The Station

The following is an essay by Robert J. Hastings entitled "The Station." My Sunday School teacher sent this out as a note to our class members on Facebook and it really meant a lot to me when I read it, so I thought I would share. Hope you enjoy it and take it to heart--especially the very last paragraph! :)

Tucked away in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision in which we see ourselves on a long journey that spans an entire continent. We're traveling by train and, from the windows, we drink in the passing scenes of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at crossings, of cattle grazing in distant pastures, of smoke pouring from power plants, of row upon row upon row of cotton and corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our conscious minds is our final destination--for at a certain hour and on a given day, our train will finally pull into the Station with bells ringing, flags waving, and bands playing. And once that day comes, so many wonderful dreams will come true. So restlessly, we pace the aisles and count the miles, peering ahead, waiting, waiting, waiting for the Station.

"Yes, when we reach the Station, that will be it!" we promise ourselves. "When we're eighteen. . . win that promotion. . . put the last kid through college. . . buy that 450SL Mercedes-Benz. . . have a nest egg for retirement!"

From that day on we will all live happily ever after.

Sooner or later, however, we must realize there is no Station in this life, no one earthly place to arrive at once and for all. The journey is the joy. The Station is an illusion--it constantly outdistances us. Yesterday's a memory, tomorrow's a dream. Yesterday belongs to a history, tomorrow belongs to God. Yesterday's a fading sunset, tomorrow's a faint sunrise. Only today is there light enough to love and live.

So, gently close the door on yesterday and throw the key away. It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad, but rather regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today.

"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, swim more rivers, climb more mountains, kiss more babies, count more stars. Laugh more and cry less. Go barefoot oftener. Eat more ice cream. Ride more merry-go-rounds. Watch more sunsets. Life must be lived as we go along. The Station will come soon enough.

Halloween '09

Sadly, we didn't even plan for any trick-or-treaters on Halloween night, because of us still being sick. We had some family friends who were planning on coming to visit with their kids, but we had to cancel it for this year. Daisy didn't have a costume this year (which Zach was happy about), but she did have her Halloween shirt from Old Navy. I bought this about two months ago and was so excited about it, then ended up not even putting it on her on Halloween night! I'm a bad mother, I know! (I think I had a perfectly good excuse though! Next year, I will try to do better.) I did manage to put it on her a few days after though and I got some cute pics of her. Next year, I think I'll break down and buy her a costume, much to Zach's dismay.

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like...Autumn

I know I've said this many times before, but I am so ready for Fall this year! The leaves are changing and some have already fallen in and around our neighborhood, so I posted a few pictures of those. I'm going to try next year to "go all out" and do an Autumn harvest display in one of our front islands in our yard (which will probably begin as a do-it-yourself type project, but turn into a "Please help me with this!" type project.) :) This year, we went the easy route and I just bought a few things to make an arrangement at the foot of our front steps. I also remembered to hang the wreath that I had bought last year. It was one of the first "girly" things I bought for our house.

We also had a guy come in our office a few weeks ago selling harvest arrangements. He had been to Woodson Jones when I worked in the office a few years ago and I had bought one from him then. They are gorgeous arrangments of pumpkins, corn, gourds, etc., that he grows in his own garden and puts together himself. When he came to Woodson Jones the first year selling them, he told us he was selling them to raise money for his wife's medical expenses. She was battling cancer at the time and they had three young children at home. (Sidenote: I am really skeptical of people that say things like this when trying to sell something, but a lady in our office goes to church with him and his family.) I had not seen him since then, which was about two years ago, until he came in our office recently. He was talking as if his wife had since passed away, but he obviously still wanted to continue creating the arrangements because he enjoyed it so much. He said that the money he raises this year was going toward a trip to Disney World for himself and his three kids. I thought Zach wouldn't object to me buying an arrangement this year, since the money was going toward one of his favorite things! :) Anyways, I posted a picture of the basket. I have his name and phone number, so if anyone is interested, just send me a message/email and let me know!

Halloween has never been a favorite holiday of mine. I'm usually just ready for it to be over with, then happily move on to Thanksgiving next. Then, after Thanksgiving, it seems like you blink twice and Christmas time is here, which is my absolute favorite time of the year!

Speaking of Christmas, we have already started our Christmas program music at church!! I have been asked to be one of the two Second Sopranos in our mixed ensemble this year and I can't even describe how excited I am about that! We'll have a group of about 8 men and 8 women and we're singing variations of "Jingle Bells," which I realize is a little unorthodox for a Baptist church, but it's something different and peppy, and that's what we love! I am hoping that our families and friends will all be able to be there for our program! It was such a blessing last year and this year should prove to be even better! We have more songs that are familiar to everyone and the theme is "Christmas Bells," so the handbell choir will have an integral part in it too! I love how I am already pumped for Christmas to be here and we're barely past Halloween! Oh well, it only comes once a year, so I'll enjoy it as long and as much as I can.

"In sickness and in health..."

We've really had the chance to practice the former part of that vow lately! Zach and I have had a rough week! Poor Zach got sick on Monday night and has been sick since! It started with flu-like symptoms (fever, aching, etc.), then Thursday he began coughing constantly. I was sick when I woke up Wednesday morning and on through Thursday. I didn't have what he had, but was still weak and "achey." We made it fine on Tuesday when I felt well and could wait on him, but things were difficult on Wednesday and Thursday!

Zach finally gave up because of his coughing and let me take him to the doctor this morning. They did blood work (...which I did watch, Mom! You would be proud!), and let us know that he had atypical pneumonia. We picked up some good drugs for him, including some cough medicine that should hopefully knock him out for the night!

 My mom brought us food one night, Zach's dad brought us lunch one day, and my grandmother brought us lunch/dinner and even cleaned our house for us (bathrooms and all, bless her heart!) Zach's mom called to check on us and even offered to bring food all the way from her house in Chattanooga. Thanks so much to all our family and friends who have brought us food, called to check on us, or sent us comments and messages via Facebook!! It feels so good to know we have people sending up prayers for Zach while he's still sick.

We're just going to "enjoy" the weekend by staying in the warm, comfy, clean house. I may go to church on Sunday by myself, just to "rejoin the living" for a while and see our kids in children's choir. I pray that Zach gets better really soon and that I don't get sick again!

Fun At the Fair, Children's Choir & Fall Cleaning

This past week, the fair was in town. Zach and I didn't go for some reason last year, but this year we were really excited when two of our really good friends asked us to go with them on a double date. We had such a blast getting to spend time with Alan (McNew) & Elizabeth (Carr)! Even though we're all in FP for the time being, we're all always busy with our jobs. Zach hit the basketball game first and won me a prize! (Of course he won a big stuffed gorilla--it was also our first stop, meaning I would have to carry the stupid thing ALL night!) Luckily, as soon as he won it, we ran into David, Sissy and Rachael Walker who were about to leave. I offered it to Rachael and she was delighted to have it!

We actually rode a couple of our favorite rides- the Tilt-A-Whirl and the Himalaya. We ended up riding the Tilt-A-Whirl twice, but our first time around was better. We all four fit in one of those things (which was not an easy task!) Elizabeth & I were a little squished, but it was so much fun. I suppose it was all the weight that kept it spinning and spinning. I don't usually get dizzy on rides like that, but this was a little much after the second time around! Later that night, Zach won me another prize in the water gun shooting game. He picked out a stuffed Batman, which he probably would have kept for himself, if we wouldn't have ran into my cousin Kayla and her cute little boy. Those sweet little kids' faces lit up when we gave them those toys that we would have just taken home and put up in the closet. It was a good highlight of going back to the fair. Little did we know we would have just as much fun as we did back in Junior High!

On a different note, last Sunday our primary leader for our children's choir was on vacation, so me and one other lady had all the kids to ourselves! We had 23 kids show up that afternoon for practice! All-in-all, it was a good experience! Last night was our very first performance for the church and our kids did GREAT!! We had only about 15 there for the practice and performance (so many kids are sick this time of year!), but they made some noise and it was wonderful. When I got home last night, our music director for both our sanctuary choir and the kids' choirs had texted me to say he loved all the music and the smiling faces...especially the leaders' smiling faces, which made me smile even more. :)

Onto our project we've started at the house...I told Zach that our garage would HAVE to be cleaned out by this winter. He has offered countless times to let me use the garage and he would park his vehicle in the driveway, but I just think that's ridiculous when we have a TWO car garage! I had actually cleaned out a lot of the garage when he was away on his fishing trip in June, but it was too hot to work at times. Now that we're about to run out of time before the much cooler months arrive, we're working to get it completely cleaned out. We're hoping to finish it up tonight and have my car a new home for the night! Only now, we have to clean the guest room, because that's where we've placed all the boxes from the garage!

What We've Been Up To Lately...

Roll Tide!!

Zach absolutely hates it when I dress Daisy up, but if it's in her Alabama shirt, I think he can make an exception...

He took a few pics of us this past Saturday, and I couldn't believe she stayed so still through the whole thing. She must really be a true fan at heart. :)

We didn't want to leave Cosmo out either.

Though the above pictures don't quite prove it, we have been really busy these days. Zach has been swamped with a lot of new, exciting work coming in, in addition to his stack of current work. I am really proud of him and the success he has with his business! We are both very thankful for our jobs right now, while so many others are without.

Zach's also been feeling better these days, healthwise. This is such a blessing for us.

This past Sunday afternoon was my first time to assist with leading the youth choir, grades 4th-6th and I absolutely loved it!! We had 19 kids, which is awesome for our first meeting of the year! Please continue to pray for us as leaders that we will be the Christian examples these sweet, talented kids need! Our first performance date is set for October 4th, so we have a goal to work towards!

Zach & I are really enjoying our weekends. Saturday is really our only day to take it easy. Lately, we've been making the journey to Mentone to Zach's dad's house to watch the Alabama games. (His TV is much better than ours.) I mentioned to Zach that we should have him over to our house and cook for him once instead, but again, his TV is MUCH better than ours. (That's the explanation I get, but it is true.) :)

I have also been more excited than years before about the Fall season. A friend and I were joking about when was the right time to set out Fall decorations. I think I may have been a little early this year, since I had already set out some Fall stuff a couple weeks ago (I'll post pictures later.) I always love cooler weather, the beautiful colors in the leaves, and especially getting together with family for Thanksgiving. Every year, we have more blessings to be thankful for than the year before.

Dinner at Atlanta Grill

On our anniversary night, we had dinner at the Atlanta Grill at The Ritz-Carlton. Zach had made the reservation a long time ago and was able to book the "Cheater's Booth." We enjoyed our really good meal behind the privacy curtain and had a large booth all to ourselves. I was so surprised when they took us to our table and saw scattered pink rose petals and a pretty floral arrangement. Our waiter was great and was more than happy to take a couple pictures of us. I included the last one that turned out best.

The first picture is the write-up of the restaurant in our room booklet. It mentions the "Cheater's Booth," so we both really liked that. The second picture was taken right before we went to the restaurant, and the third is the view from the inside of our booth.

We had such an awesome time on our trip and can't wait to visit Atlanta again! We kept talking all weekend about how we couldn't believe it had been a year since our beautiful wedding day. We would say, "Do you remember what was going on at this time a year ago?" or "We were on our way to the airport for St. Thomas this time last year." I can't wait for many, many, many more happy years with my wonderful husband!!