Somewhere in the middle - Casting Crowns

Some food for thought today...I just love this Casting Crowns song and thought I'd share it with you. It challenges me every time I hear it, begging the question of where exactly I find myself. Am I a fearless warrior, or would I rather stay safe inside the picket fences I've created for myself? How much reckless abondon do I allow myself without "taming" it with common sense? What about you?

"Somewhere In The Middle"

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control?

Fearless warriors in a picket fence,
reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end
and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences,
the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His
or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves
Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle

Finally....Some Wedding Pictures!

Rather than rattle on about how beautiful the wedding was, I thought I'd just show you instead. Unfortunately I don't have any pics from the actual ceremony or reception, but you'll get a pretty good idea from this! What a beautiful and strange thing it is to watch your little sister get married.

Grandma & Grandpa spent countless hours getting their beautiful place just right for the wedding. Here's Kelsey & Grandma putting some finishing touches on the back patio.

Kelsey giving some instruction to Grandpa & her groom.

Break time! And of course you can't just drink boring old water at Grandma's house....we had yummy Italian Cream Sodas instead.

Mom, Grandma, & Micah (another bridesmaid) checking out the ceremony site.

The lingerie party..."Kali, why are you taking a picture?"

The big day finally arrived! Kelsey getting some royal treatment from Micah (bridesmaid) & Beth (Brent's sister). We transformed Grandma & Grandpa's bedroom into the brideroom :)

The bride & groom share a moment together before pictures begin. Aren't they lovely?

The wedding party - and yes, that little guy on the end was really a groomsmen! That's Brent's nephew.

Money shot of the beautiful dress.

You're never too big to sit on your Dad's lap!

Our new & improved family - Dan finally got his brother!

With our other "sisters" Paige & Torri.

America's next top models...or at least Dekalb County :-)

The former Carroll bride & her groom of 2 years.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Brent Irwin! I love you both dearly and pray that God will richly bless your union.

Quick Update

Just thought I would throw up a quick update since it has again been awhile. I am currently at my parents' in Missouri preparing for my sister's upcoming wedding on Saturday! Things are certainly in place for the big day, but as everyone knows there are lots of "week-before" preparations, so that's what I am here for. And to hang out with the bride-to-be of course :-) They are planning to have this wedding outdoors, so please pray for lots of sunshine & no rain!

I just got back home this evening from a wonderful few days with my dear friend Shelby. I flew into Kansas City on Saturday morning and drove up to Lincoln to spend a few days with her as she is newly engaged and planning an August wedding. It was so fun to spend some time with her and her fiance, getting to know him a bit and of course enjoying lots of wedding details. I even got to see her beautiful dress, which was very fun.

Dan is still at home in Nashville as he has to work until Thursday evening, and I must say I'm ready for that guy to get here! Even though I'm "home," things just aren't quite the same when he's not here. It's funny how that happens, isn't it?

Okay, I really must go to bed now. Mom just gave me the best head-rub known to man (sorry Dan), and we enjoyed a nice chat for a bit. It's so good to be here. And now I get to sleep in the darkest, most quiet place in the world - something I have come to appreciate more than ever before now that I live in the city. Hope all is well for you out in blog land :-) Good night!

Sad News

I just found out about this when I got to work this morning. Truly heart-breaking news - please be in prayer for the Chapman family. Here's an article from The Tennessean this morning, with a quote from John Styll, GMA President (my boss).

Singer Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter is struck, killed by car

By LINDA ZETTLER and KATE HOWARDStaff Writers

Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest child died Wednesday evening after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family's Williamson County home.
Maria, one of the Christian singer's six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver's name.
The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.
"It appears to be a terrible accident,'' McPherson said.
No charges are expected, she said. The accident was witnessed by two other children; the entire family was home at the time, McPherson said.
Singer/songwriter Chapman, who recently was inducted into Music City Walk of Fame, is one of contemporary Christian music's most recognizable and most awarded names.
He and his wife, Mary Beth, have long been supporters of international adoption, having brought three girls from China into their family. Maria was the youngest.
The couple is so active in the cause that they formed an organization, Shaohannah's Hope, to aid families wanting to adopt.
With his latest music tour, which came through Nashville in November, Chapman started a campaign called "Change for Orphans." He asked audience members at each stop to bring spare change to the concert, where it was counted and given to a local family to aid in their adoption process.
"I don't know of anybody who loves his children more than he does and is so committed to the adoption concept, and to lose one, no matter what the circumstances, is heartbreaking beyond all comprehension," said John Styll, president of the Nashville-based Gospel Music Association.
"He talks about his kids all the time. That's his life. His kids are more important to him than music, that's for sure."
The tragedy was announced during Wednesday-night services at Harpeth Hills Church of Christ, which the family attends. Maria had just graduated from the church preschool.
And word spread throughout the tight-knit Christian music community on Wednesday evening.
Styll got the news not long after Maria's death.
"I'm confident I can speak for everyone in the community to say we will do everything we can to support this family, as we would do at any time, but especially at a time like this," he said.
Most of the Chapman family was at Vanderbilt children's hospital after the accident and could not be contacted. The long, gravel driveway leading to the home west of Franklin was blocked off by Williamson County sheriff's deputies.

Allergies....booo!!!

This post has nothing to do with catching up. It has nothing very meaningful to say really at all. All I really want to say in this post is that I HATE allergies!! Mine have been flaring up a lot lately, which leads to crazy-violent sneezing, itchy nose/throat/inner-ears....I'm not kidding, itchy everything! And the worst part for me is REALLY itchy eyes that get really red and puffy & threaten to swell shut if I don't give in and drag myself into some air-tight facility devoid of any living thing. Ugh.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a big, over-due thank you to someone very important in my life.....Dad, thank you for the incredible gene-pool you have so graciously passed on. I look forward to the next time we can sneeze together.

Oh, and Kels, you better start praying that this junk calms down before June 7 or you might have to add some eye-drops to your maid of honor's bouquet! (I know it's supposed to be matron, but I just can't.)

Going Backwards

I think I'm going to work my way backwards a little, so I'll start by updating you all on what I'm doing now. Dan & I returned from our wonderful, restful, sunny vacation to Pensacola, FL on Sunday evening and headed back to work bright & early Monday morning. Dan started his new rotation (just 1 more to go after this one!) at a Dermatoligist's office here in Nashville and is learning all sorts of crazy things about weird skin (I'm sure that's the technical way of explaining if). He's already started picking at the very few (!) blemishes I have and reminding me daily of the dangers of skin cancer...thanks babe. Good thing I got my sun in BEFORE this rotation started!

As for me, work is back to a normal pace for a little while, though we are quickly gearing up for our next big event in August - Music in the Rockies. Besides work, I have spent a couple nights this week helping out my friend Megan (whom we vacationed with) while her husband is away in Sneedville (remember that place?) on his rotation. Megan is about 7 1/2 months pregnant, so I'm helping her around the house & getting lots of good time in with sweet little Abby:


Pretty cute, huh?

So I've been there more time than I've been at home this week which has been good, but a little exhausting. I'll be helping Megan out as much as I can over these next 5 weeks, so you'll probably be hearing more about that!

In other news, I won a drawing for a free massage and free consultation with a local chiropractor - crazy, huh? I was really more excited about the free massage at first (which I had last night and went home drooling), but I'm actually thinking this chiropractor thing might actually be an answer to prayer. I get (very) frequent headaches & have for some time now but really had just settled in to dealing with it as I have not been able to find many answers from my doctor(s). I had kind of forgotten that it's not really normal to spend so much time in pain, and I was encouraged to hear the chiropractor (Dr. J) remind me of that. I go back Wednesday to get my X-rays & hear his plan to fix me, so I'll keep you updated on that. A little boring for most of you, but REALLY exciting for me to know there is potential for more headache-free days in my future!

That's all for now...I'll be back soon with more updates on my month + of blogging absence :)

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

So obviously I've been struggling a little bit lately in the realm of blogging! I have still been faithfully reading all of the blogs I regularly enjoy, wondering why people don't post more often, and trying to ignore the fact that I have a blog of my own. Not really ignore, persay, but certainly not writing! So in an attempt to get back into the swing of things, I am going to start things off with a short series of catch-up blogs. Or at least that's my goal at this moment...we'll see how things go!