GoG 149: The Country Line Dancing

Yesterday was Sunday .... so a good day for several reasons. :) But one fun thing - I got to do a little country line dancing! Sooo fun! .... We're doing a cowboy-ish kind of theme for Vacation Bible School this year. VBS starts in a week. So we had a lady from our church teach us some line dancing. It was a blast! I can't wait for Sunday night .... we'll be line dancing it up! :D

I love to dance! Nearly any kind of dancing! So I was gitty with excitement .... the others were laughing at me ... imagine that! ;) And that gittiness is God's grace at work, wouldn't ya say? I sure would! .... Go dancin' sometime! It is sooo fun! :D

GoG 148: The Drive Home from Nashville

On my way home from Nashville on Saturday, I rolled down my windows and cranked up the Southern Gospel .... I did tell y'all I'm passionate about this kind of music, didn't I?? Ha ha! Yep! I am nearly obsessed! ;) It's such good stuff! I just had a really good time. .... I've really grown to enjoy doing things by myself these days ... and I enjoy driving ... and I got to drive through Kentucky, which has some cool landscapes. And the weather was great! So it was a fun drive home.

GoG 147: The Trip to Nashville

Friday I went to Nashville to see Emily!!!! That is grace in and off itself!

~ I got a hug from her when I go there :)

~ We sat on her couch and chatted for a while

~ We watched an episode of the TV show Bones together

~ We went to Ci Ci's pizza for dinner

~ We got "checked out" by an entire restaurant full of men .... we were actually a bit creeped out ... but after the creepiness wore off, we felt cute. Haha! Grace, indeed. ;)

~ We watched a movie together

It was really good to see her!

GoG 146: The Southern Gospel Marathon

Thursday was the last day of the Mackinaw trip. Hannah and I didn't doddle getting home that day. I needed to get back by 6pm for worship team practice, so we headed straight down through Michigan, into Indiana, and home. And my glimpse of grace for Thursday was listening to Southern Gospel with Hannah. Mmm ... it was good. :) I was excited because Hannah likes harmonies too. So I was able to share my joy, my passion for Southern Gospel music with her a good chunk of the ride home. I guess I know several people who really enjoy Southern Gospel, but I know far more who don't. So I always get excited when I can share my love of male 4-part (or more) harmony with people.

Yay! :)

GoG 145: The Bike Ride Along the Lake

Wednesday of the Mackinaw trip was kind of a "veg" day for us by the lake. Hannah and I kind of went our own separate ways for part of the day - she took a book to a "plagueless" area of the lakeside while I rode my bike around the city.

Let me clarify "plagueless" as a side note:

So ... there were some kind of creepy-looking flies down by the beach ... and throughout the area ... all week. Oh my gosh! They were insane. When we tried to walk along the beach, we were attacked! Thankfully, they weren't stinging bugs, but wow, they were crazy! There were probably millions of them just flyin' around ruining people's vacation! Ha ha! They buzzed around us, landed on us ... attacked us, really! ... no matter how much bug spray we used!! So we ended up calling them "The Plague."

Back to the grace ... 'cause oh my word, what's the grace in "The Plague"??? Ha ha! ...... The grace I DID find in the day was just soaking up the lake ... not literally ... the water was still pretty cold, and neither one of us brought our swimsuits ... but just looking at the lake. I stopped a few times along my bike ride near the lake to jump off my bike and just take it all in. .... Lake Michigan is one of my favorite places in the world. Oh ... and it wasn't Lake Michigan ... it was Lake Huron ... ha! So please disregard "Lake Michigan" in my last few posts - it was Lake Huron. ... Anyways ... the lake was gorgeous! I love lakes! So it was my grace from God for the day .... just to sit and look ... just to ride my bike around and look at the lake.

GoG 144: The Adorable Jamaican Guy :)

Tuesday was the second day of our Mackinaw trip. We went to Mackinac Island for the day ... and it was a ton of fun! I could talk about several glimpses of grace for the day ... looking like an idiot while trying to ride a bike after probably 8 or more years of NOT riding a bike (it was hilarious!), the sites as we rode our bikes around the 8-mile trail around the island, the ferry ride (gorgeous ... and such a blast!), walking through the fun little shops, getting an ice cream cone, on and on ... but ... the glimpse of grace I will tell you about involves an adorable Jamaican guy giving me his phone number! :D Ha ha ha!

At the end of the day on Tuesday, we were headed to the dock to catch the ferry back to Mackinaw City. At the dock, we ran into a group of guys working there. One of them asked us how we were doing, and I perked up, as I often do, and smiled and said, "Good, How are you?" He kept walking, didn't look at me - so he either didn't expect an answer and kept walking or he didn't hear me - either way ... the other guy, the cute Jamaican guy, looked up from putting our bikes away, gave me the warmest, friendliest smile ever, and said, "Good!"

So Hannah and I went to the bathroom, and I asked her ... "Did you see the way that guy looked at me?" She didn't notice. So we headed back to the dock a few minutes later. And the guy gave me the same look. As we walked to sit down, Hannah said, "I saw it that time!" So we sat down ... just waiting for the ferry. We were pretty early, so we sat for quite a long time. Well, eventually, this guy came down to our end of the dock to talk to one of the other guys ... and then, after a little while, made his way over to us. He struck up conversation with us for awhile ... all the while smiling hugely at me. Adorable. He was so friendly, and he smiled the whole time. He laughed at me when I finally saw his name tag and said, "Well, half the questions I've asked you are answered on your name tag." On his name tag, it read "Shepler's," "Damian," and "Jamaica." Where he works, his name, and where he's from. Ha! We had a good time. He laughed at my quirkiness, and he was really fun.

I'll spare all the girly details 'cause I could probably go all day about my 45-minute crush on the guy. ;) But let me share just one more fun detail. Later that day, after we said goodbye to Damian, we road our bikes back to our hotel. On the way, Hannah crossed a street, and I saw a car coming from the corner of my eye ... so I stopped ... and as it turned, I saw it was him! Damian. Ha! He pulled over to the side of the rode, and I hopped off my bike and headed over to his window. I asked, "What are you doing here?" and laughed ... and he just gave me a big grin, handed me a piece of paper, and said, "Call me sometime!" Ha ha! It was hilarious! And what a good story, right?

.... And that's the story of the cute, Jamaican guy named Damian. :) It's grace for a guy to think you're cute, right? .... Well, of course it is! ;)

GoG 143: The Swing By The Lake

Monday. Good day. :) Hannah and I left for Mackinaw City, Michigan for four days next to Lake Michigan, traveling on the ferry to Mackinac Island, and just relaxing and enjoying our singleness together. .... We took the long way to Mackinaw ... driving up the west coast of Michigan. Hannah and her family used to travel to Bear Lake (on the west coast), and she wanted to check out that area again. And the drive was my glimpse of grace for that day for several reasons ....

~ Time with Hannah ... chatting and laughing and listening to music.

~ The sites ... Lake Michigan is gorgeous - and all the trees and hills and landscapes were beautiful!

~ I love to travel ... seeing the sites is great, but I also just like to drive. I guess I didn't drive - Hannah did - but still ... ;)

~ Ice cream! ... I think we had ice cream every day of the trip. And ice cream just makes life good!

~ The swing ... Now that I think about it, I remember the swing, and it was the most vivid glimpse of grace for the day. There was a swing set on the shore of Lake Michigan in a little town called Frankfort ... and right before we left, I jumped on that swing and started swinging. Swings are a ton of fun for some reason. You're just swinging back and forth, but it always makes me grin really big every time I swing - no matter where I am. I don't know if I just feel silly for swinging like a little kid or I'm feeling so sick that I can't help but laugh at myself for being so dumb for continuing to swing or the fact that it feels like a roller coaster or that it's just flat out fun. But I always grin really big and giggle like a school girl every time I swing. And I remember thinking .... "Ha! This is grace!" .... while I was swinging. :)

So yeah .... go traveling sometime. It is grace in action. :)

GoG 142: The Grace Afterall ... Again :)

Well, this is awful ... but I don't remember what my glimpse of grace was for last Sunday. Wow. That's what I get for not staying caught up with my GoGs. Sheesh maneesh. ;)

It was Sunday though. And Sunday's are always glimpses of God's grace 'cause they are always my favorite day of the week - without fail. I love Sundays. I love being with God's people. I love worshiping and listening to our God's-appointed shepherd with God's people. I love being with my kids. I love going out to lunch with friends from church. I love Sunday afternoon naps. I love spending extra time with Jesus. It's just a great day all the way around.

So ... even when I "forget" God's grace, it is still there. Praise God!

GoG 141: The Grace Afterall

Well, I'm behind again ....

So last Saturday was the end of one of the busiest weeks I've had in a while. I had been meeting with friends, meeting with my SoZo kids, getting things ready for our SoZo mission trip ... just go, go, go all week. It was utter madness, really. Last Saturday, I had planned to go see a couple of my SoZo guys play soccer in the afternoon ... then I was headed to a friend's house for the evening - it was gonna be a long day. Well, I ended up running late, and since I wasn't going to make it to the first soccer game on time ... and I was so stressed and overwhelmed to the point of tears ... I decided not to go to the games at the last minute. I didn't want to go to my friend's house at the end of the day either - I was just so exhausted from a super long week! But grace came to me as it always does. :)

Rather than going to the games, I was able to rest. I plopped down on the couch and watched a movie. I made my "world-famous" rice crispy treats. I made the drive to Beech Grove to hang out with some friends. And it was a marvelous evening. Not only did I get to rest after a long and crazy week, I got to hang out with some pretty cool guys. We played games; we ate dinner; we laughed ... it was a pretty fun night. And oh what grace ... to rest, to laugh, to fellowship. Thank you, Lord!

No more laxness

Golly! This morning was rough. I was in a terrible mood, and every little thing set me off. Have mornings like that from time to time? Sure ... we all have bad moments, bad mornings, bad days ... sometimes bad weeks, months, or years ... seasons in our lives. But hopefully, only from time to time!!! Today was one of those times. I woke up a bit grouchy. I stayed up too late last night (The Gaither Vocal Band is a GOOD reason to stay up late, but still ...). I was a little grouchy ... I don't like to get up early. But a couple of things happened (nothing big at all) ... that set me off in a state of bad attitudeness. Blah. And it was bad. I was super grouchy, and eventually, I started crying. Sheesh. I was being a baby, really ... upset ... stressed, really ... about a couple of silly things not worth getting upset over (like nearly everything I get "upset" over).

Sure, these "bad" things that popped up could have caused my bad attitude, but really, ultimately, it boiled down to a lack of God's Word in my heart and mind. Any time I get lax in my Bible reading, my attitude really, REALLY suffers. I've been reading a bit this week ... I've been memorizing Colossians 3:1-17 ... but I haven't been spending real, quality time with Jesus ... really taking the time to get into the Word. Hence, my bad attitude. Bluck. :(

I've been in and out of this laxness over the past year. Man. It's awful. So I'm gonna take the 21-day challenge given by one of my guys. Andy's been leading our SoZo Sr. High Bible Study for a few months now ... and he challenged us with the 21-day challenge a couple of weeks ago ... I did nothing. But I'm gonna try again! Read my Bible for 21 days ... and get BACK INTO the habit. Sad that I need to do that .... but sometimes we get our mind off of the things above and on the earthly things ... and we need our perspective changed.

Come with me! Have you been struggling to make Jesus your all? Take the 21-day challenge with me! It'll change us ... for life! :)

GoG 140: The GVB Concert ... INCREDIBLE!!!

*Big Sigh*

Man ... I got back from the greatest concert of my life last night! The Gaither Homecoming at Conseco ... last night! Gosh, it was so good! I won't say too much about it here 'cause I'm gonna expand on it on my new blog (www.micalsbucketlist.blogspot.com) .... 'cause going to a GVB concert is on my bucket list. So read there, if you wanna here some little stories about the evening. :)

My glimpse of grace for yesterday was male 4-part/5-part harmony. *Another big sigh* Oh my goodness! I am in love! Some of you know that David Phelps is my all-time favorite singer! Amazing voice!!!! Well, last night .... oh, man .... last night, I heard another guy - Wes Hampton - who was just as incredible!!! Wow! These brilliant talents were my glimpse of grace yesterday. I nearly cried half a dozen times! The harmonies are so gorgeous! And GOD gave them their talent for me to enjoy. Man, oh man ... I N C R E D I B L E ! ! ! You MUST youtube David Phelps ... and then Wes Hampton! Do it! I'm serious! You'll NEVER hear a sweeter sound!!!!

GoG 139: The Lord Most High

Oh my word! Could it be true??? Mical Masterson is finally caught up with her blog project??? Wow!!!!!! Now, that's a glimpse of grace right there!!!!!! Hahaha!

Ha! I guess I'll go with my other glimpse of grace for the day anyway. :) ..... Again, like I've said a couple different times on my blog, I am singing on the worship team this month. Tonight, we were practicing for Sunday morning ... and one of the songs were are singing is called "Lord Most High" ... or "Be Magnified." Really great song. We don't sing it often, so I wanted to make sure we sang it this month! The chorus goes like this ... "Throughout the endless ages, You will be crowned with praises, Lord Most High. Exalted in every nation. Author of all creation, Lord Most High. Be magnified." .... Oh! It is so good! You gotta hear it with the music to get the full affect ... but man, oh man! I could get pentecostal with that song!!! :D

Worship is so cool .... and so full of grace :)