i like to read...

i really like to read. well maybe it's just that i really like to learn! nerd alert! anyway when i was in college i longed for the day when i could be more focused in my learning. when i could just read one book at a time.

well college came and went and i am still reading multiple books all the time. oh well. the pic below is of just the books i am reading on my nightstand...

just a fun night in october...

so tonight i had some friends over to hang out with me and the roomies (minus todd, he sadly is out of town and had to miss the fun). the night started with this....

after an epic battle with the superheroes (yes we all sword fought and there were lasers and light sabers too), we got to work carving some pumpkins. and here was our result...

we still have 2 pumpkins left to carve. hopefully we will finish those out tomorrow. hope you are having a fun october!

[diabetes] the "sweet" story...

i am diabetic. 

i have type one, or insulin dependent, or juvenile diabetes (depending on what you want to call it).  this month, i will have had diabetes for 16 years.  it is just a part of my life, seems normal to me now.  it is hard to remember life before finger pricks, insulin pumps, carb counting, doctor's appointments and blood work. but is used to be different.

in october of 1994 there was a traumatic experience that literally would change my life forever.  i was in 8th grade and as active as ever. (i think i was leaving my awkward phase of life, but that still is debatable.)  i remember starting to get tired all the time, very easily.  which you know is anything but normal for this girl.  i would get in from softball practice and head to my bed to sleep.  i was thirsty all of the time, which of course meant i was going to the bathroom all of the time. i lost a lot of weight, fast, and i lost some hair.  i wasn't feeling right but we couldn't quite figure out what was wrong. we went to the doctor several times, but none of my symptoms were ever picked up on.

i don't really remember what happened over the following weeks (probably because i was so sick) but unfortunately, its something my parents will never forget.  so i asked my mom to write up what she remembers happening. after all she was coherent through it all.  so here is the story of my diagnosis...

"I made an appointment to take you to the doctor to remove several warts that had come up rather quickly.  Not much was made of them.  Dr. Payne froze them and we expected them to drop off.  However, they did not.  On Monday, October 24, 1994, I took you back in and they were a little baffled as to why they were not coming off.  You were not feeling very well and I let you stay home.  Later that evening you began to throw up.  It was intermittent but persistent.  I took you back to the doctor the next morning.  They gave you some meds and told me to give you All Sport to keep you hydrated.  Little did I know that would only make you worse. 

As the day went on you only became more lethargic and the vomiting did not get any better.  Late in the evening you became delusional.  I had taken a rest for a couple of hours and your dad was up,  You evidently went downstairs and talked to him about Mexican Wallpaper.  When your dad headed to bed the plan was to wake me to sit with you.  I was sitting in your bed with you when you began to talk about International bankers.  I knew something was not right.  I began to really pray.  Not sure how long that went on but around 1 AM I was on my knees at your bedside praying when I heard a voice tell me to go get your dad.  Your dad did not wake up well and I was like uh what but again I heard the voice.  I went immediately to get your dad and he woke up clear headed (and not grumpy). God thing!!  I went downstairs to call the doctor when your dad yelled that we needed to just take you.  In the minute or two since I left you your eyes had rolled into the back of your head, and your hands were drawn up.  I ran upstairs and as I got Jon up dad carried you to the car.  I was getting in the back seat with you when Jon said no mom please let me watch her.  He placed his head on your chest as you lay in his lap and he listened for your heartbeat the whole way to the hospital. 

At the hospital I jumped out of the car and ran in and asked for help.  When they came to the car you were alert again and talking.  It took some convincing that you were not ok.  Thankfully they took you back quickly and God blessed us with a nurse and doctor very familiar with diabetes. 

Your heart rate was racing and you began to act unusual again.  They asked me lots of questions when the nurse asked about diabetes.  She began trying to get blood out of you and none would come.  She immediately went to your big toe and managed to get a drop of blood from there.  Your blood sugar level was 680. 

They immediately began trying to get an IV in for the insulin drip but you were so dehydrated that your veins were collapsing.  Your organs were all close to failure.  We actually had to restrain you because when they were trying to do the IV because you were really wild.  I was letting you suck on a wash cloth because you were so thirsty and you actually tried to bite me. They had to put you in restraints after that one. 

After probably 10 attempts to get and IV in the nurse looked at  me and said we would lose you within the hour if they could not get a vein.  I just prayed out loud.  I asked God to spare your life but that if He was going to take you to not let you suffer anymore.  I told Him I knew you were His and I was letting go of my claim on you. 

It was at that moment that the needle slipped in and stayed put.  I guess I have known from that day that you were only on loan to me and that your life and heart were God’s.  Anyway, God gave us grace and allowed us to keep you.  You went into a deep, deep sleep almost comatose for about 16 hours.  When you were stable enough they moved you to ICU and kept you there for a couple of days.

When you awoke I had gone out to the waiting room to talk to Brad Nelson who was there to check on you.  They came and got me and when I went into the room the first thing you said to me was “I will never have babies”.  My heart sank.  We had watched Steel Magnolias that weekend before.  I promised you that we would do whatever it took to help you be healthy but that required you to do the same.  I told you that I felt God would allow you the desires of your heart and would not fail you.  I still believe that! 

 You were discharged too early because we wanted you transferred to Houston to a clinic there.  The doctor was an idiot but again God took care of you.  I remember being so scared.  For months I would go into your room at night and check on you several times. Even still every night before I close my eyes to sleep I pray God will watch over you and that He will let nothing happen to you,"

needless to say, i am still alive today and god has used diabetes to teach me many things. this thorn in my flesh has been used many times to give him glory and to build my trust and faith in him. someday there will be no more insulin pumps, no more needles, no more blood work or out of whack blood sugars, no more scares when i am sick, but until then, i know that i am only here because he sustains me. and that is sweet.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ESV)

introducing ginger ciminello...

this weekend before i was tricked searched at the airport, i was in the hot state of arizona for my wonderful friend ginger's wedding.

ginger is one of those friends that you hope and pray the lord let's you keep up with for the rest of your life.  she is not only hilarious but she loves jesus so much that when you are around her, you can't help but do the same.  we became friends when ginger took a full time job at pine cove. our mutual friend amy was excited to introduce us because she said we were going to be great friends. and boy was she right!

well years later our friendship is going strong even across timezones and states. i love this woman and i was so blessed to be a part of a very big day in her life! about a year ago (not long after the picture above was taken) ginger met the man of her dreams, dr. david ciminello and this weekend (october 17, 2010) they were wed.  here are some pictures from the weekend. (all of which i stole because i stink at taking pictures - that is why i am a DJ not a photographer)

 and this one is just for your viewing pleasure...

trick searched...

yesterday, i flew back from a great weekend in phoenix to celebrate a very dear friend's wedding. as i was going through airport security, i was tricked searched. here's how it went down...

me innocently going through airport security....

security lady after checking my ID with my ticket: "ma'am there is no line over on 1. head over there."

me: excited about no line because the other lines were long. so i walk over and put everything on the belt.

security man standing on other side of the metal detector: "ma'am what's that in your pocket?"

me: "an insulin pump. do I need to take it off to walk through?"

man: "oh no. c'mon through."

so i proceed. no alarm goes off. i am clear.

security man: "ma'am please step to the side for a full inspection since you have an insulin pump."

me: "what?! can I just run it back through the machine instead?"

security man: "no ma'am. it's too late you will be fully searched by one of our female assistants. please wait over here."

so i walk over and wait for 15 minutes in a glass cage being watched by everyone while i wait for my full inspection.

then security lady #2 walks up and i am released from the cage. i walk over to a mat with footprints on it. i am fully expecting to get wanded and then released. 

however, security lady #2 informs she that i will  receive the full pat down. awesome.

then, all of my carry ons are inspected and my hands and electronics are wiped with some swab put into a machine.

next, is the best part.  she asks me to to shake my insulin pump and toss it from hand to hand. what?!?! weird! 

as we are waiting for the swabs to come back clean, the lady says,"i bet this happens to you a lot. having a pump and the last name harris,"

me: "no ma'am it does not. this is the first time i have been more than wanded for my pump in like 10 years."

security lady:" oh that's not good. do you feel safer now that you know we are doing more thorough inspections?"

me: "i guess." even though what i wanted to say was "no i feel violated."

after i was cleared, i smiled grabbed my things and walked off. it was 35 minutes from the time I walked through line #1 with no line to the time i was finished with my full inspection.

new thing added to my to do list: find a husband that has a non-generic last name before coming back to phoenix or get cured of diabetes.

it has also been pointed out to me that i was wearing my "god loves turkey" shirt. perhaps i should not wear international shirts when flying through phoenix either.

boomerangs...

boomerangs is another of my favorite austin places to eat.  a family at my church told me about it a few months back and then it was on groupon that week, so i bought it and the rest is history.  it is a small place with a about 10-12 different kind of pies to choose from.  my favorite so far is the curry chicken.   for me, one pie is just enough, but they are so delicious that you are going to want to buy two.  apparently these meat and veggie pies (which that makes them sound disgusting, but they are far from that) are an austrailian cuisine.  all i know is that they are good and inexpensive.  each pie is about $5.00.  there are also vegetarian options if you so choose.

35/36 of our 100 people...

last year the lord started an initiative in our church to send 100 people to unreached people groups across the world.  you can check out all the info here: 100peoplenetwork.org. it has truly been amazing to see god call his people up to out of the crowd to go and how he has called many others to support and mobilize!  seriously, this has been awesome!

[in fact if you want to text "people" to 50555 right now, you can give $10 to the 100 people network goers. easy as pie!]

there is lots of information and more videos at 100peoplenetwork.org. i encourage you to check it out and see all that god is doing.  we are called to take the gospel to the nations, perhaps on this site you will find that this is how he is calling you to go therefore...

this is a video of number 35/36 that will be going in the future. and they happen to friends of mine.  check it out. its worth the 20 minutes. it is eye opening for sure.


#35 and #36 of 100 from The Austin Stone on Vimeo.
A couple from The Austin Stone explains how God is calling them to go...

isaiah's story...

this video was shown this past weekend at the together for adoption conference. HOLY COW! it is beautiful and heart wrenching all at the same time. before you watch it, go get a tissue...

Isaiah's Story from 31Films on Vimeo.

for the city center...

as you know we opened our new building about a month ago.  it has been an exciting ride so far.  we are definitely meeting there for church on sundays, but the other 6 days of the weeks the building is being used to transform and renew the neighborhood.  check out the video from the local news below:



i am so excited to see what god is going to continue to do through this building. greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city...