You are so Beautiful to Me

Once a month, my company provides it's employees with these beauties!!!



Aren't they pretty? Happy Friday, y'all, and have a great weekend!

Thirteen Things That Inspire Me

Last week, some of my fellow bloggers did a post called the "Thursday Thirteen" in which you can write about thirteen anythings. So today, I'm writing about thirteen things that inspire me.




1.) The Bible - It is the very word of God. His words speak truth into my life, and that inspires me to live a life that is pleasing to Him, (and hopefully one that brings Him glory).

2.) My Mom - She inspires me in more ways than I have room to write about here. Last night, I was telling some friends that I hope that when I am a parent I will be able to find the balance that my mom seemed to find so effortlessly when raising us--the balance between giving my kids freedom and boundaries. Somehow, Mom did this beautifully. Her boundaries made me feel safe, not stifled. And the freedom she gave me helped to give me wings! Thanks, Mom! I love you!

3.) My Dad - He is such a trooper. He has been fighting a years-long battle with cancer. He called me on Monday to say that a CT scan has revealed 12-15 tumors in his body. (See yesterday's post.) He faces the battles straight-on and fights so hard every time he gets more bad news. This is the most serious news he has heard. When he told me about how he will face this, he said that he will be getting out his Bible to read "my Job". I listened in quiet amazement as he said that. He relates to the suffering of Job because of his own physical suffering so much that he calls the book "my Job". Wow. I love you, Dad!

4.) Elle Woods - She inspires me to be my own person.

5.) Broadway shows - Especially the musicals. They lift my spirits and inspire me to follow my acting dreams.

6.) pain - I'm not saying I like it, but I will say it inspires my creativity. Some of the best songs I've written were inspired by painful moments or seasons.

7.) My friend Deb - I haven't seen her for years, but the year when we were both living in the same city was such a blessing. Deb had a special relationship with God. Spending time with her was like spending time with Jesus. His character so filled her!

8.) The Olympics - I am inspired by people who give so much of their lives to excellence at one particular thing. Seeing the glory of victory and the agony of defeat pulls on my heartstrings.

9.) Authenticity - One example of an authentic person is Shaun Groves. He is a Christian singer who is so authentic. He's not out there trying to put on a happy face. He is real. And he keeps it real on his blog.

10.) My Blog Buddies - (Hi, y'all!) They are my fellow bloggers who I read daily and who come to my blog. You are such an encouragement to me, and it is great to blog our journeys together. Maybe for next week's Thursday Thirteen, I'll do thirteen blogs I like to read!

11.) Princess Leia, apparently. She inspired today's hairstyle. Don't you like the lovely lighting of my office ladies room? It gives me that "dewy" look.

12.) The Sound of Music - 'nuff said!

13.) Carol Burnett - She is a comic genious. Her career has had such longevity. I would love to model my career after hers. She's done Broadway, film, and television. And she's just so enjoyable to watch!!!

Sad

On Monday, my Dad called me and told me that he had something to tell me that was of a serious nature. I knew right away that it had to do with his health. His battle with cancer has been a years-long fight. I can remember him having malignant melanomas (skin cancer) at least 20 years ago. Eight years ago, it had metasticised to his lymph nodes. He had surgery to remove the affected nodes and underwent a year of chemotherapy treatments that were grueling, to say the least. After that, he had great check-ups for years. Then last year, they found a tumor on his rib cage, which was removed, along with two ribs, followed by radiation therapy. A week or two ago, Dad felt something suspicious and went in to see his doctor. A CT scan revealed that he has 12-15 tumors in his torso region. Metastatic melanomas. Ugh.

Dad told me plainly that there is a treatment option which he is considering, but that it is quite possible that he is coming to the end of his life. He's only 65. I'm not ready to lose my Dad.

At the end of our conversation, I told him that I love him. He said, "I know you do, Tracy. I don't want you to ever worry that I don't know that." And he told me he loves me, too. I know that we both already knew that we love each other (because we tell each other everytime we talk!). But still, it's comforting to have good, straight-forward communication about that stuff sometimes.

Please pray for healing, peace, and strength for my Dad as he walks this difficult path.

Stop the Madness!!!

Gas prices are rising all around the country, but I imagine that California is leading the charge. I'm sad to say that this happened to me yesterday:



I wish there was something that we could do to make the price of gas reasonable once again. As consumers, we are kind of at the mercy of the gas companies because we need gas to live our lives, and for many of us, public transportation isn't even an option.

I got the following e-mail from a friend with a suggestion. Do you think it could work? Any other suggestions?

Join the resistance! I hear we are going to hit close to $ 4.00 a gallon by this coming summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action.

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May!

The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is Super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace not sellers.

With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. HOW?

Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY PRODUCTS especially GASOLINE from the two biggest companies(which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. Their Brands include
the following:

ExxonMobil
Exxon
Mobil
Esso
Mobil Delvac
SpeedPass
Mobil1
On The Run

If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out on me at this point...

Keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people! I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) . And those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)... And so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all!

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days! I'll bet you didn't
think you and I had that much potential, did you!

Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 Range and keep it there.

THIS CAN WORK!!

I'm not a fan of mass e-mailing, but I would consider breaking my rule just this once if I thought I could do something to stop the madness at the pump! I'm interested in your feedback.

Blissful Day of Rest

Yesterday, I felt like I got a true Sabbath. I woke up around 7:30am and started thinking about all the things that I needed to do, but the one thing I wanted to do more than any other was stay right where I was, all snug in my bed. My next thought was “But you need to…”, which was quickly interrupted by the next one, which was, “This is your day of rest. Just rest.” So I did. I went back to sleep and didn’t feel even a twinge of guilt for continuing my slumber until 10:30.

Then I talked on the phone to my neighbor who invited me to come over for a nutritious breakfast of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I had four. We sat around eating our cookies and talking about life until it was after noon. It was at that point that my neighbor said something that men everywhere will never understand—“I feel like having a good cry. Let’s rent The Notebook.” Women everywhere know that if you need a good cry, The Notebook is just what the doctor ordered. We sat on the couch stuffing popcorn into our mouths as tears streamed down our cheeks. Good soul-cleansing stuff.

By the time the movie was over, it was 3:45 pm. Since we realized that we had effectively done, well, not much of anything all day, we decided to go for a power walk. Then we went to church. I love that my church has an evening service. Evening church services are God’s way of telling people who don’t do mornings, “I understand”. Lord, we night owls thank You!

Inside Out

Being in a new relationship has had me thinking a lot lately about "baggage"--the icky things from the past that we can keep buried away most of the time. I've been pondering and praying about what to reveal and when. It's a most unpleasant topic for introspection, but a necessary one, I suppose.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we could see each other's baggage on the outside? We all carry this stuff around inwardly everyday, covered by squeeky-clean external verneers. Maybe that is the greatest gift of all. That the baggage is, at the very least, contained. But imagine if it weren't. I wonder if we would all have a lot more compassion to offer the hurting world around us.

Just a thought.

Call Me By a Little Pet Name

One of my long range dreams/goals is to write songs for a musical about relationships. Today, I thought I’d share the lyrics to one of the first songs I wrote. My goal was to write a song with as many terms of endearment as possible all rolled up into one song. The title of this post is also the title of the song:

I don’t know when or where or why or how he’ll find me.
To be honest, I don’t really give a hoot.
For the way my darling comes, well, that don’t mind me.
Don’t need violins or trumpets or a lute.
See, I’ve never been picky or tricky.
I’m a pretty agreeable dame.
All I ask of my handsome prince charming,
Is please, darling, please,
Call me by a little pet name.

I’ll be your cutie-pie, your huggy-bear,
Your baby, or your sweetie.
And if you like cartoons, I’ll be your Betty Boop,
Your Batgirl, or your Tweety.

If your day’s been long and hard,
Your belly’s empty and you’re hungry,
I’ve got just the recipe.
‘Cause I could be your little lollypop,
Your cream puff, or your pumpkin,
Or your loving honey bee.
And if you still want more,
I’ll create a smorgasbord of your favorite tasty delights.
And I could be your cocoanilla-sugar-cinammon-twist
Until we turn out the lights.

I’ll be your doodle bug, your tigress,
Or your puppy, or your kitten.
And if it’s cold outside, I’ll keep you warm at night,
And you could call me “mitten”.

If you happen to be foreign and you want to stay a lifetime,
And you need a card that’s green.
Well, I could be your Tuscan Bella or your Russian Ballerina,
Or your Spanish Valentin…a.

I’ll be your sunshine in the summer,
And your snowflake in the winter,
And your buttercup in the spring.
And in the autumn when the leaves,
Are falling from the trees,
You and I will fall…
Fall in love!

Reasons (Not in any Particular Order) That I Think My eSuitor is the Greatest Thing on Two Legs

I haven't mentioned my eSuitor lately, so I thought I'd give you an update. I'm trying to keep my emotions in check and not go too crazy talking about why I think he's the bomb. But it's hard to keep quiet when someone makes me feel so special. Here are some things I really like about him:

• He lets me be me. I feel the freedom to be my goofy self in front of him, and he finds me "adorable" anyway. Gotta love that!
  
• He doesn't get his knickers in a twist when things go wrong. On Saturday, he came to pick me up to spend the day together. Clearly, my head is in the clouds when I'm around him because I pulled two major no-brainers in one day. When we were leaving the Huntington Library and Gardens, I realized that I didn't have my purse with me. Where did I leave it? I wasn't totally sure. He calmly says, "Let's go back in and check with lost and found." While he checked there, I ran into the ladies room frantically checking in every stall to see if I left it hanging on the back of a door. No luck. I walk out to find him standing there smiling with my purse in his hands (thank the Lord!). Later that day, I realized that I had locked my keys in my apartment. I got kind of panicky because (sad to say) this kind of thing has happened to me before, and the parties who were with me were not so kind (i.e. "How could you forget something like that?") But not my eSuitor. His response: "What's the big deal? They're just keys. We'll figure it out." So sweet. I got in that evening, no problem.
  
• He came to pick me up for church on Easter with a bouquet of my favorite flowers. Aren't they pretty?
  
• When we are walking on a sidewalk, he always walks between me and the cars. (It's a southern gentleman thing.)
  
• He opens doors for me.
  
• He gels his hair. I don't know what it is, but a little dippity-doo goes a long way with me.
  
• Great guns! The man's got biceps!
  
• He shares his heart with me. Just whatever is going on. I love his authenticity.

Feel free to make barfing noises now if you want. I won't be able to hear you over the sound of butterflies fluttering in my stomach. :)

Six Weird Things About Me

Alright, I've got to get in on this fun, too! There is a MEME going around that several bloggers are posting called Six Weird Things About Me. Here goes:

1.) About once a month, I'll eat something that disagrees with me, thus causing me to get sick in a way that causes simultaneous "evacuations" out both ends of my body. Aren't you glad you started reading this? It most recently happened two weeks ago AT WORK! Oh, joy!

2.) When I was in elementary and junior high school, I loved the World Wrestling Federation! I would watch wrestling matches constantly on TV. For Christmas (when I was in the sixth grade), my Dad took me to a WWF match when they came to our hometown, and I got "The Cowboy" Scott Casey's autograph. Thanks, Dad. You gotta love a good father-daughter memory!

3.) I once lost 20 pounds on a vegan diet. Then I fell off the wagon and gained it back. Sometimes a girl needs a burger, okay?!

4.) When the aura of my cubicle gets a little too stifling, I go to the ladies room when no one else is in there and I belt out musical theatre songs. Great acoustics in there! It puts me back in touch with my creative side just enough to return to my left-brained "day job".

5.) My sister and I crack ourselves up singing the "oo-ee-oo-ah-ah-ting-tang-walla-walla-bing-bang" song in harmony. It's the little things!

6.) When I was in high school, I went through a long phase of being obsessed with preppiness. I had a book called The Official Preppy Handbook that was my own personal guide to being preppy. I even applied to a couple prep schools. My dear mother was such a gem to take me to those interviews. Bless my heart.

Grace - The Best Gift I Never Deserved

That summer at camp, it was such a relief to finally understand why Jesus died on the cross and to know that my sins were covered and forgiven once and for all by his sacrifice. However, those answers gave way to more questions. There was one question in particular (two actually) that I needed to know the answer to: When I die, will I go to Heaven? What does that require?

That’s when I learned about one of my favorite words ever: grace. Grace, as defined by Merrian-Webster means “unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification, a special favor”. In other words--a gift God gives us that we don’t deserve.

Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! (The Bible – Ephesians 2:8-9)

The forgiveness of our sins and the salvation of our souls (going to Heaven) is a free gift that God is holding out to us. It is all His work. It is not something we earn through living good lives. It is by grace. A free gift from God. But like every gift, it is not ours until we receive it. God seems to be a gentleman, and one of His character qualities is that He doesn’t force Himself upon us. He has done all the work to save us, but it is up to us to receive that gift…to receive Him! The way to be saved from your sins is to have faith/belief/trust in Jesus to do it. As the above verse says, “All we do is trust him enough to let him do it.” It’s really just that simple.

That summer at camp when I was ten years old, my life changed. I put my faith in Christ to forgive me and save me from my sins. I expressed that faith to Him through a prayer that went more or less like this:

God,

Thank you for loving me. I know I’m a sinner and that my sin deserves punishment. Thank you sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. I believe that He died for me and rose from the grave. I trust Jesus Christ alone as my Savior. Thank you for the forgiveness and everlasting life I now have.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

The prayer itself was not magic. It was just a way to tell God what I was doing—putting my faith in Him. That moment was THE major turning point in my life. My life with God began in that moment, and I have never been the same.

A commenter on yesterday’s post said, “The coolest part of this "death of sin" stuff is that it's not just for Heaven. It's clear from the Bible that Jesus expected His power to change the way we live here and now. All that changed life business is not just pie in the sky, it's real!”

I agree. The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

How would you like a new start? Why not put your faith in Jesus today?

If you’d like to read more about feeling sure you are going to Heaven, click here.

Rising to the Occasion (That Occasion Being the Defeat of all that is Dark and Evil, Of Course)

Well, so far this week, we’ve discussed the love of God (awesome), our sin (icky), and why Jesus died on the cross (amazing sacrifice). Today, I’m ready for some good news. Did you know that the word “gospel” actually means “to speak good” or “good news”? The message of the gospel IS good news! Great news, in fact! Easter is the celebration of the best news of all. Jesus died on the cross, paying the debt for our sins, and after three days, He rose again. He came back to life from the dead! Why is that so significant? Because He proved that He alone has the power to overcome sin and death! He took on the sin of all humankind and died. Then He kicked sin and death in the butt. (I seriously don’t mean to sound irreverent. I’m sorry if I do.) He rose to new life! That is so incredibly significant because that means that we can rise to new life as well! I’m talkin’ ‘bout Heaven, people! When Christ died, he paid for our sins, and when He rose, He overcame them!

"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (The Bible, Romans 6:8-11)

Check out the same verses in The Message (a modern day paraphrase of The Bible):

"If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did."

Now that is some good news!!!

P.S. If reading the Bible seems overwhelming to you, I would highly recommend getting yourself a copy of The Message. It is very user-friendly. I also recommend it to those of you who have been reading the Bible for years. It will bring the Scriptures alive to you in a fresh, new way! (At least, it does for me.) :)

The "Why" of the Cross

I mentioned in Monday's post that growing up, I heard a lot of catch phrases in Sunday school that I understood in a vague way, but not specifically. One such phrase was "Jesus died on the cross for our sins." I knew that it was important, sad, and even good, but I didn't understand why.

That summer when I was at camp, I finally understood. I learned from an excellent Bible teacher that in Old Testament times, a sacrifice was required by God to atone for a person's sins. Only then could a person be "right" with God. However, it would only be for a time. Inevitably, the person would sin again, and another sacrifice would have to be made. In the words of The Bible, "No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution. If they had, the worshipers would have gone merrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins. But instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt. The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can't get rid of sin." (Hebrews 10:1-4)

In order to truly cleanse His children from their sins, God sent His perfect Son to be the once-and-for-all sacrifice, so that we could live free from guilt and shame in His presence.

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (1 Peter 3:18)

And that is the "why" that I finally came to understand. God loves us so much that He made the ultimate sacrifice--His own Son--so that we can know Him. Jesus' death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice for ALL sin--past, present, and future. That means my sins and that means your sins are covered. The debt was paid by Jesus. We can live our lives in freedom--free from the guilt and shame of our sins. That awful death on the cross was a sacrifice made for you and me.

Below are some of the lyrics to a wonderful hymn called "The Old Rugged Cross". They seem like a fitting way to end this post. Thank You, Jesus, for your wonderful sacrifice.

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.

Tale of a Six Year Old Sinner

"All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory." -The Bible (Romans 3:23)

Sin. It's such an icky word. None of us like to think about it, and it is awful to face our own sins. However, sin is one of the common factors of being a human being. All of us have sinned.

As a child, I was very aware of my own sinful nature. Not because of a church upbringing or because someone told me about it. But because it was true. In first grade, one of my best friends had a silver ring with a charm that dangled from it. I wanted one so badly. One day in reading class, she took it off and left it on her desk. The bell rang, and she walked back to homeroom, leaving the ring on her desk. I took it, and put it on. (Man, I'm starting to feel like I was a young Schmiegle in Lord of the Rings!) I wore it with my hand tucked in my pocket, concealing the ring...and my shame.

Later that day in P.E. class, we were running laps, and I fell down hard on the pavement. I got up to walk across a grassy area to find help. With tears welling up in my eyes, I walked across the grass, and the ring fell off. My eyes were so filled with tears that I couldn't see to find it! It was gone forever. Even if I wanted to give it back, I couldn't. Ugh. What was worse, my soul felt marred by my sin, and there was nothing I could do to subdue it. I held my guilt inside for the next three years, until one night I couldn't take it any longer, and I confessed to my dear Mom, who sweetly comforted me and told me that it's not good to hold that stuff inside. Still, the guilt stayed with me.

It might sound like a silly first grade story, but committing that sin (and feeling the weight of it) was the beginning of my spiritual journey. I knew I was in need of forgiveness. My soul longed for a Savior!

(Just as a side note, I finally confessed to my friend about the ring when I was 25 years old--better late than never!)

A Father's Love

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." -The Bible

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the day in which Christians remember the triumphal entry of Jesus as He entered Jerusalem, greeted by cheers of people--only days before he would be crucified.

As this is Holy Week, I thought I might dedicate my posts this week to spiritual topics. I hope that they will spark some good conversation. I'd love to hear back from y'all in comments, if you'd like to respond.

I became a Christian at ten years old. I went to a summer camp where some of the things I'd grown up hearing started to become clear to me. All my life, I had heard Christian "catch phrases" like, "God loves you", "we are all sinners", "Jesus died on the cross for our sins", and "Jesus rose from the dead." I had a vague understanding of what those phrases meant, but mostly they were Sunday school words that floated in and out of my brain without much understanding. At camp that summer, they began to make sense. I'd like to have a dialogue about each of the above phrases this week. I want to share what they have meant to me on my spiritual journey, and you can share what they mean to you.

Today, let's talk about the love of God: God loves you. Wow. The idea that the Creator of the universe loves little me is nearly impossible to wrap my mind around.

In the English language, we have one word for love. In the original languages of the Bible, there are at least three different words for love that describe three different kinds of love:

Phileo- brotherly love
Eros- romantic love
Agape- the unconditional love of God

Agape love isn't a feeling kind of love, but a love of action. It is the kind of love that we hear about in the parable of the prodigal son. The rebel son broke his father's heart when he left the family, squandered his inheritance, and found himself destitute. Finally, he mustered the courage to come back home, ready to do menial work for his Dad, just to have a place to sleep and eat. Did the Dad scold him or make him feel guilty? Not even close. When he saw his son in the distance, he ran to him, embraced him and threw him the welcome home party of the century! That is the kind of love God has for us. Remember the parable of the shepherd that left behind the 99 "good" sheep just to find the one sheep that lost it's way and wandered off? That is how God loves us. He longs to rescue us from our lostness. That unconditional love is for us!

The fact that God loves me unconditionally changes everything for me. It gives me such security because I know that His love isn't contingent upon my performance in this life. I don't have to earn His approval and love. It is mine--no matter what.

This concept can be hard to grasp, especially if your own father didn't treat you with that kind of love. I have heard it said many times that a person's view of God is greatly influenced by the way their own relationship was with their father. For example, if your father heaped shame or criticism upon you anytime you did something wrong, it can make it hard (but not impossible!!!) to relate to God as a Heavenly Father who offers unconditional love.

Feel free to comment on one or both of the following questions:

• How does knowing God loves you impact your life?
• What effect has your relationship with your Dad had on your view of God?

Los Angeles...The Beautiful, The Cool, The Ridiculous

And all within a few blocks of one another!

Have a great weekend!

Searching for my Blonde Roots

I am a little late getting today's post up because (drumroll, please)...I had an audition this morning! It was for a commercial for a furniture company. I felt pretty good about the audition. When it was over, the production manager asked me to wait so that he could give me his business card, so I took that as a good sign that he liked my audition.

Auditioning always charges me with an adrenaline rush that takes a little while to wear off. Adrenaline effects people in different ways. Sometimes, I get tunnel vision and I get a little ditzy. Today, after walking out to my car, I realized that I had gotten all the way out and forgotten to wait for the production manager to give me his card. I ran back inside where he was standing and said, "I'm having an airheaded moment. I got all the way out to my car and realized I forgot to get your card." He kindly told me that he had ALREADY GIVEN IT TO ME! I felt like such a moron. I said, "I guess I really am having an airheaded moment." I then motioned to my head of red hair and said, "I've got blonde roots under there."

I'm hoping he found me charming and not a complete bubble brain! Pray for me!

When We All Get to Heaven

This morning, when I was driving in to work, I was listening to a wonderful gospel choir rendition of the classic song, “When We All Get to Heaven”. The exhilarating lyrics of the chorus say,

When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all meet Jesus,
We will sing and shout the victory!

I started to imagine entering Heaven and what my first moments with the Savior would be like. What do I hope to hear Him say? What would I say to Him? Who do I hope will be there to greet me with open arms?

I think there will be such joy and celebration! To be in the loving embrace of my Heavenly Father. Such love! To be hugged by Jesus. To thank Him face to face for rescuing me from the pit. To fall at His feet in utter gratitude and worship. To be made whole and finally free from my sinful nature. This will all be amazing.

To be greeted by loved ones that have gone before me. I have long anticipated a reunion with Grampy, who I imagine will be waiting with a hibiscus flower “for his little princess”. And of course, my stepdad, John, who I know will be there with a big hug saying, “Welcome home, Star Shine.” Oh, too much joy!

If you feel like commenting, I’d love to hear your hopes for that great day!

Crazy Coinkidink -or- When Throwing One Back Was the Best Choice EVER!

Last night, eSuitor called me. He was telling me about a surprise party he went to on Sunday night. At the party, he was talking to a friend of his about ME!!! He told him that we met on eHarmony and that I'm a redhead and an actress. His friend interrupts him, and asks, "Is her name Tracy?".

I have written two previous posts about "multitasking" here and here. In the first link, I wrote about my decision to "throw one back" because I realized that eSuitor and another person I was communicating with through eHarmony went to the same church and the same seminary. Well, apparently they go to the same parties, too.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand!

A couple months ago, my sister was out in LA for a weekend visit. One of the days she was here, we went for a quick lunch at the Getty. The Getty has two places for dining--an upscale restaurant and a cafeteria. Naturally, being the big spenders that we are, we went for the cafeteria food, which still totally rocked.

My eSuitor called me last week and asked me if I'd like to spend the day together on Saturday. Of course, I said yes, because he is delish, and I wanted to get to know him better. He suggested the Getty Center, and I was immediately thrilled. The Getty is like Venice...nice to visit with friends, but SO MUCH BETTER to be there with a man!!! (No offense to my sister...I know you understand, girlfriend!)

Upon arriving at the Getty, eSuitor informed me that he had made lunch reservations for us at the restaurant. I told him how thoughtful and generous that was of him, and his response was, "Tracy, it's part of the full Getty experience.... I'm not going to bring you to a place like this and then buy you a burger." Once again, Holy Yum!--both the food and the company. Succulent lamb on my plate and delectible eye candy sitting across from me. Mmm, mmm, MMM! During lunch, I received a text message from my sister saying, "Hi Crazy Trazy! Are you ready for the Getty?" I showed it to eSuitor, and he thought it would be fun to reply from his cell phone the following: "Tracy is having fun at the Getty, and so is her date." Once we were done eating (and this is classic), my sister replied to him, "If you decide to have lunch at the Getty, I highly recommend the hamburgers in the cafeteria." We both fell over laughing! Perfect moment. :)

After lunch, we decided to take a walk in the garden, where I took this photo.

To see more images of the garden (taken by a someone else), click here. This garden is so lovely, not to mention the view you have out to the Pacific. It was a total immersion in beauty that refreshed the soul. So, we're walking down the garden path, and eSuitor nonchalantly reaches over and takes my hand (birds chirping, songs playing, the hills are alive with the sound of music!). So fun! What is it about holding hands? To me it is one of life's sweetest pleasures. The rest of the day, which included dinner, a movie, and some great conversation, provided ample hand holding opportunities. Yep! I'm a happy girl!

Thank you to my eSuitor for making Saturday my best day in LA so far!!! I hope that you won't mind what I've written about you, if I eventually give you the web address for my blog! ;)