Things I Love

I love flipflops.
I love "Everybody Loves Raymond" reruns on TBS. Is marriage really like that? I'm learning a lot.
I love warm chocolate chip cookies--but doesn't everybody?
I love Billy Joel! Only I didn't know it until a few weeks ago. Have you heard "The Entertainer"? There's about 20 seconds of absolutely brilliant piano-playing in that song.
I love coke floats with chocolate ice cream.
I love being near water--any kind. The ocean, lakes, that river thing at Palmetto County Park (what exactly is that, by the way?)...
I love brownies.
I love Appletizer soda--made only in England, apparently. Next to that, sparkling apple or grape juice. Oh yes.
I love watching the Academy Awards. Seriously.
I love pretty much anything my mom cooks, but especially sweet potato biscuits.
I'm growing increasingly affectionate toward club soda with lime...
I love Animaniacs...especially their many-worded songs and the cartoons with the Jerry Lewis character. Froinlaven!
Speaking of which, I love Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin comedy routines.
I love the underdogs in movies--the supporting character who usually gets killed halfway through the movie. And then I cry.
I love hearing my band do an impromptu jam...and I love it even more when I can play along with them.
I love Stevie Wonder.
I love playing piano on special songs at church, like when we do Billy Joel or James Taylor. Makes me feel like a real piano player.
I love playing classical music. Makes me feel like a real pianist (which, in my terminology, is different from a piano player).
I love hearing orchestral music, and I love playing it on my oboe, although it's been a very long time.
I love jazz drummers.
I love the cavemen Geico commercials.
I love the first few seasons of the West Wing...because I love Josh Lyman.
I love it when someone says something funny that catches me so off-guard that I laugh until I cry and can't breathe.
I love Paul Simon.
I love Mr. Burns.
I love canasta. (card game)
I love going to Chapel Hill, NC, and doing nothing but sitting at Grandpa's house with my family. Sometimes we play cards (gin rummi). Sometimes I play with my cousins. Sometimes we watch professional poker tournaments on ESPN. It's all good.
I love DisneyWorld!
I LOVE having my back and arms scratched--or "tickled," rather.
I love this one pair of jeans I got as a hand-me-down from my younger (but much taller) cousin.
I love thinking about when I'm going to get married, although sometimes it bugs me.
I love re-reading Jane Austen novels.
I love going to the movies.
I love reading movie reviews on Focus on the Family.
I love scrapbooking, although now I'm so out of the habit that I'm a few years of pictures behind and overwhelmed at the idea of trying to catch up. So I've pretty much given it up. But I do enjoy it.
I love cheese.
I love going to sleep...which is what I'm going to do now.

If I had a rock band

One of my favorite things to do is think of names for my imaginary future rock band. Usually these names are created when I hear something in a random conversation...Here are some such names.

ANGRY CANDY

donkeypants

Sticky Wicket

OR

The Sticky Wickets

And my personal favorite,

Lumbar of Dawn.

So...what do you think? I had some other really good ones, but I can't remember them. I should probably carry around a notebook so I can keep a record. Seriously, one of these is going to catch on. If "The Smashing Pumpkins" can sell, surely there's a future for "Angry Candy". Contact me for royalty information--I'm sure we can work something out.

The Mountain

I wrote a song once when a good friend of mine left for Europe for an undertermined amount of time (turned out to only be about 3 weeks, but could have easily been 6 months if things had worked out). Now she's going to Slovakia for a full year as a missionary...

I have two other friends (actually, more like 15) moving to Charlotte, NC, this week to start a church. It saddens me that they won't be living near me anymore, but I know God's got amazing things in store. And besides, 3 hours is not that far (certainly not as far as Slovakia. I mean, come on!). But it's still hard to see friends take a different path from you, even if you can clearly see God's hand in all of it...

Well, back to that song. I'm just going to share a brief part of it, because it's really kind of melodramatic, even if it is BRILLIANT musically. ;)

Here it is, and this goes out to all my friends following God's direction in their lives:

"Every day it's been a joy just to know you
Your kindness has touched my heart
And I would do anything for you
But I don't know where to start

So keep me in your heart, 'cause you're always in mine
And keep me in your prayers, as I carry you to the Father
I can't wait for the day when you spread your wings and fly
When you find out what's on the other side
Of the Mountain

God's grace cover you everywhere and
God's peace guard your precious heart
And keep you right where you belong"

The Mountain! Isn't that exciting? Climbing the heights that God has called you to...I know God has called me to certain heights as well--although probably by a different path than yours--but I think eventually we'll join paths on the other side of that mountain.

"Just spread your wings and fly
'Cause you'll see me up on the other side
Yeah you'll find me up on the other side
Of the Mountain"

God's calling you. God's calling me. And it's all for one purpose: to build the Kingdom of God. Sisters and brothers in Christ, I commend you for following His voice; for taking up your crosses; for trusting in our Creator that His plans for you are good and worth giving everything you held as secure for a life where all you can do is grab on to His hand and hold on. Your courage and examples are an inspiration to me.

Much love.

Pics from the world's greatest vacation...

So here we have the Molter family (very top). This would be my father's extended family. There's Grandpa in the middle there, my 7 aunts and uncles, their spouses, and 20 or so grandkids (just below the very top). Below, you have the cutest two-year-old the world has ever seen (besides my nephew Aidan, of course, who is only 4 days younger than this boy). His name is Spencer, and his favorite game involves running full speed into a pillow that I hold in front of me. If any of y'all don't think you could spend an entire week with your extended family, you need to come to Thanksgiving in Chapel Hill with me. More on this later!!

The Candy Corn Story

Is anybody actually reading this thing? I guess we'll find out...

Let's go back to my junior year of college. One day--I think it was a Tuesday--I was sitting in English class, zoning off as usual. There was something special about this day, though, because I was enjoying some candy corn that my dad had bought for me the night before. I don't eat candy corn much, so this was a treat. And because I don't eat candy corn much, I was not familiar with what stale candy corn tastes like. It's hard and chewy, unlike the fresh kind, which is soft and dissolves pretty easily (I am now quite knowledgeable about this subject). Well anyway, there I am, practically crunching on candy corn, and I take a sip of water. Then I choke on the water. (This is NOT out of the ordinary for me...)

Well, now I'm embarrassed because I've just choked on water in front of thirty people (CSU is a very small school). So I'm recovering myself as quietly as possible when I notice that there's an uncomfortable sensation in my nose. It felt like one side of my nose was pinched--but not in my nostril. Up in my sinuses. And I literally thought to myself, "I have a piece of candy corn lodged in my nasal passage."

My first thought was to go to the bathroom and see if I could dislodge it by blowing my nose. No good. Meanwhile, that side of my nose started to run and my sinuses really started to hurt. But what could I do? So I went through my day, delivered a monologue in class, ran errands and then thought, "Well, maybe if I use some nasal spray, it'll open up my sinuses and the piece of candy corn will just fall out."

So I go to the Publix pharmacy. But I figured maybe I should ask a professional to see if my instincts were correct, so I went to the ladies at the pharmacy and proceeded to tell them the story. They looked at me like I was nuts. Apparently saying "I've got a piece of candy corn lodged in my nasal passage" indicates that I have physically shoved it up my nose.

Well, the pleasant pharmacy people told me that, no, I musn't use nasal spray, because that would push the candy further up my sinuses and cause an infection. And, they said, the candy will NOT dissolve in my sinuses (this is important info for later). They said I do not have the enzymes in my nose that are needed to dissolve things. "So you'd better go to the emergency room!" they said. Yeah, right.

So then my dad suggested that I visit the local family physician, whom I had never seen before. I rolled in at 4:45, just as the receptionist was locking the door. I rushed to the door and began to explain the situation, and she, seeing my age and the fact that I wasn't joking about what I had done, burst out laughing. She was almost at the point of tears by the time she put the key back in the door to go call the doctor. She gets on the phone with him and says, "There's a girl here who---BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!" She finally communicated that there was "a girl" who had "got candy corn stuck up her nose", and the doctor turned around from his trip home to come look at me. (By the way, kudos to Dr. Ewens. A very good sport.)

The doctor arrives and sees the two of us (the only ones there) standing at the receptionist desk. He greets me and then looks around, saying "Where's the child with candy corn stuck up her nose?" "That'd be me," I said. The laughter commenced once again.

He takes me back to the examination room, where he proceeds to shove that pointy flash-light nose thing up my nose, of course assuming that I had SHOVED THE CANDY UP MY NOSE. I had to explain again how it actually happened. Then, after we vetoed an unnecessary, uncomfortable, and ridiculous procedure he has had to do on a few kids in similar situations, he said, "Well, just go get some nasal spray. It'll either fall out or dissolve. You have enzymes in your sinuses that will dissolve things anyway."

Somebody needs to talk to those pharmacists.

So I bought some nasal spray, used it, and promptly got a cold. The candy corn went away within 18 hours or so.

And that is the candy corn story. If you would like verification, email Todd. ;)
What's the moral? Who knows. Just please, don't give me stale candy. My body doesn't know what to do with it.

Psalm 29, part one....

I could write at least 3 blogs on this Psalm, and I probably will, but I want to take a minute to specifically encourage some of you who are in the waters of life. What do I mean by "the waters"? (No cheating, Mac.)

Think of some Bible stories that involve the ocean. Then think of the circumstances surrounding these stories. For instance, let's look at Moses and the Red Sea. The Israelites are running for their lives, and all of the sudden they come to this ocean. Then they turn around and see an army of Egyptians coming to kill them. And we think a lot of paperwork is stressful...But then Moses obeys God's voice, raises his staff and parts the sea. Then there's Jonah on the boat with the sailors. Everything's going great, and then this horrible storm comes up. Apparently, the only solution is to throw Jonah into the water, and then God calms the storm. And then there's Jesus in the boat with the disciples, and another storm rages, and Jesus says, "Peace, be still." And the storm quiets down...

So what's the common denominator?

Check out Psalm 29:3--"The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters."

The voice of the Lord is over the waters. In each of these stories, when everyone is surrounded and death seems imminent, the solution-the salvation-is the same. This truth is proved over and over...

So where are you right now? Are you in the waters of life? Are you surrounded by stress, fatigue, sickness, or are you just in an inexplicably BAD situation? I can tell you this from experience--the voice of the Lord is over it. He knows about it. He's in control of it. He's got a plan for it.

If you get a chance, read the rest of this Psalm. It illustrates the power of God's voice over all of creation...I've always found it really encouraging in times of confusion, stress, or sorrow.

Take heart, dear hearts! "The Lord sits enthroned over the flood" (v. 10).

My thesis on the oaks and cedars to come...