Welcome to the Blog World Nikki!!

I am so excited to be introducing you to the best sister-in-law in the whole world... who has now entered the blogging world. My brother married her last year and it feels like she has been in the family forever. She is one of those people who will tell you what she thinks, good and bad, and have you laughing the next minute. She is organized, anal retentive, you will never find her house a mess, wants to be in charge (the exact opposite of me ... and to think of it my brother also), yet a lot of fun to be around. If you want to read great stories and get a good laugh you have to check out her blog.

Tricia Lawrenson discharged today at 10:30!!!

I cannot believe I am putting a post up about Tricia being discharged from the hospital today. If you have no idea what I am talking about you have to go to her husbands blog and read about a modern day miracle. Having a double lung transplant only a few weeks ago after carrying a baby for 6 months against the advice of her doctors if she wanted to live, and then being told she would probably never make the transplant list again, delivering the baby at 25 weeks while under sedation not being sure that either one could survive the delivery... they decided to choose life for their baby against all odds, and God has chosen to let us see a modern day miracle through someone who, like Abraham in the Bible, sacrificed it all even when it didn't make sense.

How many of us can really say, I lay everything down... even if it doesn't make sense... even if we look like fools... even if it means losing our life. Tricia can truly say she laid her life down for another life, and God gave her "life" back.

The Last Lecture

This is one of the other inspirational stories I mentioned from last week. My husband and I sat and were very inspired by this man's amazing story. This 47 year old Carnegie Mellon professor, father of 3, and adored husband, Randy Pausch, expects to die from cancer in a couple of months, so he delivered a hopeful last lecture on his life's lessons. This is just part of the lecture and interview with Barbara Walters. You can go to his website/blog to watch the Lecture or the interview in full (it is definitely worth it) and to look around at other interesting things about his life.

What Do You Really Believe

Have you ever had your faith tested to the very edge of sanity?...

Many of my friends and fellow bloggers have probably noticed my husband and I have not blogged quite as much this year as we had in the following year. Many things have been going on in our lives that we have just chosen to wait to share.

As many of you know we stepped down from the missions organization we were going to go to France with last spring. There were some differences in philosophy and implementation, and a number of mentors encouraged Ken down this road. We immediately under the counsel of a number of pastors created an organization, "Catalyst France", that really held to what we believed would work in France and Europe in reaching this generation. Things no other organization had done as of yet.

After we had done this we began receiving emails and phone calls from a guy Ken had met in France the year before with the IMB (International Mission Board with the Southern Baptist) who was really wanting to change the way things are being done in Europe to reach this new generation. He and Ken talked a number of times and he told us he wanted us to really pray about coming and working with him and the IMB in Europe to plant a church, and then recruit, raise up, and train pastors and church planters/missionaries to implement the ideas we had been talking about.

The exciting thing about the IMB is that if you can make it through the interview process (b/c it is long and grueling) they pay your salary to live anywhere in the world to reach the population you need to reach. Yes, that meant they would pay for us to live in the most expensive city in the world if we had to and never worry about a single bill. They will even pay extra for things like a special school for your child or tutoring if you showed that it would help your family.

Anyway, we began trepidly walking down this path because we knew the process, and had been through some of it before. God continued to appear to open every door through the process this time up until recently. In this process you have to have serious medical clearance. If you have ever had a pain in your life or in your family history you have to have it looked into and resolved before you can go. Now this is where our life has gotten interesting.

Ken has heart problems in his family and has to get thoroughly checked out to get his medical clearance. Well, Ken has not gotten insurance yet after stepping down from our initial missions organization, b/c he had been working part time jobs while waiting for God to show clearly his path for us. Therefore he began putting out resumes knowing we will probably be here a year going through the IMB process.

To make a long story short, he has been putting out resumes for several months with very few responses, and we also put our house on the market knowing we would eventually have to sell it and to help out with bills in the meantime. As of yesterday Satan dealt his biggest blow yet financially and we have found ourselves where alot of Americans have found themselves in this downward spiraling market. We realize we could be one month away from losing our house and going into a great financial hole that could disqualify us from continuing the process with the IMB to France.

I do not say all this for anyone to send us money or for people to feel sorry for us. It has been an amazing time of really finding out what we believe about God and what His word says. I had a few minutes of panic yesterday, but I sat the kids down and began "preaching" to them what I needed to hear about God and asking them if we really believe this.

At our church I have been helping out in the Children's ministry as a large group teacher and worship leader and this month the theme is JOY and just last week the phrase for the week is "I can have JOY in any circumstance b/c God has a plan for my life." That has been ringing in my head even before all this happened. I have been so stretched by what I have been learning with the children and if as adults we cannot walk in what we are teaching our children what are we really saying to our kids and a lost world. So, I chose yesterday that Satan was not going to steal our joy... and we have walked around our house quoting the truth of scripture and singing wild praise songs b/c we know God is going to show up. We just know it.

We have been praising HIM for all the things he is going to do, and all the things HE is doing that we cannot see, and if we lose our house and if God shuts down every visible avenue for us to follow the dream He has put in our hearts. We can trust God and have JOY because HE is a good God and Father and promises that HE has a plan for our lives.

"Thank you Jesus that we can trust you, and that You have an awesome plan for our lives even if it does not look exactly like we planned or expected... It will be better... for a lost and dying world. I love you so much today and I pray our situation can encourage someone else in a similar situation. Life can be scary, but YOU are not and have more to give us than we can ever imagine."

The True Test of a Procrastinator

... Driving all the way across town on April 15 to turn in their taxes 7 minutes before midnight...

Guess where my husband was tonight (LOL) ... You gotta love 'em or they might just drive you crazy.

Team Hoyt - I Can !

I have been motivated in a new way these past couple of days by some stories of some incredible people. I am going to be sharing them with you over the next few days, and my question to myself and to you as you hear these stories is: How are you living your life? Is it making a difference in someone else's? How will you be remembered?

Here is the first story: (be sure to get your kleenexes out)

Tenness Lady Vols claim 2nd straight NCAA Title

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Though bruised and braced, an injured left shoulder hardly prevented Candace Parker from hoisting that championship trophy on high for one last time.

Parker scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Tennessee capture its eighth NCAA women's basketball title with a 64-48 victory over Stanford on Tuesday night. The Lady Vols also became the first repeat champs since Connecticut won three straight from 2002-04.

Bring The Rain

God's miracles sometimes comes in different sizes and colors and outcomes. I have met a new family just yesterday through some other blogs who just this afternoon at 4:30pm got to meet their 4th daughter for the first time. She was born with a number of health problems, and the family knew that unless God chose to heal her she would be in heaven probably within the day. Well, Audrey did pass into heaven at 6:45pm just two hours after she was born. (to read more about this beautiful family go to "Bring the Rain".

I love how the internet, especially the blog world, opens my eyes to those around me and reminds me that there are so many hurting people around me... many without Christ. It makes me look at what I think is suffering and changes my perspective to thankfulness. It lets me join in the chorus of prayers that are lifting up people like this family and so many others. It has become a place to meet knew friends and to share a little bit of life from a distance... and I can say that these friendships mean so much to me, and I always look forward to a post to see how they are and how I might pray for them... to laugh and cry with them...

Thank you Lord for the freshness of this new blog I found yesterday. I pray for this family that you would continue to pour out your peace on them and that their loss and sorrow would be used for Your glory. I pray I could only be half as humble and gentle and precious as Todd and Kate are (If you read their blog you will see what I mean). Please help me to get from here to there. You know where I want to be. I want my life to make a difference in the population of heaven and for there to be a footprint if only a small one that I existed, not so that I can receive any glory, but that you would be raised up because of my life. Please Lord let my life count for something even if I don't see it in my lifetime. Let my character reflect you so that others want what I have.

A Modern Day Miracle

I haven't known exactly what to say in the last 24 hours... so much has happened with Nate & Tricia, and everything has happened so fast. If you want to believe in a God of miracles, go to Nate & Tricia's blog and read about a modern day miracle. Who would ever have thought that a girl on the verge of a lung transplant could carry a baby against the advice of her doctors, the baby surviving after being born at only 25 weeks utero, and has amazed the doctors at how uneventful her first two months have been. Then Tricia, being told if she survived the delivery would never make the transplant list again... and if she made the transplant list it would be at least 7 months down the road. Well, Tricia made the transplant list after only 2 months delivering her child and being in a drug induced coma for two weeks after her delivery.

I just sort of stand in shock at everything that has happened with this family and how flawlessly it is all happening. I think 99.9% of the world would have aborted the baby, and would have just gone on with their plans for their own life... but Nate and Tricia (especially Tricia) decided to trust God with her life and her child's life and have shown the world a modern day miracle for thousands to see again the power of God... and maybe just begin to believe what God could do in our lives if we would be able to trust our lives in His hands just like Nate and Tricia.

Lady Vols Advance to the Final Four!!

I know all you reading this are dying to know what happened in the game...

Tennessee came out looking very strong. The commentators were talking about how Tennessee had 7 National Championships, had been to the final game 7 out of last 8 years, have won 101 games in the NCAA tournament to Texas A&M's 6. This was definitely a David against Goliath even though Texas A&M has a great team this year. This was the first year A&M had made it this far in the tournament. They had held their opponents to %30 shooting in all of their games this season, but Tennesse in the first half was already hitting was hitting 78% of what they were shooting.

Candice Parker, who is just a Jr., is Tennessee's newest superstar and they say she is the female equivalent to a Michael Jordan. She is very tall and very athletic. She can vertically jump higher than anyone in Women's college basketball, and she can shoot from anywhere on the court in any position.

That being said Tennessee was beginning to slightly pull away mid-way through the first half. They certainly weren't running over Texas A&M though, A&M had still made it to the elite 8. Anyway, Candice Parker in true form was blocking and rebounding everything in her reach, but on one successful steal as Tennessee was really beginning to make a substantial run and take a big lead, Candice Parker reached her arm in, got the ball and began to dribble down the court when she finally had to stop and began wincing and holding her left arm. She had knocked her left shoulder out of socket. It looked horrible.

The training staff popped it back in and she was back in within just a few minutes... but that didn't last for long. Once you pop your arm out of socket, it loosens the joint making it more likely to happen again... And it did happen again while reaching up to block a pass and she was pulled out of the game and sent to the locker room.

With her being out of the game made it was a much more even playing field. I began to imagine the ribbing I would take for years to come if Tennessee didn't win this game. I am much kinder when my team wins. They took Candice Parker back to the training room and did some therapy on her, while Tennessee and Texas A&M played a pretty even game, with Tennessee actually struggling to stay ahead. Candice finally came back out in the second half with a brace on her shoulder and came back into the game. You could tell she was not %100 percent. She missed a few baskets from awkward angles under the basket, but these were baskets she normally could make in her sleep, but just having her presence and long arms to help blocking helped the team.

She got fouled a number of times and made %60 her free throws even though you could see her wincing every time her left arm went up in the air with the follow-through. She basically played the last quarter of the game at about %50... but having her at %50 was better than anyone else at %100. At one point Texas A&M took the lead, but the rest of the Tennesse team rallied around Candice, and with their experience and leadership in the last couple of minutes Sr. Horbuckle's 3 point shot from the "parking lot" pretty much solidified the lead. :-) The Lady Vols looked very relieved at the buzzer to have made it to the next round.

I am so proud to be a Lady Vol! Sorry Honey...

Tennesee Lady Vols vs. Texas A&M!!!!!

Tonight is the big night! For those of you who know me I graduated from the University of Tennessee and was a Track & Field Lady Vol (it's what they call their women athletes). For those of you who might not know, the Lady Vol Basketball team is, I think, the winningest NCAA women's basketball team in women's athletics today. They have had many Olympians and girls who went pro after college. Pat Head Summit (the coach) is the winningest coach in women's college basketball. They have never not been to the "Sweet 16" and have only missed the final 8 a couple of times (if that... I know of one). They have at least 3 national titles to their name and have played in the final game numerous times.... and they were National Champions this past year.

Now for those of you who know my marriage... my husband graduated from Texas A&M and is a die hard Texas A&M fan in any sport and is one of those annoying fans who is always looking to rib someone about their team. Our teams, whether it be football basketball or any other sport don't get to play very often, but so far when they have played, Tennessee has been the victor.

So tonight Texas A&M and Tennessee women match up to play for a Final Four spot. Texas A&M is definitely the underdog going into this game because this is the first year they have made it to the "Elite 8". Tennessee is the powerhouse of college women's basketball, so needless to say my husband is having a blast ribbing me about he game tonight. And all I have to say is yes, I have been giving him a hard time, and I just hope I don't have to eat my words. :-)