It's all CRAP! Well, most of it really isn't, but still...

I'm starting to feel guilty for not posting lately. I wonder if this is common for all blog writers. I just don't have anything profound to say. The entire month of May was like a whirlwind of busyness and now it's June already. I feel like I've gotten nothing accomplished but oh, so much has changed. But due to unresolved circumstances in my life, you'll just have to be content with knowing that things are starting to look up.

So, two weekends ago I was in Baltimore for my cousin's wedding. My mom was actually a part of the wedding (stand in for mother of the groom) so we went down Friday afternoon to get settled in before the rehearsal. Now, I've stayed in a few hotels. I traveled frequently for work a couple years ago. But this hotel was amazing! Gorgeous. Smack dab in the middle of the Inner Harbor section of Baltimore. The wedding took place at Camden Yards (Orioles baseball field) since both the bride & groom are huge sports fans. In all honesty, I wasn't really looking forward to the whole thing. I'm not into sports. I could care less. I figured it's be boring & dumb. But, it was really cool. Rehearsal dinner was in the "Little Italy" section on the city and was super yummy.

Saturday morning we walked down to the Inner Harbor and did the Dragon paddle boats. Lots of leg work, but it was fun! And the weather was BEAUTIFUL! The wedding was great and the reception was a blast. Then I did something so out of my realm. I boarded a bus with people I didn't know (well I knew like 2 people) and thus officially began the "after party." Usually, I would have been in bed by that time, but YOLO, right?!! LOL!! Anyway, the party bus, complete with loud music, flashing lights and a pole right in the middle of the aisle, took us on a journey that seemed hours long. Our destination unknown. At least the ride was entertaining!! Finally, we arrived at this place, where I overheard someone say that we were close to DC, right across the river. We were actually in Alexandria, VA!! At a dueling Piano Bar!! Pretty stinkin cool if you have an appreciation for music as I do (I played piano and various other instruments for many, many years.) It was a good time and I'm glad I went (even though I was pretty exhausted by the time we got home!!) Enjoy some various shots of the weekend's festivities...

So then, last weekend, I had the privilege of spending a couple days with 52 other young ladies for the Sharptown annual Girl's Retreat in Ocean City NJ. This is the 3rd year I've participated in this, I believe, but this year was different. We (the youth leaders) were doing all of the lesson writing & presenting ourselves. We usually have a speaker for the weekend, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we decided to take this on ourselves. The workload was overwhelming. We spent hours on planning, discussing, meeting. And then even more hours reading and writing out our lessons. Minus a few procrastinators, aahem, Kelli, cough, we were pretty prepared. We felt good, excited. Went down Friday, set up, things were coming together. Our hard work was paying off. And that's so gratifying! To see it all come together so much more perfectly that we could have ever imagined. God has a way of slipping that into our lives. We just have to be aware enough to recognize and appreciate it. So, anyway, Friday night was great! It's finally bed time (possibly my favorite time of the day) and if you've ever been anywhere with a group of girls, you know there's gonna be noise pretty much all night. Chatting, giggling, music, doors opening & closing. You kinda block that stuff out after a while. So, in my peaceful slumber, I vaguely remember hearing some kind of beeping, alarm type noise. No big deal. Probably somebody's cell phone or some game they're playing. I'm guessing it went on for 20 min or so. Ah, I figured, it'll stop eventually, as I drifted back off to sleepy land. Then I hear the somewhat panicked voice of my dear friend Erika telling everyone they should probably get up and get out of the house. The fire alarm!! How could I sleep through that!! How could several of us lay in our beds while who knows what was going on downstairs?? Now, let me just back up a little here. This house is 4 stories. I'm on the 4th floor. I think somebody forgot about us cause half the floor was still sleeping!! It was 2am as we shuffled down endless stairs unitl we came to the 2nd floor, the main living space. The sound of water pouring was almost deafening. Was there really a fire? Fortunately, no. But water was POURING from the ceiling. We tried to put anything that would catch the water in the area, but it was no use. There was too much water. Somehow, I found out that a sink had been accidently knocked off the wall in a bedroom, so back up to the 3rd floor I went, to investigate. The girls in the room were smart enough to put a towel over the broken pipe, but it came off and water was spraying everywhere!! Poor girls!!! They were soaked!! Long story short, the owner of the house came and got the water turned off. The water to the whole house. So no potty-ing for us! It's always the second you know there's no bathroom available that you have to go the most. But I suppressed my urge and went back to bed. They ended up getting it all fixed up and by morning we were fine.

Saturday went pretty much as scheduled. Lessons, amazing taco lunch, free time on the boardwalk.

Sunday morning holds a special place inside me. A special place filled with dread, yet wonder. With overwhelming tiredness, yet amazement and maybe even a little excitement. Shhh!! Don't tell anyone I said that!!! We're up at 4:45am. We walk 5 or 6 blocks to the beach. We sing praises to our Creator. Quietly and sleepily and out of tune, but we sing. And then we see it. The beautiful, amazing, wonderful light. The sun. Peeking its way over the horizon. It happens so quickly! And it gets me every time. We aren't worthy of this. Of His greatness. Of His beauty. But, His GRACE is enough! We talked all weekend about Obsessions in our lives and how we can replace our desires for those "things" with God. And how He's ENOUGH. And at that moment, He is. We hear an amazing young girl share an amazing poem and head back to the house. Breakfast, packing and it's time for our final session of the weekend. We're tired. But Lorraine...Man, I don't even have words. I love Lorraine. She's amazing in so many ways! But what I love most about Lorraine is how she loves. How she loves me. How she loves these girls. I am so blessed to be a part of this woman's life. I am so honored to call this woman my friend. And as Lorraine spoke, through tears from her heart, young people's lives were changed. That's why we do this. Well, that and cause we have just as much fun (if not more) than the kids!! I think the most profound thing that she said was something along the lines of "It's all Crap!" And at that moment, she threw a suitcase full of "obsessions" on the floor. Speechless. Amen! but speechless. I have a feeling it hit a lot of people as hard as it hit the floor. What drives you? What motivates you? What are you living for? Is it all the CRAP the world tells us we should do and have and say and look like and be? It's not my place to tell anyone how to live their life. But I can live mine so that I'm a light for them when they're in a dark place. Not on my own though. I'm nothing on my own. All of Lorraine's words were from God. And I put my life in God's hands. Not my will, but yours. Ok, so maybe that was a little profound as well, but man oh man! Good stuff. 

I'll end with this. When we find ourselves overwhelmed with busyness and we're barely treading water, we can't just shut down. We need to give up. Yes, that's right. GIVE UP. Give up the control. Give up the desires. Give up the crap. Because that's exactly what it is. When we're walking where God wants us to walk, we'll see the things God wants us to see. 

**Special note: Lorraine, I love you. I know you're not a "spotlight" kinda gal, but you're an important part of this story. And to all the other leaders who did an amazing job this past weekend, Emily, Tanya Angie, Erika, Sarah, Georgia, Vicki, Bri, Sasha, Thank you. I love you girls and I know we were right where we needed to be.

**And another note: The "devil" evidently texts now, so watch out!