My most proud moment as a daughter...

This March I had the GREAT honor of presenting my Dad with The Timothy Award, an award from the Rocky Mountain District of the Church of the Nazarene that is given for outstanding service to youth (over 19 years as a youth pastor with 15 as the district youth president). Here are the pictures, and I will try to recreate the whole story for you, as closely as I can. I presented this award to him during the annual youth event for the district called Rejoice in Billings, MT. He had no idea that he was getting an award, and definitely had no idea that I would show up at all.

Loris, a good friend of the family and the District Youth President, called my Dad on to stage at the opening meeting for Rejoice. All she said was that we have a very special award to present to Tom, and that someone from his past was here to present it. She then made him sit down and pointed off to the left-hand side of the stage.

Here I am sneaking out of the RIGHT hand side.

And here is the moment he saw me.
The first of many hugs, and a few tears.
This is Joe, a friend of mine and now my Dad's youth pastor. He carried the award for me and shared his favorite memory of Tom. That story went a little something like this (I helped illustrate and tell the story a little, as you can see).
One of Tom's favorite games to play with teenagers is called Anatomy Shuffle. If you have not played the game (you should), it goes something like this:
Everyone grabs a partner, preferably someone you would like to get to know better.

You and your partner line up across from each other with a field, gym, or lawn between you. Then two body parts are called out, for example, elbow-knee. The first-called body part is assigned to the first partner, and the second to the second.
You and your partner then rush toward each other and touch the body parts until the losing team is chosen (i.e. the last to touch, or unable to hold pose).

It must have been the summer of our senior year when we last played this game. There must have been some event going on at our church because teens from all over Montana and Wyoming were gathered there. The game went on, and on, and on until there were just 3 teams left, and they were resilient. There were 2 teams of all boys, and the other team consisted of our mutual friend Joe V (NOT the long-haired blond you see here) who had just returned from a 4-day hunting trip (still un-showered) and a 12-year-old girl who we later learned, this was her first youth event, ever. After Tom tried a few tricky calls, and couldn't get anyone out, the inevitable call came, Lips to Lips... The poor 12-year-old girl just FROZE, didn't move a muscle, and Joe, un-phased by the taboo of the situation came screaming down the lawn to meet his terrified partner and...

picked the poor girl up by the head and just PLANTED one on her! I am pretty sure the poor girl needed counselling before she could return to anymore teen events!

Turns out, her (the poor girl's) cousin was in the crowd. =)
Joe then went on to share how much my Dad's mentoring and pastoring ment to him.

From this point on, I read a few memories and words from some of Dad's former students and a fellow pastor. The first of which was from an old friend named Lonnie. Back when Lonnie was a youth pastor with my Dad on the same district the two of them were always running around causing trouble together. They were, and still are, great friends. Here is what he had to say:

As you know your dad and I are great friends, and there are numerous stories to tell. NYC, camps, all good times, but the one thing that “sticks out most” is the time we were in the cabin at bear tooth and it was time to get cleaned up for dinner.

Your dad just came out of the shower and tried to put on one of his “hundreds” of pull over shirts he had that resembled curtain patterns from motel 6.The problem was, the top button was buttoned and all I could see was your dad wrestling this shirt, with just the top of his head sticking out. So now you know where the name "SPEED STICK" came from, (he knew that one was coming)with his bald head poking through and the top button fastened, he looked like my deodorant top trying to put on a shirt!

There are MANY more stories, but what I know most about Tom is he has always had and will always have a Youth Pastor’s heart! He is dedicated to the Rocky Mountain District and their youth! He is more deserving of this award than anyone I know. His dedication and hard work has made a major impact on many students.

I know our friendship means more to me today than it did the very first day I met him. Let your dad know he is loved and appreciated. His prayers are cherished and his support reaches all the way down to Georgia! I couldn’t have thought of a better father, husband, dad, Pastor and friend to receive this award!

Congratulations and thank you for being an inspiration to many people. God right now is giving you a standing ovation and that’s all we can ask for!!

Love ya Bro,

Lonnie

Another former student, Matthew, who is now all grown up and a pastor himself wrote about Dad:

The greatest thing about Tom in my memory was his encouragement and depth as a Christian. He helped me understand what great ministry is about and one of the influences I use in my own ministry today. He was always a role model and a mentor without even probably knowing it. It's because of people like Tom that are willing to invest in the live of teens that truly define God's great commission in growing the Kingdom of God. Thank you Tom for being willing to be a great mentor and example of following God's Call.

And Matthew's wife, Candace, another former student wrote:

The best memories I have growing up are all at some type of youth event whether it be Rejoice, Camp, or Bible Quizzing. I learned how to serve and follow Christ personally and recieved a call to ministry and met my husband all because God working at those events and I know that those events were as awesome and life impacting as they were because of a man who chose to follow God's call and invest himself into teenagers on the Rocky Mountain District. A great NYI President and Pastor. I have always looked up to you Tom and since I came from a little church that didn't have much of a youth group and definently no Youth Pastor. you have always filled that spot in my life. Even though you probably didn't even know it. There’s no one better deserving of this reward.

The hand off (behind the stand, sorry).

Another hug...

And the acceptance. I have to tell you , I was just so glad to not be up there anymore, I can't say that I remember a lot of it! Something about all the work that all of the youth pastors that were present do, and how appreciated each and every one of them are.

Hi Ho, Hi ho....

Today is the first day I go back to work. I REALLY enjoyed the break, even if I was sick. The river is slowly going down, and we are still safe and dry. All of our belongings are still in the truck, but here in the next few days we will be moving them in. Now all we have to worry about is the second crest that is coming in a few weeks. After seeing how well this one went, we are not going to panic about this next one. We're just going to have to take it one day at a time!

3-26-09 Somewhere between 40'-41'

You can't really see it, but the water come to just beyond the pilons, I think.

It is hard to see the water with all the snow.


This is broadway across from the water treatment plant. It actually got higher, and they had to close it down and build a clay dike there.

3-24-09 31'

Under there somewhere is where it says, "Oz."

I think there is a stage under there. Not sure?


The brick is our building.

Keeping my head above water....

Whoa, Man! It has been quite the week, or few weeks, I'm not sure?! Wednesday the 18th I got food poisoning (yeah, great way to start a story). I have NEVER been that sick!! Trust me, you don’t want me to go into details! I DID NOT get ANY sleep! It was bad news! Then (don’t ask me why) I decided that after a 2 hour nap (without vomiting) I was good to go in to work. Well, that didn’t work! So I ended up back home and had to make the decision as to whether I leave the next morning as planned to surprise my Dad in Billings, an 8 hour drive, all alone, in a rental (I am pretty sure they charge extra if it comes back smelling like vomit).
The whole reason for my going to surprise my dad in Billings was because they were having a large youth event and he was going to be presented (by me) an award for his MANY years of working with the teens of the Nazarene Church. This was something I DID NOT want to miss, so I got my rental car that night and just plain didn’t eat (can’t vomit what isn’t in there), and left early Friday morning for Billings. The drive was actually pretty nice! I was able to SLOWLY eat Taco Bell for lunch (VERY SLOWLY), and I got into Billings with plenty of time before the presentation. My mom and I hung out for a little while and they hid me in a back room of this convention center so that my dad would not accidentally run into me. They also warned me not to speak or laugh, because “everyone would hear me, and Dad would know it was me.” There were a few close calls, but in the end he had NO IDEA I was there, it was awesome! While I was waiting and practicing my “speech” I was just POSITIVE that I would get on stage and just pass out from both nervousness and the after effects food poisoning. For the presentation, they sat dad on stage and pointed out to the right while I snuck up behind him on the left, and when they said my name, he jumped up and we both started crying, it was awesome. The speech wasn’t perfect, but good, and I am SOOO glad that I made it up for it. The rest of the weekend we hung out with the teens, did a little shopping, and I stayed in a hotel room with my mom and 4 teenage girls. I got to watch my little brother (who is NOT little) dominate in a dodge ball competition, I line judged for volleyball, and sat in on services with a GREAT speaker! I also took part in cleaning up an accidental “almost” fire in the prayer path. We didn’t even make it back to the hotel before midnight each night, and do you KNOW how hard it is to get a room full of girls that age to settle down and get some sleep? Not to mention, they had to get up two hours before anything to beautify!
Monday morning came way too fast! Also coming too fast was a nasty storm that almost kept me in Billings for the remainder of the week! I hurried off and drove like crazy and was able to stay just in front of the storm. I did hit a few rough spots, but 10 hours later I was safely at home. While on the drive home, I was on the phone with my husband and friends coordinating for our next adventure, the flood. At that time, it was projected that the river that is practically in my back yard would be at an all-time record high by that following Thursday (that would be in just 3 days). We live in a basement apartment, and are uninsurable.
I came home to the majority of our belongings already boxed up (yay Josh) and ready to be moved into a U-Haul truck. I did actually make it to work on Tuesday and helped Josh pack up that night. We got the U-Haul on Wednesday, and I (again) started getting sick on Wednesday too. This time it was just a cold, no big deal. Thursday I woke up with an elephant on my chest, and he is getting bigger by the day (bronchitis? Chest cold?)! By this time, the crest was projected to not hit til Saturday, but we weren’t taking any chances. I stayed home from work and huffed and puffed and tried to help Josh load all of our belongings up in the truck (I pretty much watched, and was still huffing and puffing). That afternoon, he sent me away to stay with some good friends of ours, the Draxtons, who live in Hatton (well away from the river). I had a good few days with Katy and her two girls, Amy (1.5) and Rachel (11 mo) but was still sick and of little help to Katy or anyone else for that matter! I so hope I didn’t give whatever I have to any of them!! Now, it is Sunday night (I think, not really sure) and I am back at home, in an empty apartment. The river is still high and has the potential to either stay high or get a little higher, so it is not over yet! We will keep all of our things out until it is totally-for-sure safe.
In all this I have to say, I am SOOO thankful for family, friends, and community. It was SOO awesome to go and see my family, and Josh sure saved our bacon and put in a LOT of work (while still working full time) to keep our things (and me) safe, we have GREAT friends that are always willing to come to our aide, and there are thousands of complete strangers sandbagging and working to protect Fargo!!

Pictures will follow…. =) (this was just going to be a quick note to catch up... oops!)

North Dakota Living

This past weekend there was mostly ice everywhere, and a FEW dry spots where the ground was actually showing! Then came the blizzard. I will say, I really did enjoy the few half days of work! I did some extra homework, made pretzels, took a nap and then slept in the next morning. It was awesome.

Suffering through dictation....

Good gracious! As some of you know, I am in school for medical transcription and am at the point where all I do (pretty much) is type sample reports. I am currently in the middle of a 15 minute dictation!! I don’t think I am going to get through this one!! Don’t get me wrong, it is all very interesting and I enjoy (most of) what I am learning to do, but there is only SO long you can listen to someone drone on about the same 2 inches of a person’s body. I am currently working on the surgery portion of my sample reports and some doctors are in and out and get the job done. Slice her open, tie a few things off, clean ‘er up, and get outta there! This guy is just killing me, it’s a good thing this doctor is probably no longer in practice (and that they don’t actually give me his real name) because I am about ready to give him a call. I mean his descriptions are SOO detailed in EVERY step!! I am pretty sure I could just listen to the man’s dictation and recreate the surgery myself! I know, on the patient’s care side of things, it is probably good that he is so thorough…. But I have had enough!
Well, now that I got that out, I’ll try and go finish the note. It is a good thing that I got half of today off too because of the blizzard; I NEED the extra time to get this one done!

Snow Day!

I actually got to go home from work today at 10am! The weather is awful, but I don't mind because I am warm inside working on homework. I did get a short nap in, and now I am watching Oprah, so I am relaxing a little, but it is SO nice to get just a little extra work done.

Grace and Truth

The sermon at church today was about Hell. That is not a subject you usually want to talk about, but a necessary subject nonetheless. It was a very good sermon, at least I think so. I pretty much only heard 7 words, “Jesus was full of grace and truth.” After that, I was gone, physically still in the building, but deep in thought, mulling over those words. The Truth is not only sometimes hard to hear, it can also be hard to speak. This is even more true when it comes to the truth of the subject of today’s sermon, Hell.
There are people in my life that I want desperately to know The Truth, but so that I don’t “scare” them away, I keep it to myself hoping to lead by example. Time and time again we are reminded that we don’t know how long anybody has here on Earth, so maybe it is time to take a more direct route? So, how do I make myself full of grace and truth? What is the next step for me? It is clear to me that these words stuck out to me for a reason, so this is my new goal. To be filled with grace and truth.

I have a bone to pick with Tiger Woods.

I have completely lost my husband to Tiger Wood’s PGA Golf Tour 09.

While my family was visiting last week my Dad and Brother bought the game for us, and that is what they did the entire time we were home (till the wee hours of the morning- or should I say “wii” hours). I thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad as soon as my family left, but I was wrong.

I was making lunch in the kitchen this morning and Josh was in the living room studying for an upcoming test he has to take, so he asked me not to talk to him. So I didn’t. That is until about 5 minutes later when I heard the familiar “ting” a club makes when hitting the ball. Apparently you can mute the tv but not the wiimote. I was slicing carrots for chicken soup and forgot to put the knife down before I walked into the living room.

Well, I suppose maybe I am not being completely fair here. It is a pretty cool game. At least I think, I have got gotten to play it yet. I am very fascinated with how you can make your character look almost exactly like you! Really, I think that is super cool. I guess there is also a LOT more to it than the Wii Sports golf, and I really like that game. On the up side, while he is golfing in the living room I can catch up on my favorite sitcoms on the internet that he doesn’t like to watch! =)

Here are some pics of Josh’s Tiger Wood’s golf man. He doesn’t really like pictures of himself posted, so maybe I’ll just keep using his Wii man whenever I refer to him! Oh, and cut me a little slack on the quality- it isn’t very easy taking pictures of something on the tv (and no, it’s not an HD- Walmart special baby!)

If any of my GF friends are reading, next time you visit with your hub, I am pretty sure this is what they will be doing. =)

How we do Super Bowl

I am STILL full from the Super Bowl!! We had BW wings, Hot beef dip, chips, pretzel chips, crackers, popcorn, soda, bagel bites, and I don't even remeber what else! Aside from the food and commercials (which were highly disappointing this year), my mother and I are not all that interested in the game, so we sewed a quilt. Two, actually, but they aren't done yet.

They will be two matching wall-size quilts that say, "faith, hope, and love" on the square with the stripes/arrows around the sides. (I call it the zipper pattern).

Cake Time!

I missed my little brother's birthday (Dec 25) and my Dad's is Feb 16, so I decided to celebrate them both while they are here.

My dad is in the process of recovering from a nasty fall on his head and a concussion, so I tried to make his cake look like a helmet. BTW- Thank you, Sharon, for the AWESOME recipe!! He LOVED it!!

Jordan's is just a super yummy chocolate-chocolate cake (thank you, Michelle, for the recipe) but it is kind of cute too, so I thought I would post that picture too!

Bathroom cleaning...

My parents are coming to visit later this week, so I have been doing some pre-visitor cleaning. While working on the bathroom I was reminded of when I was younger doing my weekly chores. Every Saturday was chore day, and my job was always the bathroom. One Saturday when I was in jr. high my dad came in to check my work and almost immediately said, “Nope, not done. You know how I can tell? The mirror isn’t clean. The mirror is always the last thing you do, and it’s not clean, so the bathroom isn’t done.” Ever since then, to this day you know what the first thing I do in the bathroom? That’s right, the mirror. Back when I was less concerned about whether it was really clean or not and more concerned about going out to the mall, I would clean that mirror spick and span, half heartedly wipe off the counters, move a few things around, and get outta there! I don’t recall getting in trouble for not getting it done right after that, at least not from Dad.

Just cause I know someone is thinking it (most likly Sharon)- NO I don't do that anymore!! =)

The Shack by William P. Young, a book review.

The back of the book:
(They do a much better job in summarizing than I would).Mackenzie Allen Phillip’s youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgement he arrives at The Shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.
My review in short:
Read it. Good book.
My review with a bit more detail:
I am not going to lie to you, this book was a little hard to swallow (even hard to read at times), and I am sitting here trying to think of how I can explain this without turning you off from the book. In order to do that, I will give a few more details about the book but will leave out any vital details. When Mack makes it to the shack, he finds himself with God, literally. He is not the god he expected to see, and certainly not the one I would ever expect either. Again, I’m being honest here, I struggled through the book for this very reason so I am telling you, get past it- listen to WHAT is said, and try not to let the big black lady throw you. God is who He is, He is the I Am; if he were trying to reach you or me, he would choose to put himself in the best form to do just that.
Another reason I struggled with this book is its basis of fact. The preface clearly states that Mack swears by the truth of the story. So that begs the question, do I believe it? Well, I want to. I do believe that God still reaches people in ways that are beyond us. Also, I don’t want to be putting God in a box by saying that He couldn’t have done all this exactly as Mack said that it was done. Truth is, God is above time and space and all things physical so, yes, I want to believe it.
So far all of this seems like I was put off by the book but on the contrary, these are some of the reasons I LIKE the book. Christians, or anybody for that matter, don’t need another book that we can passively read about God and let it go in one ear and then out the other. This book will stick to you for awhile, you will have to chew over parts of it, and you will most likely find it difficult to swallow. If you are a church go-er like me, you “know all about God” too. This book takes all of those little bits and pieces that you know about God and puts them together in a larger picture. As soon as you see that big picture, God may not be the god you thought he was. On that note, I challenge you to fact check what you find in The Shack with the Bible, which IS truth.
I think that there are so many lessons to be learned from The Shack, and the lessons you learn may not be the same as the ones I did. Some of the lessons that are still fresh in my mind are the consequences of free will and choices, why God “lets” bad things happen, and the fact that you don’t need a lake house to have a real, tangible relationship with Him (although I would LOVE to walk on the water with Jesus).
Read it. Then tell me what you thought. Hang in there with the big black lady; He has some great things to say. Don’t be lazy, read the preface and after words. Maybe before you read it, think about what form you think that God would choose to appear to you in. If you know anything about God and how he does things, I would guess that he would appear to me in a way that I would least expect it.

COLD + Scrubs = Bad news!

It is COLD! Today it is about 10 degrees WARMER than it has been the past few mornings at this time, and it is -13 degrees out!! I'm talking COOOLLLDD!
So I went out to start the car this morning (this is a usual practice around here cause you must let your car run before you go driving off in this COLD). I work at a hospital, so I am wearing my usual attire of scrubs. This morning the dishes took me just a little bit longer than usual, so I didn't have time to throw my longjohns's on before I headed out to start the car. It is SO cold that immediately upon stepping outside in my THIN scrubs, I can't even feel my legs. Somewhere in the process of starting the car and unplugging it, I took off my mitten and reached to grab something and my hand brushed against my leg.... my bare leg. Yes, my scubs were no longer up on my waist where they belong, and I don't know how long they had been like that.

That being said, I am VERY glad that Josh decided to pull my car into the garage this morning, maybe that blocked some of the view.

Ever do this???

I just went into the kitchen for a quick refill of my water. The lights were off in the kitchen, but there was enough light from the hallway to see my way around. Right when I opened the fridge I noticed a small little crumb of what I thought was left over cookie dough, so I instinctively snatched it up and stuck it in my mouth (like a little starving mouse). Right as I did, I realized that probably isn't a good reflex to have- just sticking things in your mouth because you think it is cookie dough. It wasn't even a big enough crumb for me to tell what it was, really. So now I sit here and think.... what did I just put in my mouth, and why?!

Christmas

Josh and I had a WONDERFUL Christmas this year despite the fact that we were unable to travel or see my parents. We were planning to have a quite Christmas, just the two of us this year because neither of us could get the time off, but Josh's parents didn't have any visitors either, so they came up to see us! We would have been just fine on our own, but it is SO much better being able to celebrate with those you love. There was still a "hole" without my parents there, but we will see them at the end of the month.
Josh sure spoiled me this year! Oh boy did he!! You will be happy to hear he got me a new NICE mixer that is both on a stand and you can take it off for a hand-held mixer. If you recall from the divinity post, I was in dire need of a good mixer!! He also got me some other great kitchen items, but I do not need to go into detail.
I always kind of hate that describing Christmas always includes the gifts, but it is kind of unavoidable really. Christmas in our household is about Christ, not the gifts so before the gifts are presented or opened, we sit down together and read the story of the birth of Jesus. This is another of the great family legacies that will be passed on.
On another note...I really enjoyed having the in-laws here this year. They are the kind of people who don't really require to be entertianed, they can just enjoy being with you doing anything- or nothing at all. They are the best kind of guest to have at such a busy time of year!