Musings of a Museum Docent

I have the wonderful job of working at a History museum. I absolutely adore my job and when needed, I perform tours of the outside historic buildings at the museum. I get to interact with wonderful people not only from around the country, but from around the globe. We recently even had a real-life Bavarian prince and princess come through our doors! So, from day-to-day I never know what to expect. Like one day, I gave a tour to a view sweet couple from North Carolina. All was well until we headed outside. The nice gentleman then proceeds to pull out a pair of Speedo swimming goggles. And yes, he put them on. And wore them the entire duration of our 40 minute tour. The purpose of said goggles was to keep the pollen out of his eyes. So it took all I could do to talk to this guy without laughing. The goggles just enlarged his eyes and that was all I could focus on! It was the weirdest tour I ever gave.

My most recent funny story happened just this past week. We had a "Forever Young" group from a church come in to tour the museum. There were about 20 in the group so me and our curator split them up. I take my group outside and everything is going just fine. We leave one building and start making our way to the next. As we pass the outhouse, I made a joke. I asked if anyone needed a bathroom break. Of course everyone laughs and we move on. I normally use that joke on every tour I give, and it never causes any problems until this day. So, I have my group in our Victorian cottage and I'm talking. I look outside and notice that one of the men from my group is outside wandering around. Then I watch in disbelief as he heads to the outhouse. He goes in and closes the door. I couldn't believe it! I was thinking surely he's not doing what I think he is. The outhouse is a fake. There is no hole dug into the ground to make it a true-blue outhouse. Shortly, the gentleman emerges from the outhouse and rejoins our group. No one at the museum has been brave enough to go check out the situation in the outhouse. Note to self: don't tell the bathroom-break-at-the-outhouse joke anymore!!

I have several more stories similar to some of these that just make you scratch your head. These are just two adventures in the life of a Museum docent!

What I'm Digging

I'm loving these earrings. They are from Kendra Scott Jewelry. I heart them and considering making these pups mine someday soon.

I am also loving all of these monogrammed straw tumblers. I am planning on hitting up Loli's downtown and ordering one of these to take to work everyday.

And what Southern lady could resist personalized stationery? And a cute dachshund design to boot? Love it. I found this on Etsy. It also comes in blue.

I also found these on Etsy. I think they would be super cute hanging in my office. And a good reminder to look at everyday.

Anyways, these are just a few things that I have found that I thought were cute while I am goofing off at work, shopping on the internet. Ha ha!

 

Happy Mother's Day

This post is a day late, but better late than never,right? Since it's Mother's Day, I thought I would post some pictures of my babies that I get to be a mother to. They are so precious to me and I love every second I get to spend with them. Yesterday was a little sad because it would have been my first official Mother's Day as a real mom. But at the same time, I know that God has bigger and better blessings down the road for me. He has a plan for my life. I just need to do my part and be obedient to Him and follow wherever He leads. So in the mean time, I will enjoy being a mother to these precious three dogs. Mommy loves you, Brutus, Oscar, and JR!!

And speaking of mothers, I have to admit that I have the best mother of my own. She is an amazing woman. She always puts everyone else above her own needs and takes care of all of us first. I could not have chosen a better mom. God truly blessed me with her as a mother.

Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.  ~ Proverbs 31:28-31

Yes, my mother is worth far more than rubies. Happy Mother's Day, Mimi!

Did that just happen?!?!?

This is where I spent Saturday. On the beautiful Chipola River. I may be a little biased, being a Calhoun County girl and all, but the Chipola is the prettiest river to me. These pictures were taken down the river at a slough known as Cotton Lake.  

It was a gorgeous day and it felt great to be out on the river enjoying all the surrounding beauty. It was also great because I got to spend the day with one of my most favorite people in the world, my brother Brad. He is super good to me and I sort of planned his day for him. I basically let him know on Friday that he was taking me fishing, whether he knew it or not! But he was a good sport and took his baby sister out on the river.

He got a little annoyed at all my picture taking. Since he was my only subject, he got the brunt of everything. I took a lot of really close up shots, but I doubt he will appreciate me posting those. Above is proof that he actually caught a fish. I caught the majority of the fish. And that was only because I had the best rod and reel available on the market today. Only a few lucky people are allowed to own such a special fishing pole.

Ok, so I got bored and decided to fish with my nephew's fishing pole. But I have to say, Spiderman didn't disappoint! And please excuse the mess that is me. No makeup, didn't fix my hair. It was obviously skank it up day. I was looking beautiful, let me tell ya! Ha Ha!

I have a few action shots of me trying to get this dumb fish off the hook. Spiderman didn't want to release his victim!

Finally! Success! It was a fairly uneventful day. We saw a few folks on the river that we knew and waved to, but nothing too exciting. That is until it was almost time to go home. We weren't having any luck with crickets or worms, so we broke out the Bitsy Minnow lures. Everything was going smoothly until I decided to get hung up and yank the line up. I got the lure unhooked from the limb, however I caught something much bigger.

Yep. I caught myself with a treble hook. Talk about hurting. But that's not the best part of the story. I am such a baby when it comes to hurting myself. I will pass out from a simple paper cut if I think about it enough. So of course, after this all happened and I realized that it wasn't going to simply just come out, I started to get worked up. I told Brad as I was trying to get to the side of the boat to lean out, "I'm about to throw up or pass out one." Turns out, I passed out. Yes, I passed out and proceeded to hit my forehead on the side of the boat. Needless to say, I had quite the goose-egg and my head is still sore even today! Leave it to me to do something so stupid. After I woke up and found my brother still fishing, guess he was just waiting for me to finally come to, I made him pack it up and take me home. Of course, I begged him to take me to the hospital, because I just knew it was that bad. (I can be a little dramatic, ok?) He assured me that he could get it out. Of course, I had to push the hook all the way through my skin, so that the barb could be cut off. That was fun, let me tell you. We finally got home and Brad was able to cut the hook out with a pair of guitar string pliers. So, that crisis was then over. But I do now have a nice souvenir that Brad made me.

My little lure is now attached to my key chain to remind me of that traumatic episode!

Even if I had a little accident, it was still great to be at home for the weekend. It's always nice to be reminded who you are and where you come from. It's always nice to go home!

A Single Blade of Grass

Every spring, countless people burn off their yards. They light the grass on fire and let the fire go. The purpose of this is to clean the yard of anything that shouldn't be there, especially invasive weeds. Although by doing this, the yard is left a charred, black ugly mess for weeks. However, slowly but surely, tiny blades of a vibrant green grass start to emerge from the ashes. Soon, the yard is a luscious patch of beautiful green pasture. Our lives are like those yards. We can cut the grass, pull up the weeds, and fertilize the soil. No matter how much we try, there are still patches in the yard where grass refuses to grow. And no matter how many times we pull up the weeds, they keep returning. Sometimes those weeds return in more numerous numbers and bigger than before. We can try on our own to make our yards beautiful, but sometimes it takes a more drastic measure. A yard cleaning so thorough that only God can do the weeding. The Bible assures us that we will all be tested by fire, so we can be refined like gold. Right now, your life may be in flames, still burning and destroying everything beautiful in sight. Or your life could be what remains after the fire sweeps through your life- a big, ugly, black, charred wasteland. Or your life could be in the rebirth of growth, with blades of grass springing forth from the ashes making way for a glorious green field of beauty.


Right now, I can honestly say that I have been through the burning flames. Nothing in my world has been left untouched by the scorching fire. My life has been a wasteland of ashes, where everything looked bleak, hopeless, and plain ugly. However, through God's grace and mercy, my life is now springing forth with new growth. A beauty so abundant that it can't be measured. It started with just a blade popping up here and there, but in time, more and more blades continue to grow and now my lawn is beginning to look even more beautiful than before. All I can attest to is that the new growth in my life has been a creation that only God Himself could bring about. He is the only one who can bring forth beauty from ashes.

Sometimes God allows pain and suffering into our lives for a reason. For a greater purpose that only He can see. Rest assured that God will never tempt us, but sometimes like in the story of Job, He will allow Satan to tempt us. He allows this because He wants our faith to grow and to teach us a few lessons along the way. Sometimes it takes a good run-in with the flames of hell to help set our faith on fire! When life is going well and you are happy and things seem to be going your way, God gets pushed aside. Yeah, we may take Him off the shelf on Sunday and for a quick reading of a chapter of Scripture at night and a hurried prayer over the dinner table. But we never fully need to depend on Him, because we are walking around on our own strength. I was that person. I had everything a girl could want. Things were going great. However, all of that changed in an instant and I suddenly found myself thrown into the fiery flames and desperately seeking a way to extinguish them. I prayed to God for Him to put the fire out in my life that was consuming everything that I loved. But He didn’t. God knew that everything in my life needed to be burned to the ground. He needed to remove those things in my life that I thought I needed to exist and be happy; to take away the things that I depended on for security. I seriously believed in the midst of the flames that I would surely be burned and scarred so severely that I wouldn’t get out alive. I’m beginning to realize that I was rescued and made it out with nothing more than maybe smoke inhalation! Praise God!! The only thing that God wants from us is our love. He wants us to depend on Him for everything. To praise Him for our blessings and to seek Him in times of trouble. He wants to be our everything. If we allow Him to be our everything, we can experience a joy and a love so profound, that we realize that love and joy from other sources can’t even compare to the unfailing love of the Father and the Son. In this time of great trial, I have had to lean on Christ as I have never had to lean on Him before in my life. He finally brought me to my knees and broke me of my pride and arrogance thinking that I could take care of myself. I had weeds growing in my heart and in my life that I didn’t even realize had invaded. Thank goodness God is the great Gardener and could pluck those weeds out and then cultivate the soil of my heart to make it ready to receive the seeds that He wanted planted instead. It has been a long learning process and He still has things to teach me that I need to learn. Those seeds He planted are beginning to sprout. I no longer need to wade through the ashes looking for charred remains of my previous life. God has laid the foundation of a promise for a brand new life, one even better than the one I had previously. God has taught me that I am here on this Earth to love Him. To serve Him. To bring glory to Him. God gave us a free will because He wants us to choose Him willingly. He wants us to love him with everything within us. He wants our faith to grow!! Yes, there are times that I am like doubting Thomas, but instead of asking to see the nail scars on His hands or the wound in His side, I have to ask God to help me believe in my faith. To believe that He holds my future in the palm of His hands and that He makes things perfect in His own time. God has had to beat patience into my heart over and over. To trust in Him fully and faithfully. Slowly but surely, my blades of faith are peaking up through those black ashes.

The reason why I am sharing all of this is to shed some light on the truth. God has revealed Himself to me more clearly than I have ever seen Him before. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves when times of trials head our way, we should look at that time to grow some deep roots with God. To see our sufferings as blessings because through suffering our endurance and strength in Him grows! And fires in our life help get us running in His direction for safety and refuge. So if you are in the midst of some kind of trouble in your life-lift it up to God in prayer. Let Him begin to put out those flames in your life. God will supply the all the water you need, if you will hold the hose and point it in the right direction! Let Him remove in your life what needs to be gone. Obediently follow Him and let Him speak to your heart and lead you in the right direction. And once you have sifted through the ashes, let the re-growth begin! I promise you, I have been through the toughest time in my life and it’s still not over; but I have a renewed strength and gladness in my heart that I could never have imagined was possible. God is faithful. Do you feel like something is missing in your life? God can fulfill it. Not feeling loved? God has more love than you can imagine! Not feeling appreciated? God considers you precious in His sight! Not feeling joy? God can turn your weeping into dancing! Trying to fill that void in your heart with people or things? God’s the only thing that will make you feel complete! I just had to share with you some of the things that are happening in my life right now. I want to testify at how great my God is and the miracles he can perform in your life. He is the great I AM. You need a healer? He’s the great physician. You hungry for a fulfilling life? He’s the bread of life. Whatever need you have, he is the great I AM _____ (fill in the blank). Apparently I needed a good yard man, thank goodness God said to me I AM He. My yard needed a good overhaul, one blade of grass at a time. What about yours?

I'm Still Here...

It has been a while since I have posted anything. Life has been super hectic here lately, so I just haven't taken the time to blog. But I do want to leave you with a quick little something. Another blogger that I read posted the lyrics to the song "Blessings" by Laura Story. I have to say this song is great. It really speaks to how great God is. That while we are his children, we are not promised all sunshine and happy days. That sometimes He allows trials to come into our lives to turn our hearts and minds to Him. To remind us what is really important in this life, and surprise, surprise...it's not us! It's our Father who is Holy above all else!

Anyways, here is the youtube video and below are the lyrics.

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win

We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Credits :
songwriters: story, laura mixon
© new spring publishing;new spring publishing
lyrics from: http://www.xtralyrics.com/

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Paul had been given a thorn in his side, a messenger of Satan to torment him when this verse takes place. Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove his suffering, to remove that thorn from his side. And you see the answer that the Lord gave him. Sometimes it helps to remember that Jesus' grace is sufficient for us all. That He is all that we need while we wait for Him to remove the thorns out of our lives.

And speaking of thorns in our flesh...Happy TAX DAY everyone!! {enter sarcasm here}

And They Call it Puppy Love

 

Image from here

Happy Valentine's Day from the Dapper Dachshunds!