Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God. (NIV)
Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God. (The Message)
Arrêtez, et sachez que je suis Dieu. (French)
Fermatevi e riconoscete che io sono DIO. (Italian)
Quédense quietos, reconozcan que yo soy Dios. (Spanish)
Let be and be still, and know that I am God. (Amplified)
Ok, not really.
But it happened.
Enjoy these while I spend my Saturday at the hospital with the Boatmans waiting on their baby to be born! [that'll probably make me weepy, too]
[Also, my official title today is "AnnieBlogs, honorary aunt in charge of waiting room entertainment." Oh, you better believe I take that title seriously. Pictures to come.]
Ok, to the topic at hand: tear-inducing videos.
[By the way, subscribers, there are 2 videos here- so click on over if you can't see them.]
Ok- who all cried? Y’all confess.
Also, have a great weekend. 
I had a long list of MUST DOs the week before I left for Lake Geneva Youth Camp, including:
That last one, well. Here’s why. When you are the “speaker” at a camp, people look at you. All the time. Whether you are on stage, off stage, laughing, talking, or just sitting on the back of a golf cart.
It’s not bad. It’s not weird. It’s just the way it is.
So it is important to look good. At least, I think it is. At least, I thought it was.
I wanted to look trendy and cool and Nashville and pretty and taken care of.
But I ran out of time. That week pre-camp was so ridiculously stressful that the hours were full and mani/pedi got bumped. And for all the talk I do about not wanting to be a Christian speaking punk and not wanting to care about what people think, the fact that all twenty of my nails were bare was a distraction to me.
[This is the point where the author (me) is reminding the reader (you) that the main character (me) is flawed.]
So I went to camp with ugly feet.
And God took many an opportunity to remind me that it did not matter one little smidge.
Like, not at all.
Not one camper noticed my toes. Or if they did, they were kind enough not to mention it.
You know why it didn’t matter?
Because the speaker doesn’t matter.
The speaker’s toes don’t matter.
The only thing that matters, in those moments that really matter, when that middle school girl has fully tuned her ears and the Holy Spirit is pounding in her heart, and she knows deep in her knower that God is telling a story with her life- God is all that matters.
God is always all that matters.
When Annie the Speaker forgets, heck, when Annie the Girl forgets that God is all that matters, chaos ensues. [And pride. And issues. And all manner of sinful things.]
So I’m leaving my toenails bare for a while as a reminder of how little other stuff matters. Whether you are an awesome speaker or an awful speaker, a patient mom or a struggling mom, a college student or a college professor, the truth is still the same.
God is all that matters.
Like Beyonce.
Whew. Forgive my lack of posting as of late. The sickness that took me the edge of myself has finally receded. I don’t know what kind of Yankee Bug that was, but good gracious. You Wisconsinians know how to grow ‘em!
I have a great plan for all the things I need to tell you this week [including but not limited to] :
Life did not stop when my respiratory system was overrun with mucus-a-plenty. Nor did my ability to brainstorm what I would like to blog about [apparently].
Also. I worked on that list during church [forgive me].
I’m a little late telling you this, but oh, y’all. It is a FUN month at (in)courage. Free stuff like EVERY DAY. Crazy, but true. Cause it’s our birthday. One year. One year of pure writing bliss. I adore (in)courage. Click on this beautiful button to see more.
[Literally. I just typed "beautiful bottom." Don't click on anyone's bottom. It's not polite.]
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Today is my official catch-up freelancy day. So I will be writing the articles I owe [cough.(in)courage.cough.], responding to my email inbox and bloggy email inbox which both overfloweth, and conducting meetings throughout my day at Frothy Monkey [obviously].
Two delightful birthdays occurred over the weekend : Ansley and Melanie. Both women have stepped into super important places in my life and I refuse to picture it without them. Send some birthday love if you have the time, bloggites.
Phew. Can you tell I’ve missed you? It’s like I just want to tell you everything in one breath. Your turn. Catch me up. Did you write an awesome post that I need to read? Did something awesome/sad/cool/noteworthy happen recently that I’m totally out of the loop on? Are you pregnant? Engaged? Going on a date? Making a new recipe?
Just tell me how you are. Cause I’m nosy like that.
The girls at Lake Geneva Youth Camp were so.so.generous with me. Every time I turned around someone was handing me a bag of M&Ms [my very favorite candy, as you know].
Well, it appears that they are equally as enthusiastic about sharing their germs as they are about sharing their circles of chocolate.
Because I am Down. For. The. Count.
There’s a lot of pressure in my head- stretching from hairline to chin and ear to ear. Drainage. Coughing. Headache. You know, the typical misery. And this misery loves the company of Nashville’s 100+ degree temps with 90% humidity.
So, if someone could get me some cheese to go with this whine, I really think it would put me on the road to recovery.
I’ll see y’all later.
I used to have two friends named Katie/Katy. I call them my Homophones. [nerd joke nerd joke]
[Dear Annie, don't post horrible pictures of yourself AND make nerd jokes. Unless you want to die alone.]
Back to why I lost my friends.
I’m not longer friends with Katie because she took this picture.
And then posted it on facebook.
And then. THEN. Katy, also known as Hercules, posted this picture of me.
And she also heartlessly posted this on facebook.
LORD. HAVE. MERCY. I mean, my friend Wendy is funny, and I’m laughing at her joke. But no one, absolutely no one, needed to capture THAT second of my laugh.
I untagged myself on facebook.
Then, bizarrely, I decided to post it on my blog.
Because I think I still have some sense of pride on facebook. Gotta keep those tagged pictures looking good.
But here? Well, we all know the truth- you and I both have the same sick sense of humor, so I knew y’all would enjoy this.
What can I say? I’m a giver.
You’re welcome.
[No friendships were truly damaged in the creation of this post. But revenge will be sweet.]
Well, this will keep you [ME] up at night and make you [ME] rewrite and reread every talk you [I] have planned for Lake Geneva to make sure that you’re [I'M] not a total tool.
[This video is obviously a parody. But maybe close to true? Sc-uh-air-eeee. Scary.]
Thanks to my awesome friend Missy at It’s Almost Naptime for reminding me of every single thing I don’t want to be. Ever.
Except that sweet girl at the end. I wanna be her.
Youth ministry is hard.
My stomach hurts.
[By the way, I'm not freaked out. I'm just very aware of the weight of the responsibility that all youth workers- be it volunteers or speakers or youth ministers or parents- have, and watching this video was like having someone scream in my face DON'T TRY TO BE A BIG DEAL! And when they screamed in my face, they had bad breath.]
That’s all. Watch the video. Laugh at it. And then pray for people who try to show the love of Christ to teenagers day in and day out.
And… my stomach still hurts.
What I’m [sure is the weirdest post title ever] = this one.
What I’m [reading] = The Fiddler’s Gun
What I’m [also reading] = The New Kings of Nonfiction
What I’m [eating] = too many calories. The Get Fit Challenge was more of a pressure than I realized. The good kind of pressure. So now that I’m 30, I’m settling back into a healthy lifestyle. But don’t hesitate to ask me about it. You are quite the accountability partner.
What I’m [hearing] = I am [again] addicted to Brooke Fraser’s Albertine
What I’m [writing] = In 2 weeks, I head to Lake Geneva Youth Camp to speak at the Middle School Girls Camp. So I’ve been furiously writing my talks and devotions for that week. [Pray for me- even now. Please? Seriously.]
What I’m [missing] = Scotland. The team from Riverstone is there this week and I hate missing it. (Just in case you didn’t know, I went in 2007 and 2008.) Luckily, we can read the team’s blog and watch the services live [at weirdo times].
What I’m [loving] = housesitting. This home is gorgie-poo and the cat is totally chill and they have a veggie garden that waters itself. Win. [This is the second time this month I've gotten to housesit for an awesome family in an awesome house, so pretty much- booyah.]
What I’m [googling] = Heaven help me, I’m still looking for the perfect window treatments. I am seven shades of addicted to home decor right now. Why? I don’t know.
What I’m [watching] = HGTV [shocker]. Sarah’s House. The Bachelorette [don't tell me anything, you spoiler readers]. Drop Dead Diva. Clean House. The Dish. Cooking Channel. Ummm…. confession time… I’m also watching Real Housewives of New Jersey and Bethenny’s Getting Married.
What I’m [surprised about] = the crazy amount of links in this post. Sorry it got so linky up in here.
What I’m [wondering] = How are you? How was your weekend? Any books you are finishing? Any blogs you are loving right now that I have to read? Tell me things.
Today is my 30th birthday.
Above all else, I’m celebrating 30 years of God doing beautiful things.
So I thought that I’d let Gungor sing to us for my birthday.
I heart this song. Mucho.
[Gonna take a little bloggy break through the weekend. See y'all Monday!]
I don’t know if this is a new series I’m starting or if I’m just completely weird, but ever since I wrote about my writing table a few weeks ago, I’ve wanted to show you my desk at Mocha Club as well.
1. The desk itself- a folding table. Impressivo, eh? But listen, in the economy we live in, I’m just thrilled to have a job that I absolutely love. So if they said, “hey, sit here under the sink and work” I’d probably say okay. Or, I’d say, “that’s kinda weird- can I just sit on the floor of the conference room?”
2. Me old laptoppy. I have a goal to purchase a new one in 2011. Since, you know, I’ve had this one for over 3 years and it has my paw prints all over it and about as much memory as a nursing home bingo player.
3. Paper cup. I left my water bottle at home today and barf. I’m having to drink out of one of those cups that gets soggy and squishy and waxy.
4. A super cool painting that my sister Sally did. It’s Africa. [Since I work at Mocha Club and all, I found it to be apropos.] I stole it from her bedroom at home. Sorry bout it.
5. A cool book from my friend Ishita who runs the Fear.Less online magazine. I read a bit of this book everyday.
6. Sticky notes. Because they are cute and funny. [I just wrote that and then realized that I have no idea what makes sticky notes funny, but I wrote it. So. Maybe it's true.]
7. A picture with some of my very bestest friends when we were in Chicago last August. It was one of the greatest trips I’ve taken- full of laughs and relaxation and all around awesome.
8. A little motivation from my friend Seth Godin. I promise it doesn’t mean what you think it does. It’s symbolic and it means a whole lot more.
9. My accountability group. They are always watching. So I better behave.
10. Piles. Because, as you know, I am a big fan of piles.
Hey- if you get the hankering to photograph a table/desk/counter top and label it and tell us about it on your blog, link to it in the comments. I think seeing your world would be pretty fascinating.
Amen.
