My First Live Nativity
My new church, New Harmony Baptist in the thriving metropolis of Paris, Tennessee (no kidding, they actually have a Wal-Mart!), does a Live Nativity every Christmas. December 4-7 were the dates this year, and Rick, Charis and myself had the privilege of getting broken in well. Josh had to work, and Melody was still performing with the Renaissance Choir at Bethel College, so they missed all the fun. We had over 1,420 drive through this year! What an awesome experience.
However, to best sum up my induction, I came up with a top ten list and thought I might share it with the rest of you. So here goes...
Top Ten Things I Learned from Participating in Live Nativity:
10. The true meaning of "Arctic Air"
9. Angels are waaaaaaaay under-rated
8. Wisemen are not easily distracted (Hey! Wise men rock! Yeah!)
7. The true meaning of mutilation via Kenny Louden's knife and a couple of helpless ducks
6. Speaking of ducks...#6 on my list was learning they have tongues
5. When your feet are cold, you don't care whose socks you wear
4. Footwarmers can be used in may creative ways...and are definitely not just for feet
3. The amazing human body will gladly sacrifice blood flow to lesser parts in order to prevent the paralyzation of more important parts
2. If you are to survive, you forget about slim appearances and try to layer as thick as possible...yet still keep the ability to breathe...this, I have learned, is an art
1. It is possible to be completely miserable and completely blessed at the same time...I don't know how to explain that so I guess that's why it deserves the #1 spot.
The Move to Paris
It has taken me forever...well, at least six months...to finally get an update on here about the move. The website has not been a priority as our lives have been turned upside down in the process of all this has required from us. This move was not something we were looking for or prayed for, but the persistences of a sweet lady, Sandy Clary, one weekend on a Lay Renewal in Mississippi brought about a life-changing event for the 6 lives dwelling in the Murrell household.
Without going into great detail, last November, Hew Harmony Baptist Church contacted us about Rick coming to Paris, Tennessee to be their Minister of Worship. It was Melody's senior year in high school, Josh's junior year, and we lived in the house we had built ourselves during our 14 1/2 years at Red Bay, Alabama...modern day Mayberry. Rick's first reply was "no", even though we loved the church, the pastor and his wife, and the committee, the odds just seemed insurmountable. It was hard to imagine that this would be a good move. Lrt's just say that after two miserable months, we realized that "no" had been the wrong answer. Rick called up Bro. Jeff Hardy, the pastor, and asked if a reconsideration was possible. The committee had not even met since the "no," feeling convinced that Rick was their man after searching through over one hundred resumes'.
The journey here, especially for our older two children, was rough and emotional. Melody, 18, was to begin college at University of North Alabama in the fall, and Josh, 17 in July, would be starting his senior year. There were many protests and attempts at alternate plans on their parts, but we stood firm and told them that God was doing this as much for them as for us. Honestly, it was hard for us to believe that, but we simply had to trust God with that as well as with selling our house.
After the move the first week of June to Paris, we spent the summer in a whirlwind trying to play catch-up with the rest of the church. And this church has been marvelous! What a blessing to be a part of this family. It was hard to leave Red Bay and all that we had there, including our church family, but New Harmony embraced with open arms and patiently helped us to fit in.
Skipping to the good stuff, no, the house has yet to sell, but God has taught us some incredible things about how to live by faith again. No, Melody did not go to UNA, but instead was offered a music and academic scholarship to Bethel College, just 21 miles from our house in McKenzie, TN, and Josh has found his niche at Henry County High School, playing in the band, the Henry County youth orchestra, and also as a part of the youth praise band at the church. I could go on and on about this, but let's suffice it to say that God did some major work there that was nothing short of miraculous.
Charis, you ask? Please...the child acclimates to anything. After her first visit here she had a group of friends waiting to invite her into their world. There have been more "spend the nights" since she's been here than put together prior.
As the months progress, I'm sure you'll hear much more about the New Harmony saga, but for now just be impressed that I have actually updated my site!
MID LIFE PANIC
It all started, who knows, maybe last year, maybe when I turned 40, or maybe
it was all just a result of yesterday. Asked to play and sing for a funeral
yesterday afternoon, I begin the whole routine of getting really "snazzy"
for the event. This is something I only do once a week...Sunday morning
church. It was probably 1:00 in the afternoon when I began the process,
completely out of the ordinary, and perhaps that was the real catalyst.
Whatever it was, it hit me strong. "I look like I just stepped out of the
70's," I thought to myself, "and no matter what I do with this hair, it is
merely a different version of the Charlie's Angels look." I brushed out and
re-rolled...wet down and blowed with a brush...then just tried running my
hands over the whole thing (not a good result at all). I was running out of
time, so I just gave up and pretended I was Farrah Fawcett, only
fatter...and shorter...and with a lot more gray hair.
I got dressed in some of the new duds I forced myself to buy this spring in
an effort to "update" my clothes. I've worn the same ones for the past ten
years because I just KNEW that one day I would lose all this weight and
could "justify" spending money on a new wardrobe. I gave up on the weight
around the end of April, and decided to buy some clothes that would fit me
only un-pregnant. No, I have no intention of having any more babies, but
those clothes sure were comfortable. Having clothes that actually "fit" now
has been an adjustment in itself, but yesterday, with 100 degree weather,
panty-hose (something else I haven't worn in 20 years, but decided it was
time to cover up the veins in the legs), and the whole hair thing, I got
downright and indignantly depressed. "I'm only 43," I mourned as I stared
in the mirror last night beneath the brand new halogen bulb Rick thought
would add a nice flair to the bathroom. It added something, all right:
several brighter shades of gray to my hair. In fact, the light was so
bright, that even the brown was looking gray. And, of course, add to this
the fact that my hair is still looking "feathered" no matter how odd I try
to brush it, and I was really close to a breakdown.
When I awoke this morning, I had a resolve for change...big change. My
hairdresser, who normally does not work Saturdays, happened to be in
today...all by herself. I called her up and said I needed some drastic
changes, I wanted to look modern, and I was indeed sick of the 70's. She
put me down for 12:30. When I went in, it was just me and she. We glanced
through magazines, (she mentioned how much she liked my book and couldn't
wait for the sequel, carefully setting me at ease for the changes to come),
and she pointed out some great, very NEW looks. I finally just said, "Go
for it. Do anything you want."
When I left the chair and the shop, I didn't feel 10 years younger, but I
felt like I was "wearing my age well"...if that makes any sense. It was
new, it was modern, and there wasn't a "feathered bang" on the whole head.
(I would have been a thug on Charlie's Angels with this cut 30 years ago.)
I put on my sunglasses, and the word "cool" suddenly took on a completely
altered meaning. But I wasn't finished. I went down to CVS, without
stopping to think...and did the unthinkable...for me, that is. I bought a
package of haircolor. Some of you are thinking, "What's the big deal? I
did that years ago!" Well...I didn't do it years ago. I've tried to age
and gray gracefully...tried to pretend it was no big deal. But the evidence
is all there...plain as day. I am 43, I do not want to look like I did when
I was 16, and I do not want to pretend that my gray just makes me
look...uh...dignified. I want to look mature, yet stylish, aged, but not
flat out "old".
So, when I finish doing a very "mature" and "motherly thing" here (help Josh
make his room look less like a nuclear disaster area), I am going to "wash
that gray right out of my hair." Why am I writing this? Basically I am
wondering if something inside snapped somewhere and this is only the
beginning...like maybe tomorrow I'm going to take a chainsaw to the north
end of the house and start expanding...or if others have experienced varying
degrees of this at some time or another. It seems scary on one end, yet
daring on the other. If I were a man, they would call this a mid-life
crisis. What do you call it when you're a woman? Reality, or pehaps just
good "common sense"?
OBSERVATIONS IN A BOY'S ROOM
Several of you suggested I needed to put this on my website...so here it is. These were some observations I made after helping my 15-year-old son, Josh, "really" clean his room this past month. It had been probably two years since I had actually insisted the room be "really" cleaned. With much protest that he "couldn't do it alone," I obliged and helped him dig it out. Thus...my observations:
Top ten things I learned from helping Josh "really" clean his room today.
10. For guys, the top of the dresser is for storing clean, folded clothes.
9. The dresser drawers are for stashing "stuff" when you've been told to clean your room.
8. Some forms of mold are actually red.
7. When I have company and can't find a complete matching set of dishes or glasses, I now know where to look.
6. Fireworks are not actually meant for lighting and viewing. They are to be disassembled, with the powder being collected and saved in case of a nuclear holocaust and the need arises to protect the women and children...or to melt plastic army men, whichever seems most important at the moment.
5. A made bed is a sign of something unnatural in a 15 year old guy's life.
4. Wires (from speakers, CD players, guitars, amps, lamps, etc...) are actually a form of decoration and should be draped, drug, and laid out across the entire room with no particular attention to symmetry.
3. Clean is an extremely subjective term.
2. No matter how hard you try, you just can't vacuum up a BB without taking the end off the hose and sticking it right on top.
1. Anything normally considered trash (empty lotion bottles, empty cans, ripped out magazine pages, wrappers, old tests, etc...) are obviously collector's items and will be worth great money someday on e-bay because such a great variety have been saved and stuffed into every imaginable crook and cranny available rather than thrown into the garbage...just a few feet away.