quote

Many people mistake our work for our vocation.

Our vocation is the love of Jesus.

---Mother Teresa

Christmas tree

It's that time of year again....tree time. Let me just tell you that Christmas tree buying/decorating is quite a dilemma in the Lauer household. I like tall trees, dad likes fat trees, and mom likes shapely well trimmed trees. I like white lights and dad likes colored lights. Mom doesn't like holes and bad spots in the tree. Dad always looks at the trunk to make sure that it will easily go in the stand. Etc etc etc. We could all go to the tree lot together and each find a completely different "perfect" tree.

This year was no exception. The tree was picked out, complained about, and put up! :) Regardless of the complications surrounding getting the tree I LOVE the whole experience. I love that we disagree and are all so different in our tree taste. I love the familiarity and tradition of it all. We each get to pick out an ornament every year to hang on the tree. We always have peanut butter fudge and listen to Christmas music while we decorate the tree. We are creatures of habit for sure! :) My sister and I used to take turns on who got to put the angel on the top of the tree....then I grew too big for dad to lift so that ended! ;)

I hope each of you have holiday traditions that you are enjoying with your families. I just LOVE this time of years.

Happy Sunday

“Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.”

---1 Chronicles 16:8

25 for 25 Number 6

Today I not only got to accomplish something off of my 25 for 25 list but also off of my life goals list. As far back as I can remember I've wanted to go to an Ohio State vs. Michigan game. I've been lucky enough to attend 5 other Buckeye games throughout the years but I've never been to the coveted Michigan game. Well today I was one of 102,329 people sitting in the horseshoe (Ohio States stadium) watching as Ohio state ANNIHILATED Michigan! I can't even express to all of you the excitement I felt as I looked out at a sea of red in the stands or as I watched our guys take the field. It was certainly a dream come true. To make the day even better I got to enjoy it with one of my best friends Colby. She shares my love for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the same excitement I felt showed on her face as well. It was a surreal moment that I will cherish forever. The final score was 37 - 7 making the 6th year in a row that we've beat them! :)

quote

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just

as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.

The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

----Pierre de Coubertin,Olympic Creed

Inspired by Bishop Ethelbert Talbot, speech, Olympic Games 1908

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! In the midst of football, over-indulging in food, the Macy's day parade, and other thanksgiving traditions I implore you to take time to really sit back and think through the things that you are thankful for.

I spent today at my Aunt Cindy's house surrounded by my amazing family. We had close to 70 people gathered together for the day. Coming from such a large family it makes me sad to think of other families who celebrate at Cracker Barrel or who don't even celebrate at all. For my family the holidays have always meant family....large, loud, and fun family get-togethers.

Maybe its the fact that I'm getting older or possibly its the fact that for the past 6 years I've been living away from home and have missed several holidays. Whatever the reason this year I spent a lot of time in contemplation. I remembered many past holidays and special events. I kept coming back to one main thought "how incredibly blessed I am." Not only do I have an amazing family but we have always had plenty to eat. (and let me tell you our family can cook!) Our blessing are infinite.

So this Thanksgiving Holiday I'm thankful for my family, friends, and just the numerous blessing God has blessed me with.

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you. I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine.

Aching Heart

It's amazing how much my heart still misses Honduras. Sometimes in my quiet times with God I ask Him if/when my heart strings will be tugged on less by that country. It isn't that I don't want to be invested there.....it's just that my heart literally aches with longing to be back there. I've come to the conclusion that the answer is never. I've been home for 18 months now and the longing is still there as strong as ever. I'm resigning to the fact that my heart will always be connected to Honduras and those precious people that I fell in love with. There are days when I wake up with Honduras on the forefront of my mind. There are days when something I see triggers a longing for Honduras that is so strong it takes my breath away. There are days that just thinking of Katty brings me to tears because of how badly my heart misses her. The emotions I feel about Honduras are stronger and more real than any emotion I've ever felt before. So today as I sit thinking of all I'm thankful for I add these sweet faces (and several others) to my list. I miss them with a strength I didn't even know existed. I'm blessed to have gotten to be a part of their lives even for a moment.

quote

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

---Mother Teresa

What Do I Know of Holy

A friend of mine introduced me to Addison Road's music a few years ago and I fell in love. Yet some how during the past year she has gotten lost in the mess of music on my ipod. Well I rediscovered her this past week and it is ALL I've listened to since. If you've never listened to her please click the play button above and listen to her song "What Do I Know of Holy." It is my favorite song of her and has really been ministering to this heart lately. As you all know ...I'm a talker. I've never met a stranger. Unfortunately that talkative self is present in my relationship with Christ. I often wonder why God isn't answering my prayers and why He isn't showing up. Then it hits me....I wasn't quite long enough to listen. He was speaking....I just wasn't paying attention. Yet God in His grace, patience, and love was content to wait me out. The God who spoke me into existence loves me enough to wait until my ramblings are done so that I can hear from Him.....crazy!

So yes PLEASE take the time to listen to the words of this song and let it minister to you as well.

Home

I will apologize in advance for any delay in blogging that occurs this week. As you read this I'm eating a phenomenal home cooked meal with my family, watching football with my papa, playing with my nephew, loving on my sweet momma, or playing some kind of game with my sister and brother who never turn my game crazed self down when I want to play.

I'm home in Ohio for the week and it feels great. My whole body relaxes the second I walk through the door of this place I've called home for the past 25 years. My heart finds a peace here that can be found no where else.

I promise I'll blog as I can and I'll put up pictures and stories of my time at home for your enjoyment later.

In the mean time I challenge each of you to soak in the family time, food, football, and fun of the Thanksgiving week. I fully intend to eat so much this week that I'll have to wear sweat pants because my jeans won't button! :)

Harry Potter

If I said I LOVE Harry Potter would it make me sound young, dorky, and just flat out dumb? What if I tell you I fell in love with the Harry Potter series when I was handed the fist book back when I was 13 years old? Does that make it any better? Either way I don't care. The damage has been done. In my world J.K. Rowling is a phenomenal writer and deserves 100 awards for the work she has done in creating this make believe wizarding world. It is no secret that I LOVE to read and at 13 her books rocked my world. At that point I'd never read a book with such depth, imagery, imagination, and length.

I own all the books and have been at the theaters opening night (at 12:01 a.m.) for 4 of the 7 movies that have been released at this point. The most recent movie (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1) came out yesterday and I was there for the 12:01 showing. Addy flexed her good friend muscles and went with me. She enjoys the series but probably wouldn't choose to see it opening night on her own. Yet there we were an hour before the movie started getting popcorn and picking our seats in eager anticipation of the movie. Let me just say it was phenomenal! The movie had me crying, laughing (a lot!), and jumping in my seat. And like any good 2 part movie it left me with a burning anticipation for part two! How will I ever wait until June???

SO I'm encouraging each of you to read the books or at the very least watch the movies. :)

Friendship

Most people get professional photos taken for things like their wedding,

engagement, pregnancy, children, graduation, etc. Well we chose to get

pictures taken just because. While everyone else was getting pictures in celebration and in memory of a huge event we chose to get pictures taken simply to celebrate

our friendship. I can't speak for the other girls but these photos are a representation and reminder of how thankful I am to be in the place and phase of life I'm in. I'm thankful for this time with my two best friends.

You might think its corny but who asked you. :) I happen to love it. Well I hated it actually. Hated getting up at 5:00 a.m. to get ready. Hated spending close to 3 hours at the beach on a FREEZING cold morning at sunrise. Hated that my smile felt frozen in place at times and I literally couldn't feel my fingers. However, the pictures turned out WAY better than I thought they would. I can honestly say in our 10 ish years of being best friends we have NEVER gotten a good picture of the three of us. I have good pictures with Colby and I have good pictures with Addy but we've never had even one frame worthy photo of all three of us.

So 2 weeks ago our friend from church Terresa Shaw came out to bare the elements with us and managed to work her magic on us. You guys should all really check out her site terresashawphotography.com.

I'm adding a few of the photos taken that day. I hope you enjoy.

"In the sweetness of friendship let there be

laughter and the sharing of pleasures"

-kahil gibran

quote

'It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who

have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line

behind people who apparently view it as some

kind of recreational activity."

--- Dave Berry

I stumbled across this quote today and literally laughed out loud at its truthfulness! After a sleepless night last night with 3 screaming 2 year olds I couldn't agree more!

So I sit here in the tranquilness that is nap time sipping on a wonderful iced coffee from Starbucks and being so very thankful for the person who discovered that you could take coffee beans and make them into this life support beverage called coffee. I don't understand or trust people who say such outlandish statements such as "I don't drink coffee." How, please do share, do you make it through a day without coffee? I am apparently just not one of those naturally caffeinated people.

Oh and in case you were wondering starting today (November 18) to November 21st from

2:00-5:00 Starbucks is offering a buy one get one free on their holiday drinks. Can I just say... yes please? One of the perks of my job is that the lady I work for constantly bankrolls and shares in

my Starbucks addiction. We will be getting not one but two SB beverages a piece today

with no shame what-so-ever!

Still so much to learn

I really enjoy the well-known pastor Chuck Smith and when I can find time I like to tune in to some of his sermons. Lately I've felt like that free time to listen is few and far between but I managed to sneak in time last week and as usual his message kicked my butt. During his message he shared a story that really hit home.

"When he was seven months in the womb, his little sister had, by all accounts, died. One day, after battling spinal meningitis for some time, the virus sent her little body into violent convulsions and when they ceased, she was no longer breathing. Somehow, her mother knew she was beyond medical care at that point since the doctors had done as much as possible for her. So she whisked her daughter's limp body up the street to a church. Chuck Smith implied their family was, at the time, unfamiliar with church and said of his mother, "But she knew they knew how to pray". His pregnant mother, bearing three lives at that moment, entered pleading, sobbing, crumbling. Please help my baby! Please help my baby! The pastor said to her, "Young lady. Take your eyes off your child and put them onto Jesus."

WOW! Think about that for a second....your baby is laying in your arms not breathing, would you take your eyes off him or her for even a split second? What an unthinkable request..... And yet sit is exactly what we should be doing on a daily basis. At every pressure point. Every sickness, injustice, accomplishment, argument. We need to turn our eyes to Jesus and keep our focus there.

I realize I don't have children but I have SOO many other distractions in my life that keep pulling my eyes from Christ. Family, friends, work, even Honduras. I can spend hours dwelling My consuming love and dedication to those things has a way of blinding me and keeping me from seeing God's story. Far too often i forget that my job in life isn't perfection.....yet I live like it is which means I believe it. I live like inching towards balance and harmony is our end, and I struggle to defeat this belief all the time. I am not called to solve all the worlds problems and heal all its hurts. I am not called to pursue perfection. I am called to follow. When I follow the Lord's leading, tuning into His plans for my day - every day - then I will end up solving some problems and healing some hurts, of course. But He is in charge, and knows there is a lot more going on under the surface layer I'm trying to manage. Ultimately I am a character in the story He's writing, not the other way around. My lack of perfection should keep me following closely behind the one who has no lack. But does it?

That's where the fork in the road lies: Do my failures urge me to ramp up and just try harder, or do they bring me down to humbly accept my place of dependence on the Lord? I am not wallowing in guilt. I'm saying I can't do this alone. I exhaust myself when I walk down the road of just trying harder. At this moment, I'm backtracking to the fork, and taking the other route. It most definitely has a happier, healthier destination for myself. I need to take my eyes off the distractions of this world and put them on Jesus. He is the only one who can bring me peace and wisdom in every circumstance.

So Chuck Smith's sister lived. God chose to answer their prayers with a "Yes," bringing breath back into her lungs and opening her eyes. What an exciting chapter of their stories, all revolving around a mother at her end. A mother who was helpless, and chose to depend on the Lord's strength.

I have to ask myself, How can I expect God to be at work in my life when I often live as if He needs my help? It is always when we come to the end of ourselves that everything gets still, space is created, and the Lord has room to act. He normally won't barge in. It's like He says, "Looks like you've got everything under control. I'll just sit back and be here, just in case you really don't. (And you REALLY don't)."

He will wait, patiently wait, for me to remember I can't do it alone. When I start in with the end-of-myself Please help... prayers, he lifts my head. He looks me in the eyes, smiles, and says, "Daughter, I thought you'd never ask."

Thunderbolt

For those of you who have watched the Godfather there is a part in the middle where the son is sent to another country to seek refuge and protection after he commits a double murder in the middle of a restaurant. While in this other country he encounters a young lady and from the first moment he sees her he is in love. Some of the locals refer to this sudden infatuation as "thunder-bolting." The girl made eye contact and it was like thunder struck and the man was helpless to do anything but follow after her like a love sick puppy.

I'm sure you are sitting there wondering where in the heck I'm going with this....well my roommate Addy IS that girl in the movie. Her abilities to "thunder bolt" guys never ceases to amaze me. She doesn't even have to try. I'm not kidding you when I say I've watched as she barely says two words to a guy and he has fallen hard. She turns "tough guys" into mush and has them calling her pet names in no time at all. While we were in NYC 3 different guys, complete strangers walking by, noticed her and found themselves unable to just let her walk away. It really is quite remarkable.

Now I have several theories of how she does this and I like to give her crap about it. However, I have no trouble figuring out why they fall for her. She is gorgeous both inside and out. She is one of those people who just glows with joy. She has the most amazing and infectious laugh. She is kind and caring. She has the best facial expressions of anyone I know. She is just one of those people who you can't help but gravitate towards and want to get to know better. So every time she "thunder bolts" guys I just use it as a reminder of how lucky I am that she chose me to be her best friend.

How could you not love this girl? :)

Number 3: Ice Skate Outside

Number 3 on my list of things to do this year is Ice Skating outside. This past weekend I not only went ice skating.... I went ice skating at Rockefeller Center! I've only ever been ice skating once in my life and it was in an indoor rink during an open skate time. I HATED it. My feet and ankles hurt so badly I quit and haven't ice skated since. However, I love the holiday season and there is just something about ice skating outside that seems so holiday-ish so I figured what the heck lets try it again.....and where better to ice skate outside than the infamous Rockefeller center.

I didn't love it. My feet still felt like they were on fire. However, I didn't fall down or knock anyone else down so I'd say all in all the experience was a success! :)

I have the worlds best best-friends. :)

Number 14: NYC

As most of you know I made a 25 for 25 list. It is a list of 25 things I want to do during my 25th year. Well this past weekend I accomplished the first thing on my list....number 14: go to NYC in the fall.

Colby, Addy, and I took a (fairly sketchy) bus overnight to NYC on Thursday. We arrived in NYC around 7 a.m. Friday morning. My friend Jessica lives right in the middle of Manhattan and she graciously allowed us to stay with her for the weekend. She not only offered her apartment but she also wowed us with her amazing tour guide skills for the weekend! :)

As soon as the bus arrived in the city we very awkwardly got a cab to Jessica's. Colby and Addy had never been to NYC and I had only been there once so our cab hailing skills were minimal. When we finally made it to Jessica's we dropped our bags and headed out into the city.

We spent the whole weekend exploring NYC. We ate at Carnegie Deli, saw the 30 Rock building, went to the Today show, walked around Central Park, shopped all around town, and so much more. We had a blast!

View from the top of the Rock building
THE Macys :)
Time Square
My friend Jessica and I

Last minute decisions....

Last minute decisions are always the best decisions. On Thursday at roughly noon Colby called me to see if I wanted to go to NYC. We had talked about it off and on the week before but nothing had been decided and we hadn't really talked any more about it for a couple days so I figured we weren't going. However, that simple phone call prompted us to move forward with the planning process. By 3:00 that afternoon we had booked tickets on a bus that would take us from Virginia Beach to NYC......that bus was set to leave that very night. We had exactly 8 hours to get off work, throw some stuff in a bag, get money and snacks in order, and get on the bus!

There are many many many reasons why Addy, Colby, and I are best friends. One of those reasons happens to be our frequency in living in a very last minute world. :) I will post more pictures and stories from our adventures in NYC.

quote

"Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself.

Only in heaven will we see how much we owe

to the poor for helping us to love God

better because of them."

---Mother Teresa

scripture

Your unfailing love is better to me than life

itself; how I praise you!

I will honor you as long as I live, lifting up

my hands to you in prayer.

----Psalm 63:3-4

sick kids

3 days a week I nanny for triplets. (Mason, Ridge, and Jocelyn) I've worked for them for almost a year now. Gosh how time flies! Since their dad left 3 weeks ago I arrive at their house Tuesday morning at 8 and I stay here until 9 p.m. Thursday evening.

Last week when I arrived their mom (Jess) informed me that the boys had been sick all weekend. Before the day was over it was clear that Mason was just getting worse and a combination of no eating, vomiting, low blood sugar (he is a diabetic), etc. landed him in the hospital. I stayed with the other two kiddos while Jess stayed in the hospital with Mason for 2 days.

Yesterday when I got here all seemed fine but by the end of the day it was Ridge who was vomiting and not feeling so well. I'll spare you the details but lets just say I have a new definition of the word PROJECTILE! Ridge had not one, not two, but THREE baths today and we had to change his clothes 5 times! To make matters worse at one point when he puked Joceyln came running through right after and slipped in it.....she used her body to clean up the bulk of the mess. yuck!

I spent the entire day sanitizing toys, blankets, books, clothes and anything else they might have touched. I went through half a bottle of lysol and lots of soap. We did 7 loads of laundry and gave 6 baths to 3 children.

The whole day my thoughts went between...."This is mom stuff and I am NOT a mom!" to "Please Lord don't let me get sick too" to "Children are really gross."

Don't get me wrong I love these kiddos and hate seeing them sick. I'm super glad I was here to help....I just wish they hadn't gotten sick in the first place so I wouldn't have had to deal with the vomit!

Cheesy Artichoke Dip

Cheesy Artichoke Dip

1 Can Artichoke Hearts Chopped

1 Cup Mayo

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese

1 Cup Mozzerella Cheese

8 oz. Cream Cheese

Combine & Put in a 9 X 9 Dish

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes and serve with chips/crackers of your choice

Holiday

It's holiday season time again and I couldn't be happier. I LOVE the cooler weather. I love going into stores and seeing their decorations or hearing holiday music. I love holiday beverages. etc. etc. I just LOVE this time of year.

As a matter of fact I'm sitting in starbucks right now with a pumpkin spice latte in hand and Christmas music streaming through my headphones. It is bliss......

It really is a magical time of year. For whatever reason this time of year not only makes me happy but also just makes me very reflective and appreciative of all the blessings of life. :)

So today, I say Happy Holidays to you and challenge you think of all the things you are thankful for this holiday season.

Scripture

Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may

become blameless and pure children of God.

---Phil. 2:14-15

quote

Prayer is a confession of one's own unworthiness and weakness.

---Mahatma Gandhi

Noise

I believe whole-heartedly that as Americans we lead noisy lives.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I've learned to live through the noise.

Screaming babies - I can tune them out.

Car horns/alarms, jet noise, traffic - I can sleep right through it

Music, people talking, etc. - I can read or work through it as if it isn't happening

I have a freakish need for quiet. Granted if you know me you know I don't operate out of that desire. Instead I fill my life with all kinds of noise: work, facebook, serving others, e*mails, screaming babies, television, sports, music, even the blogging world. I have a very noisy life. Every moment new noise comes our way. My brain functions just fine in the midst of

noise but the rest of me is SCREAMING for quiet.

I've been thinking and yes even meditating on noise a lot lately. How much it drains, distracts, and flat out drives me crazy. Yet I can't seem to stop myself from not only allowing it but creating it in my own life. Can we say character flaw?

I don't want to fill my life with superfluous noise. I don't want to spend my days so focused on the noises of this

world that I miss out on the noises that God is trying to whisper to me.

I stand behind the fact that other countries and other people groups just aren't nearly as noisy. Life in Honduras was hectic and crazy. It came with its fair share of noisy (I mean I did live in a house with 16 children!) but some how it was a different kind of noisy. I was able to meet with God in a way that I have to fight to find here in the states. Why is that?

Some of my favorite peaceful and non-noisy noises would have to be

crashing waves

rain on a tin roof

deep belly laughs

crickets

crackling of a fire

wind chimes

So today I am chewing on that and working to clear out some of the noise from my life.

I'm demanding more quietness. Shouldn't we all be working towards a much quieter life?

Halloween

This Halloween was a Halloween of firsts for me! As I mentioned, I went to a costume party for the first time this past weekend. Sunday brought another first....I got to hand out candy to actual trick-or-treaters who came to the door of our home. I was like a little kid on Christmas. It really is the little things in life that bring me joy! :) Every time a costume clad kid would make the climb up our front steps I could barely contain my excitement. I commented on each costume, smiled at every sweet little "trick-or-treat" voice, wished each and every child a happy halloween, and made small talk with all the waiting parents. When it comes to handing out candy I pretty much aced my performance! :)

I'm sure most of you think I'm crazy for getting this excited about handing out candy. However, let me remind you I live out in the country so we never had kids coming to our house for trick-or-treat. And again I say....it really is the little things in life.....:)

I realize these are the children I live with. I assure you I handed out candy to other kiddos....my camera just died before I got more pictures. Not to mention some of the parents might have been alarmed if a 25 year old girl was taking pictures of their children! :)

Red Cups are Back!

It IS official....the holiday season is among us! As of yesterday the infamous red cups have returned! This is the 10th annual anniversary for these cups and with it comes the return of gingerbread lattes and the holiday season!!!! Gosh how I love it. Remember it is the little things in life! :) Is my obsession with starbucks a bit ridiculous....I think not. :)

Books

For as far back as I can remember I've loved books. Even before I was able to read them myself I remember curling up next to my mom on the couch as she read book after book to me. I remember her stopping at certain words and helping me to sound them out. I remember her telling me that a good and fluid reader looks head to the words that are coming. I remember watching her read books and I remember her encouraging us to read. She not only encouraged it but she fed our (my sisters and mine) addiction by buying hundreds of books for us.

I'm not sure what sold it for me but I grew up LOVING books and having a passion for reading. As a kid I would get in trouble for pretending to go to sleep, but then sneakily reading with a flashlight under the covers. My parents would always come back in and tell me I was going to ruin my eye sight that way! Or I can remember sitting at the dinner table with a book on my lap trying to peek down at the book because I just couldn't bare to put it down.

I'm still that way today. My love for reading has only grown over the years. When I start reading a good book I can stay up all night trying to finish it because I can't bear waiting until morning to find out what happens!

I recently heard of a book about a mother whose son (Samuel) passed away when he was just 6 weeks old from a rare birth defect. Since that time this mother has started the Joyful Life Library at Cardon Children's Medical Center. Cardons is a non-profit children's hospital that houses 248 pediatric beds in Mesa, AZ. The program was started almost exactly a year ago and its goal is that they will always have a stock of books for parents to read their kids. You can read the full story of Samuel's short life and this ministry at

http://www.blessedlittlenest.com/2010/02/beginning.html

I encourage you to run to the bookstore or grab your kids and scan their shelves for gently used books that you can donate to this amazing organization. Hardback, softcover, board books, and bilingual books from birth to 18 are welcome.

You can send them directly to the hospital at the below address or simply send a book to your local children's hospital. You never know how much a book can impact a kids life. Especially when that kid is stuck in a room and their only escape from the hospital reality is through the stories they read.

Cardon Children's Medical Center

Attention: Erin Sinnema,

Certified Child Life Specialist, PICU

1400 S. Dobson Ave

Mesa, AZ 85202

Philippians 1:3-6

³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

---Philippians 1:3-6

This passage has really been on my heart lately. I've always loved the beginning of the passage but lately the ending has really been hitting home. I'm a hot mess most days. I usually don't know what I'm doing or what the future holds. I stumble, fall, and just flat out sit with my head in my hands some days on my walk with God. Yet this passage reminds me that even through all of that God isn't finished with me just yet. He WILL carry me through and continue to work through me.