I've Moved

I've made the move...I hope you will still follow me. You can find me here!

Feeling a little insecure?

Yesterday a dear friend Coni shared on her blog a story about her past, her insecurities and the amazing God that saved her in spite of it all. What she didn't know when she typed it was how much it would minister to me at the very moment I read it. Then after I read her blog I ended up on the website of Elevation Church. I decided to listen to Pastor Steve Furtick's sermon (not anything I have ever done before). He was talking about...take a guess...better yet, just go listen. But just in case you don't take my advice - He was talking about insecurities. He was talking about embracing your uniqueness. He was talking about David...the son least likely to become king...so insignificant that his father didn't even bring him in from tending the sheep when the prophet came by to ordain one of his sons to be the new king of Israel. Talk about an inferiority complex, your dad doesn't even think you are worth being seen by the prophet.
So many times in life we see people through our own glasses, our perceptions and experiences and forget that what we see is only a piece of the puzzle. What we see is only a part of who they are and may not really be what we think we are seeing. The truth is if I hadn't gotten to know Coni, I would have NEVER in a million years guessed she had struggled with insecurity. My perception was she carries herself with such confidence and strength, she has such a cool job, knows such cool people, she is beautiful, talented, and loved what in the world could she possibly insecure about? If we can just remember that all we ever have to be is who He made us to be life would be so much easier. That's just where I am right now and thought I'd share.

A Look Back!

Just to show you all my sense of humor and to keep myself humble I decided to share this video that one of my dear friends from college put on his blog. He and his wife were and still are amazing people. Some people say that the best times of their lives were in high school, that was not the case for me. I did however love college. I made some wonderful friends that I still treasure dearly, grew a lot in the Lord, and well...had fun.
Sadly to say, I did however fully embrass the 80's and as apparent from the video that was filmed sometime in the early 90's, I didn't want to let the 80's die either. Thankfully the Lord has delivered me from my 80's hair at least for now!

14 Years Ago and my perspective on men

Do you remember where you were 14 years ago today? I do. I was getting ready for one of the biggest days of my life. I was excited, unexplainable calm, and very naive...but 14 years later I am more sure than ever that it was one of the best decisions of my life....14 years ago today I married my wonderful husband.
I have thought a lot recently about the imagine of men portrayed on our TVs, in our music, and sadly even in our churches. It is not a pleasant picture. I think of shows where Tim the tool man Taylor where Tim is this incredibly naive man who thinks he can do anything and yet is wife is this brilliant woman who loves him anyway. Don't get me wrong, I have had plenty of laughs at Tim's expense but I started thinking why is that funny?
For years the enemy had us believing women had no place, men were in control and women could do nothing. When that lie wore out, he just changed it up. Now he has us believing that women are the smarter, tougher gender, and really in control. What? You don't think that? Then let me ask you this. What if we portrayed women in TV shows the way men are being portrayed or better yet what if we changed the context to black and white rather than men and women? What if we started cutting down people based on religion rather than gender?
When was the last time you went to church on Mother's Day and heard a message preached about what Mother's are doing wrong? On the flip side when was the last time you went to church on Father's day and heard a message on what men weren't doing right? The later seems to happen on a regular basis. When in our nation did it become such a bad thing to be a man?
I agree I don't want a man completely oblivious to my needs, that mindlessly goes to work, comes home, sits on the couch and demands I serve his every need nor do I want a man that bows to my every whim, leaves me to make the decisions, and is afraid to stand up for what he believes in if it is different from what I think. I know there are men out there like that, but I think we have forgotten the power of our words. T
he Bible says there is life and death in the power of our tongue. Others have said we are what we say, presented the idea of self-fulfilling prophesy, or maybe notion that people will live up to your expectation. Maybe if our nation would stop portraying men as stupid, they would stop acting stupid. Maybe they would step up to the plate and be the man and father God had called them to be. Maybe if we would honor good fathers as much in this nation and our churches as we honor good mothers our men would begin again to take their rightful place of authority, not to lord over us, but to love and protect us as Christ loves and protects his bride. Nothing about Jesus is wimpy!
I have a wonderful husband who in many ways is a better spouse and parent than I am. We learn from each other and he honors and respects me, but I don't want to be the head of the house and I'm not to keen on believing I married a stupid man who needs me just to survive without killing himself. I am sure our purpose in life was greater than that!

Sunday Evening Brain Dump

• Change sucks!
• Change is great!
• We have about figured out our contribution to the talent show
• Very traumatic weekend...witnessed a fatal motorcycle accident...really messed me up.
• I realized how little my husband's family has been to the hospital and how often my family has been when I was the medical expert in the room at my father-in-law's surgery. (Keep in mind I don't do hospitals or blood)
• Change is very hard!
• Change is good!
• Very excited about The Rock's Got Talent...ideas keep coming!
• I missed Design Star because we were still at church...may try to stay up til 1:00a.m. to see the repeat. Don't know if I'll make it.
• My son is taller than I am and weighs more than I weighed when I graduated from college.
• I had a dream about tattoos last night...very strange (see previous statement - I don't do pain either!)
• Rearranged the family room last Thursday...Caleb and I moved the big, huge, old piano all by ourselves.
• My back is quit right anymore.
• Did I mention I don't always like change!

The Rock's Got Talent

The Rock's Got Talent or so they say and to celebrate the 20th anniversary we are having a talent show. Of course the kids are all excited but I was thinking what could we do as the Fuller Five...something to plan and prepare for as a family. I'm stumped. So then I thought about my blog friends. Maybe they would have some ideas. So here is your chance. If you've ever wanted to see us do something really crazy (especially Johnny) throw out your suggestions.

My 9th Grade English Teacher Part 2

So four years after leaving Mrs. Porter's class I hit college English class, 5 hours away from home in a place where I knew no one, a lot scared, very homesick, and incredibly lonely. I was not one to speak out in class. I was pretty shy anyway but to admit I didn't understand would just be too embarrassing. My college professors didn't ask if I needed help. They didn't ask if I had questions. They assumed if I was smart enough to be in their class, I was smart enough to do their work. They just handed out the assignment and expected it to get done. And well....it did.
You see four years earlier I had this incredible teacher that pushed me,challenged me, made me understand things and do things I didn't think were important. So when the time came for me to dissect the assignments my professors dished out, discuss intelligently, and write persuasively about anything their hearts fancied, with a little work I was able to figure it out on my own and come out with a pretty good grade. (I wish at this point in the story I could say I had 2 As in English - but some lesson's take a little longer to get - doing my best all the time was one of those lessons. Bs in college were still OK with me.)
Without Mrs. Porter pushing me to be better, teaching me how to do things I didn't know how to do (and didn't really care to know how to do) I would not have been able to do as well in my college English classes. She taught me so much about writing, I actually made a C on a history test I that in all honesty I should have failed. When I got my paper back there was a note from the professor stating that my essay had nothing to do with the question. It was obvious I had not payed any attention in class and knew nothing about this test, but my paper was so persuasive he had to give me a C for effort!
So if you still can't figure out where I'm going with this I'll help you out. For the last 10 years or so (I think)I believe we have been in Mrs. Porter's English class (only it was Pastor Abbye's worship class). She has been an amazing leader who has taught us incredible things. Things at times we really didn't act like we wanted to learn. Things we didn't think we could learn and things that just didn't seem important. She has taught us more than just music, the lessons we learned under the leadership of Pastor Abbye are, well the truth is, we will probably never fully realize them all. But what she taught us has prepared us for today. She saw the potential that was undeveloped and pushed us to grow in our abilities. Not willing to be content with what we already could offer, and unwilling to except excuses for why we didn't do our best, she prepared us for moving into a place that would require more of us.
I remember sitting in that college classroom, overwhelmed, lonely and a little homesick, thinking "what have I done? I can't do this stuff." But when I took a deep breathe, re-evaluated the situation, I realized I was not only prepared but excited about what I had to do. I still had a lot to learn, but I had a great foundation of knowledge to build on and was more capable than I realized. I loved college. It was some of the best years of my life. It brought new found freedoms and yet with that freedom came new levels of responsibility. It required more of me, but allowed me new opportunities. I wasn't expected to know it all, but I was expected to know and do more than I had ever done before.
I'm just saying maybe we've moved from high school to college.