Miranda Wiggleston's Blog

Back to Blog

2009-06-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

Wow. I haven't written in a long time. Everyone that I work with now seems to have a blog, so I guess that maybe has rubbed off on me a bit. I'm not sure if my life is interesting enough to post somewhere, but here it goes. Maybe I'll start writing on more of a regular basis again.
Alright, so I'm auditioning for American Idol next week. I auditioned a few years ago for Season 2 and got a call back. Let's hope I get one this time, too! So, I'm trying to decide what to sing. I'm not quite sure yet what I'll be singing, but I have a few ideas. I'm also open to suggestions. If you are someone that has stumbled upon this blog and you actually read this entry, feel free to suggest something!

The Amp Promo Video 2008

2008-08-15T21:11:00.001-07:00

Boring

2008-08-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I can definitely be a boring person; that or I'm a lazy blogger. Either way, I have not posted a new entry in quite some time. Updates since my last post: 1. My parents visited a couple of weeks ago and we had a great time having them visit. We saw the Aquarium, they got to see a lot of the projects Joe is working on, and they got to see where I work. We had a blast! 2. We're going to a wedding next weekend. Our friends from NYC, Andy and Candice, are getting married. We're very excited for them!

Ok see, that's it. Aside from those two things I'm pretty boring. But you know what, I like it. I'm never bored, just not exciting to other people, and for right now I like the consistency. I know that God is moving in my life and I'm right where He wants me right now. It's pretty cool to be there.

Not a terribly long post. Just enough to last until the next time I think of something cool to put on here. Oh wait here's something...if you haven't checked out my husbands blog or promo for an awesome event with The Amp then you have to see this...

New Post

2008-07-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, I know. It's been like two months since I've had a new blog post. I am fully aware of this and my only response to that is that my life is so full of other stuff I don't have time for blog posts...or I'm just a lazy blogger (if I can even call myself a blogger).

Here's the update to get caught up:

1. My brother got married on June 14th to the best sister-in-law I could ever ask for. The wedding was beautiful and funny side story, it was a beach wedding and it was scheduled to rain that day. The rain totally held out for the ceremony, but as soon as everyone went inside for the reception it started to downpour harder than I think I've ever seen in CT. Praise God for holding out the weather for a beautiful wedding.

2. I hit a dog on June 23rd. It was the most traumatic experience I've had driving or riding in a car. There was nothing I could've done, so it wasn't my fault, but I still felt horrible. I stopped the car right after it happened and ran over to the dog who had managed to pull himself off of the busy road. He wagged his tail at me and licked my hand which made me feel better and worse at the same time. Joe was with me in the car and very supportive. The owners called about half an hour after we got back on the road and told me the dog didn't make it. Also, our car was in the shop for two weeks to be fixed.

3. When I hit the dog, I was on my way to KidStuf auditions at Northpoint Church. I wouldn't have gone if Joe hadn't been in the car with me, but he drove the rest of the way and held my hand and helped me feel better. He even brought the car to a Honda dealership to be looked at while I was in the auditions and then walked two miles to meet up with me. We got a ride home from a friend.
The audition I think went pretty good considering the circumstances. I had a great scene partner and the people at the audition were very nice. They didn't end up having a role for me, but the whole experience was fun and I'm excited I was even considered.

4. Joe is working at Northpoint a lot now, which is very exciting for him. He loves being a part of the team up there and loves the work that he does there. I'm very proud of him for working so hard at Northpoint and on all of the other projects he has going on.

5. I'm enjoying my work as well. Southside has been great and exciting because there is so much going on right now. There is a lot of construction happening on the new wing they're building here. Everyday more is done with the construction and it's cool to see the church grow so fast. I enjoy my job and I'm learning new things everyday which is also very exciting. The more I learn, the better I get (at least that's my hope).

That's about it in my life that's new and crazy. I hope I post more frequently, but who knows. If you're reading this blog thanks for sticking around, even when I don't post for a while!

Yesterday at Southside

2008-05-26T19:34:00.001-07:00

Chrystina Fincher led worship at Southside. It is not a secret to most of my friends that I have a huge girl crush on her. (My husband knows and he's ok with it.) To tell the truth, I really think she's a great worship leader and is a great role model for any woman who is involved in worship at church. She really engages the congregation and leads them into a great time of worship to God. Off the stage she is no different. She is friendly to everyone and when I went to thank her and her band for coming down to lead worship everyone just thanked me right back for having them down to play.

As a woman who wants to eventually be singing on a church stage (even if it's BGV's) meeting Chrystina Fincher and the rest of her band and watching them lead worship was an inspiration. In my opinion it can be harder as a female worship leader to have the same effect when leading a congregation in worship as a male worship leader. For both men and women, not only does the worship have to be about God and not yourself performing on a stage, but you also have to live your life in a way that is holy and pleasing to the Lord. Otherwise your focus can be off and the worship is not genuine. It takes a lot of work and there is probably a consistent struggle of pride for many worship leaders. Meeting someone who I look up to as a role model and finding out that she has her focus on God and her pride in check was (like I said before) an inspiration.

Thanks so much to Chrystina and her band for coming down to Southside and leading worship for us!

Drive

2008-05-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I've been a part of a worship service that has not only mad me cry, but has made me sob and pour my heart out to God and feel His presence not only in the room, but in the life of every single person in the room. Last night at the Drive conference here in GA was one of those worship nights.

It was the kind of worship session that made you realize that even if you work in a church and go to Bible study and attend every Sunday service that you possibly can you haven't been paying enough attention to God, your Creator... And then you realize that even though you haven't been paying attention to God and spending enough time with Him, He's been paying attention to you... And this thought makes you want to fall to your knees because you realize how not worthy you are to have the Almighty God care so much about you that He has blessed you with everything you could possibly want in life. That was Monday night for me this past week.

Today was a great day at Drive too. It was lots of fun and very educational and the whole night ended with a concert from the Bethany Dick Band and.......... a comedy show by Jeff Foxworthy!!! It was supposed to be a surprise, but I heard through the grape vine in advance what it was going to be and that made me even more excited!

Back to Monday, after the conference was over for the night, Joe and I, along with Tim Elrod, got together with a whole bunch of bloggers. We took a group picture and everything and found out the next day that Carlos Whittaker posted a link to all of the blogs that were represented at the get together that night. This means that I might be getting a few more readers than I'm used to. I've gotta say, I'm a little excited. I hadn't gone public with my blog yet, and I guess this is probably a great way to get more readers. Thanks to Carlos for posting an entry with my blog link!

Sunday

2008-05-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

Just a short post to keep up:

-against all better judgment I finally caved to Twitter
-Sundays can be quite long
-Sundays can be quite rewarding
-Drive conference this week
-I love my husband!

That's about it. Sorry there's not more to be fun with. I will come up with a better post when I have more sleep in my system.

Fin

Captain Eo

2008-04-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

When I was younger this attraction was a big favorite at Epcot Center in Disney World. My family and I used to love the 3-D special effects. It was replaced by what is now "Honey I Shrunk the Audience." Can you guess why they took it out?

Oh yeah that's right... it was staring Michael Jackson and it was filmed in the 80's!

PS Check out the Southside Church blog!

One Month

2008-04-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, it has been exactly one month since my last blog post. I'm not going to apologize, because I'm not sorry about that. I am going to warn you, however, that this post may either be very long, or kind of sporadic.

New Job: I have been working at my new job now for about a month. It is the best job I've ever had! That may be because it's the only job I've had that hasn't been waitressing, or it could be because the people there are awesome a I love what I do. If you want to check out the church's website, go to www.southside.org.

Old Job: I love the family that I'm still working for. I babysit their one-year-old and I work in their office at their house. The baby is so cute and is almost to the point where she can communicate fully by talking.

Joe's Job: Joe has officially started contract work for Northpoint church as of last week. He helps out with the TenBefore. He is really excited to be there and loves working with the media team at NP.

Creativity: I have written a song. I won't expound too much, because I'm hoping to eventually record it and figure out how to put it on this blog so you can listen to it. (Little sidenote: It's hard for me to say that I wrote a song, because I don't want to sound like I'm bragging about my ability to write music and also I couldn't have written it if I didn't pray a lot about it and really try to honor God with what I wrote. Anyway, that is my one disclaimer for any music that I write and post about in the future.) I'm still working on a couple of other songs. I don't know if any of this is going to be good, but I'm excited about them and I can also feel good about having done something with everything I've learned about music from school.

Ummm... I totally thought this post might be a bit longer, but I now realize that my life isn't interesting enough to have a very long update blog post. Maybe I'll get back to posting about what's going on in my head and my thoughts on life and stuff, and even though it still may not be very interesting, I'll have some longer posts. That's it. Oh, and thanks for reading!

Date Night and a New Job

2008-03-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

I want to start this post off with date night because the place Joe and I went was pretty cool. We went to go see the movie Semipro tonight on a much needed date. We hadn't been to the movies in a while so we were pretty excited about going. Afterwards we were going to top the night off with a bite to eat. It turned out when we got to the movie theatre that we could combine our whole night into one experience! The movie theatre was also a restaurant and waiters served food to patrons who sat at tables in their selected movie theatre. Granted the food was pretty standard quality for a movie theatre, but the prices were lower, there was a wider selection, and it was served to you at your own table! That meant no missing any previews to stand in line for just a bag of candy that cost double what it does in the store! Joe and I now have a new standard for movie theatres. =)

Alright, new job. Yes, I have one! Today I received a call from Martin Huggins, the service programing director at Southside church which is a Northpoint Strategic Partner church to let me know that I got the job. I had a phone interview with him yesterday and today received the call letting me know that I will be working at Southside! My new title is service programming assistant, or SPA. =) It's only a part time job, like 15 hours a week, but it has a lot of responsibility and I'm really excited about it! I will start this Tuesday and hopefully pick up on all of my responsibilities pretty quick. Another great part about working there is Joe has already done a few freelance jobs for them and so we already know most of the people in the offices there and so I'm excited about working with people that I already know I like! Tune in again Tuesday for a post about my first day as a SPA!

Auditions

2008-03-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Buckhead church hosted auditions for Northpoint's KidStuf program. Just an FYI for people reading this who aren't familiar with Northpoint church in Georgia, Northpoint Church has three campuses, Northpoint, Brownsbridge, and Buckhead. Joe and I attend church at the Buckhead campus.We've only seen the amazing KidStuf program at the campus we attend, but we've heard that the other campuses are amazing also. Think Christian Disney program on stage.

My friend Malorie and I had the opportunity to attend these auditions. Needless to say we were pretty excited about them because both of us have studied acting, but have decided that we would rather use our talents for ministry work in the church. Fortunately with the contemporary Christian church of today we have more opportunities to do just that.

So we went to the audition together and spent a good two hours there. It was a great experience. First we went in separately and performed our monologues and songs, that we had prepared for the audition, for the people in the audition room. They were all very friendly and encouraging and even laughed at my monologue. Then they had Malorie and I read a scene together. Let's just say I was very thankful that I auditioned with Mal because the chemistry we had together made the entire room laugh the whole time we were performing. At one point Malorie started singing a song for the scene (Fat Boy by Jewel) and everyone started laughing so hard they couldn't stop. My friend Erinleigh, who's in charge of KidStuf at Buckhead, started laughing so hard she was crying! After we finished that they had both of us read another monologue each and then we were done.

Neither of us know if we got a part at any of the campuses, but it was such a fun audition and really encouraging that it will be ok if only one of us or neither of us gets any part. I been very insecure about my talent recently and this audition helped me feel more confident in my abilities as an actress and a singer. Thanks to all the auditioners at Buckhead for a fun audition!

One more thing that has nothing to do with the audition, my husband is a very hard worker and is working very hard right now on a project that is a little stressful because it's pretty complicated. Prayer request for the week is that I could be a good support to him while he's working on this and that he wouldn't get too stressed with it and that he would get it done quickly. Thanks!

Parents

2008-03-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

I had a great talk on the phone with my mom yesterday. She is a very wise woman and very good an encouraging others. Since Joe and I moved downed to Georgia and further away from both our families, I've been thinking more about family and about my growing up. Because I'm now married, I'm also thinking about my future family, like when Joe and I have kids. That in turn has made me think about what I was like when I was a kid and what it will be like when I'm a parent. There are so many things I realize now about myself that I could have never thought of when I was a kid and I know I'll be able to observe from the other side (when Joe and I actually do have kids which we're aren't planning on right at the moment in case all of you reading this thought that this post sprouted from some unexpected news which it didn't). For instance, and I think all children do this, I took my parents for granted all the time right up until I graduated college. I'm sure I still do it, but I still have a lot of growing up to do. Like for instance, one thing that has stuck out in my mind a lot recently is a treehouse my dad built my brothers and I when we were younger. It was a freakin awesome treehouse and everything, but for some reason my brothers and I only played in it a little bit. I don't really know why. We really liked it. Another thing that I know I took for granted was every night during high school, if my brothers or I had homework that was taking us a long time to do, my mom would sleep on the couch in the other room, just so we wouldn't be working alone downstairs. I know we appreciated it, but I don't think we understood the sleep and time sacrifice that our mom gave us. I think the biggest sacrifice for them was me and my brothers going to college. Especially me because looking back at college I'm sure there was a lot more I could have gotten out of it. I had a great time in New York I just also know it was a big sacrifice for my parents.

Don't get me wrong, my brothers and I loved our parents and we really did appreciate the things they did for us. I just think that we didn't understand what they were doing for us everyday. It kind of makes me stop and think how all of us, old, young, man, woman, take our Heavenly Father for granted. Especially in America He has given us so much. God loves us unconditionally the way that my parents love my brothers and I and even our new spouses (well my brother's getting married on June 14th, but his fiance, Alyssa, has been in the family so long that it's like they're already married) unconditionally. When Joe and I get to be parents we will have the same privilege of unconditionally loving our children, even when they take us for granted.

As a closing note I just want to say thanks mom and dad for unconditionally loving me and raising me to know a Heavenly Father. I love you!

Worship

2008-03-02T18:33:00.001-08:00

Tonight, Joe and I went to Southside Church to watch a video, that he edited for an Inside Out event (the North Point name for their high school ministry), on the big screen. The video opened the event and the crowd loved it. (To find out more info on this awesome video and performance by Joe and the Southside high school director, Greg, click here.) After the video was over the high school students participated in a time of worship together. The worship leader was great. He had a lot of excitement and it was obvious that his focus was praising God. What really impressed me, though, was the fervor and passion of the high school students. There was quite a number of students there and I think about 30 of them had their hands in the air and were singing loudly. Now, I know that outwards actions are not necessarily a reflection of the heart, but let me just say that it would be hard to find 30 adults, at either the church we attend now (which has a congregation of thousands) or the church we attended in New York (which has a congregation of over a thousand), that would feel free enough to lift their hands in praise to our Lord. (Just so you know I'm not judging I can be included in those that do not feel comfortable enough to lift their hands.) This isn't the fault of the worship leaders, who at both churches gave their all trying to lead the congregations into worship of the Creator of all things. It was so inspiring to see students all under the age of 18 years being so enthusiastic about praising God with their hearts and their bodies. Maybe it's because "grown-ups" have more stuff on their mind that prevent them from entering into complete surrender of worship, or maybe it's because some have been jaded by friends, family, the church, or life in general and so are afraid to become so vulnerable in a place with so many people. Whatever, the reason, all I know is that I felt more comfortable worshiping around these passionate high school students that do around most adults. They were able to surrender to God and show Him that He was their focus for the evening and nothing else. That to me speaks true worship.

Audition Dreams

2008-02-19T19:46:00.001-08:00

No, not dreams like hopes and goals for an audition to go well, actual dreams in my sleep about auditioning. I should mention that I dream a lot. There was even a period in my life where I would have frequent nightmares (sometimes every night for a week). Fortunately the nightmares are gone and I am having normal dreams again.

Last night I had two separate dreams, one in which I was auditioning for American Idol and I was trying to pick out the right song to sing, but just couldn't find it, and the other one in which I was trying to find the right monologue for an audition I had coming up. I know why I had both of these dreams. The church that I am attending in Atlanta (Buckhead Church) is holding auditions for their KidStuf program. I am hoping to attend these open auditions and I am pretty excited because it would mean that the four years of music theatre classes at NYU would be helping me serve God at my church. Unfortunately, apparently I am also anxious about these auditions; probably because I haven't had an audition since attending NYU. I know there's not a lot of people that read this blog, but if anyone reading this has a suggestion of a funny kid appropriate monologue and rock song that I could use feel free to let me know!

This audition and these dreams last night also got me to thinking about auditioning in theatre again. Now, here's the thing, I really feel that God has called me into ministry for Him. And yes I know that ministry can be anywhere you are and everywhere you work, but I'm saying I am really passionate about working in the church and I really believe that I'm being led to work in the church. However, that time may not be right now and I may be starting to get the theatre itch again (I was bitten by the bug ever since I was young). I don't want to make theatre my career and there is definitely a limitation to which shows I would even audition for, but lately I've been perusing the auditions in Atlanta more and more and wonder how I would do if I went to one. Just thought I'd share my auditioning thoughts and dreams. =)

Romantic Husband!

2008-02-16T17:57:00.000-08:00

My husband is very romantic! Valentine's day is the anniversary of our first date so it is very special to us. This past Valentine's Day was kind of low key, but we had a very nice dinner at home where we actually sat at our dining table and had music playing. Joe got me the best presents I could think of. He got me two seasons of "Gilmore Girls" (which is the new show I am currently addicted too) and a gift certificate to a spa for a message (or facial or whatever I want to use it for). =) I just wanted to say what a good and thoughtful husband I have. It was a very nice relaxing Valentine's Day and I hope everyone had as good of a Valentine's Day as I did!

Blogging

2008-01-30T08:49:00.000-08:00

So, as I said at the end of my last post, I am really bad at posting on my blog. I thought when I first started it that I would be writing for it all the time and expressing my feelings and thoughts and it would be open for the whole world to see. Turns out, I am not good at keeping this thing updated and not too many people read it. (Although, that's probably from me not telling anyone about my blog and from not keeping it updated so that people want to read it.)

Why is it that I don't post a lot and why is it that I don't tell anyone about this blog so they can read it? I think I'm embarrassed. I don't know if people are going to want to read my blog. What if what I post isn't good reading material for someone's time spent on their computer? Now here is my predicament. A blog is a place for expressing your feelings and whatever you think about the world and life and other stuff. I shouldn't have to care about what other people think about my blog because I can just get over it by blogging about it and expressing my feelings through my words to other people who might think my blog isn't good. Hmm, I think I'm confusing myself right now. Let try this again.

I could keep just a journal and keep all of my thoughts to myself, but the fact that I have this blog means that I want people to know what I'm thinking about. On the other hand, the fact that I haven't told anyone about the blog means that I'm not sure if I want people to read what I'm thinking about. What if they think it's boring or stupid? On the other hand, it's a blog and they're for being boring or stupid or funny or sad or deep or whatever your feeling at the time. I'm also afraid to have people know about my blog because I don't update it that much, so people would just be looking at the same thing over and over again. However, maybe I don't update it that much because I don't have that many people reading it! I doubt this though judging by the amount of time I spend on facebook where I actually have a lot of friends that comment to me without me even posting anything personal.

Oh well. My conclusion of this entry is that I will just post when I do and when I feel like it and what I want to post. Maybe I'll get up the courage to share this with more people someday.

Don'ts for Wives

2008-01-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

My friend Abi sent Joe and I these two books for Christmas. Mine is called Don'ts For Wives and Joe's is called Don'ts For Husbands. Mine is one of the best books of advice I've ever read for wives. I was reading a little of the book last night and stumbled across this gem that all women need to hear (I know I did).

"Don't work yourself into a fever every time your husband omits to turn up
at the expected time. He is in all probability neither run over by a motorcar,
nor robbed and murdered on his way home, nor lying in a lonely land with
a sprained ankle, nor in any other of the terrible predicaments your
imagination pictures. Probably he stopped at the bookstall to buy an
evening paper, and so missed his train. So don't greet him hysterically
when he does arrive."

Now, I know I'm not the only woman out there that goes over every possible worst scenario in our heads if our husbands are late coming home, or (and this goes for women who are dating or engaged) if our men haven't called us when they said they would or when we thought they should have.

I must say that Joe is very good at saving me the worry by calling and texting me a lot and that's something I really appreciate. In spite of this, I still worry sometimes if I know he's out driving and the roads are slippery or if it's dark. This piece of advice was something that I needed to hear, even if I knew it anyway. This advice reminds me of the Bible verse, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6) Both text are bits of wisdom that I need to listen to more.

Thank you Abi for the books! I'm loving mine and I know that Joe has been enjoying his too!

(Just as a side not at the end of this entry, keeping a blog is hard! I'm so bad at writing in it frequently. Hmm, maybe that will be my next blog entry?)

Best Husband Ever!

2008-01-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

My husband hinted to me tonight, while I was at a babysitting job, that he was making dinner for me for when I got home. I thought that was so sweet and couldn't wait to get home and see what he had prepared. When I did get home not only had he made me dinner, but he had also made peanut-butter cup brownies for dessert, set the dining table for a nice sit down dinner, and cleaned both the kitchen and the living room, which I have been tackling this whole past week to try to clean them up. It was the best surprise to come home to. Not that I want to brag, but I really do have the greatest husband ever!

2008

2008-01-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

Joe and I just got home from our holiday travels and I just wanted to say...

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2007-12-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know that whenever anyone hears this statement they either think of the glorious Christmas song and the season that goes with it, or the irony that accompanies that song because this time of year really is the craziest time of year and sometimes can be thought of as far from wonderful. For me it can be both. Christmas can be very stressful because first of all there is a lot of stuff to get done in a very short amount of time. (I've come to discover that the only reason it is a short amount of time is because I don't get any of the Christmas stuff done earlier in the year.) And when you go to the store to do your shopping it seems that people don't understand that you have urgent shopping to do and just won't get out of your way. Second, there is always the stress of money; not just how much you're spending, but how much do you spend on each person. If you spend too little your friends and loved ones could think you're blowing them off (fortunately Joe and I don't really have to worry about this because we have amazing friends and family). If you spend too much money the same people could feel bad because their presents aren't as cool as yours (again, no worries cause we have awesome friends and families). Third, after you buy all of the presents that your budget and closet will allow, you have to remember who you bought everything for and wrap it in addition to labeling it correctly. Finally, when all of this is done the presents must be shipped off to their respective homes, to be placed carefully under a Christmas tree only to be torn to shreds days later.

I know, I know, when you look at Christmas only like this it seems like the worst time of year in the world. But hear me out, Christmas is, if not my favorite, at least one of my favorite times of year. All of the struggle for the presents for other people is totally worth it. Even though stores are crazy and there are people everywhere, I've discovered that people really are in a much better, more forgiving mood than the whole rest of the year. Even when Joe and I lived in New York City people were actually friendly and polite. (Two side notes about New York- 1.New Yorkers are actually nice people it's just their lives are too chaotic from living in an environment that is overstimulating that they just can't really focus or show emotion to strangers, and 2. Christmas time is the best time in NYC! see photo above) Also, the shopping that you're doing is more satisfying at this time of year because it's for other people and not yourself. You are forced to think about what others want and it really pays off because if you think hard enough you can get some pretty sweet gifts that people will love and appreciate because they knew you were thinking about them. The craziness of the season is only for a short amount of time and it really pays off in the end because you're with the ones you love. Also, I love Christmas songs and they're all over the radio at this time of year.

Joe and I had a lot of fun shopping this year. We probably bought more presents than we should have this year, but we got really excited about our first Christmas as a married couple and about giving presents to the people we love! I think we got some really great presents for people this year and I can't wait to see everyone's look on their face when they open them.

The last thing I want to say is praise God for the ultimate gift of salvation through His only Son, Jesus, who's birth we celebrate with this holiday! Merry Christmas everyone!

God is Awesome!

2007-12-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

I believe that every day is a gift from God, but I really think that the past two days have been like the blessing jackpot from God. The first reason why is because I got to lead worship for kids in kindergarten and first grade at one of the kids' programs at Buckhead called UpStreet. It was not only really fun and exciting to use my talents for God, but the kids got really into the music and also had a great time and I really enjoyed the people I was serving with! Joe and I are starting to make more friends in Atlanta which I am so excited about and think is so important. That also leads me to my next reason why I'm thankful to God for not only the past two days, but also the past couple of weeks.

Joe and I got to hang out with our friends Malorie and Tim Elrod last night and had a blast. this Tuesday we get to hang out with our friends Michelle and Josh (who are getting married at the end of May) and then Michelle gets to spend the night so that her and I can have some girly time! I also mentioned that I was getting a lot of babysitting gigs. This has not only been amazing because it's been getting me out of the house and giving me something to do, but also because I've been getting to know more people and hopefully making some friends. UpStreet has played a huge part in helping me meet people who in turn have introduced me to more people. The reason I have a job with the family that has the one year old daughter is because of a friend that I met at Buckhead who called them and recommended me for the job. This same friend leads me into my third reason of why God has totally blessed Joe and me in Atlanta.

My friend also gave my name to someone at Buckhead church recommending me for a part-time job there. I don't want to name any names yet (except for the name of the friend who recommended me because she's in real estate, so if you're ever looking to buy a house my friend Cathleen has some great houses that are up on the market) or what I might be doing because I haven't had my interview yet and I don't want to get too excited in case for some reason it doesn't happen. But I am so excited to possibly have the opportunity to serve God by working for a church! And what's great is I still get to use my voice to praise God by volunteering at UpStreet. There's never any guarantee about jobs, but it's so exciting to see God open up opportunities for both me and my husband (that will be a whole new post about how God's been blessing Joe with opportunities).

There is never a more exciting place to be than in God's hands, trusting Him with every step you make in life and praising Him for every blessing along the way!

Nanny Diaries

2007-12-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

I have an amazing husband. He rented the Nanny Diaries for me and watched it with me last night even though it is considered "a girl movie." It was such a cute movie and came at such an ironic time. Now, I cannot relate to the character through most of the movie because I've really only worked for pretty amazing people when I babysit kids, but the first 20 minutes of the movie was a complete depiction of what my life is right now. Scarlett Johansson plays the nanny and at the beginning of the movie she graduates from college, tries to figure out what she really wants to do with her life, and ends up literally running into a woman who needs a new nanny for her son. All of the sudden, every mom in the park is all over Scarlett giving her their cards and offering her jobs to watch her kids. None of them even care if she's worked with kids or has any references.

That whole scene has totally been my life the past two weeks. All of the sudden every mom I meet is hiring me to babysit their kids or recommending me to others to babysit their children or giving me office work to do. I kind of explained it all in my last entry, so I won't go over it again. I do want to mention again, though, that any part of the movie after the scene I described has nothing to do with my babysitting experiences because all the moms I've babysat for have been very good moms who care very much about their children.

Working

2007-12-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

After about 8 weeks in Atlanta, I finally feel like I'm starting to get to know people here. The weird thing is, though, that all of these people that I'm getting to know are mommies and they want me to babysit their kids. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing at all, by any means. I enjoy babysitting and I think I'm pretty good at it too. I just find it such a contrast from New York, where their are very few families with children that need to be babysat. (I just happened to belong to a babysitting agency in New York and although they got business, it was nothing like here.) Here it seems that finding a young woman who is available and willing to watch children is like finding a gold mine, oh and if you can do odd jobs it's a total plus!

One family has me working in their home office and also has my number on the sitters list in case they need an emergency substitution to look after their one-year-old daughter. She told me that one of her friends has been meaning to call me because she also needs a babysitter. I'm also in the middle of helping one woman put together her Christmas cards, I babysat her kids tonight, and I get to babysit them again tomorrow. This woman has two adorable little boys who are just big balls of energy. They are very different from babysitting little girls. (I will refer you to a post that my husband has on his blog from June 13th of this year, Lessons from a 4-year-old.) I'm looking forward to babysitting these boys again because I don't think I was a very fun babysitter tonight. (It was a last minute thing and it was only supposed to be for a very short amount of time.) Boys can run around and enjoy being outdoors and like showing off to impress you no matter who you are. They like playing games, but they can also just be entertained with a cardboard box by turning it into a fort or house or something like that.

So these jobs are really fun and a great way to stay involved with people at the church, make a little extra money, and just stay active in general. I do, however, still have a desire to sing and I wonder sometimes what I'm supposed to do with that. Do I keep working these odd jobs with these really amazing families that I keep meeting, or do I keep waiting to see if God wants to do something else with me. My opinion is that I'm not disciplined enough to wait right now and stay focused on making my voice better or writing music or something like that. Maybe if I keep working on these jobs I'll get jump-started into having a passion to do my own thing and develop my music and use my passion for music to serve God.

Ok, I'm rambling at this point. I didn't talk a lot today or watch my 5 hour dose of the Disney channel so I think that's where this is coming from. Hmmm, maybe I just need to stop stimulating my sense so that my brain can actually have time to think on it's own. Maybe work is what I need right now.

This Past Month

2007-12-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

So since the Trans-Siberian concert there have been a few exciting things that have happened in the past month.

1. Joe's birthday- I got him a few presents and made him lunch (homemade fried chicken with pole beans for a side dish). It was very quiet compared to last year (I threw him a surprise party), but he said that he had a good birthday! =)

2. Thanksgiving- Joe and I went to my Grandparents for Thanksgiving dinner. I got to see some of my relatives that I haven't seen in almost a decade! We also enjoyed some Christmas lights at the Bristol Racetrack and a nap by a crackling fire in the fireplace.

3. Christmastime- The Christmas season is here! Joe and I now have a Christmas tree up

and a small creche scene on our dining area table that my Geega (my name for my grandmother) gave to us.
I know everyone says this, but I think Christmas is my favorite time of year! Everyone really is nicer and when Joe and I used to live in New York the city would be alive with what I can only gather as the Christmas spirit.

4. Work- Right now both Joe and I are waiting to see what God does with us here in Georgia and so far it's been pretty exciting to see where He's moving us. Joe just got freelance work at a Northpoint Strategic Partner called Southside Church and right now he's also working on some short videos that are very funny for Catalyst Church, another Northpoint Strategic Partner. I got to be there when he was shooting some of the footage for the videos and they are going to be hilarious.

I have the privilege of singing at Buckhead Church's UpStreet which is part of its kids' program. I've sung there twice already and I will be singing there the next two Sundays. It's fun singing with kids because if the song is right they will be dancing and jumping all over the place. Kids really have a way of praising God and not let anything inhibit that praise to Him. It can get a grown-up really excited about worship! Oh, and also about singing this next week, we're singing rockin' Christmas Carols, so I'm super psyched!

Classical Music Anyone?

2007-11-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

Joe just took me to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra tonight and I have one word...

WOW!!!

Bad Day

2007-10-31T10:30:00.002-07:00

Do you ever have those days where you feel like nothing you do is right? Not only do you just feel down for no reason, but you feel like you've hurt the feelings of everyone close to you because of your own insecurities. You wish you could just stop being insecure because you know it's afecting the people around you, but that just makes you more insecure, because you want those people to think your perfect even though they will love you for who you are in spite of all your faults. It's almost like you want to earn their love even though you know you don't have to, but still you do know that because you love them you want to be good for them and eventually that carries over into wanting to earn their love through the works that you do.

Just typing this all out right now makes me realize a few things about our relationship with God. First of all, we can never be perfect. That's why Jesus died. Second, we can't fool God into looking past our insecurities and our mistakes because of good things we do. Third, we don't have to do good things to make God love us or even like us. As Christians we know that we are only saved through Jesus' sacrifice on earth and the grace that God has to have sent Him. (It's weird using tenses when you're talking about God who is and was and is to come and what Jesus did a long time ago.) There are still people who think that being good will get them into Heaven and we as Christians think, "Oh, that's silly! All you have to do is believe in Jesus." Still often times we don't believe what we ourselves are saying! We still think that even though Jesus died for us, we still need to be perfect to get to Heaven. Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't be good. If we love God we will strive to be more like Jesus and good works should automatically flow out of us. But they should always be because of a love for God. Sometimes we even do good works because it's what we have to do because "the Bible says so." Yes that's true, but doesn't God say He cares more about what's in the heart? If we're doing good works just because we believe a certain thing and not out of love then our good work isn't a "good" work anymore. It's just a work.

There's one more lesson I got out of my first paragraph, which is one that I learn continuously, but always seem to forget. God provides security and anything that is not based on Him is very unsteady. My marriage is secure because Joe and I based it on God. My family is secure because those relationships are based on God. Things that I don't base on God, job interviews, financial decisions, etc., always leave me feeling insecure and unsatisfied. If I don't give my day to God in the morning, I usually turn it into a disaster by lunch time. God is the root of all security.

So just to recap. God is the basis for all secure things and He loves us without us having to earn His love. These are very good things to know.

PS It's Halloween and I have huge fake nails on because I'm a kitty cat, so if there are any mistakes in today's entry I'm blAMing it on the nails
! Oops. =)

Creativity

2007-10-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

Being creative is really hard. My husband is great at it. He is a video editor and when he works on a video creativity just seems to pour out of him. He is very talented.

For me, on the other hand, being creative can be very difficult. Writing in this blog is just one example. I'm a singer and would love to be able to write some of my own songs, but inspirations for those only come in short spurts. Sometimes I think that my brain just gets in the way. I like looking at things very logically, and not in the practical way, but in the almost bordering on OCD way. I mean I'm great at puzzles and problem solving, but when I start seeing poetry or lyrics or melody lines as problems that need to be solved creativity evades me and the product of the logic isn't nearly as good as I know it could be. (It also doesn't help that I care too much about what people think about me so if something I do isn't perfect I get disappointed in myself.)

Now, in spite of all this I've noticed that a lot of times practice can make perfect, if not at being creative then at least what you're trying to accomplish with the creativity. Part of my hope in writing in this blog is that my creative juices will be flowing more then they have been in the past and that will help me when I work on writing songs.

What I've also noticed is that faith can be like creativity in that it seems hard at first and my brain gets in the way when I think about what God is doing in my life. I mean it doesn't make sense that He would bless me when I do so many horrible things and I can seem like a mess a lot of times. Logically, every time I do something wrong I should be punished. But even though I do have to face some consequences for my actions, God always doesn't let me fall as far as I should for my sins. AND He still gives me awesome blessings even though logically I do deserve them. And faith comes when I can get past the logic of all of that and understand that God is beyond logic and understanding.

Often times creativity comes in my greater moments of faith.

So I will keep writing even when I don't feel creative and I will keep trusting in and praying to God even when I don't feel close to Him or my faith seems nonexistent.

(By the way I said the word creative (or some variation on it) 11 times in this entry.) =)

Rain

2007-10-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

For me, I often times feel the closest to God when I'm staring out into the rain falling on the trees and ground. There's something so peaceful about the falling drops coming down and watering the earth. I'm reminded of the verse, "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:45b NASB) God is always raining down (no pun intended) blessings on this earth to everyone, Christian and non-Christian. It reminds me that every good thing comes from God, whether or not you believe in Him.

Rain is also a comfort for me and makes me think of family and togetherness. When I was younger I lived in Florida and when the rainy season came around my family and I used to sit on our balcony and watch the rain pound onto the sidewalk below us. When I got older, I was on a missions trip in New Zealand and much of my quiet time with God was spent staring out onto an open field watching the rain pour down. I was miles away from my earthly family, but I was still spending time with my Heavenly Father. Now I have my husband to enjoy rainy days with.

This whole entry has been very ironic because right now my husband and I are living right in the middle of the Georgia drought and the whole state needs rain so badly. This is one of the few days that we've had in which there are little droplets of mist falling from the sky. I guess we'll take what we can get.

Excited?

2007-10-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Have you ever bought a brand new toy or piece of equipment and gotten really excited about it for about a week and then just abandoned it in your closet only to pull it out on special occasions for your friends because it's still cool you just lost excitement for it? I'm afraid that this whole scenario might happen with this blog. Right now I'm so excited about this blog because it is so brand new to me to have a place where I can publicly post my thoughts and opinions, but in a week I might forget all about it until a month later I'll remember about it or get the urge to write and need to spill something completely arbitrary onto this website that only I'll get so I'll end up being the only person who reads this blog. See I'm so excited about this whole thing it's all I can write about so far. Let's change that right now.

I'll start the change with something simple. Something not too deep, but not shallow enough to be boring. My favorite Bible verse is Luke 12:32. "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom." (NASB)

As a girl I like the idea of God thinking of all of his children as little sheep because it's cute and I like that even though we get stressed out and we sin and we think bad stuff happens to us all the time and we feel like God is always testing us, God actually wants us to have everything in His kingdom (aka Heaven). It's sometimes easy to think (at least for me) that God's mad a lot of times because we mess up so much, so we have to tip-toe around making sure not to do anything bad, but the way salvation actually works is not only that Jesus died for our sins so we don't have to go to hell, but God wants us to have everything. By everything I'm not talking about silly material things on this earth, but He wants to give us Heaven, and eternal life, and beauty beyond anything we can imagine. I think that will be pretty awesome.

Brand New

2007-10-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

I've never had a blog before. My husband has one and his is very good. I guess that's what struck up my interest in creating this blog. Part of the reason I've never had a blog is I don't consider myself a writer and I figured if I'm not a writer then I shouldn't post things online that other people can read to save myself embarrassment. I'm even embarrassed about that last sentence. I think it's too long. Also, if there actually is anyone reading this blog, you'll will eventually find out that I am a horrible speller, my grammar is atrocious, and a lot of my writing might even be... boring (if it is please do not comment on my blog that it is, for the sake of my pride; besides it took a lot of my guts just to finally make one of these and you wouldn't want to be the person that hurt my feelings and make me never want to write again, would you?).

Now that I've confessed that I don't consider myself a writer I will also confess that I love to write. I've had journals and diaries since I was young and when I got to college I started spending all of my devotional time journaling my prayers to God. What convinced me to finally start a public journal (aka my blog) was when I was spending some quiet time with God on my balcony reading through some old notes of mine that I had taken at a music and worship leaders' conference. I started having some thoughts on some of my notes (which were of course recorded in a journal) and wished that I had someway I could write down my thoughts and ideas without adding to the pile of journals I already have next to my bedside. My husbands blog came to mind and I thought it would be a good way of expressing my thoughts about my notes and if someone so happened to stumble upon my blog online and decided to comment on something, all the better.

I've never been good at ending things that I write, especially essays for school. I know the conclusion should be the easiest part of the whole essay because you're just bringing together everything that you've already said, but I'm just not good at it. It's easier in my prayer journals because all I have to say is Amen and it's done. But how do you end a blog? See I'm still writing because I can't end this one. Well I'm ending it now. This will be the last word. Really.