She's Got Legs, She Knows How to Use Them

Earlier this spring I had a consultation about getting some varicose veins removed from my legs. Today I had another appointment with the vein specialists. After my first visit, I was given the impression that today would be the magical day when my nasty veins got zapped and I could return to wearing short skirts without being self-conscious.

My friend Hannah agreed to drop me off and pick me up from my appointment. Not only is she a star for scheduling her baby’s nap around my appointment, but she also had a Caribbean Living magazine and two chocolate bars waiting for me on the passenger’s seat. She believed that, if I had to have a procedure, I should not have to think about it—I should think about the Caribbean instead.

If you look back at the post I wrote about my May appointment, one of my concerns was about seeing a doctor named Todd. As if having a person called Todd examining my legs was not enough, this afternoon I met an ultrasound tech named…wait for it…Cody! Without making me any promises of a future, or even buying me a drink, Cody got pretty familiar with my legs.

What followed was a lot of waiting (reading up on the Caribbean) and then finally a visit from Dr. Todd. It turned out that today was not supposed to be the actual zapping day, but another consultation. Dr. Todd’s very kind nurse explained about how they needed to submit my case to the insurance company and get it approved before any zapping could occur.

So now it looks like the great event will be happening in November—far past short-skirt season, long after my tan has faded. It also means two more months of miserable, achy legs and trying to manage my lively new crop of fifth graders while sitting down.

The more time I spend around health care, the less I like it. I went in today expecting surgery, but instead got a consultation and another three months of waiting. Why did I have the wrong idea? I think it came from the way things were explained to me at my last appointment. Am I the only one whose doctors always seem to be in a hurry?

And then there’s the matter of my insurance company. It seems to be pretty tight-fisted when it comes to covering procedures. The nurse told me that insurance companies don’t want to cover this procedure in young women. Old women, yes. Men, yes. But they want to make sure I’m not just milking them for a “cosmetic” procedure, so they have all these hoops for me to jump through. Except, I can’t really jump because my legs hurt…

It is not my intent to start a health care debate on my blog, so if you feel the need to post anything remotely political, send it to Glenn Beck. This girl is staying out of it.

I Keep on Fallin'

Having a list of goals propelled me through the summer. Knowing what I wanted to do kept me from wasting time and feeling like I didn’t get the most out of my vacation. Students arrive tomorrow, signaling the beginning of fall (before Labor Day—ugh!), but before that happens, I want to share my fall manifesto. It’s quite a bit shorter than my summer list because I don’t anticipate having as much time on my hands…

--Prepare more food at home, eat out less. Invite friends over for dinner instead of meeting in restaurants.
--Use the farmer’s market regularly.
--Catch up with Debbie.
--Keep reading—do not let books pile up on nightstand.
--Attend a Gaelic Storm concert somewhere in North Carolina.
--Be a light in my work place.
--Have conversations about women’s ministry.
--Attend a Flyers game, completing a Philadelphia sports trifecta (Phillies on August 14, Eagles on September 13. Sadly, there is no Flyers game on October 12.)

After the Boys of Summer Have Gone

This has been one of my favorite summer vacations. It has been wonderful staying close to home, spending restful days in my house or with friends. I am thankful for this Summer Manifesto (as it has come to be known) that helped me give some structure and purpose to my idle days. I posted it on here a few days before school let out, so I will now revisit it a few days before school returns—how poetic…

Sit by the pool with my girlfriends.
I’ve spent quite a few afternoons at the pool with some of the girls.

Regularly meet with two recent high-school graduates before they head off to college.
The thing about recent high-school graduates is that they are busy trying to earn money for college and making last-hurrah trips all summer. Sadly, this item was a fail.

Go for a jog/walk with Tracey.
Had a great time exercising with Tracey in her neighborhood one evening. Came back to her house and enjoyed some distilled water (with distilled ice!) while being introduced to Fail Blog.

Catch up with my long-lost mentor.
As her fourth baby will be coming along any day now, I was very fortunate to spend some time with her at the beginning of the summer.

Read the ever-growing pile of books on my nightstand.
Read the pile and then some! I have made many trips to the public library this summer and will probably not remember 75% of the things I’ve read. Some summer reading highlights were Marian Jordan’s Wilderness Skills for Women and Sandra Dallas’s Prayers for Sale.

Visit Campus Outreach students during Summer Beach Project.
Not only did I get to see Megan during SBP, I got to worship with her at Surfside PCA, a church I’ve been hearing raves about for years! (But no one told me it was pink!) I also got to visit Whitney who was in Myrtle Beach doing Summer Shine at the KOA campground. It is always exciting to hear how God is moving and shaking in these students’ lives as they devote their summers to him.

Go to a Phillies game (this could be tricky).

Used my last summer weekend to make a quick trip to Atlanta. The Phillies beat the Braves 3-2 and I got to see why Shane Victorino is truly the Flyin’ Hawaiian—he was all over the outfield, denying the Braves homeruns like a beast.


Buy an enormous drying rack for my clothes; use the dryer less.



Take a couple former students to the movies with Shannon.
Another summer manifesto fail. Between our travels and her adjustment to life with a new baby, Shannon and I barely hung out at all this summer. If there’s a bright spot to going back to school, it’s being able to see more of this dear friend!

Read, mark and inwardly digest the Bible.
This is something that needs never be checked off the list. There’s always more to be read, marked, and digested!

Spend quiet days by myself, allowing the Lord to restore my soul.
So many lovely, quiet, restful days! What a blessing to be able to read and think and nap!

Keep working out every day; add morning cardio classes to my regimen.
I kept up the exercise program. My weeks at the beach gave me the chance to jog along the ocean and I’ve also taken my bike on some little treks. I’ve done some morning cardio classes at the gym too. Zumba sculpt was awesome, cardio sculpt made me want to cry. Water aerobics is always entertaining, even if the “regulars” are not particularly welcoming.

Miss my workout partner like crazy.
It’s really good to have her back. Exercise is just so much more fun when there’s someone with you—someone to witness the strange goings-on at the gym.

Have coffee and conversation with lots of people.
I've had great conversations with old friends and gotten to know some new ladies. I even got 10 cents off for knowing the answer to Caribou Coffee’s question of the day once.

Try quilting, or at least find a quilting class I can try.
Found the classes, just can’t find the time to take them.

Talk about starting a multi-generational small group for women.
Another fail! I was going to talk about it with a woman from my church and I think I’ve seen her once since May…

Facilitate the second meeting of the women’s book club.
August 29th, can’t wait!

Tell my story.
The Thursday night girls have had a wonderful summer of hearing each other’s stories. It’s been a real blessing to get to know these women a little more deeply and to find out how God won our hearts.

Visit old friends.


Be purposeful.
Another item that I can’t check off the list. I’ve been calling this my “Summer of Intention” for ages, but living with a purpose is not seasonal. My days off have given me more opportunities to encourage ministry, to learn about ministry and to do ministry. The challenge for me now is to continue being intentional about ministry, even as I go back to working full time.

Build houses and friendships with high school students.



Swim in the ocean.
Something about the sunrise
Reminds me of Your faithfulness
Something about the ocean
And I’m lost in love again
--Ten Shekel Shirt

Doo, Doo, Doo, Looking Out My Back Door

When I bought my house four years ago, the development was brand-new with houses still being built around mine. One reason I chose my house was because there were no houses directly behind it, just a steep drop and some tree trunks. The ground was that distinct Carolina clay color with some weeds sprouting up and a trickle of water running.

Looking out my back door now, I am amazed at how the landscape has healed from the shock of bulldozers and backhoes that disrupted it a few years ago. Instead of red earth, what I see now is leaves. The tree trunks I thought were dead are sprouting. There are wildflowers on the hill behind my house. Lately a rabbit has been spending time in my back yard. Cosmo, who is usually hanging on by a thin thread, goes absolutely bananas when the rabbit appears. There are birds all over the place. (For those of you who know me well, as long as the birds and I are separated by windows and walls, I can deal with them.) They jump around on my deck, they chirp in the trees outside my windows.

When this development was being built, the squirrel population must have died out or moved elsewhere. I have yet to see a squirrel here. I can’t say I really miss them (I know how they drive my bird-feeding and tomato-growing relatives to distraction), but I think that when I do see a squirrel in the neighborhood, it will be a sign that the landscape really is back to normal.

All the Single Ladies

I had the privilege of attending a conference this weekend featuring three dynamic women teaching from the Bible. These women are among the greatest voices of our generation and they drew a crowd of over 11,000 women to my hometown arena (note to the Florida Marlins: you might get bigger crowds if you sign these ladies). The teaching was first-class and I am so thankful to have been there.

To close the conference, all three speakers took the stage for an informal question and answer session. The first 20 minutes or so were devoted to encouraging wives and mothers. It got raucous in the arena as jokes about sex and breast pumps flew (jokes flew, not the actual pumps). There is nothing like being a single girl in an auditorium full of women who are shouting “Amen!” when someone is making a joke about not wanting to have sex at the end of a long day. What immediately followed that outburst was, “Let’s encourage our single sisters.” So after 20 minutes of feeling like an outsider I was really excited to hear what these three gifted, godly women were going to say about my situation.

Let’s just say I turned to the woman beside me and said, “If I had nickel…” All the biblical knowledge on that stage and the best they could do for the single sisters was, “Enjoy your singleness. Serve Jesus.” There is nothing wrong with this teaching; it’s pretty much a paraphrase of God’s inspired word to Paul in 1 Corinthians. But it deflated me nonetheless.

Enjoy your singleness (which is always accompanied by the suggestion to go to Europe) and serve Jesus is advice you give to freshly-minted single people. Once you’ve been single for a few years and you’ve got a few stamps in your passport, you need deeper encouragement.

If I had been on that stage today, here are some things I would have shared with my single sisters. At different times during my single season, each of these lessons has taken its turn being most important. Maybe some day I’ll put some meat on the bones, but for now they are bullets…

--You don’t have to keep your desires a secret—not from your married friends, not from your single friends, and certainly not from your God. Desiring marriage doesn’t make you weak (although typing that sentence makes me a little shaky…)
--Marriage does not mean you’ve arrived and can finally start your life. First of all, no one ever arrives in this life. Second of all, your life started a long time ago. Do something with it (have you ever been to Prague?).
--You don’t have to be a missionary!
--The girl who has everything you want has hurts, disappointments, and unmet desires of her own. Don’t avoid her.
--No one deserves blessings from God. You can’t earn them for yourself and you’ve got no business criticizing the girls who are getting them.
--Be careful where you put your hope. It’s easy to put your eggs in the wrong guy’s basket. There’s only One who won’t disappoint you.
--You know the girl who says, “You just need to be content. As soon as I was content with being single I met Bob.”? Hit that girl—someone needs to stop her. Contentment is not the secret entrance to the next season of your life. It’s just a nice place to be. If you find yourself there, enjoy it!
--Serve Jesus. Ugh! I can’t believe I’m agreeing! When that advice is given as a spiritual pat on the head it really bugs me, but the reality is, the best way to be in fellowship in the body of Christ is to get involved! Very few married people are inclined to reach out to single sisters—unless they get to know you first. And how do they get to know you? From the way you serve.

Leave it to me to experience six hours of amazing biblical teaching and then walk away fired-up by a five-minute afterthought. But if being fired-up about singleness (yet again) gets me crying out to God and committing my future to Him (yet again), then so be it!