Mmmm..I like stuffed chard leaves.

Maybe I'm on the verge of something, something
Maybe it's a gradual uncovering.
Maybe it's somewhere in between
Maybe things are never what they seem

There's a difference between what I do
and who I am
There's a lot that my body can't do
that my mind can comprehend
So who am I?
Where am I found?
What am I capable of
in this town?

Razor blades and make-up
are getting me in trouble today
Rainy days won't wake up
unless you've got something to say
But in the eyes of children
there is a strength that teaches to pray

I'm a very specific kind of woman
I need a very specific kind of man
Someone strong enough for me to lean on
Someone who will take me by the hand
before it's too late

I'm a very specific kind of woman
I need a very specific kind of man
And if I never find the one my heart adores
I'll be grateful for what I have
I have every Spiritual blessing in Christ
I have a chance to really live my life


What in the world was all that? Just a bunch of
journal / song snippets from the past week or so.
It's a look inside my brain and some of the things
that run around upstairs while the world is visiting
downstairs. Sometimes I'm upstairs, sometimes
downstairs, but I'm always conscious of both.

There is a park near Wal-Mart where I can take
my Aztek and my lunch and have a happy break
hour, and that is sssssoooo nice!! The birds were
noisy and the sky was clear today.

My permanent retainer is poking me inside my
mouth! ouch. Need to get that fixed.

Abby is going to New York right now.

I had to kill a spider in the bathroom last night.

Hi, friend. Thanks for catching up on Lisa's Lawrence
world. You are nice and I like you. :-) Have a nice day.

I will be in Georgia for a short amount of time, to play in
Jim and Stephanie's wedding. Fun times.

Praise God, who has heard my prayer.

I have found a wonderful church called
Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
This morning the visiting speaker who
is a missionary in China I believe, gave
a Sermon on Samuel, whose name means
"God hears." It was Biblical, thought-
provoking, and well spoken, though not
flashy.

Afterwards, the lady who hired me at
Wal-Mart, who I had a sneaking suspicion
was a believer, came up behind me and
excitedly exclaimed "Hi Lisa!" Then she
introduced me around, and another sweet
lady gave me a tour of the church and told
me all about a great 20s and 30s group
that meets on Monday nights, and about
how Biblically based the church is.

This is a church I think I could belong to,
and gratefully so. Thank you, Lord!!

I had a wonderful Friday night and Saturday
with my dear mother, sister Mae and niece
Mary. They were my first visitors, and their
visit was such a blessing to me. It is great
to have family with whom you can talk openly
and honestly with, and pray, laugh, and even
sing with. I can't believe Mae had never
played Scattegories before. It was great fun.
Mom won, which isn't surprising. (And this
was despite all my creative efforts. Hey, I
think an Octopus hat must exist as an article
of clothing, somewhere! And Guacamole gone
bad really is something I am afraid of sometimes,
ya know, like when I've made some good Guac.
and it's getting old, but I don't want it to...I try)

Speaking of mom, I would ask any of you
who feel led to keep her in your prayers for
matters concerning her health, specifically
her heart. We're still not completely sure
how serious it is, but in two weeks she will
be undergoing some treatments and possibly
surgery to deal with some blockage in her heart.
This is a scary time for her, but she is placing
her full trust in God through this. I know it isn't
always easy for her though. Please pray for
peace and protection, and true strength for
whatever lies ahead.

Have a great Sunday. :-)

"Hey washboard girl!"
I kept walking, comment not registering.
"Hey...Spider Woman!"
Registers as the name on the back of my
TFC intramural Basketball T-shirt.
I turn around. Then it all clicks.

I went to this "Americana Music Academy
Saturday Jam" last Saturday, just to listen,
but ended up being recruited to play the
washboard along with the ensemble.
And then tonight at the "Signs of Life"
coffee house, on my way up to the Art
Gallery which I hadn't gotten around to
seeing yet, I am, for the first and likely
last time in my life referred to as
"washboard girl." What an unexpected
honor.

I love this town.

Also, working at Wal-Mart I think will be
OK.

I am taking one day - well, more like one
hour - at a time in this crazy new existence
I have been carving out for myself. I am
looking forward, forward, squinting my
eyes into the blinding light, but not
making any bold speculations about
anything. I can't see clearly beyond the two
feet below me that are happily trodding
along, trusting in the One who I trust
to command these roving feet.

Happy day to you.

Dance and sing, read and listen to books on
tape, pray, read the Word, pray, eat well,
do your best to make sense out of life, but
don't worry when your best attempts are so
depressing you just have to cry. That is my
advice to myself that I am trying to take.

Give up all control. Whatever you're holding
onto is just an illusion of control anyway.
Let go, let go, be free from the anxiousness
that eats at you when you're trying to feel
like you have power, that you matter, more
than you do or you ought. OK, Lisa? OK,
I'm trying. It's ok to have no control, no
power, to not matter. In fact, it is in realizing
this that I can be truly free. Is that corretct
thinking? Hmm...

I don't matter in and of myself. Christ living in
me...now that matters. Laying down my life for
the sake of others (oh, show me how), that matters.
Lord, help me. And help all of us to see you more
clearly every day, and enjoy you every day, in
everything we do.

Amen. Goodnight.

A new blog, a new life, a new start.

So far, some days I feel alive and hopeful, some days I feel
alone and unkown. But I've been told to expect to battle
lonliness for at least the first few months.

I miss you all. Yesterday I was thinking about people in my
past on and off all day, specifically Toccoa people like
Bethany, Kelley, Jamie, Jenny, Sarah and Kristin, Kims, etc.
I miss you, and hope you are all doing well. Forgive me if
I've been lax in contacting anybody reading this. I think life
will start to normalize in the next few weeks (well, I'm hoping).

I don't have a job yet, but I have some options. I'm trying to
decide between full-time at Wal-Mart (they offer good benefits
and flexibility) or some kind of part-time deal with this coffee
shop I just interviewed at and another part-time waitressing job,
or something like that. I'm hoping it will just kind of figure itself
out as I pursue all the options the best I know how. Please pray
for God's will to be done in my life.

God has been blessing my spirit in so many ways, even through
some tough moments lately. I know He is always with me, and
even when I'm so confused about which way to go, and even
when I feel like such a foolish child, I know deep down in my
soul that I am never alone.

Here is a Caedmon's Call song (from "In The Company of Angels"
CD) that helped me more than I can explain when it "randomly"
came up on my iTunes party shuffle while I was at a low point.

Laden With Guilt
words by Isaac Watts, music by Sandra McCracken

Laden with guilt and full of fears
I fly to Thee my Lord
And not a glimpse of hope appears
But in Thy written word
The volumes of my Father's grace
Does all my grief's assuage
Here I behold my Savior's face
In every page

This is the field where hidden lies
The pearl of price unkonwn
That merchant is divinely wise
Who makes the pearl His own
Here consecrated waters flow
To quench my thirst of sin
Here the fair tree of knowledge grows
No danger dwells within

This is the judge that ends the strife
Where wit and reason fail
My guide to everlasting life
Throughout this gloomy vale
O may Thy counsels, mighty God
My roving feet command
Nor I forsake the happy road
That leads to Thy right hand

I am so excited for all the lessons and experiences that
lie ahead! Year one in Lawrence, KS...begin!