I just read a thoroughly entertaining article on fast food by NY Times food critic Frank Bruni. It’s odd to see such beautifully constructed sentences dedicated to Whataburger and Chick Fil A, but it’s a fun read.

Plus, I’m hungry. Glowing words about Blizzards speak to me right now.

Link via Throwing Things.

1. Brenda’s post about pronouns cracks me up. It is right up my grammatical alley, because Sister and I (not “me and Sister”) have had MANY conversations about common (mis)usages that drive us (not we) crazy. My personal pet peeve is when people use the “and I” construction incorrectly, and Brenda does a wonderful job of addressing the rules with a little Southern flair.

There was an adorable girl on Amazing Race a couple of seasons ago who was The Worst “and I” Offender EVER: “I’m so proud of Jon and I…They were really rude to Jon and I…I really feel that the race brought Jon and I closer together.” And all of those examples drove I bananas. :-)

[A brief aside: I was about to go on a tear about why I cannot stand the use of the word “myself” as anything but an intensifier (“I myself have never experienced that” is fine from time to time…however, “that’s between Sister and myself” is kind of obnoxious), but then I realized that, you know, nobody cares. You can take the girl out of the English department….]

2. Oprah’s “Legends” special – anybody see it? At first I was all, “Oh, here Oprah goes, talking about ‘energy’ and ‘power’ and getting all New Age-y on me,” but I must admit that the way she honored the women who have gone before her – Cicely Tyson, Tina Turner, Maya Angelou, etc. – was very touching. I loved the footage of the gospel brunch – I would have HAD ME SOME CHURCH if I had been there. Which I wasn’t. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it because I wasn’t invited.

Anyway, David and I estimated that the whole Legends celebration probably cost AT LEAST five or six hundred dollars. Okay, maybe a smidge more.

3. I mention my friend Emma Kate just about every other day in my posts, it seems. Well, I’ve been holding back with a little EK info because I didn’t feel like it was time to share, mainly because I didn’t think that she and her hubby were ready to share. And this is all starting to sound very much like a pregnancy announcement, so let me just go ahead and apologize if you were reaching for some yellow yarn and getting ready to start on some baby booties. Because that’s not the news.

And there’s not really ANY news to speak of, because this is actually a very circuitous route to a prayer request.

EK and Brad have been meeting with about 12 other people to pray and study and see if God might be leading them to start a new church in the town where they live in Mississippi. They have a vision – a God-given vision, to be clear – for a church that is rock-solid doctrinally and theologically but different, especially in terms of worship and programming, from anything else where they live.

This is not a fly-by-night deal…this is a result of several years of prayer and a genuine desire to be faithful to what God is calling them to do. And in case you’re wondering if they really have what it takes to be on this path, I can assure you EK and Brad study the Bible like nobody’s business. Let me put it this way: when I get in the car, I crank up my music, but when they get in the car, they crank up preachers like Andy Stanley or Ed Young or Louie Giglio. They know their stuff.

So here’s the thing (THANK GOODNESS, you’re thinking, that she finally has a point). They need your prayers. They truly believe that for this vision to come to fruition, they must first have God’s man. They have the resources to attract someone of the highest caliber, but obviously God has to turn that man’s heart toward Tupelo. If you would pray for that, I know EK and Brad would appreciate it. Their group is meeting tonight, and they are at a real fork in the road in terms of what comes next. The next few weeks are going to be HUGE for them, and wisdom and discernment will be key.

4. Newest Google search that made me laugh out loud? “mama de nemo”

So in case the searcher is still lurking around, let me see if I can help using my, er, increasingly limited abilities in Spanish.

La mama de Nemo es muerto. La mama de Nemo fue comida para un “Jaws.” Lo siento mucho. Marlin es un padre excelente. Tambien, Dory es una “amiga especial” de Marlin al fin de la pelicula.

:-)

Gracias, y hasta luego.

The best part of each season’s final Idol show is the debut of the Power Ballad that becomes the winner’s first single. Said ballad usually contains images of climbing mountaintops or flying without wings or soaring into the sky or soaring above the clouds on the way to the mountaintop while flying without wings.

So, in a HUGE step-out, I’m going to predict water imagery for this year’s single…perhaps we’ll have a river of love, or a sea of faith, or an ocean of truth, but my prediction is that it will in fact be a body of water filled with a universally valued attribute. And a soaring note at the end. You heard it here first.

(Now we’re watching on TiVo. David and I are cracking up at seeing Mandy Moore and Ben Stiller in the audience – guess this show has pretty broad appeal, huh?)

Katharine McPhee –
“Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” – Probably a wise move for her to come out and show her fun side right off the bat – especially since her competition is Mr. Fun Happy Man. I loved this song the first time she sang it, and it was rock-solid again tonight. Honestly, though, sometimes I feel like she works really hard to seem like she’s having fun! We’re having fun! Y’all! She did seem sincerely touched by the reception of the audience – those were real tears. And good grief she’s pretty, isn’t she?

“Somewhere Over The Rainbow” – Perfection.

“My Destiny” – Definite imagery of a journey, a quest…but I may have stepped out too far with my water imagery prediction. :-) Anyway, this song sounds like it’s in the wrong key for her. The low parts are giving her a little trouble, and plus I imagine that it’s difficult to sell lyrics that are quite this cheesy. I’m gonna go ahead and say it: it’s a pitchy performance. She’s all over the place. But I am happy to see the ubiquitous gospel choir, which I believe is an Official Requirement for an AI anthem.

Taylor Hicks –
“Livin’ For The City” – MY that’s a fuschia jacket. And he definitely gets crowd-pleaser points. I think his voice sounds great – way stronger than it has in the last couple of weeks. I actually still have his first performance of this song on TiVo, and what struck me tonight is that he didn’t sound like a recording of that first performance. Good grief the crowd loves him.

“Levon” – I have a deep, abiding love for this song. And I think tonight’s version of it is leaps and bounds better than the first time Taylor sang it – he’s calmer, more confident, and seems more at home on the stage. All that being said, I think Katharine wins the slow song round.

“Do I Make You Proud” – This type of music doesn’t really suit him, but this song works better for him than Katharine’s Power Ballad worked for her. Taylor got to “do his thing” a little more than she did, so I think Round Three goes to him. Even though the song is cheesy, he still sounds like Taylor – doin’ the best he can with some wretched material.

By the way, we have no idea what Paula is talking about tonight.

So, here’s the bottom line: I think Taylor will win for three reasons:
1) The South will vote in droves.
2) Most of the people who previously voted for Elliott are more likely to vote for Taylor than Katharine.
3) People seem to adore Taylor. His fans are rabid – did you hear the crowd? And for old time’s sake, I looked back at some old posts and found this – I’ve loved him from the very beginning, y’all. :-)

But I think David just gave the best reason why Taylor will win: he has personality. Katharine is beautiful, and her voice is distinctive – but she doesn’t come across as having the level of personality and likeability that Taylor does. Plus, in her third song, she didn’t offer anything special…it could have been any other good singer doing a similarly average job. On the other hand, Taylor took a weak song and made it his own – I can’t imagine that’s easy to do.

Looks like we’re gonna have another Idol from right here in B’ham.

Soul Patrol, everybody.

Last night Alex discovered some leftover Easter candy in the pantry. He asked me if he could have it, and since I knew it was the not-so-great stuff, I said, “Sure – you can have it!” knowing full well that he wouldn’t finish even one piece of it.

First he opened some Smarties. After about two bites, he looked at me, grinned, and said, “Here, Mama. You can have them.” Lucky me, huh?

Then he found some jelly beans, sniffed them, and said, “Yucky, Mama!”

After a couple of more minutes, way down deep in the bag, he discovered a lone bite-size Milky Way. He held it up to my face and said, “What’s that, Mama?” And when I said, “It’s a candy bar,” he said, “OH, IT’S SO EXCITING! I’M SO EXCITED, MAMA!”

I unwrapped it, and for a full five minutes he sat quietly, nibbling on his little nougat treasure. Then he rummaged through the bag again, came up with a Starburst, and brought it to me.

“Alex,” I warned him, “you’re not going to like this. It’s fruity. You don’t like fruity candy.”

“No, I’ll try it, Mama”- so I unwrapped it for him.

His teeth had barely hit the little lemon square when he scrunched up his nose, smiled, and said, “YUCKY!”

I took the Starburst away from him and said, “I told you, buddy – you don’t really like fruit candy.”

And he looked at me very seriously, tilted that sweet head, and said, “Yeah. Yes ma’am. I like chocolate. In my mouth.”

I do, too, little man. I do, too.

Last night when I was going through Site Meter to see if anyone had actually visited the blog while I wasn’t writing (and y’all did! You did!), I noticed that several people had reached my blog via queries on a search engine. It was the first time this has happened…and totally entertaining to me.

Now I completely understand why one search led the Googler here:

I mean, I have made my admiration for Mr. Giglio known a time or nine over the last two or three months. I’m sort of flattered, actually, that my blog is forever linked to his name.

And since Wes over there in the sidebar sings for the Gaithers, I understand why I got this one:

By the way, I have no idea why Candy left. Maybe Candy got tired of life on the road. I dunno. Fingers crossed that there were no hurt feelings.

This next one was no mystery at all, and I almost wish that the searcher had stuck around so that I could have provided an answer:

The truth is, the dog’s name is Gertie, but she’s not Paula’s dog (scandalous, isn’t it?). In one of the issues of Paula’s magazine, she confesses that Gertie belongs to her producer, and get this: the old set wasn’t her real kitchen in Savannah. It was her producer’s kitchen in upstate New York. Can y’all believe that? I felt that I’d somehow been deceived, because everything on television is real, right? :-)

See, that searcher was at the right place and didn’t even know it.

And this one? Oh, it did tickle me:

If I had caught the searcher in time, I would have directed him / her here. Or here. I’m not really a Trace Adkins fan, but since David did see him in Dairy Queen a few months ago, well, we’re practically cousins.

So to you Louie / Candy / Paula / Trace seekers out there, I hope you found what you were looking for.

Y’all come back real soon, ya hear?

Back in 1999, David started to think that the time was right for him to step out and start his own business. We were just young enough to be fearless, just naive enough to not be intimidated. After a lot of talking, praying, and planning, David decided in February of 2000 that he wanted to go for it. And here’s what happened in our lives over the next three months:

We decided to move to this city because D. felt like it was where we were supposed to be. I quit my job. We found a banker who really believed in us, then signed a contract on a house here. We put our house in BR on the market, sold that house within two weeks and got the exact amount we needed. I found my “dream job,” and David quit his job in BR. We moved to here on the first Friday in July, and on the next Monday David got his first client.

In retrospect I think, “Well, obviously, clearly, we were insane.”

I mean, you don’t just quit your jobs, sell your house, build another house in a city you hardly know, AND start a new business all at the same time. But we did, y’all.

And as I look back over that time, I also think, “God was so faithful.” He worked out every single detail, made every possible provision, and our lives have never been the same. The move was, without a doubt, the most important step of faith we’ve ever taken.

In our study this week, Beth used the story of Paul’s shipwreck in Acts to illustrate four core truths about faith, and I related so strongly that it brought tears to my eyes.

1. Feelings or perceptions cannot be the basis of faith even in the most Spirit-filled life.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that our gut feeling isn’t always the same thing as the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Looking back on our move from BR reminds me how true this is. If I had looked at our situation objectively, I would’ve never agreed to go. But I knew that God was leading us. I trusted that He wouldn’t abandon us. And really, to see Him at work like He was, we had no choice but to follow. My gut feeling said, “STAAAAY!” But the Holy Spirit said – again and again – “GOOOOO!” I’m so glad we did.

2. Faith comes from listening!
Beth points out that “Paul chose faith. Everything he could see and feel screamed death and disaster, but Paul’s greatest reality was what he could not see.” If David and I had relied on what we thought might happen, if we had been deterred by our worst case scenario as we prepared to “pull up stakes,” we would’ve been paralyzed by fear – no doubt about it. And even though fear would creep into our hearts from time to time, even though we knew the risks were great, our greatest hope was what (and Who!) we could not see.

So, at this point you’re probably thinking, “My, this is a lovely little story, BooMama. Good for you that you moved and all. I’m sure it was an exciting time.”

But if you think the story of our move is a fairy tale, you are, in fact, waaaay wrong.

Which leads us to point #3.

3. God’s deliverance came through the ship running aground!
Going into all the details of what happened in the first three years we lived here would be nearly impossible. But it. was. so. hard. Without a doubt, it was the most grueling, agonizing, challenging, and borderline depressing time of my life. For lots of reasons.

Beth says, “Deliverance does not mean ease….God’s deliverance in your life may be one of the most excruciating things you ever experience.”

Yes. Excruciating. EXCELLENT word choice.

I firmly believe that the main reason God led us here was because we had Junk To Deal With, and this is where He wanted us to confront it (there are specific reasons why I believe this, but then this post would turn into what Jeana calls a bleries or a blovel). So if you’re in this study and did your day 4 homework, that’s exactly what we were up against.

But now, when I think about all the things we had to confront, all the trials we experienced, all the problems that seemed insurmountable, I am overwhelmed by God’s faithfulness. Beth says, “Heavy winds and raging seas don’t always mean you’re on the wrong course. It may mean you’re right on target….Perhaps He couldn’t get you to your destination any other way….”

No doubt about it. For three years God took us down a road I would’ve never chosen, but it was the absolute perfect path. He didn’t give us what we wanted, but we got exactly what we needed. Why? Because…

4. God always has a destination in mind when he delivers.
When Paul and his shipmates landed on Malta, they were greeted by people who were warm, welcoming and kind. Beth says, “…once you have been faithful to who He is, He will show you what He can do. Malta was a place of miracles, a place of healing, and a place of supplication.”

That’s exactly what THIS place has been for us. It’s our little Malta. :-)

And here’s what’s so encouraging to me about this week’s study: our lack of faithfulness can never, ever nullify His abundant supply. God is who He says He is, and He can do what He says He can do. He is faithful – ALWAYS – so it makes perfect sense to respond to Him with belief, with trust, and with a faithful heart that longs to mirror His faithfulness to us.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm – Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.