March has marched in already bringing packs of un-melted snow with it. The kids have been out of school for two weeks just because of a few inches of snow and ice. It surely made all of our routines come to a freezing halt. On the other hand, the other part of the month was moving in more than one way (both of which this Things I Learned is late).
1. There’s a Roses in Burlington, NC. Last month I shared what I had learned and I learned that Roses Department stores are still around when I drove by one in VA. A friend informed me though that there’s still one here where I live on the other side of town! I haven’t made it over there since then, but some day maybe I’ll go just for old times sake.
2. Utah is known for it’s green Jell-o. Looking around in Pintrest, not remembering exactly what I was looking for, but I stumbled across a pin of a Food Map of the USA. The map shows what food best represents that state – from a stereotypical perspective. I think the funniest one is Utah – green Jell-o. Umm…I never imagined so many people loving green Jell-o in a centralized location. And guess what is North Carolina’s? The aroma is even found in candles, lip balm, and lotion and this food is probably on most menus. Bacon. Yep. Good ‘ole bacon. I’m not surprised.
3. Gatorade originated in 1965. I didn’t know it had been around for 50 years! Did you? What’s your favorite flavor? Mine is grape.
4. I still love to sled. As the northern states are buried deep under snow this winter, we were excited to got about half an inch of snow topped with a good glaze of ice this month. Perfect for sledding. We managed to drive ourselves over to the college intramural field a couple of miles down the road and looked down the pretty steep hills with sleds in hand. A friend challenged me to ride his sled that was the same age as me. Forty years ago products were built sturdy and made to last a long time. So, this body sits on this sled with metal blades and looks down this steep hill. I’m pretty crazy but couldn’t resist because I love to sled. I completely flew off it as the sled flew off the embankment at the bottom of the icy hill. With no control, my arms flew out and my back landed on the ice and I slid without a sled for a few feet with my arms spread out as if I was making a snow angel. I couldn’t stop laughing. I was surprised that I wasn’t sore the next day. Probably because I have so much extra padding. If you’d like, you can watch my sledding incident.
5. I’ve learned it’s still easy to be kids at heart playing in the snow. The first snow was great for sledding but the second was perfect for building snow people, making snowballs and forts for nighttime snowball fights.
6. I still feel very uncomfortable speaking to large groups of people. Not that I do very often…I can probably count the number of times on one hand. I honestly don’t feel comfortable talking in small groups either. But the opportunity kept staring me in the face for awhile and I wouldn’t look it in they eye. I actually turned around and tried to ignore it and asked others to do the speaking for me. But a few days before IF:Gathering, I knew I had to be obedient and faithful – I had to tell a little bit of my story and how God got us to that time and place where 100 of us had gathered that evening. I had even planned to speak at the very end of the event on Saturday (so in case we ran out of time, I wouldn’t have to) but it somehow ended up I spoke at the beginning. As I said that evening, I would’ve much rather been behind the camera lens instead of in front of it. With a shaky voice and fighting to keep down the lump in my throat, I somehow was able to read the words I had written. Yes, read them. Because I’m a writer not a motivational speaker. And I’m OK with that. The only reason I wanted to speak is because I love Him and wanted to give God the glory for what was about to happen – and that huge reason was all I needed to get those words out of my mouth.
7. The ways God is leading women to step or leap out, in their faith for the cause of Christ in their community. Read here if you want to read some specific ways.
8. An amazing, God-given miracle for a local family. On February 20, A husband and dad of three children received a desperately needed liver transplant when time was wearing thin. It was miracle, an answered prayer, for him and his family, but it also meant the loss of another woman’s life unexpectedly with three teenage children losing their mom. It’s bittersweet. It’s joy. It’s difficult and hard. It’s been a heart experience for our kids because they go to school with the kids from both of these families. It’s been community coming together to raise money by having a cake sale, local restaurant owner raising money to help with medical bills, social media posts of his story, cards from strangers for both families, prayers and more prayers. I cannot imagine the range of emotions and feelings they are all experiencing. May those children cling to the truth that their mom is still living by giving life to another. People have seen and felt God in the middle of this journey. It’s shown us that miracles do happen yet at the same time we must trust that God will redeem the lost, sad and broken. It’s been beautiful to see community come together to reach out to each other. You can watch our local news station’s story below.
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