One day...

My father told me I had to listen to this version of 'Amazing Grace.' He was right. I posted it to my Facebook account and someone left a comment that warmed my heart and made me anxious for 'that day.' Here it is...enjoy.

One day, perhaps 10,000 from today, perhaps 100,000; I will sing like that. I will have a new body, new vocal chords, new vision, no mind of myself, my strengths or weaknesses, nothing but Jesus. I will sing before Him or about Him. All He has done in my life unpacked and unhindered by this flesh. Until then I am inspired by such as these and carried along.--S. Bell

Creative Writing Project...

I was asked to participate in a school project. My friend's daughter in Colorado read a book called, 'Flat Stanley.' Apparantly, Stanley was flattened in an accident. He's perfectly fine except for the fact that he's flat. He is able to do things others can't because he's flat. The project was for the kids to create their own 'Flat Stanley' (made out of paper and able to fit in a normal envelope), send him to far off places for the recipients to write a summary of their adventures with Flat Stanley. I had SO much fun doing this that I wanted to share my adventure. So...here you go!

Flat Stanley Visits the
Page Family in Middle Tennesssee

It was a Monday when Flat Stanley arrived in Smyrna, TN. Andy and I had been anxiously waiting his arrival. His first night started out a little rocky. Our cat, Socrates, did NOT like Flat Stanley at first. His absence of shape seemed to scare her. Flat Stanley was able to win Socrates over once our cat could see how, because he is flat, he can easily retrieve her toys out from under the couch and chair. Near the end of the visit, they had a great time playing hide-n-seek. It was easy for Flat Stanley to hide because all he had to do was turn to the side.

Andy asked Flat Stanley to go to work with him. Andy works for the bluegrass division of Gibson Guitars and thought Flat Stanley would enjoy learning how the instruments were made. Flat Stanley accepted the invitation with great excitement. While on a tour of Andy’s workplace, Flat Stanley was told that he was right next door to the famous Grand Ole Opry. He decided to take a peek. While exploring the Opry, he saw a man holding a banjo with gloomy look on his face. Flat Stanley, the compassionate guy he is, went up to the man and said, ‘Hi. My name is Flat Stanley. Why are you so sad?’ The man replied, ‘Hello. I’m Tony and I don’t know what to do! I’m supposed to play my banjo on stage today and I can’t find my pick anywhere.’ Flat Stanley had a great idea. He said, ‘Hey, I’m flat and can do really amazing things. I bet you could fold me up into the shape of a pick and use me to play your banjo! Besides, I’d really love to see a real Opry show.’ With that, Tony carefully folded Flat Stanley into the shape he needed, and played a very successful show.

The adventure doesn’t end there. One afternoon, we were sitting around the house trying to decide what to do. It was a sunny day so we thought we’d go for a walk at the park. When we stepped outside, we noticed that it was also very windy. Flat Stanley looked a little worried and we assured him that he wouldn’t blow away. We tied a string around his wrist and promised to hold on tight. We had a great time at the park. We walked the mile trail and brought a blanket to sit on while we shared a snack. While we were going back to the car, a gust of wind swept by and picked Flat Stanley right up off the ground. No need to panic; we were holding on tight. We brought Flat Stanley back to the ground and he said, ‘That was fun! Let me try that again.’ We had to promise him ice cream to finally get him to go home.

Friday came around and we remembered a Halloween block party we had agreed to attend. We invited Flat Stanley to go along with us. He got to trick-or-treat with Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and made friends with Boba Fett from the Star Wars movies. There were many questions about where Flat Stanley got his 'costume.' Flat Stanley told his interesting story and by the end of the evening, he was the favorite attraction. He also told a few ghost stories. Flat Stanley is a great story teller!

When we got home from the party, we were shocked to realize our house keys were sitting on the kitchen table in the LOCKED HOUSE. We were locked out! No problem…Flat Stanley to the rescue. He slid under the door and unlocked it from the inside. What will we ever do when Flat Stanley has to leave us?

The day came when it was time to send Flat Stanley back home. He was missing Anneka and her parents and the beautiful Denver skyline. So, one last game of hide-n-seek with the kitty and we sent Flat Stanley on his way. Even though he’s gone, there will always be a little piece of him here. Sorry about that…the cat got a little carried away during one of their games.

The End

Lamplighter's Theatre Presents: The Music Man

I am very fortunate to have The Lamplighter's Theatre down the road from my house. In the past, I've been able to see amazing performances of It's a Wonderful Life, and Fiddler on the Roof.

Right now, they are performing The Music Man. I was able to see it Saturday night and it was great! The orchestra did an amazing job as well as the barber shop quartet. The dancers and those in the lead rolls were very good as well. Mrs. Paroo, played by Rhonda Frazier, was the perfect Irish mother trying to get her daughter married. My absolute favorite character was Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn played by Jill Grossman. I have absolutely no training in theatre, however, I thought her timing and facial expressions were wonderful and I walked away liking her version of Eulalie better than Hermione Gingold's from the 1962 movie.

So, if you're in the Nashville and surrounding areas and looking for a fun and cheap date night or girl's night out, I wholeheartedly recommend the Lamplighters. Tickets are around $10.00 and I don't know if there is a bad seat in the house. Their future productions include It's a Wonderful Life, Pride & Prejudice, 12 Angry Men, and God's Favorite. I've already made plans to see Pride & Prejudice. I can't wait to see who plays Mrs. Bennet.

Finally!!

Andy and I are one step closer to being parents! We received our log in date from China. In approximately 26 months, we should be matched with our precious baby girl! All the hard work and paper gathering has paid off.

We had been waiting patiently since June for our email saying we were logged in. They estimated 6 weeks for China to process everything and enter us into the system, so we weren’t expecting to hear anything before the middle of August. After Labor Day I thought I’d send a nice email asking if they knew any reasons for the delay. After a little confusion on both sides, our agency realized we never received our notification. Turns out, we were logged in on June 19th. Our notification email was lost in transit, so we had no idea. Thankfully, nothing was delayed because we didn’t know…it only delayed our excitement.

It feels so good to have a time line to work with now. It seemed there were so many things that it seemed premature to do that I now feel like jumping right in and getting started. I'm also very relieved the estimated wait is only 26 months. There was a woman who cornered me in a conversation about the China adoption process. She gave me the impression that she thought she was an expert and informed us we'd be waiting 4 or more years for our match. I tried to ignore her, but in the back of my mind I worried. I even talked to God about how four years was not what we discussed and He would remind me that He knows more than I do. Even if His plan is for us to wait that long I’ll accept it.

Odds and Ends

There have been a lot of things I've had an interest in writing, but no time to write. So, I'll sum up. (Can you tell I love the Princess Bride?)

Adoption Update: We have been told that our Dossier is being translated into Chinese. The next time we hear from our agency, they will tell us our Dossier has been sent to China for approval. YAY!!! It was delayed a few days because I had to get another police report. This was my third time to go to the Smyrna Police Department to check on myself. It’s a small delay compared to stories I’ve heard from other people who have been gathering their paperwork. So, I’ll not complain.

Insurance Companies: Why are insurance companies allowed to take their time in sending you a bill for a service? We received a bill for lab work done a year ago. If I'm supposed to 'pay upon receipt' shouldn't they have to make me aware of money owed in a timely manner? Their methods make it difficult on the Dave Ramsey zero based budget. You’d think they could streamline their paperwork a little better than that. (Okay, I’ll complain a little.)

Amazing Show: We had the privilege of going to a live show with some of the ooo's and awe's of musicianship. A co-worker of mine is married to an amazing musician, Dave Perkins of Chagall Guevera, and she let me know about their show in Franklin. It seems all these men are good friends who have been wanting to just get together and jam. We got to hear Phil Keaggy, Dave Perkins, Lynn Nichols, Rick Cua, Mark Williamson, Mike Radovsky, Tom Howard and some others whose names escape me. It was amazing. If you want to read more about it, check out Geek Thoughts. Paul, Geek Thoughts author, and his wife were able to go with us. He was able to take some video. Keep in mind, the sound is not as good as it was live.

Last but not least: I feel like stressing that I am blessed beyond measure. God is always moving and I hope I'm fit enough spiritually to keep up. So many things are coming that will change our lives. Events like Andy's school in the fall, our baby girl, Rachel, who we'll be preparing for over the next couple of years, and many other events and issues that require prayer and wisdom. I pray right now that God take control of it all; from insurance irritations to what will Rachel sleep in when she finally gets here. He's good!

This feels more like a letter. So I'll sign off-

Have a great day and God Bless!!!
Allison

I do not wish to confront you...

What do I think of confrontation? Since you asked, I think it sucks. I would much rather get all worked up about a situation, fight my advisory in my mind, WIN (very important step in my method) and then move on.

Trouble is, my way does nothing. I think it actually does less than nothing. If I had a way to measure nothing, I would rank my method at about a negative 200.

Why am I blogging about this? I know there is a better way and I need accountability to use it. It's just hard. I fight with myself wondering how it could be better if it involves being vulnerable and putting myself in a position where I might hurt someone or, dare I say it, NOT WIN. Inconceivable! Or even worse, be shown that I might be wrong. Inconceivable!

Inconceivable? To steal a line from the great, fictional fighter, Inigo Montoya, 'You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.' Well, he's right. I'm wrong more than I'd like to admit. Not giving God the opportunity to teach me this truth through others is like being a rebellious child. I think it's time to stop it. Or as Bob Newhart might say, 'Stop it or I'll bury you in alive a box!'

If you haven't seen the Bob Newhart skit I'm referencing, click here. It's great! Unless, of course, one of your greatest fears is to be buried alive in a box.

High waters back home..

My dad sent me these pictures to show me how high the waters are back home. The first two pictures are of the bridge that stretches over Table Rock Lake in Kimberly City, MO. This is the bridge I cross when I visit my family in Branson, MO. You could dangle your feet in the water where before, if you had jumped off the bridge, it would have been a scary drop. I've never seen the water this high before.

The third picture was taken at the Landing in Downtown Branson. You can see the fence on the left beyond the tall black pillars. Lake Taneycomo is usually way below that line.