Bummer dude

This past month has really been a tough one. Things just seem to get harder and harder as it goes on, fun for me! Part of me wants to just hurry as quickly as I can past all these trials and see life on the other side. But I'm realizing that's not what God wants.

I spent about an hour pouring my heart out to my sister-in-law, Shelly, and her best advice was, "get before God, more than ever." And so I have. I've been pushing myself hard this last week, reading and praying more than I have in a long time. At first it seemed so refreshing, and then my flesh got irritated. I hit a road block on Sunday. I was upset, sad, angry, and hurt. I wanted to give up. I wanted to say "This sucks. I'm going to bed, don't wake me till Jesus comes back." But, deep inside my spirit kept pushing.

So I pushed more. Today I feel rejuvenated. I'm still struggling, but I'm using scripture to fight it.

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 10:37-39 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Matthew 16:24-25 "24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

Psalm 121 "I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

Whoa! Is that an update I see?!

For the last few weeks, I've been really bad at getting online. I've found that I only get on during the day for work purposes, and then on the weekends it's never that appealing... So I apologize for my lack of posting and my lack of commenting.

To top all that off, I'm not really sure I have much to write about. It seems like my life is so day to day, that nothing super exciting happens which makes me "just have to blog". But, I've decided that perhaps I'll simply write about loads of random things, and thus produce a relatively long (hopefully not boring) blog. Here goes:

Holidays:

It's not yet Thanksgiving, and my tree is going up, lights are coming on and Christmas baking has commenced. Yes, yes, laugh at me. Mock me and tell me that "It's not even Thanksgiving... Christmas is a month away...". But you know what, I don't care. Do you mock someone when they form a countdown for their wedding, graduation or birthday? Most likely not. So why mock me? Perhaps Christmas isn't as important as say, a wedding or a birth, but you know what, it's just as important, or more, than my birthday. And I'd say it was more so than graduation, but since I graduated in December, I looked at that as a pre-Christmas celebration, so it ran together. ;)

So for all you Scrooges out there waiting to deflate the holiday joy, please get over yourselves. Seriously. Stop being so adult, and remember what it was like to be 10 at this time of year. Sure, as you get older there are more people to shop for, more errands to run, more food to cook, but so what? Isn't this suppose to be about friends and family? If things really are so hectic, downsize. Tell you family and friends, "This year I'm not giving gifts, just cookies." That's what Jonathan and I are doing. We're buying something for one another (well, and Grandma) and then nothing else. Christmas shouldn't be intended to spend your life savings, but to enjoy the people and things in your life. Look back on what it was like growing up, and focus on the sweet and not the bad. The anxiousness of waking up to the smell of gingerbread, cinnamon, and seeing a field of snow. (If you don't have any good memories of Christmas, you can have some of mine... I have plenty).

My parents divorced when I was 2, so I never had a traditional "Christmas". However, every year I went to my father's on Christmas Eve, ate spaghetti, my dad read part of Matthew 1 and 2, then we sang carols and opened presents. There was continual laughter, and 'A Christmas Story' was being shown in the background. Then well past midnight, we would drive back to my mother's. Christmas morning we would wake up early, help my mom make breakfast, sit around the table and feast. After breakfast we would begin opening presents. When all the gifts were unwrapped, my mom would clean up as the kids scurried around with their new toys. In the afternoon my mom would head off to work (she's a nurse) and then my brothers and I would go to a movie. The day would end with such delight.

With that being said; I will always love Christmas. And if you don't, please don't tell me. Please don't complain that the music is irritating, that there's too much to do, that you don't want to see santas any sooner than December 1st. Please just realize that some of us enjoy this holiday, not because we're nutty, but because we haven't succumb to acting like stuffy adults.

Homes:

We are officially settled into our home. Our garage still has some work, but that's Jonathan's chore, not mine. :) We (and by we, I mean Jonathan) wired our speakers for surround sound. Now, for the first time ever, I have speakers in my bedroom. I can clean throughout the house and hear the music everywhere. It's really quite cool.

John and Joni moved in just over two weeks ago. It's been some of the most fun I've ever had with them living with us. We take turns cooking and the house seems to always be abuzz. I've realized that Jonathan and I really need to have tons of babies. We really like a full house (so long as it's clean...) and having kids seems the best way to keep it full (although not so clean...). To top things off, Joni and I have started working out together. We've just begun this week, but it's way fun. I had a coupon for me and a friend to join Ladies Express Fitness in North Liberty for one month free. We didn't even have to commit to staying after the time is up! It's a super place to exercise because it's all women. And everyone is friendly. So, I'm pretty excited about it all.

Holiness:

For just over a month now, God's really been teaching me some good lessons on selflessness. I've come to realize that I'm a pretty self absorbed person. I like being best at everything, having tons of attention and making sure everyone knows that I'm the best. And, what's really strange is that for a few years, God's really broken me off a lot of those things... except for a major one. My speech. I've realize that when someone says something nice to me, or about me, I take it as my turn to make sure they know how amazing I really am. When I first became truly aware of this fact, I started listening to myself. I talk about myself ALL THE TIME! Geez... how do I have friends? God's been showing me some pretty amazing verses from Proverbs about speech, and He's teaching me ways to hold my tongue. I'm way not good at this. And if I have come across to any of you as completely selfish and uncaring, I deeply apologize. I am sorry if I have made any of you feel less important, less special, less loved because I was too absorbed to take time to show you how awesome you all are. Please know, that I have, do and will still stumble over this issue. I am far from being where I know God wants me to be. So in advance I ask for your grace when I'm acting like a snot, and being too selfish. And if I stop talking midconversation, please know it's just the Spirit nudging me. And if I stop talking all together... know that I've simply taken a vow of silence. Which, actually, might not be a bad idea.

Welcome to the world, baby girl

Weighing in at 6 lbs 5 oz, Madelyn Faith Atwood, was born on November 7th at 2:27 am.

I can't begin to express my sheer happiness for my brother and sister! And the fact that I'm an auntie (4 times over now!) is pretty awesome too.

She's such an adorable baby! Yeah for Atwood genes. ;)

Best...day...ever

This afternoon I got a call. I looked at my cell phone and it showed "No Name, Unknown." Now normally I don't answer these calls, as I despise when teller marketers call, but for some reason I decided to make an exception. And am I glad I did!

I answered the phone "Hello, this is Sarah" (can you tell I'm in work mode?!). There was a brief pause before the caller said "Hello this is Dwight Schrute..." That's right my friends, Dwight Schrute, the Dwight Schrute of Dunder Miflin called me today! The automated message only lasted about a minute, but it was amazing! I laughed so hard. He yelled at me for not coming into work on time, and that while he was only "Assistant Regional Manager" (we all know he's Assistant to the Regional Manager) and couldn't fire me, he'd see to it that Michael terminated me. And quickly. Oh man! That was awesome!

Seriously the best day ever.

You'll shoot your eye out!

By far, my favorite holiday movie is A Christmas Story. And frankly, it's probably my favorite movie of all times.

I don't know what it is about this movie that I love so much. Maybe it's Ralphie's childlike innocence. Or the anticipation of Christmas day coming. Or the fact that it has a humor that kids and adults alike enjoy. Whatever it is, I love, love, love this movie. And I thought I might share a few of my favorite lines with you, my blog readers:

"I can't put my arms down!" - Randy after getting on his winter coat.

"Oooh fuuudge!" "Only I didn't say "Fudge." I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!" - Ralphie after losing the screws to the car tire.

"I want a red rider 200 shot carbine action range model air rifle with a compass and this thing which tells time built right in the stock." - Ralphie

Father: "Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian."
Mother: "Uh, I think that says FRAGILE, dear."

So what is your favorite Christmas movie?

Pictionary and other life lessons from board games

This past Friday we were suppose to move into our new house. We spent Thursday evening taping the trim, washing the walls and doing other preparations. Friday we go to the bank for our signing... but none of the lawyers or seller were there. Interesting. Turns out the seller's bank didn't have everything ready, so we couldn't sign. Bummer.

Since we had planned on working at the house all weekend, our time was now wide open. Saturday was spent at the Bovenmyers serving the neighborhood, followed by an evening of Cranium. Now, seriously, if you want to get a good laugh you should play boys vs. girls in Cranium. And to add to that, you should have Dan act out "cocktail dress" in front of his dad. Or have Tony sculpt a dunce. Because, that my friends, is clearly a recipe for humor.

Sunday I had a picnic with Amanda, Becky, Amy, Emily and Emily's friend Leah. It was a nice time of good ole fashioned girl bonding. Afterwards Jonathan met up with Amanda, Becky and me for some pictionary. Know what I learned? Amanda is the best teammate ever when it comes to pictionary. Yes, it's true. I don't think I have laughed quite so hard in a looong time. Between deformed versions of the US and using the other team's clues to guess the picture, we totally rocked it.

So what life lessons did we learn, you might ask? That everyone, yes everyone, has something they can teach you. If you just take the time to stop being so consumed with yourself (Philippians 2:3) and start really getting into the lives of others, you'll find they are brilliant in so many areas. God has created His children uniquely, each one playing their part. So don't think we hold all the answers. That we know all. That we don't need others. That we have more to teach than to learn. Because we don't. And most importantly, never stop being students of life.

Impressing the impressionable

I have learned over time that I am easly impressed by the lives of those around me. And by impressed, I don't mean they influenced me in some great way, but simply left an impression upon my life. I struggle with my feelings toward my "impressionable" state, mostly because I wonder if others are so impressed by me.

It seems as though each person I have ever met, leaves their own special mark in my life. Some are so small that I can't even see their impact, others are so large that they have molded my life.

At times this scares me. There are times it seems, that these impressions, or the marks they have left, begin to hurt. And when I search myself to try to understand why I have this pain, I realize that it is in part due to the fact that the one who has left such a deep impression is no longer in my life. Through a variety of reasons, I am left alone, with only a mark. And truthfully, the impression I have is not what causes the pain, but the unknown of having made an impression on the one who impressed.

I should be working...

But where's the fun in that? This week has been surprising busy. I'm the in throws of conducting interviews for a new position here. I've spent everyday running around trying to make sure that I've sent all the applicants their information, given the search committee the most updated resumes and most importantly making sure that my boss is happy. The latter, luckily, is the easiest.

To top off my uber busy week, I've been waking up at 5 am for prayer at 6. I've been meeting with Brittney and Amanda to participate in the "120" (120 hours of prayer) on campus. Did you know it's still dark at 6 am? Yeah, well it is.

But you know what, I'm really loving it all. There's something to be said for starting your morning off with an hour of prayer. It truly does a wonder for your soul. Granted, yesterday I was a little cranky. All the same, I've really seen God's grace during this time. And I've also had a renewed desire to pray more. The first day I thought "Man, this is gonna be rough", but now I'm thinking "Why haven't I been doing this all along?" It's really helped that I know Amanda and Brittney are depending on me to be there - gives me the push I need when I hear that alarm.

Plus, most importantly, I know I'm pleasing God. And frankly, that's been my goal all week. I want Him to receive the glory in all this. I want His name to be heard and for the students, staff and faculty to see Him move. That's what I've been praying for. And I know it'll happen. Because God will give us the desire of our hearts. And this is my desire.

What price am I worth?

Today on MySpace I found my old roommate from when I lived in San Antonio. I had tracked her down on Facebook last summer and thought I might look for her today on MySpace. I did. And then I requested her as a friend.

After I requested her as a friend I found myself "editing" my page. I changed a few things to seem cooler, funnier and more exciting, and thus becoming less "me" and more "hip and trendy". And then it dawned on me, why am I so afraid of what she thinks?

When this girl was my roommate I tried hard to live a life that would impress her. I spent more money then I earned, drank excessively, partied even more and lived a life outside of myself. When I found it hard to stay the course with my "new life" I broke down. All the lies I told were unraveling. My family wasn't rich like hers, my childhood wasn't great, and I wasn't popular like her normal friends. I was just me. And it ruined our friendship. While for a long time I placed the blame on her, about 2 years ago I realized it was my fault. Had I been true from the beginning she would have know me not the version of "Sarah" I wished her to see.

It makes me a little sad that part of me was/is so quick to change, but at least I realized it sooner. Who knows if she'll accept my request, but one thing is for sure; I have no reason to be ashamed of who I am.

They can't give me a ticket on God's day

Sundays for me normally consist of church, lunch, nap, dinner, church, sleep. Yesterday however, was completely different.

When Jonathan and I were leaving house church last night we encountered the strangest of strange. (Forgive me for all of those not familiar with the IC area, as I can't explain the story without all the street names).

As we're barreling down North Dodge, talking about family stuff, I yelled out "Jonathan, there's a man in the road!!". Jonathan slammed on his brakes and swerved into the other lane. As we passed the man, he yelled "Help me, help me!". Jonathan stopped the car, stuck his head out the window and asked if everything was okay. The guy said he was lost and needed to get to the hospital. Dressed in nothing but blue basketball shorts, sweating profusely, this guy was obviously not all together. Jonathan gets out of the car, as the guy runs up to him. Jonathan repeatedly tells the guy "Stay back, I don't know you, stay back!". As the guy gets up to the car, Jonathan gets his name "Matt". As Jonathan tells Matt we'll do what we can, but to stay back, Matt freaks out and starts running back toward I80.

Jonathan jumps back in the car, calls 911 and lets them know what's up. We turn the car around and start trailing "Matt". Jonathan's worried that he might get hit by a car, since it's so dark down that road, and I'm just, well, worried. As we get closer to him, I yelled "Oh my gosh, Jonathan, he's NAKED!" It turns out that somewhere along the 100 yards "Matt" had ran, he lost his shorts. Not a pleasent sight. Not at all.

So we sat in the car, trailing up the road after "Matt" flashing our brights to warn oncoming cars. Through all this Jonathan's back on the phone with 911, because now not only is "Matt" naked, he's nearly been hit by a driver, thrown a rock at another car, and staggering back and forth on the street yelling "Help me! Help me!".

When the first cop arrived on the scene, it seemed as though "Matt" was going to be under control quickly. "Matt" leans up against the cop car, as the cop handcuffs him. In a split second, "Matt" turns around and lunges at the cop. The cop threw him down and traps him between the road and his knee. "Matt's" yelling and screaming, saying that he's hurt and needs to go see his sister 'Sarah' in the hospital. The cop asks "Matt" a series of questions:

"What's your name?" "John".
"John, what's your last name?" "Mayer".
"OK, John Mayer. When's your birthday?" "I don't know."
"John have you used drugs tonight?" "Yes."
"What kind of drugs?" "I don't know."

Then "Matt-John" begins saying how he is "going to kill someone" and asks the cop "am I gonna shoot you in the head?". Finally two other cops pulled up and Jonathan and I left.

I was shaking the whole way home. I have never, ever seen anything like this in my life. The whole scene was straight out of COPS. When we got back home, Jonathan just held me and prayed. I was so freaked out, because things could have been so much worse than what happened. I can't even imagine had I been there on my own without Jonathan to take care of me. God really protected us in such a huge way.

Between the crazed knife pulling man at the mall (that's another crazy story!!) and last night, I'm beginning to think this could only happen to Jonathan and I.

RAGBRAI pictures

Here are some pictures of Jonathan and I from our RAGBRAI experience.




In this one we had just started. 6 miles in, only 41 more to go!












We got really excited when we found out that there is a Windham, Iowa.











Here I am after the infamous Cosgrove Hill. By this point I was exhausted. I'm soaking wet because after the top of the hill some boys are spraying all the cyclists. I got off my bike, walked over to them and let them drench me.









And Jonathan after the Cosgrove Hill. If it weren't for him pushing me the last 10 miles, I'm not sure I would have made it!









I really had such a great time, I want to try again next year. Now, I know I'm crazy! :)

Anniversary Extravaganza 2006!

Last year for during our honeymoon, Jonathan and I called the time "Honeymoon Extravaganza 2005", since we were on vacation for 2 wonderful weeks. This past weekend we celebrated our 1 year anniversary, dubbed "Anniversary Extravaganza 2006." I'm liking this trend and think every year we should have a party like attitude to celebrate our relationship and what God has done in our lives.

Friday we kicked our anniversary off with a bang. Actually with a bike. We rode in RAGBRAI from Marengo to Coralville. Ahh, RAGBRAI. We rode a glorious 47 miles in blistering heat for 7 1/2 hours. Did I mention that Jonathan and I are crazy?! Well, we are. And the best part of our ride was the "rolling hills". Everyone told us the ride was pretty much flat with the exception of one large hill. WRONG! Jonathan calculated that we rode what was equivilant of going up hill for 10 miles. And the "one large hill" was actually Iowa's steepest incline (so we were told). By the time we were back in IC we had some pretty sweet tan lines, and some very sore bottoms!

Saturday we drove to Des Moines for Dexter and Kelsey Jacobs wedding. It was a real blessing to go to a wedding during our anniversary. Dan performed the ceremony and spoke on Ephesians 5:22-33. I almost laughed when he gave the reference, because Jonathan and I had just been discussing (for over a week) on the husband/wife role. So many times I find myself following after myself and not Jonathan. And each time whatever I planned our whatever I did seems to get me in trouble some how. But when I just submit and follow Jonathan, life seems to be a breeze. Interesting.... At any rate, God used that message to only confirm what Jonathan has been saying for days, and it really made me realize the need to follow and not lead.

After the wedding we drove to Pella, where we stayed in a bed and breakfast. Pella is a nice sleepy town, and the time alone with my hubby was nice. We went to dinner, rented a movie and just talked about how amazing God has been over this last year. We have been so blessed in our marriage, with more growth in one year than either of us expected, and it's all because of God. And we like it that way. At one point we just started praying thanking Christ for being in control and that we would always live and life and marriage that put Him first and at the head.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend. And once we get settled in to the Abdos this week I'll post pictures of RAGBRAI.

Teens: The unexplored world.

Jonathan and I have been praying about having kids for the last few months. I'm the very happy-go-lucky daydreamer in the relationship, but Jonathan's very logical and keeps me grounded. He brings up all the very serious issues, while I bring up color schemes for bedrooms. Over the last month or two, I've started to really get a grasp on the idea of "real parenting". God's been revealing what it will truly mean to be a parent; working on my character and my relationship with Christ, not just growing up socially acceptable children. As it seems that time is getting closer to us actually trying to have kids, I've learned one thing. I am so, and I mean soooo, very grateful that we get to start off as parents of infants and not teens.

For the last 3 weeks, Bradley, my 18 year old brother-in-law, has been staying with us. Teens are funny little creatures. They sleep and eat 24-7. They know everything and are not so willing to listen to anyone other than other teens (who also know everything). It's been a very good test of my patience. I have to realize that Bradley hasn't yet come to know Christ as his Savior, and therefore can't walk in the spirit. Which means I need to show even more love and more compassion. Man!

Luckily, Jonathan is right here with me. Every time I get short with Bradley, or say something so out of the spirit, I turn around to have Jonathan say "Is this what God wants from you?" Well, no silly, but that's what my flesh wants, and isn't that what counts?! Well, obviously not, but sometimes I think that way. So I have to put myself in check, ask God for more strength and keep showing unconditional love, when really I want to pop someone's head like a little tick.

And it makes me realize, God's a good God. He is loving, patient, kind, giving, caring, and gentle. While I deserve to spend eternity away from Him, He's made it possible to be with Him forever. So who am I to complain about one month of endurance? I know that He will (and has) provide me with so much more grace than I could ever ask for, especially when I least deserve it. And so, with all that grace, I think it's only right to show it to others.

First family blog.

It seems that every family has their own "family" blog. Seeing as Jonathan is a computer genius (even if he's modest and says he's not), I thought it a shame to not have a blog.

We're moving this weekend. Jonathan's been in Chicago the last few days with Pat, so I'm not even sure what the game plan is for moving our stuff. Plus, we've got the decision of living with the Abdos or the Olingers. **Geez it's so nice having friends who are just itching to live with us** I actually think it's all because of Judah. :) Perhaps we'll do halvies. One month with the Abdos and one month with the O's. Either way, I've got a feeling that the next three months are going to be way better than I can even imagine. It's like being on vacation... but better.