http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsKN6NU0Yx0

oops try this

Video of Zach

So it has been an entire week since I was last a work. I has been very relaxing, very peaceful, very fun. I have not answered my work cell phone. I have eaten lunch in the North End and gotten Canoli's from Mike's. I have ridden the T on a Red Sox game day and enjoyed the fanaticism that this city has for their SOX!!! I have purchased new Red Sox attire because I really have been longing to wear a Red Sox t-shirt in Kentucky. I have climbed 2 mountains that are each over 4,000 feet high with my roommate from college! We also hiked 20 miles on the same trip. Yes it was girls gone wild in the wilderness, with exhibitions of pure woman power and lots and lots of gorp. I have eaten lobster with my aunt and uncle to celebrate my aunt's retirement. I have played with my nephew who is 1 and taken him swimming. I also got to watch him deposit all of the contents of my aunt's tupperware onto the kitchen floor. I visited with my great aunt last night, her husband died on Saturday, his burial is today. This morning I sat in the sun on the deck reading while no one was here at my aunt's house but me. It was peaceful. I have showered twice in my aunt's rain shower! Tonight my grandmother is coming over for dinner so I can spend more time with her and tommorrow I will be riding into the city to meet my second cousin for lunch before flying back to Nashville.

Vroom Vroom

Yesterday was a very interesting day. I was at my desk at work, working on stuff when my personal pink cell phone range. It was a number from Massachusetts that I did not recognize. I answered it and discovered that my mom's 3 cousins, Fred, Will, and John, were on their annual motorcycle trip. They were only a couple miles from my house and they were wondering if they could stop in for dinner. You have to understand that Fred, Will, and John are the sons of my mom's favorite aunt, and that I know her very well, but by the time I was a child Fred, Will and John were all living lives of their own. So I got off work at 3:30 and rushed over to meet them at the court square. We had a delightful time, they inspected my house, said my roof looks good, gave me recommendations for fixing the sagging cceiling in the kitchen, looked in the basement, and the eaves upstairs. (One is an architect and one is a construction engineer) We toured Murray State, I showed them the basketball arena and other important landmarks, like the soccer field and the football practice field. We then took our reunion to Jasmine's, the best Thai restaurant in Murray, or rather the only. It is very good even if it is the only one. We had a nice conversation about their aging parents and my aging grandparents. We talked about 401Ks, we talked about Will's four kids, Kanya, Thomas, Brian and Kelly. We then headed for ice cream at Dairy Queen, they didn't believe me that it was the best Dairy Queen in America until they saw the establishment. They were delighted that it was an old school dairy queen and we took a photo. They then headed on their bikes back towards Clarksville, TN. I am so glad they stopped. SO glad they took the time to call and stop in. Yes my house was not spotless, yes I was not wearing my best work attire, yes I wasn't really prepared. But I have learned that in the end, those things don't matter as much. There will always be more dirty dishes. ALWAYS. But how often do your mom's cousins show up from Boston on their motorcycles?

"yeah that happens to me at work.. I think the way I deal with it is that I know things will get better.. i mean it can't ALWAYS be sucky ALL the time. Like I know God has better things for me. Like God shows me a lollipop but wants me to reach for his snickers bar thats not too far away... "
This evening I was talking to my dear friend Brian, aka Big RED. He is a dear friend from college. When he was a kid he had cancer TWICE. He lost half his lungs and one of his kidneys in the ordeal. Then when we were sophmores in college he had his heart transplant. I think it would be understandable if he was a cynic. BUT he's not. He became a Christian when we were in college and has such a child like faith. It's so refreshing. He loves life, he loves people, and he gives people the absolute best hugs. I once saw him tell a complete stranger that God had given him a new heart. The guy was like "yeah yeah everyone says that." Then Red said "No you don't understand, He physically gave me a new heart!" He lifted up his shirt to reveal his scars. The guy's eyes were as big as grapefruits. And then Red proceeded to tell him the story of God restoring his life, spiritually, and physically. When ever I talk to Red it's like a breath of fresh air, so refreshing, so real.

NASTYNESS

So Brady has this talent, of finding DEAD BIRDS. It's really quite frustrating. It seems that everytime I take her for a walk she finds another one. Which leads me to wonder why there are so many dead birds in Murray. Is it that I just never noticed all the dead birds other places? Maybe they have just as many in New England and Michigan I just didn't have a reason to notice. Maybe there are more dead birds because there are simply more birds in general here due to the warmer climate. Regardles of the reason, it is gross to have to pry dead birds from my dog's mouth everytime we go out for a walk (at least 3 times at day.) This whole dead bird thing is probably in my list of top five things I HATE to do, along with shopping for swim suits, taking out the trash, cleaning out festering wounds, and throwing up. I know it's gross but there you go.

Saints?

Lately I have been thinking a lot about abortion. Mother Teresa once said "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish." When I was younger I didn't really think about abortion all that much, no one I knew personally (that I know of) had ever gotten pregnant out of wedlock, it just wasn't something that effected me personally and so I never put much into it other than that I knew it was wrong.
But recently all that changed. My friend Kristin was unable to get pregnant and in a turn of events that I can only attribute to the hand of God, she and her husband recently were given an immense blessing in the form of a daughter, named Cate, who is now 3.5 weeks old. As I have been processing all of the events that have transpired, and as I see the immense joy that Greg and Kristin now radiate all I can say is that the birthmother did something very selfless. At the same time, my close friend Arwen has been going thru a juxtaposed situation as one of her coworkers chose to have an abortion even after Arwen begged her not to. What it comes down to in the end is to be selfish or not. Both women were not at a place where they were ready to raise a child, and both women were in a situation where they were pregnant and it was not planned, and definately not within the confines of marriage. One chose the bear some embarrassment, to carry the child, to give birth to that child, and to allow a couple who has been praying for a LONG time that God would bless them with a child, an oppertunity. The other chose to try to save face, to not have to deal with any embarassment, and to "terminate the pregnancy." Somewhere out there I'm sure there is a family who is waiting for the Lord to provide a child for them, who would have found great joy in raising that child. And now that women will for the rest of her life what could have been, she will have the shame of knowing that she killed a defensless human being.
This weekend as I held Cate version 2.0 and I looked at her long feet and large hands, I joked with Greg that she is going to be a ball player, and maybe she will be. Or maybe she will be a phenomenal piano player with her long fingers. I don't really care as long a she is not a cheerleader. And who knows what that other child could have been, now we will never know.

I hate my car

When I was a sophmore in college I got my first car. She is a red ford contour that I am still driving. Well I was still driving until Wednesday night when I was driving with my brother to Nashville to meet my parents who were picking up my college roommate. At the 80 mile marker on I 24 my beloved car stopped. Yup it completely stopped, engine turned off, I had to coast to the side of the road, put on my flashers and call my insurance company's roadside assistants. Then we had to be towed all the way back to Murray ( over an hours worth of towing) Anyway the most ironic thing is that a week before my car stopped, I took it to the shop and told them that something was wrong with it. That is was making a funny noise and just didn't feel right. They drove it for 27 miles and didn't believe me. I said drive it again something is wrong. THey said oh, the timing belt needs to be replaced. So they did that and charged me a bunch of money. Then four days later on I 24 my car stopped. Interesting isn't it. Sometimes I think they look at me and think "oh well there is a stupid girl who knows nothing about cars and won't know the difference" and honestly I probably wouldn't know the difference except that I paid them a quarter of my car's current worth and four days later is stopped working completely. So now on Monday morning inbetween practice at 6:45 am and the bus leaving for cincinnatti at 9:30 am I have to find a way to get from work to the shop and back to tell them that they messed up my car. YES

UNH WILDCAT FOR LIFE

My friend Amy is awesome in a lot of ways. She is a talented speed knitter, she has a very gentle and patient personality, she loves Jesus, and she has an awesome voice. She recently recorded her second CD. She knows some people at her church in Massachusetts that have a recording studio at in the basement of their house and so she recorded it there and then pretty much gives the CDs away. Anyway the CD is pretty much awesome, it is my new favorite CD. I think one of the ways I have grown recently in my faith is that I am not so scared or worried about what people will think of me at work. SO anyway I have been playing Amy's CD a lot. I think that Eric my coworker and Ashley my intern are starting to get tired of it. So this morning I put in a new CD. A year ago I would never have put a Christian CD in, I probably would have opted for my brother's version of jock rock (which I might add is a good CD) but this morning wasn't a jock rock kind of morning, so I opted for Jennifer Knapp. I haven't listened to Jennifer Knapp in a while.
Anyway I recently had a tree removed in the front of my house. It looks so much better. One of my students said that my house looks much less scary and my friend said Hi five for taking out the tree." yup, who so many people would be effected by the removal of a tree, I think pretty much every one of my neighbors came over to ask who I had used to get it removed.
And of course the most exciting thing about October is that hockey season just started! UNH football is still undefeated! And basketball OFFICIALLY starts on Friday! Oh FCA is still going really well.

Worship

The sky last night was absolutely amazing at the football game. It was a lot of fun to stand on the sidelines. The air was calm after an immense storm the previous two days. Friday night there were tornado warnings all night long and rain all day and finally just before game time the rain stopped and the air felt so fresh. I was standing next to a team doctor that my Bible study has nicknamed perve (as in pervert) anyway he is always making fun of Christians, but last night he said "Cate look at the sky, do you think it's a sign?" And I said "yes." He made me take a picture of it, it reminds me of the statue of liberty's hat.
Today I took Brady on a walk and I ended up visiting with a family that goes to my church, they live about half a block down the street. We talked about a variety of subjects but one thing that really got me thinking was a comment about art and it's role in the Church and culture. The wife commented that she has alway wanted to start a Christian camp for the arts. She said "art has such a profound effect on society yet we overlook it so often in the church for bigger building projects and stuff like that." Art often connects with peoples hearts in ways that building projects or hot coffee at the door never will. That's why we call music worship. There are a lot of different kinds of worship, but the one that connects to a vast majority is thru music. My friend Kerstin is an artist. Her church sent her down to New Orleans last spring to document thru photographs what was going on down there because they felt that photos taken by an artist would convey much more than the testimonies of those from their church who were down there serving. She just got a job on newbury street in Boston making wedding dresses for Vera Wang. I think if she were to say to people that she was in full time ministry and that her ministry was speaking to peoples hearts thru photography, painting, and theatre costume design, most Christians would ask her how many people she has witnessed to and how many tracts she has distributed thru her ministry. Unless she is directly employed by a church, and then only a mega church that needs a costume designer and photographer on staff, she will have to be a tent making missionary in order to worship God thru the amazing gift He has given her. Ultimately God is asking to emulate Him and His Son, and God is an artist, just look at the night sky.

Impact

Church was powerful this morning. The sermon was about Esther. I think my 2 favorite books of the Bible are Esther and Nehemiah. Anyway the guy giving the sermon shed some new light on the fact that King Xerxes was a crazy alcoholic womanizer, never really picked up on that before. I realized how much of a risk Esther was taking when she went before him to ask him to save her people. My favorite part of the whole story is when Mordecai tell Esther that she was born for such a time as this. It really struck me as I am planning fellowship of Christian athletes stuff for the fall that I too was born for such a time as this. I also realized that I get so caught up in the "risks" like what will my non christian coworkers think of me and I felt so ridiculous, Esther was risking her life. Another powerful thing about church this morning is that my friend Brando was really moved by the sermon as well. That is something that amazes me. I work with these crazy macho men and so I often forget that they are fragile and insecure sometimes, and that beyond the exterior they just want to experience love. So when I see men getting emotional about the Lord it really impacts me. So thanks Brando for being in place where you are allowing the Lord to impact you, even if that means you have to be emotional.

Beautiful Scandolous Night
Go on up to the mountain of mercy,
To the crimson perpetual tide.
Kneel down on the shore,
Be thirsty no more,
Go under and be purified.

Follow Christ to the holy mountain,
Sinner, sorry and wrecked by the fall.
Cleanse you heart and your soul,
In the fountain that flows,
For you and for me and for all.

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree,
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me,
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white,
On that beautiful, scandalous night.

On that hillside you will be delivered.
At the foot of the cross, justified.
And your spirit restored by the river that pours,
From our blessed Savior’s side.

Brady

New stuff all around

Friday night I brought home my new puppy, her name is Brady, yes like Tom Brady of the beloved Patriots. She was born on April 11. Brady will be hiding out in my apartment for about 10 days at which time she will move with me to our new home that I am in the process of purchasing. VERY EXCITING. Let me just say that I am excited to have enough space where I live to have enough seating for more than three people at one time. I am so pumped to finally have Bible study over at my house. And I have been waiting for a puppy for a long time now, since I graduated from college 3 years ago. Puppies are a lot of work. Thankfully my Brady has already learned not to relieve herself inside. Yup she is a protegy already. One thing that she does do however is that she wakes up me up multiple times throughout the course of the night because she wants to go outside to relieve herself. Then at around 4:30 am she wakes up and is quite ready to play. And she is not one that likes to play quietly by herself, she wants me to play also. Anyone who knows me even remotely knows that I need 8 hours of sleep at least or I am not a happy person. They also know that when I "wake up" it usually takes another 2-3 hours before I am truely awake, and since I don't drink coffee or soda, when Brady wakes up around 4:30 ready to play, I am definately NOT ready to play. All of this has led me to the realization that I have been rather selfish lately. I have placed my own wants above the needs of others. I have also not been spending time with the Lord as I should even before Brady moved in with all her stuff and all her needs. I have been judgemental and bitter towards some people in my life, specifically some family members. It's hard to realize this type of stuff about myself and I have two choices, I can pretend like I don't know and continue on thinking that I am somehow more Godly or righteous than the next person. Or I can allow God to humble me and change me and grow more in my relationship with Him. So please pray for me that I would allow Him to renew me.

That's a lot of babies

How about in exactly two weeks, three babies have been born to people that I know. First Jac had Luke. Then my brother's wife had Zachary. There weren't suppose to be anymore births for about 2 months. Then yesterday when I showed up for cell group I was greated with a frantic "Jaimie is in labor." We ended up playing cranium until we got the next call about a half hour later that Jaimie had delivered a tiny little girl. And then the third and final call, that the little girl who still doesn't have a name, would be leaving our little town and heading for the children's hospital in Louisville. We went over to the hospital to pray for the baby and Jaimie and Adam. By the way the baby doesn't have a name yet because, we'll just say that Jaimie and Adam weren't exactly prepared completely. What I was struck with last night was how not in control we are. We think we have everything planned out and under control. I was watching my friend last night and realizing she had no control over her own body, her circumstances, etc... and she was getting a little frustrated. The hospital staff had wisked her daughter away and Jaime hadn't even gotten to see her. And again I thought, this is a circumstance in which we are forced to trust God. I have no control and I can either choose to trust God, or get frustrated angry and even bitter. So today I will trust God. I will trust Him that Luke will grow up to be a man of integrity and sound faith, I will trust that my brother and his wife will come to know the Lord and raise their son to also be a man of integrity and sound faith. And I will trust that Jaime and Adam's new daughter will be given the right treatments, that God will keep her safe and that she will grow up to be a women who walks with the Lord. (and that God inspires them with a name soon so we can stop calling her "the baby")

BABIES AAAHHHH

My friend John and I have this joke about how everybody I know is either pregnant or trying to get pregnant. In fact every female other than me in my Bible study is either pregnant or trying to get pregnant except me. It makes it a little weird and awkward sometimes. Like why do they say "we have been trying really hard to get pregnant" and then all the other women discuss what the problem is or could be, SERIOUSLY PEOPLE VIRGIN EARS. So anyway I thought I would just share that with you. ON to other important business, my brother was at the Bagelry the other day (by the way I really miss new england bagels, which are different from new york bagels for all you non yankees) and he ran into my friends Ben and Nic and Christy (and Ben's wife Shannon whom I have never met) Ben is moving to Australia to play basketball. But anyway he ran into them and so he called me on my cell phone and they passed the phone around and I got to talk to them all and it was rather refreshing, so that was nice. Of course there is a new phenomenon going on in my life, my uncle is trying to witness to me, he sends me all these invitations to talks on various topics in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, um I live in Kentucky first of all. And second of all I believe that I am a Christian because I have accepted Christ as my Lord and savior. I just am confused because I feel like a project, and that he could be using his resources on people who don't know God. I believe that if I die tomorrow, I will spend eternity in Heaven because of what Christ did on the cross for me. If he would like he is more than happy to come visit me, go to church together, whatever but seriously. I think he should read this book called Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, I think it would rock his reality. Then maybe he might stop seeing people as projects, and start asking God how He views them, just a thought. ANd then there is the news that my grandfather needed brain surgery, found out right before Christmas, and then he actually had the surgery today, basically in layman's terms he needed a drain installed. Not too invasive but when your grandfather is a somewhat frail 86, anything is invasive if you ask my professional medical opinion. Good news is that the surgery went well, my whole Bible study (including all the prego or soon to be prego women) prayed for him and so did my other friends, not in Kentucky. Surgery went as planned and he is resting comfortably. Makes you think a lot though. Like do I really believe that God is in control of my life? and if I do believe that, well then why am I so incapable with trusting Him with my grandfather's surgery? And is it okay for me to be this honest, or should I put on a strong face and not let anyone know that I was scared? I have a hard time putting up a front, so at Bible study after I first found out about the whole diagnosis and surgery and everything I was reduced to tears. I am glad that I was able to be honest. I'm glad that I go to a Bible study where they let me cry, and prayed for me and my grandfather (even a few days later all the way up until the surgery today) and I am glad that I don't have to put up a front, GOd is real and personal and He knows how I feel inside and He is asking me to surrender to Him, and if that means crying infront of my whole Bible study (which I used to find rather embarrassing) well then that is what I will do.

New YEAR, New POSSIBILITIES

Christmas is over, and New Years is over. Both were awesome. Christmas was so quiet and peaceful out at the lake. New Years was a ton of fun, even though I had to leave in the morning for Eastern Illinois, it was a joy to spend time with friends here in Kentucky. It's been a while since I really got to spend some quality time with my new friends here in Kentucky, and they are wonderful. They are fun and funny and most of all, is that they know who they are in Christ, and they are okay with who they are. There is no performance, there is no competition. It's just fun to be able to hang out with people who just delight in each other. One thing that was rather strange was watching the New Year on TV in the central time zone. I am so used to watching it in the Eastern time zone so it was rather anticlimactic to watch the ball drop in times square at 11 pm. We are home from Illinois and it is great to be on a 4 home game stand. Then after that we have some away games that are day trips. Tonight will be the 3rd night in a row that I get to sleep in my own bed! And I think the most exciting thing!!! is that a couple of the athletes I work with have asked to go to church with me!! How exciting as it says in 1 Timothy that God has appointed me to this ministry. So pray for them and for me, pray that they would not just come to church, but that they would be able to see that it's about a relationship. That going to church is something we do in order to worship the Lord not because it's "what we're suppose to do" but rather that we choose to do it because of our relationship with the LORD.

the "DEEP" south?

Well school is out around here, basketball is NOT. We leave tommorrow for the "Southern swing of the Ohio Valley Confrence." We are going to Alabama. I must first admit that I have never been to Alabama. I am a little nervous because I have heard several interesting stories about the state as a whole. And on top of that people around here call it "the DEEP south." Well golly I thought Kentucky was the south, apparently it's not really the south because it's not the DEEP south. Then when I arrive home on Tuesday night/wed. morning I am going to have to totally clean my apartment at lightening speed because my mom will arrive mid morning. My apartment is currently tidy, it's just not mom clean if you know what I mean. And then I step back for a moment and realize how very easy it is to get caught up in the daily mundane stuff. My to do list seems miles long before my mom and my brother and grandmother get here. I drove out to the condo on the lake that we are staying for Christmas after work today, and I decided that I am grateful beyond explanation that we are staying out there, the phones are turned off for the winter, no cell phone reception, no television. Just peace and quiet, the lake, the wild life, and no one around for miles. And now I am off to church for the carol sing before I head into my office to finish packing for the "southern swing." Christians wonder why we as a society have forgotten the meaning of Christmas, and then I think to myself, maybe they have forgetten because we Christians have so much to do that we forget ourselves, and we forget to live it out.

like to like like

SO Monday the new football coach was anounced and guess what!!!!!!!!!! He graduated from UNH, so very exciting, and most of his staff is from the Northeast also. My boss thinks we all talk way to fast. And of course everyone keeps asking me if i know the new coach, and I'm like "uh he graduated in '92 and I graduated in '03" but whatever. I was thinking about it, I was in like 5 grade when he was graduating from college. So then I was telling my mom about this other guy that I know that graduated in approximately '92 (not from UNH but from some lesser school.) He's been acting very strange around me lately. It's weird because I am one of those people who is totally oblivious. My mom was like "um, I think he likes you." I mean if some guy likes me they are going to have to be straight up and say something like "Hey I was wondering if you'd go out with me." And of course I am not intrested in this guy any way (the other person not the football coach, he's married) because he is not a Christian. But I was talking to my roommate from college because I'm like seriously I don't want to have a geriatric husband (no offense to those that are older than me) but around here it is way more common. It kinda freaks me out how many people are married to people that are way older than they are. I mean 5 years is one thing but 25-30 that is just weird. I know that this all seems so superficial. But seriously, I just purchased a book over the weekend called Friendlationships:from like to like like to love it's all about the Christian subculture and people in their 20s and how weird that whole dating scene has gotten. It talks a lot about how people aren't "dating" but are just friends but way more emotionally involved than just friends. I bought the book because I laughed so hard when I read the title and because it's so true, I myself and all of my single Christian friends are constantly complaining about their friendlationships. So the moral of this story I guess is this, I am not interested in the older (not yet elderly) gentleman who apparently likes me and I have decided that I am just going to continue to be patient, and trust that God is giving the individual that will one day be my husband the courage to come out and ask me out so I don't have to be so confused.