Mike Cope, Jack Reese and others have "fathered" and "brothered" me for many, many years. Lynn took me aside each night and talked with me as my father would have about how proud he was of me. Things like that are worth gold to me. I honestly do not know how people survive without community.

Here are some specific moments or things I'm thankful for from this week:

--Spending time with my ZOE family. After 7+ years, it works.

--Getting to stay with the Lorenz's and see Maddie and Ella grow to love them even more.

--playing at the park with our kids and Brooke and Ali (82 degrees that day--can I get a hallelujah?!)

--one day during lunch in the campus center, I took Ella with me to the men's room. We were in a stall and the guy next door was really letting it fly. It sounded like fireworks going off. Ella starts laughing her hilarious grunt laugh and exclaimed, "HE TOOTS!!!" I totally cracked up--could not hold in the laughter. I took her to the sink and gave her instructions to stay put while I washed my hands. One second later she was gone and I looked back and there she was on the ground looking up under the door of that man's stall to see what all the commotion was about. Thankfully, he was laughing too.

--Sheryl's brother, Chuck, came and we had some awesome time together. He bought the girls some kites and they had their very first kite experience. Maddie LOVED it! She really got hers going.

--I got to meet several from the blog community this week. Katherine, Kathy, Jenni, Wes and Jason. I got to see my cousin Janie and her mom, got to see Alan and Holly Brown, Michael Miller, Russell Heil (thanks for that comment Kari--so great to know where you are!), and so many more. It was a great blog reunion!

--I got to spend time with long time friends like Hainey Price and Sally Gary. I got to visit a little with Joel Quile (Joel--your son took our tickets this morning at the airport!) I got to talk with Jeannette and Harold Lipford several times and even got to see their daughter Amy Saturday night. We also got to see our "creative genius" friend--Rob Thomas! What fun! Man--I miss him. Rob, Jason and I had some incredible times together.

--EATING!! Yes, Lord. Can I get an amen for JOE ALLEN'S?? I think I had it for at least 4 meals. We ate in the Bean a lot. A LOT. We got meal passes and were all trying to conserve. The entire ZOE team ate there every day for dinner. It ended up being a blast! The Bean has certainly gotten better since I was in school. Besides--they have BlueBell ice cream now.

Again--I'd have to say the highlight of the week was Sunday at Highland, and yet, I can't help but play over and over in my head the sweet faces of those worshippers each night in the coliseum. (good crowds too!) It was a week of blessing for us, that's for sure.

It's good to be home. Maddie and Ella went straight to the playroom. Ella attacked the baby dolls and Maddie began her routine of trying on every single costume and princess dress. They seem glad to be back too. We are all in constant prayer for Jonathan. Please be praying about him too.

Now...what should we talk about tomorrow?? Missed you all! Hope you had a great week.