Love, Rudy

I don't remember when we became friends.  She was just always there.

Amy grew up across the pasture from my grandparent's house and since I practically lived with them, we were neighbors.  Man did we have fun...  When we were little, we spent hours underneath the big tree in the backyard playing in the sandbox or riding our bikes.  When Amy got a swimming pool, we were there. She even tried to kill me once, it was in a go-cart on highway 16.  Someone AMY might have pulled out in front of a semi.  Scared me to death, we laughed for hours.

When I was little, my parents weren't happy.  They were angry and I took a lot of the brunt of the emotion.  They were two different people... One person in front of people and a completely different person behind closed doors.  Amy knew that.  She was there and witnessed it.  She was the only person who really understood.  We didn't speak a word of it, we were just there for each other.  Amy covered my bruises with makeup, she braided my hair tenderly when my head was sore.  She showed me love that I didn't understand.

Softball was our thing.  Our dad's were coaches... we spent many hours at those softball fields together.  Looking back, it was fun.  There are lots of times I wish I could go back... just for a week. I would go back to the summer before we moved to New Mexico.  We were so amazing that year.  When we were winning, things at my house were good.  (now you know why we were so serious, girls.  not because we liked to win... but because we had to win.) We played 73 softball games that summer.  We won all but 2.  Why do I know that?  Because my dad, to this day, talks about our glory days.

That summer, Amy and I spent a lot of time walking through the woods 9 miles south of Bristow.  We tried to get lost, but never did.  We spent hours on the phone.  We had no idea it would be the last summer together.  Had we known, we wouldn't have had as much fun.  I'm so thankful for that summer.

In January of our 7th grade year, my family thought it would be a blast to pick up and move to Hobbs, New Mexico.  It changed my life...

Lots of letters were written and long distant phone calls were made.  I was able to keep up with my friends back home, but as time went along... we all grew with it.  Holes in my heart were filled with other friends, whom I love dearly, but nothing filled the hole where my very best friends lived.

As we became teenagers we would fall in and out of love, our letters were filled with boys and dates and dreams.  We were going to go off to college together and play softball once again. dreams.

When I was 17, a few weeks shy of my 18th birthday, I wore my mother's shoes to school without asking.  I ended up with my bags packed and sitting on the porch waiting for my grandparents to arrive to pick me up... I was moving home. 5 years later... I was nervous.

My senior year was amazing.  Although we didn't appear as we did when we were in the 7th grade, our friendship was as strong as ever.  Our lives were changing, which was great.  I was able to play softball with my girls one last time in 1997.  Sitting here writing this 17 years later seems outrageous.  It was just yesterday!

We graduated, went to college, got married, (divorced) married, had children, lost parents, celebrated victories... things were going great.  Then the unimaginable happened and Amy was forced to bury her husband.  I can not explain how sad I was for her.  My heart broke in two that day for the sadness of my very first oldest best friend.  I was sad because I felt I wasn't there enough on the last 15 years.  I was sad because she had to deal with such a tradegy.  Sad.

But my friend, the one who talked me through all of the those dark hours so long ago.  Who held me when I cried.  She is resilient.  She is so beautiful, and strong, and happy.

Today is her birthday... I sat down to write a quick, "happy birthday heifer" note and it turned into this.  Funny how God works, isn't it?


Dear Amy,

I love you today.  I always have... I always will.  I am so incredibly proud of you and honored to call you my sister.  This is YOUR year... I just know it.  I am praying for you and can't wait to celebrate with you this year.  Have a wonderful day...


Love,

Rudy.

socks were rocked today

When you read my blog, what voice do you use?  Yours or mine?  When I read someone's blog that I don't know personally, I like to make up their voice.  It's crazy, I know.  When I read a blog written by a friend, I totally hear their voice in the words.  It helps me to know when they are serious or being sarcastic.  I have a ton of blogs listed on my sidebar, but my two favorite are Jes' (did I punctuate that correctly?) and Danielle's.  They don't know each other, but they are so similar.  They have the same sense of humor and they could re-write the phone book and make me beg to read it.  I look forward to books published written by them.   Go check them out!

Now, on to the good stuff...

Everything is permissible - but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible - but not everything is constructive.   -1 Corinthians 10:23

Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible for me - but I will not be mastered by anything.     -1 Corinthians 6:12

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own, you were bought for a price.  Therefore, honor God with your body.


Kevin and I joined Weight Watchers again before Thanksgiving.  I was ready.  I wanted to do it together, because it's easier, right?   Kevin tends to lost weight fairly easy (in my mind) when he completely removes carbs.  I love carbs, so  it makes eating the same way impossible.  When Kev agreed to go to the meetings, I was so happy.  We went to two.  We paid for three months, but attended two meetings.  I didn't ask God to show up. I haven't even thought to speak to him about my struggles.  I don't talk to anyone about it... not my husband, my friends, or my God.  Which, let's face it... is stupid because He already knows.

I started reading Made to Crave. this week.  I'm not going to tell you that I've had it for years.... sigh.
There is so much that I can pull out of just the Introduction and Chapter One.  so.much.  I've written notes, pulled out two bibles, and dug in.  Folks, the Truth is powerful.  Why I've never listened before is frustrating... but I'm listening now.

1 John 2:15-16 says,
"Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world - the cravings of the sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world."

Seriously, ya'll this rocked my socks off today.  It made me understand... The enemy will do anything to force me away from the Father.  Let's face it, ya'll.  The worse you feel about yourself, the further away from religion you want to be.  right?  Let me explain... it will make sense to you, too.

As Lysa explains, "This passage details three ways Satan tries to lure us away from loving God

1) The cravings of the sinful man
2) The lust of his eyes
3) The boasting of what he has or does

Cravings = Trying to get our physical desires met outside the will of God

Lust of eyes = Trying to get our material desires met outside the will of God

Boasting - trying to get our need for significance met outside the will of God.

Satan knows where we are week.  He desires to lure us away from God, and know what works... the cravings of the sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has or does. (Good stuff, Lysa.)


Still with me?  Okay- I'm going to tell you about two folks you know.  Even if you aren't a Christian, you'll know them.  Their story

Eve and Jesus.

Satan used those tactics when he interacted with Eve.  "when the woman saw the fruit of the tree was good for food [cravings of the sinful man] and pleasing to the eye [lust of the eyes], and also desirable for gaining wisdom [boasting of what she has or does], she took some and ate it" - genesis 3:6

This is Satan's plan.  THIS IS HOW HE WORKS.  If we realize this is M.O. we can beat him to the punch, just as Jesus did... Watch:

When Jesus was let by the Spirit to the desert, he was tempted by the devil.  After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights (ya'll, he was HUNGRY!) he was hungry.  The enemy came and said "if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."  [cravings]  Jesus answered with scripture... "It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." BOOM.

Then the enemy had him stand on the highest point of them temple and said, "Jump, you'll be okay... God will save you, right? (paraphrased, ya'll) [lust of eyes]  Jesus replied with scripture, again.  Truth.

Finally, the enemy told Jesus, If you'll bow down and worship me, I'll give you the world and it's splendor.  (side note- did the devil really KNOW how he was talking to? seriously?)  [boasting]  Jesus again spoke Truth and sent the devil away.

The devil used the same process with both eve and Jesus.  Why was Jesus successful defeating him?  Simple.  Eve was saturated in the object of her desire while Jesus was saturated in God's truth.

woah...


This struggle is big.  It's not going to be gone overnight.  I'm looking forward to the process.  I'm looking forward to seeing where God leads me through this.

There is still time to join...  Let me know if you want to jump on the train.

Call me out...

I'm not an elegant writer.  I'm not organized and I do not follow an outline.  I usually just get behind my computer keyboard and start typing.  Usually, some emotion has caused me to voice an opinion, so I let it out.  I usually don't worry about whether the post flows, or if anyone will read it.  In all honesty, most of what I write is written on this platform, because long Facebook status' wear me out.  Punctuation or grammar...yeah, not a priority for me, either.

I really hope to change some of that.  Like I wrote yesterday, I really do love going back through old posts and reading about our lives.  I hope that this year, my focus can be on the story telling part of my emotions.  We'll see.

Beginning today, I am joining over 40,000 (that's FORTY-THOUSAND) women from all over the world in a bible study written by the amazing Lysa TerKeurst.  Her book, "Made to Crave" is one that I've had downloaded on my kindle app for three years.  (If only I had read it three years ago, sigh)  I attended a bible study at First Baptist in Bristow with some really sweet gals that Mrs. TerKeurst wrote and fell in love.  She wrote the book for me.  FOR ME.  It was a lesson on becoming more than just a good bible study girl... Lysa is about relationships and as I get older, I understand the importance of that word.

I signed up for an online bible study about losing your mind, but failed to participate.  I do that a lot... I start something then stop. quit.  walk away.   I am determined to not walk away from this one.

I'm looking forward to what God has for me.  I know that He is herding me in this direction, I've fought Him every way I know how.  I'm not looking to look like Jennifer Lawrence, or Jennifer Lopez, or even Jennifer Hudson (ummm) when this is over.  I am looking to crave my Jesus.  I am looking forward to replacing some past hurts, and letdowns with the love of my God.

If you are interested in this bible study, would you let me know?  Promise- we aren't too late to get started.  Even if we wait a week, I'll do it with you.  If you aren't wanting to participate this time would you follow along with me?  Keep me accountable?  Call me out for hiding?  :)

Here we go.

**Did you notice I posted TWO DAYS IN A ROW?**  
It's a dang Christmas miracle, I tell ya.

Dear Jennifer

Dear Jennifer,


   Where have you been?!  What happened to the 30 days of Thanksgiving posts?  People were complaining on Facebook?  REALLY?  Who cares?  You spent a lot of time planning each post, careful to make sure each area of your life was covered.  Remember, you were saving the last posts to dedicate to your children, you husband, and your Lord?  I remember.  Something else started then stopped.  It's frustrating, isn't it?

  It's time to get back on the wagon.  Time to write about the day to day life with those two precious people who promise daily, "when I am a teenager, I will still love you, Momma."   (Yes, I want them to remember!)
Let's write.  Let's post pictures like we used to.  Let's post our crazy Pinterest projects, the Minnie Mouse party has had over TWENTY-THOUSAND page hits. That's insane.

  It's time. It's time to get to the bottom of some issues.  It's time to share some funny things said by the Taylor-tots.  It's time to record our lives, because let's face it... you spend a LOT of time looking back over past posts and wish you kept writing.

  In 2014 - I am going to write.  Yes, I know "everybody is doing it" but they'll stop.  It is time consuming, and sometimes hard to think of a topic to write about.  People will stop.  But, really... why are you even worrying about what other people are doing?  STOP THAT!

If you write it, they will come.  Write.  Tell your story.  The people... they will come.


JT


PS- It's okay to post more than one post per day.  You aren't going to crash the internet. PROMISE.