the side of the road.

I'm going to skip updating you on our Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years... just for a moment.

My mom and dad finally purchased a beach house in their hometown in North Carolina. They have been wanting to do this for years. They want to rent it out to people and, when they retire, move back to the beach.

Also, my mom's mom (Oma) has been having huge events take place in her life, so things are being re-organized, removed and moved in, out, and around her house.

Fortunately, the beach house and the Oma's house are in the same town.

In order to rent out the house, the realty company requires owners to keep a list of things renters may need- pot holders, extra sheets, mop and bucket, etc. Mom needed to purchase all of that on top of doing some handy work to make it a little nicer. At the same time, Mom was also trying to fix up Oma's house and do all that moving I mentioned.

She called me Tuesday night, overwhelmed and tired and frustrated. Tommy and I had just gotten home from our Christmas and New Years trip on Sunday night. But I hadn't been up to North Carolina in at least two years. Tommy and I chatted it over, and decided I would go up to good ol' NC to help everyone out and to get to see some family.

Wednesday- I couldn't leave early in the morning for the 10 hour and 45 min drive to NC. Tommy had meetings all day and so wouldn't be able to come home for lunch to let the Bear out. So, I stayed until around 11 and took him on a few long walks so he wouldn't have to wait alllll day for relief.

I filled up the car, made sure my cell battery was charged, had my clothes and my computer, and was off.

Around 5:15 that night, I was talking to Tommy on the phone. All of a sudden. The car's cruise control stopped. I started slowing way down. I shouted, "Something's wrong with the car!!"

Then I realized.... No gas. NONE. The needle was about half an inch below the E. Less than Empty.

Pause for back story:
I have driven many many miles for many years.... Ten hours one way to college, and I would often make the trip there and back in a weekend. We've always lived several states away from extended family, so those trips happened at least once every year, and as soon as I turned 15, I was the relief driver. After college, I lived a days drive away from my parents. Since we got married, we've lived even farther away from both of our parents. I have never ever been in a car with no gas.

You can imagine my dismay and embarrassment,. Fortunately, I was able to laugh a little bit at the ridiculousness.... I called AAA, began talking to the angel of a lady and then heard a familiar and unwanted -beep-  YUP, my phone battery was running low. And I had no car charger.

OF. Course. I told Tommy not to call or text and to spread the word to Mom and Dad so that I could stay in touch with the AAA people.

So there I waited. on I-95. 110 miles from Florence, SC.  (I couldn't walk to get gas because the sun was already sunk, leaving some pink in the sky that would be gone oh so soon.)

It is a strange feeling to be completely alone and quiet. I didn't want to risk draining the car battery, so I kept the key out and the radio off. I couldn't use my phone. I couldn't even see the faces of the people whizzing by in their cars. God tells us to Be Still. And then He made me be still. In silence, I just sat with my Heavenly Father. He reminded me of His power, of His overwhelming indescribable love. There was peace.... not the worldly peace that would end as soon as I was back on the road. A reminder of the true Peace and rest in the One who will never change.

Funny the things that come to mind when you're forced to be alone and quiet. I sang "This Little Light of Mine"... the one with the kids and the "on a Monday..." part. I'm probably one of the few people who remember Psalty, the singing songbook. Well, it's his version. It's a good version to sing when you're alone... you unashamedly do all the different voices....


I watched the lights of other cars fly by. Those big trucks really make your car sway... lots of air/wind/y power behind those things. It was kind of chilly so I used the towels to warm up a little. See, the car leaks when it rains, so you always need some spare towels. They got used as warming layers.

The AAA lady called again and said to look for Jerry's Wrecker. I could've hugged that lady over the phone- she had found someone to bring me some gas that wasn't two hours away like she originally thought! So, waiting just one hour wasn't that bad. After the call, I spent the end of the hour looking at headlights in my rear view mirror, trying to decide if they looked like they belonged to a wrecker or not.

At the end of the hour's wait, an old sedan pulled up behind me. Not a wrecker. And who got out? A regular older man, no "Jerry's Wrecker" uniform or shirt or name tag. I thought, "Annnnnd this is how I die." Way to Rest on Him, right? Fail, Mallory.

But then he got two old oil jugs out of his car, and I assumed he really WAS the gas guy. I met him outside the car with a flashlight and a huge "thank you!!!"

I asked him if people usually tipped, and he said it was up to me. I said, "well, I have two dollars." He said, "no, that's ok."

To conclude, I made it to North Carolina and was able to surprise my Oma and my aunt and uncle. This was to humble my I'm-an-expert-traveler-can't-tell-me-nuthin' self.

playing.

When we first started attending our church in Vero Beach, we immediately noticed that they had a different... well... playlist than our former churches. Meaning, they only sing hymns. A few newer hymns, but hymns nonetheless.

Here is an example of one of our favorite worship songs:
The Father's Heart

Short Soap Box Time: No, we don't find large crowds and jumping up and down any more or less worshipful than hymns. Some hymns have great lyrics, some don't. This is true with "modern" worship songs. And when hymns were written, they WERE modern! We hope to always seek out the songs written in Truth, regardless of era and style.

ANYWAY, the pastor mentioned wanting to have some new songs or new musicians during the music time of the worship service. So, having just been involved with that in Gainesville, we were willing to help. I told Tommy that if we did any kind of unknown, most people wouldn't take to it quickly in the middle of the service. But, if we had like a family night with music on some other day, they could become familiar with new things, and then be more open to it on a Sunday morning. Tommy passed this idea along to the Pastor, and he agreed!

We worked out the details- set a time and a date, asked our friend Jeremy to join us with his guitar, and came up with a set list that would show some modern things in that were more... calm... and would jazz up a few hymns, too ("jazz up" ? sorry, can't think of a better phrase). While I was in Branson with my mom, the pastor's wife set up a little display reminding people to come and bring their games.

Jeremy and Tommy and I practiced the first time, all together, the night before. Eek. We had a good chuck of songs, maybe 15 or 18. This was also a day after I had returned from being out of town. Whenever we hit a snag, Tommy and Jeremy would work it out while I decorated the .... um, it's like a big foyer? Hall? Atrium? Lobby?? I found fall-y flowers, candles, and garland in the church's stash. And I arranged the fun tables and the food tables as best I knew.... I think it turned out ok.

Night of the Game/Music Night: It seemed to go pretty well! We had around 30 people, which, for a church our size (small) with the demographic we have (old) is pretty dang good. People brought food and games and enjoyed our Keurig coffee maker (which, if you remember, Dave Barnes has used! :) ). We made do with the one mic we had and we just enjoyed ourselves while everyone enjoyed themselves. And everyone played their games the whole time, so we didn't feel awkward or much pressure at all. We wanted to be background music, and we were! Tommy's voice didn't get too hoarse (which he had been struggling with), and there was only one song that we forgot to make lower for me (which of course you don't realize til you're trying to hit those two or three high notes in the middle of the song).

The nice thing is, we had a hymn or two in the mix, and the Pastor loved those! We actually sang them both in the following two services! I think it would be a struggle to jump into the whole "modern worship" thing, but at least we've put some out there and they didn't hate it.... we don't think...

moms and daughters in touch.

I had to go on a trip with my mom.

And yes, I kind of felt like that sounds.

You see, she was going to a conference for Moms In Touch. If you don't know what they do, click here to learn all about them.

But she was going to go all alone. Since I have YET to even get a response for my job hunt (dramatic sigh), I could say "yes" she asked me to come along.

I thought it would be all about MITI (the last I is for International) stuff, so I thought I would drift off during the sessions and could just enjoy being company to my mom. I also was kind of bracing myself because I hate only-for-women sessions, speakers, lessons, etc. They are always only about women things. That's it. Then they might mention something you may apply to everything. My thought is, you should start with the big thing, and then apply it to the everyday details - ie a revelation on Godly prayer, then examples to help women.

Well! Guess what. That's exactly what the speakers did!

But let me start at the beginning.

Just getting to El Dorado, Arkansas was going to be a little adventure. Back here in Vero Beach, Tommy and I had to go rent a car, because we only have one and the plane was taking off from Orlando. The day of my trip, I drove approx. two hours, had to find the rental car drop off, and get to the gate. That plane took me to Atlanta, where (thankfully!) the next flight was parked at a gate right across the "sidewalk" (airport hallway?) from where we docked (?). So, jumped on that flight and landed in Memphis. Let me tell you. There is very little in the Memphis airport. Who knew. And that's where my four... or five... hour layover was. Woohoo! SO I took a little rest. Talked to my loving husband. Read some. Bought another book and read some of that. And then!

Mom told me to call some airline and tell them I needed to be picked up, and that someone "in a van" would be there shortly to pick me up. Does that sound like the definition of "sketchy" to anyone else? But I did call, and a nice guy in a van did pick me up, and we drove across the street from the big airport to a little airport. And then I checked in by that nice guy weighing my little bag, and looking at my license. And then. I got on a plane. That had NINE seats. It was smaller than that one we rode in to Huntsville for Christmas, remember? AND I was the ONLY passenger. The co-pilot literally said, "So, huh, there's your barf bag, and your exit and we'll be there soon!"

So after my private flight (fancy fancy) mom and dad took me to their house to sleep until our NEXT day of traveling.

That day, mom and I drove 6 hours and 2 minutes up to Branson, MO. We got to soak up fall oranges and reds, and the roads wound around foothills and let us be jealous of the cabins' views. Quite a different feel than the beach life of VB.

And if you haven't been to Branson.... have you been to Pigeon Forge? It's like that. "Shows"... "attractions".... and please don't read into my slightly sarcastic tone. I seriously get very excited about all of these things. We passed a Titanic attraction (...?), giant faces of famous people carved into a "mountain", a chicken the size of a three story building... Obviously, everything is better when it's bigger than your house.

But the conference was at The College of the Ozarks. This place was just lovely. To be a student here, you have to work at the college for something like 15 hours a week, which helps with your tuition. They have a dairy and a mill, and a hotel and restaurant, and arts and crafts, etc. The students even built their gorgeous mini-cathedral-like chapel. So basically, students there learn to be self-reliant and hard working, while getting an education and growing spiritually, too. It was the perfect place to be rejuvenated and to re-focus on the ONE.

So, that's what happened! I learned to pray in one accord- to support the prayers of dear sisters in Christ. If you've never heard this, I would encourage you to go visit the Moms in Touch site. It's a humbling process- learning to say a one sentence of prayer, and then listen to our prayer partner's one sentence of agreeing and expanding your prayer. That back and forth seems to make prayer a conversation between two daughters and their Father- the agreeing makes it natural, like any other conversation. When we don't agree, it's like if friends were to talk like: "My child is sick. He's been throwing up." "We had a wonderful Christmas last year!" It's not supportive, humble, or "weeping with those who weep, rejoicing with those who rejoice." You take the time to bathe each request in prayer, to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking through your friend.

Getting home, we met dad for dinner. I tried to go to bed early afterwards, to be ready for all the travel the next day, which would not involve a set of flights to get back to Florida. Why? Dad was giving us his old car to use! So, for Halloween, I was in a hotel, halfway to my husband. And Tommy was doing nothing. He didn't even hand out candy! But, the next day, his wife returning with another car to use was a nice way to start November!

like a child.

When I was too young to be asking, I asked my mom the standard "where do babies come from?" Being the Godly and taken-by-surprise woman she was at the time, she answered something like "God decides when to make you pregnant, when He wants to" - I'm sure the discussion was longer than that, but that was the impression that I left with. Her general "you" was, in my head, turned into a specific "you, Mallory!"

For weeks afterwards, before falling asleep, I would pray for God to please not make me pregnant until I was grown-up and married. Please, please, please.

Ha and Aw.

I didn't come to God with any understanding. I came with Him as a child, letting Him know exactly what I wanted and asking with the knowledge that He was listening and cared.

When do you get infiltrated by our culture and begin to think that God doesn't care about every tiny aspect of our lives? This is what our Bible study lesson was on today. We are going through "The Praying Life" where the author discusses the mysterious, improvable, and commanded act of coming to our Heavenly Father "without ceasing."

We learned today "The Lord (the infinite, Holy, beyond) is my shepherd (tends, leads, grooms the wool of even me)."

When we let go of control and learn how lowly and out of control we are, we can only cry out to God. He is all we have, and He is all.

We, just like any child, have a limited knowledge of the world. We have a tiny miniscule vision of life. We have a limited impression of what God's goodness and true love and wisdom is. And yet, as Jesus did, we are supposed to tell Him "I don't like this and I don't want to do this!" And THEN He, in His grace, makes our hearts more like His.

Faith Like a Child- Jars of Clay, Live

rain expected tomorrow afternoon, too.

Here in Florida (I don't know if it's all over the state, or just in the two cities where we have lived) there is a nice little rainfall once a day during the summer and some of the fall. It's nice- it kind of cuts the heat when it's summer. And, who am I kidding, in the "fall" too.

So we've been getting into the time where we have several days straight of just sunshine. No clouds, not even some drizzle. And the wind has picked up a little, too, so it's been cooler AND sunnier. What niceness, no?

Then! DUM DUM DUMMMM

Friday morning, it was raining when we woke up, and rained off and on all day. And then Satuday hit. We woke up to some wind. I took Bear out for his morning walk and fed him, letting Tommy enjoy a day of sleeping in. The sky went from cloudy to dark very quickly, wind picking up and rain starting and whatnot. Tommy had an appointment for a haircut at 12:30, and Ever After came on at 12, so we were both happy. Halfway through the movie, Bear and I were realizing that the rain was coming down way too... hard? Fast? A lot? Tommy showed up, hair a little shorter, saying that he was almost blown off the road from the crazy wind and rain.

It rained as much as it rained in "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" from 1977, which is an excellent movie.

So "the rain rain rain came down down down" and we tried to sneak Bear out to potty as often as we could. Long day of nothing but rain.

Tommy went to go get Five Guys as a special dinner treat, and I took a shower (yeah.... I put off bathing as long as possible... I'm a pretty gross person). During my shower, the power went out. We lit a bunch of candles, and had a nice dinner, and brought out Phase Ten. After a while, we noticed all those candles keeping us well lit were also putting off a lot of heat. We started blowing out candles and tried to keep only the essentials. Tommy decided to open the garage door manually, keep it propped open with a large box, and the open the house door to the garage to let some air in. It helped a little. We then decided to practice some songs to distract us from the warmth and the loud storm. Then Tommy decided he was just too uncomfortable- we were going for a drive in the car and were going to blast the AC, dang it! (we're delicate... Bear, too.)

Riding around, we discovered that a very small area was without power, only a few streets north of us and maybe one street south. But, that meant that they could fix ours quickly, right?

After a little while, the rain became just too dangerous to drive in, so we turned back. Tommy lifted the garage door with his he-man strength so we could get the car in and wouldn't have to worry about it losing a window, etc.

Finally, hours later, the power came back on with a -SURGE- and went right back off. And we smelled something burning. A couple of moments later, the power came on to stay, but not in the living room, and not in our bathroom. Random, right? We're still waiting to find out what was fried.

I went to the bedroom to put some things in my bedside table since I could see in there again, and when I stepped beside it, my foot sunk into water. YUP.

Momentary Catch-You-Up: when we first visited the house, there was some damage on the carpet in the bedroom. it was coming away from the wall and was lose and stained. they told us a sprinkler head had broken, and had pumped water into the house. but, not to worry, that sprinkler was fixed. so we positioned our furniture over the worst parts of the carpet, by the window.

SO guess where the water had seeped into the house?? Right under the furniture.

Over the next hour or so, we soaked up water with beach towels, pulled back the carpet, got out our only tiny fan, and moved furniture. We made the twin beds in the guest room into a king-sized bed (like we did for the Turners when they came to stay!) and hunkered down for the night.

Today is Sunday. We went to church (which was wonderful- encouraged us WHILE it spurred us on towards holiness), and between that and lunch, we dropped by the house to let Bear out for a moment. I opened the door to our room, and got hit by a wall of STINK. All I could think of was all the little smelly particles soaking into our comforter, our clothes, our furniture, our mattress.... Yuck.

On the way home from lunch, our realtor called, saying the home owners were sending an electric guy and carpet guys to the house tomorrow. When we got home, we took apart our bed and put the pieces into our front room (it has a desk and books, so we sometimes called it 'the office' when we're feeling fancy). We pulled the carpet further back, found more puddles of water, and closed off the room.

So, we will see what the guys say tomorrow!

It's been kind of like a weird adventure. Things are much more fun when you're with the love of your life. We decided this is the first time we are glad we don't own this house.

gator bait, pt. 2

By 7:30, we were all exhausted. Bear began laying down and only wagging his tail when people would pet him. We had been out there for 6 and a half hours!

But guess what. We found out that Jon had found 2 free tickets to get into the game! So, Kim and I graciously and sacrificially (sarcasm) gave up the seat to hang out together while the boys went to see the dumb football. One of our good friends brought Tommy a student ID so he could get in with Jon to their student tickets' area (Jon already had a UF ID because he works for the university). Tommy was READY.

Side note: Everyone I know (ok, not literally.) uses student ID's that aren't theirs to get into SEC games. Tommy and I ourselves used two complete strangers' to go to the Auburn/Bama game with his brother. We sat in the student section at Auburn covered in Alabama garb. The ticket takers never look at the pictures on the ID's, because they aren't losing money either way. So all of this was also true for UF.

Jon and Tommy headed towards the stadium, and Kim and I began to walk ALLLLLL the way back to the car, got hollered at and heckled (at?), and finally were on our way out. We were looking forward to curling up in cozy clothes and chatting and maybe watching a girly flick (if you say "flick" that makes it extra girly).

I got a phone call before we were even off campus. It was Tommy, "They wouldn't let me in." We turned around, picked up the guys, and got the full story. Apparently, this game was the moment UF decided to check everyone's ID's. The lady checking Tommy's took the ID, held it up next to his face, and even asked what his middle initial was. She took his ticket and gave it and the ID to her supervisor behind her, and didn't say anything more to Tommy. How embarrassing!

So we spent the rest of the night with the game on- Kim and I watched some of it, and talked for most of it. How encouraging it is to just talk about Godly things with a sister in Christ! And Tommy got his birthday wish: Alabama won. Yay! I just wish they had won a little earlier than a quarter to midnight.

The next morning, we got to return to our old church and had a wonderful time worshiping with people we love. We then got to eat with many of our friends at another one of our favorite restaurants- Chipotle! After visiting a little longer with friends at Jon and Kim's, we had to pack up to leave.

We now miss our peoples in Gainesville more than ever!

I guess I should change the title of these to something like ... "the tide rolled." or "we got no sleep."

gator bait, pt. 1

It is Tuesday, and we "Florida Middletons" are still recovering from the weekend.

Two things:
1) I do not like being "The Florida Middletons" - although I know it is nice on the entire Middleton side of our family. But Florida just doesn't sound like us, even after a year and a half.
2) If you didn't know us, "recovering from the weekend" would probably sound like we "partied" or drank a lot. Nope.

So this weekend was the much-anticipated Bama vs Florida football game. Have I mentioned I don't like football? I feel like there's an old post on here somewhere venting that several times... But! This game was being held (held? played? located? what's a football-y thing to say??) in Gainesville. Well, fortunately for us, we know many people in Gainesville who desperately want to see us. ALSO it happened to be the weekend before Tommy's birthday.

Doesn't take a creative mind to figure out what Tommy wanted to do for his birthday!

The plan was to spend the weekend seeing our Gainesville friends and rooting (rooting?? why is that a word.) for the Crimson Tide. I checked with Jon and Kim, asking if we could crash at their place. We also went out on a limb and asked if we could bring Bear along. This would be our first trip with him, and we were all curious to see how he would handle the 3.5 hour drive, being in a new house, and meeting lots of new people.

Of course, I needed to plan a little somethin' somethin' for Tommy's birthday. I messaged several of our friends and asked them to surprise him at one of our favorite restaurants. I asked that they try and bring a balloon or two and that we would let them know when were close to getting into town.

Tommy was preparing in his own way. He ordered a jersey for Bear, complete with his name and the number 13, for 13 national championships. We let the dog practice wearing it a few times, and were also mentally preparing for the comments UF fans would be throwing our way...

...yes, the plan was to walk around campus during tailgating, sporting our own Alabama colors and with a dog who may or may not enjoy getting hollered at. We're so brave.

So Friday, we packed up the car with everything Bear owns, and a few things of our own, and started our trip. We stopped twice, but both times were for us, so we don't know how long Bear can go without a break. We arrived in Gainesville right around 5, just in time to meet Kim coming home from work and Jon coming home from working out. Jon took a shower, we moved in and let Bear get a good look at the place and his new friends. We sat and chatted for a little bit while Kim secretly let everyone know we were going to be at the restaurant soon.

We walked in, and in front of a full place, our good friends led everyone in a round of "Happy Birthday" and made Tommy feel completely loved and slightly embarrassed. We stayed at Rolls & Bowls (I would highly suggest you try this place if you're ever in the G'ville) for a little too long chatting with everyone, and then went back to the Moller's. We played a great type of name game, and finished up with a couple rounds of "mafia". We stayed up too late and laughed too much.

The next morning, the guys went golfing, and to make it to their 7:00 t-time (it may be "tee" time but, whatevs) Tommy had to wake up at 5:45. By 7 Kim was also out the door to run, and I was unfortunately wide awake, even though I had planned to enjoy sleep instead of being like the crazy people I was living with. I ended up watching a re-run of Boy Meets World and walking Bear around their neighborhood.

By 10:00, Kim and I were back out the door to SHOP! We rarely get to just buy things for fun, but since the boys were playing with some money, we got to use the same amount to have a little of our own kind of fun!

By 1:00, we had all eaten lunch and were donning our separate team colors. Bear looked manly in his jersey, and I got to wear an awesome felt-flower clip (shout out Bella Designs!) of grey and ruby red. We were ready to face the madness.

We thought that the dog would get too excited. That he would jump on people and be trying to run after cool looking strangers and not listen to us. He could've even snapped at people if he got annoyed. Or he could've been scared of the thousands of fans pouring into the campus.

But let me just brag, he was amazing. At first he did want to pull to people, then he realized there were way too many people to try and see all of them. People would walk up to him and hug and pet him. They would shyly stick out their palms. They would wait to see if we would allow them to come close. Some would kiss him on the head. I let kids give him treats and talked to random adults about their own dogs. We told people about the Humane Society.

Uf fans would shout "nice dog! ugly jersey!" and "animal abuse!" But some even wanted pictures with him.

One college kid did the gator chop AT Bear, hollering "gator bait! gator bait!" Bear started walking up to him, and the guy slightly froze. Then Bear gently licked his hand twice and walked away. Of course, every Gator fan there "AWW"-ed. I hope the guy was humbled a little bit.

And we walked miles, and miles, and miles.