RAIN!

So Friday I got up and got ready to do interviews. Started the day off with Matt Smith from the Cleburne Times Review. He was very nice and asked lots of questions and took pictures of all of us. Once he left I grabbed a bite to eat and then met with channel 5 and channel 11. They set up while we put the girls in the back room with toys and cartoons. In the middle of the interview Elise came walking in and wanting to sit in my lap. It was quite hard to keep a straight face for the TV while she was sitting in my lap playing 'peek a boo' and trying to get a reaction from me. Lol. Anyway, those interviews went smoothly. Channel 11 stayed behind a bit and got some shots outside and talked with us some more. Got to see the first interview segment air later that day and was impressed that they were able to do a good job and work around Elise ;) Channel 11 really went all out, I was very proud of that one. Went last night and got me a copy of the Cleburne paper and was shocked to see that he had put a picture on the front! As well as almost a whole page on the story inside. He used our words exactly as we said them, and if you know me well you can tell by the words I was nervous. Lol. The sentence structure and stuff was my 'nervous talking'.

Saturday had been marked on the calendar for a few weeks now as the night to celebrate my birthday. I kept having my friends ask if we needed to move it to another day so I could get rested up, but I was ready to hang out with my friends! We started the night off at Pluckers. I had never been there before and didn't realize it was a 'sports bar'. I'm not a fan of TV sports at all. Sorry to break any hearts out there. Although, I may could get into them now that I can hear the TV. Captioning on live things is always off and very frustrating, so I've never enjoyed watching sports on TV. Anyway, back to the story. Once we arrived at the place, it started raining! Lots and lots of rain! We've needed it so badly, so none of us even cared that it was raining on our night out. The Rangers were playing and it was soooo loud in there, but I was overjoyed that my ear wasn't giving me feedback, so I actually enjoyed the noise :) Our wait took FOREVER, but I was determined to get my hands on fried pickles. I wasn't leaving. Ha. We ended up getting seated on the covered patio, and there wasn't a wall at the end of our table, so we could hear the rain and cars along with all the noisy people. It was cool. Pluckers gives you tons of food. We all had tons left. Of course the night wouldn't be complete without someone insisting on me being embarrassed for my birthday. Here came the whole 'birthday crew' hollering and singing. I had to wear a 'beak' and use take out boxes to 'flap my wings' while they sang. I was a good sport. I'm not scared ;) We left there and decided to go to KG's in Mansfield. My girlfriends and I now love that place. It's small and we love watching people sing karaoke. I now enjoy listening to karaoke!!! Well.....most of it anyway. LOL. There were about 12 in our group and not long after we got there my friend Kady's husband Josh joined us. He has a band called 'Josh Weathers and the True Endeavors'. Check them out. I LOVE them. Their sound is eclectic and I'm all about that. They are local and play just about every night of the week. Josh brought his brother and a friend. Before the night's end we all danced our little hearts out. I think the rest of the bar was a little confused as to why I was jumping all over the place and our little group was so excited. I LOVED listening to the music and getting EVERY word being sung. It really hit home and I was running on pure joy. At one point in the night, a few of my friends sang a funny song to me. They were brave to do it! I felt special. To top that feeling, Kady and Josh came up with a song for Josh to sing to me and it was 'Sarah Smile'. I had never heard it before and it was really touching even though it didn't apply to me or us.........just to hear my name in a song and have someone sing it was so nice. The gesture was awesome. I cried. If I'm not mistaken, I think a few of the other ladies teared up as well. Night's end came and we all prepared to leave and it was STILL RAINING!!!! It was so loud in KG's I didn't have a chance to listen for the rain, so hearing it upon leaving was nice. It was dark so I couldn't see the tank on our place when I got home, but I was hoping it would be full by morning. Our poor little tank has been pitiful. It's been the lowest and driest I've ever seen it. Woke up the next morning for church and guess what? STILL RAINING! The tank was full and overflowing. Much like my heart. I headed to church with so much on my heart and mind and so much to be thankful for. I hadn't been in 2 weeks due to getting my ear activated, and then being in New York for the Today Show. The praise and worship was absolutely amazing. I knew our little church was loud, but WOW we are LOUD! Lol. I could make a distinction between instruments and voices. I could hear individuals around me singing. I could hear babies crying. It was overwhelming.

(For those who don't know, I have 'Hold Fast' tattooed on my wrists. I came up with the idea when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter Elise. My Father in Law passed away 3 weeks before she was born. It was a really, really, hard time in our lives. My Grandfather in Law had passed away the week before that, and so many things were going on. Our hearts were absolutely broken. They both passed suddenly, but with Ross, we couldn't get over the fact that we felt he had so much life left to live. He was the most amazing man I've ever met in my life. I could spend days talking about him and ways he touched my life and others. During this time it just seemed like nothing went right, things kept 'falling apart' here on the place. Stuff was stolen, things were breaking down, things were dying. It seemed like the world was wilting slowly like a dying flower. At church one Sunday I read the words from the projector for a song called "Hold Fast". They really hit home and struck a chord with me. I thought "I can do that. I can 'hold fast' and just trust that God will get us through. Get me through. He always has, and He always will. I just have to 'hold fast'." So once Elise was born I got that tattooed on my wrists.)

Back to church; Crystal started up the song 'Hold Fast'. I closed my eyes and sang. Followed every word, not from memory and hoping I was in tune with others, but because I could hear it and follow it in tune. I had 'held fast' and just like God promised, He got me through. He'll get Lari through, He'll get Sloan through. He'll get everyone who is willing to rely on Him 'through'. Sunday was a day of refreshing. The music. The emotions. The joy. The RAIN!