Beer with the Boys

Every year, the weekend before Thanksgiving, my dad goes up to my grandparents' house. He and my grandpa deer hunt throughout the weekend before my dad comes home again, works a few days, and we all go back to my grandparents' for the holiday.


When this tradition started, they were serious about getting deer. The year was a let down if they didn't get at least two nice-sized deer. I remember years when they were worried about exceeding the limit of two deer per man. Well, it's now been several years since they've gotten a deer.


In recent years, they'd get up at the crack of dawn, go hunting for a short bit, and spend the rest of the day sitting in a friend's kitchen solving the world's problems over some beer. The fellowship of the four of them turned into a bigger deal than the hunting itself. The hunting was a pretence to go sit in a tree in Herb and Arnie's yard, watch the sunrise, then sit in Herb's kitchen for the next several hours.


Well, it's now been a couple of years since Herb and Arnie were both living at home. My first day of college Arnie passed away. This past New Years' Eve, Herb passed away as well. Even though my dad and grandpa can still hunt on the land the used to be Herb and Arnie's, it was just too hard.


Dad and Grandpa went out and started the morning in a normal fashion, but it came to a quick end. Instead of continuing the hunt or returning home, they took a six pack of beer and went to the cemetery. This isn't the first time they've broken a few laws to have some beer with the boys.

<><>

Happy birthday

Today is a very special day. Amber turns 20. Jenny turns 20. Grandma turns 72. I don't have time right now to tell stories about them all, but I want them to feel loved. :-) Their stories will come (as will Melissa's... I haven't forgotten! [unlike Melissa and her password])

<>< Katie

Oh Boy

A few weeks ago I had a cold. I picked up a roll of toilet paper, used some as a tissue, and set the roll back down. It rolled off the shelf. I caught it, picked it up, and set it back on the shelf. It rolled off, and I little voice went off inside my head,
"Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results."
I turned the roll on it's end and it actually stayed on the shelf.

Now I'm officially insane. And according to the plethora of ADHD tests online, I am also ADHD. Life is good... I guess...

"Just because I can have ten conversations in two minutes does NOT mean I have ADHD!"

<>< Katie

"Please Sign My Bible"

I went to a concert a few nights ago. It was more of a sit and listen concert than a stand up and sing concert, which was a little strange for me. The artist was a well-known Christian artist who will remain nameless.

Afterwards, a small group of maybe 30 people gathered waiting for the artist to come out and sign posters, CDs, etc. We waited for at least 45 minutes, unsure if he would appear or not. Finally his manager pulled him out by his ear. Just kidding... a little.

He didn't have much time to give us because he was awaiting an important phone call, but he still took the time out of his busy schedule to sign our papers and take pictures. A group of younger students were in front of me and they were a little over zealous to meet this poor man. Each person had like 10 things for them to sign. They needed pictures of him signing everything as well as with them, group shots, everything. Perhaps they were oblivious to the fact that there were others waiting and he was on a tight schedule. Either way, I was starting to get annoyed.

The tip of the iceberg was when two girls (who'd already had their shirts, CDs, bracelets, etc. sign and taken several photos) asked him to sign their Bibles. He flipped it open and tried to find a certain verse, but his search ended in failure and he just signed the inside cover. That just doesn't sit right with me.

Perhaps it would have been better had he circled a verse and initialed it or something. Surely there has to be a compassionate way to say, "I refuse to sign your Bibles." Either way, now his signature is in the front cover of their Bibles.

The sad thing is now those girls probably won't use their Bibles. That'll be their Famous Artist Bible. Too good to be used because what if it falls apart? What if the signature is smudged? What if it's lost?

Thoughts? Would you sign a Bible?

<>< Katie

Did I Really Just Do That?

"Hey, Keith, are you going the dinner party tomorrow night?" I shouted down the dorm hallway to my friend at the other end. He mumbled something and beckoned me towards him.

The dinner party was an exclusive party and only certain people had been invited. I'd heard about it via word of mouth (from the hosts and others), so I didn't realize it was such a secret thing. Maybe it wasn't, but either way, I'd just done what I've sworn I'd never do.

I hate it when people are talking about parties in front of others who haven't been invited. Let is be a birthday party, dinner party, Guitar Hero party, anything. Whether it be they were intentionally uninvited or it just so happened that they hadn't heard about it. Either way, I strive to not mention events in front of others if I can help it.

Then I screamed down the hall to Keith about a party. There was only one person within my viewing area that hadn't been invited (and not because she wasn't invited but because it's a Spanish party and she doesn't speak Spanish), but I don't know how many heard me. I probably wouldn't have thought anything about it except that Keith had the decency to call me out on what I did. He compassionately let me know that it was in invitation-only event, so I should probably keep it quiet.

Even though it made me feel awful, I'm glad he let me know that what I did was wrong. We all need friends like that. To let us know we're wrong, even when it hurts. Even if we didn't mean to be wrong. Even if we don't like to hear that we're wrong.

<>< Katie

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction." 2 Timothy 4:2

Can't I Just...

My friend Danny updated his blog the other day with a post about how it's much easier to minister to people from the other side of the radio, podium, or cyberworld, than it is to sit down with people in person. I'd have to agree.

God has this tendency to make us a bit uncomfortable.

This year I became a small group leader for a wonderful group of girls. God literally shoved me out of my comfort zone and forced me to put down the pen and use my voice instead. Now, I have no problem talking. I love it, actually. But there are so many reasons I didn't want to talk in front of people: what if I tell them something that's not of God, what if I talk too fast (quite possible since apparently I'm "Telemundo in English"), what if I sound stupid, what if they don't understand what I'm trying to say. What if I make a fool of myself?

Well, I have made a fool of myself. (Although I'm not the one that thought she was really smart when she realized you had to be a Jew to be Jewish). :-D It happens. Just goes to show I'm human. But guess, what: God still loves me no matter how silly I sound (or look).

Like I've told my small group girls: I'd much rather write about God and how amazing He is because that's easy. He doesn't want me to only thank because it's easy. He's thrown my way out of my comfort zone, but He hasn't left me there.

Do we see a trend? How many times now have a blogged about God pushing me out of my comfort zone but not leaving me there? You'd think I'd have learned by now...

<>< Katie

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love that is in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

So many thoughts, so little time

I'm sorry, I've been a bad blogger! My fellow college students know that midterms and following is the craziest time in a semester because professors try to cram everything in before the semester's out. However, that is no excuse.

Even with all our work and needs to be done, we still need to give time to God. He is more important than anything we're studying in class. Twenty years from now, Snowden's secret in Catch-22 isn't going to matter. God will still matter. Let's give this time to Him!

With that said, I have about four blogs that are in the process of being written (both mentally composed and on here as drafts). Hopefully those completely blogs will come to fruition with in the next couple of days.

God loves you! He thinks you're beautiful!

<>< Katie

"Behold, you are beautiful, My love, you are beautiful." Song of Solomon 4:1a