finally

I'm so glad it is finally Friday.

My friend Hannah Pechan texted me a couple weeks ago and said "I'm so glad you blog. It says that life is worth recording. I love that." I was totally convicted because I actually haven't been doing a good job of recording life these days. This post is going to be a total hodgepodge of thoughts and recent happenings.

I've been doing a lot of running lately, which is great (and getting better every day), but really wearing me out. Five or six miles after a full day of work makes me ready for bed super early (I'm a wimp). David was sick last week, and although I escaped the crud, I definitely have felt worn down this week. Tuesday night I went to bed at 8:30 (!) and then decided against church on Wednesday night (sorry Paula!). A few things that made me happy this week:

• I had a luncheon to kick off our annual Faculty Staff Campaign, and I included a couple Student Foundation members. I'm LOVING working with students again - I had really missed that from Samford - and these boys didn't disappoint. After the luncheon, I was tickled pink to see this on facebook "Andrew Clark -‎Emily Geyer was a Development rockstar at today's Campaign luncheon! So glad to know her! What a great Mocs staff member!" It warmed the cockles of my heart.
• Patrick and Hayden went on spring break with Young Life this week, but John has been hanging at home. David invited him over for dinner, and since it's always rare to have one-on-one time with any of the Bryant kids it is extra special. I called David on the way home (after running) and asked if we had any ice cream and his response was "John Bryant is coming for dinner. Of course I stopped to get ice cream." Love that man
• BYU has a basketball player named Jimmer.
• The next week or so is nutty. I leave on Monday to spend the week in Kansas City, and when I get back the Earleys will be here! David is out-of-his-mind excited. He keeps making plans for what we'll eat and where we'll go. I realized how old we have gotten last night when David was so excited to show me the newest picture of Savannah that Matt texted him. She's so big!
• Another realization of how old I am came last week... UTC was on spring break, and I was so excited for good parking. Wow. Lame.

Sorry for the random, boring post, but life is worth recording regardless :).

the eulogy

My dad's eulogy at Lex's funeral was beautiful, and especially special if you know my dad:

I’ve never written or delivered a eulogy before.  I am honored beyond measure that Lex would request I speak at the celebration of his life and of his ‘going home.’

LaVerne told me that Lex trusted in my ability to speak well on his behalf,  but that I should refrain from using the word “FART” in my comments …so I won’t. Thanks, Lamar! …Lex and I agreed that HUMOR is the SHOCK ABSORBER of life. When Lex was born, for a short while he was “no name” McClellan. He was SO SURPRISED he couldn’t talk for a year and a half! 

Lex was born at home and his mother died when he was just 3 months old -- so he was raised without a mom -- and when he married the love of his life, LaVerne, “Boo” (who didn’t really have a dad) -- they became for each other not JUST husband and wife but soul-mates, and a FAMILY to one another. I’ll let LaVerne tell you about needing to conduct a visual leg-check on Lex before she would marry him and how when she gazed upon those shapely, red-haired legs under those Navy bell-bottoms, she was hooked.

True love never grows old, and throughout 63 years, and lots of coffee and biscuits, Lex remained deeply and passionately in love with his Boo… just a few days ago he insisted she sit on his lap so he could just hold her close.

Lex knew that the more love you give, the more love you have… and Lex gave his love to everyone… not just his family, but his extended family, his friends, coworkers, the children & youth of Pierce Chapel, and the elderly & impaired. His COMPASSION was especially evidenced by his music ministry at our community’s nursing homes -- for folks in the twilight of their lives. His singing and playing left loving fingerprints on many a tired, lonely heart.

Lex (and Boo) grew up in financially difficult times (to say the least)! As a result, he (they) developed an incredible work ethic that -- more often than not -- included working several jobs at a time. Lex was a non-stop, working machine! And he enjoyed every minute of it. His worldly experiences and breadth of knowledge made him capable and competent in numerous, varied careers. He was a true patriot, devoting 32 years to the service of the nation he loved. His dependability and trustworthiness and loyalty were beyond question.

He believed that attitude is everything. He was an avid reader – of not just the Bible -- but also of inspirational and motivational books. He knew that reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body, and generous shared his books and encouraged others to benefit from them.

I recently learned from Linda that in years past Lex was “ANAL” regarding the unnecessarily excessive use of t.p… and Lamar told me that his dad suffered for many years from narcolepsy – a sleep disorder that causes excessive sleepiness and frequent daytime sleep attacks. Lex just thought of it as OCCASIONALLY  letting his mind relax – idling so to speak… [HUH-WHAT?]

Lex understood that wealth consisted NOT in having possessions but in having FEW wants. He gave freely of his time, his talents, his gifts, his service, and his witness. Those less fortunate felt his genuine empathy and sincerity, for Lex knew: everyone was fighting some kind of battle. In his last days, Lex found it difficult to surrender -- to release his painful hold on this life –- to leave behind his beloved Boo and all his family. At the same time, he desperately yearned to finally meet his dear mother and joyfully anticipated their heavenly reunion, 86 years in the making. I’m pretty sure he saw her in recent days, across that thin veil that separates this life from the next.

I don’t want to cry because the human life God ordained for Lex has been completed, but smile BECAUSE IT HAPPENED and I was blessed to share in it; I don’t want this brief gathering of loved ones to represent an ending, but a celebration of Lex’s freedom from all human pain and suffering and the return to the spiritual life God created in him, and in each of us.

We are made in God’s image. We were created for eternity. Jesus promised eternal life to those that believed in Him. Our time here is PART of eternity. We measure time, but God doesn’t. “I am the resurrection, and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” What we call death is just a transition to a different form of existence. “Behold, I make all things new.” Nothing here remains as it is, but God doesn’t change. We are spiritual beings having a brief human experience to know and love our creator, the author of all life.

So, dear Lex has awakened from this dream we call life to return fully to his spiritual self -– forever in the loving arms of his heavenly Father. “Because I live you shall live also.” While we remain here, Lex lives on in our hearts.

GOD BLESS YOU

memories

We spent last weekend in Columbus for Lex's funeral and Courtney's wedding. It was an interesting mix of emotions going between the two types of functions (funeral-graveside-family luncheon -- rehearsal dinner), but it truly was a blessing to be there for it all.

In keeping with my training schedule (I'm actually sort of training!) for the half marathon, I spent a few mornings running through my parents' neighborhood. Man! Maybe it was just because I was already emotional because of the events of the weekend, but I spent a lot of time reminiscing.

My family moved to the beautiful Coca Lake subdivision when I was in 7th grade, and it was the best year of my life (at that point). There were lots of families with kids at our (very small) school, and it created a very fun community almost immediately. I had the best childhood a kid could ask for. Some people hated middle school, but starting in 7th grade, my life was so good.

I should add: all of my friends were boys. Actually, I had friends that were girls, but none of them lived nearby so I always hung out with the boys. Peter was my best friend, and we were pretty much inseparable. We didn't have much of an option though because between our moms and his brother (then the 2 of us when we started driving... much later than everyone else in our class), we carpooled everywhere. One other thing: I am SO thankful for so much of the fun we had and the memories we made, but I'm even more thankful that it was all wholesome. Sure, we did stupid things like jump off the roof of the gazebo at the pool (seriously, dumb), but we never did anything illegal or immoral. Never. All of our fun was totally innocent which is so hard to believe looking back on the freedom and the opportunities we probably had. Heck, we spent half of our summers at the pool and running around in the woods. By ourselves! I am so thankful the Lord allowed us the fun and protected us from any harm. I love sharing these stories with my husband now, and not being ashamed of one single thing.

Some of my thoughts/memories from running around the neighborhood were:
catching bugs for our bug project/skateboards/scooters/bikes/4-wheelers/the house with the purple door/the cul-de-sac where we set off an alarm by playing on construction equipment/riding bikes into the lake (to make "jackass" videos)/The Ring prank/zip line in my back yard/slip-n-slide in my front yard/coming home to find friends playing on our trampoline/spending the night on the trampoline/Chris'/Tiffany's/Adam's house/ringing the bell in the Thompson's yard/Nintendo 64/sharing N64 games after Columbine when half of the moms confiscated the James Bond games/the house that had the carbon monoxide poisoning/calling each other to say "get online" when we could have probably just hollered out the window/puppies/the stealing of the gumball machine/waking up to friends that had broken into my room (by climbing through my bathroom window) and were hosing me down with water guns/the Carrs/Harrises/Brennamans houses/sneaking cookies and milk out my window to friends/fishing/one game of kick the can/running through the tunnels between the lakes/threatening the guys with the reminder of my dad's "samurai sword"/the guys running away from my house after waking my dad up/and more pool parties (spying on David's friends at their parties, joint parties with John Adam each summer, injuries (Peter getting hydrogen peroxide applied while standing in the bathtub, Jason barely catching me in the street, David jumping off the porch and slicing his leg open) and late nights than I could ever recount.

Capture the flag gets a category all its own. It's hard for me to even explain the fun we used to have playing this silly game. We played CTF ALL.THE.TIME. As soon as the weather started getting warm, we would play on the weekends. When summer time came, we probably played 3-5 nights a week. There was a core group of kids that all lived in Coca Lake or real close by and played nearly every time: Me, Ashley, Peter, David, John Adam, Mallory, Adam, Jason, Jennifer...etc. Plus, you never knew who or how many guys would be spending the night at the Carrs' house, and they all always played (Chris, TimD., TimK., Patrick, Zach, Kerr, Jason, Caleb, Will, Ben, Nick, Steven, Jamin, Grant, Kwame... etc.). We had the perfect setup on Coca Way: three houses in a row of people who knew us :). The Carr's house was home base, and Mrs. Carr kept us well-fed and very well-hydrated. I wish we had counted the gallons of red kool aid she made (I could write an entire separate post just on Mrs. Carr and her hospitality. I probably should.). The property line between the Carrs' and the Martins' house was the dividing line (and injury central... remember the cable that was tied to that tree?). The Thompson's was our overflow space. The woods were fair game. So was the street. We played until people had to go home. My mom would call Mrs. Carr and tell her to send us home. Sometimes my parents would just yell for us from our house. Sometimes we would walk home on the road, other times we would take the well-worn path through the woods. Eventually, my mom would drive over, chat with Mrs. Carr and make us go home.

I'm beyond sad that we don't have any pictures of CTF. None. But, at the same time, it reminds me that there just wasn't time for that. We were too busy living in the moment- chasing each other and drinking red kool aid.

David has never lived in a neighborhood. Growing up I lived in two houses - both of which were on a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood with lots of kids and a community pool. When we look at our dreams for the future, it definitely includes this kind of community for our family. I am beyond thankful.

So, Calvary friends... 10th year reunion in 2013... Pool party followed by capture the flag?? Who's in?!

Opa

My family lost a sweet friend last night.

Lex McClellan went to be with Jesus after a long battle with cancer.

He and LaVerne just celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary a few weeks ago.

Growing up without local grandparents, Lex and LaVerne became our surrogates. These two pictures are of us at Grandparents Day (2002 maybe?). They never missed any of our birthdays, and they really are the closest thing to grandparents we experienced on a regular basis.

My mom and dad are especially close to Lex and LaVerne, and through the past few month's of Lex's deterioration they have spent many, many days and hours at his bedside. My dad would spend the night on rotation with the other McClellan kids, and Lex would regularly ask Boo (what he called LaVerne) to call Andy for him.

By Lex's request, my dad is performing his eulogy (because he knows he will make everyone laugh). My dad is the best person ever at bereavement "counseling", and I know he will do such a good job (I can't stop crying when I think about it though).

I am SO thankful for Lex's sweet life, and I am even more thankful that he is in the presence of our Lord right now.

Daylight Savings

I am typically surprised when Daylight Savings happens upon us, and this year was no different. However, this was the best daylight savings ever (dramatic, much?)! Our church started a Saturday night service two weeks ago, and we were excited to try it out this weekend. Well, it was awesome. Lots of reasons:

• The Rochas came. I mean, what Saturday evening family outing could be better than church?
• I was afraid we wouldn't know anyone (our church is big and it feels smaller because we know all the people we sit around at the 9am service), but we were so blessed to be surrounded by friends.
• After church, we went out for ice cream with the Rochas and Drinkwines. A) It was warm enough to sit outside, B) Sweet Cicis. Holy cow. C) It was our dinner.
• I slept in on Sunday morning! Sleeping in to us doesn't usually mean much, but with the time change I stayed in bed until 9am! It was fabulous. Plus, we had all morning to spend being productive (which meant "long" runs [6 miles], new tires on the Accord and laundry).

So, in addition to our normal daylight savings routine (change smoke detector batteries, air filters, toothbrushes and loofahs [we're anal]), this change to summer time was a pretty welcome one at the Geyer household!

random list of things I love

1. Nicknames. I love that my brother exclusively calls me "Emmie". David (and Casey Hewlett) almost always calls me "Emmie Lou". Co-workers call me "Lou". Ellen Weisman calls David "Davy". Camp friends call me "BourkE" and David just "Geyer". Monty calls me BourkE too... nice segway to #2.
2. Spending time with Monty Hogewood. The SoCon tournament was a great excuse to get to see Monty three separate times which included occasions for one lunch date, one game spent with Connie and one Samford Women's Championship! He is the best professional development I could have, plus he has become such a dear friend (and always a source of comedic relief).
3. Falling asleep to the sound of rain pounding on the roof. There has to be an upside to this crummy weather...
4. Calvary Chapel Chattanooga, and especially my Deeper group. Sadly, this study ended last night, but man was it good. I LOVE these girls, and this group was the biggest blessing to me.
5. Spiritual revelation. I've struggled (for years now) with understanding how God cares about the desires of our hearts and wants us to present our requests to Him, but all the while He has a plan that is divine... so what do I pray for?? Priscilla Shirer (love her!) finally reconciled my confusion about this by suggesting that we pray "God, do what I have asked OR do something better!". God's plan for us is always better.
6. One more spiritual revelation. Even if Jesus just came to the earth and died on the cross for our sins, and never gave us one more good thing in our life... wouldn't that be enough?! We are so undeserving of our salvation, not to mention all the ways he continually blesses us.
7. Knowing that I am going to see my parents next weekend. I've been missing them a lot lately (#2 especially makes me miss my dad! He and Monty are cut from the same cloth =))
8. Preparations for and celebrations of all the babies that are on their way! Lots of crafts, shopping and planning taking place these days. Plus, my sweet cousin Sarah (D&D's oldest) just gave birth to beautiful Sienna Lacy Buckley this week.

out of things to say

I don't know what's up, but I'm constantly drawing a blank on things to write about on the ole blog. I guess it's not a bad thing because life is pretty steady these days, and that's how I like it. I'm pretty much living weekend to weekend as I trudge my way through week days, which somehow end up being incredibly busy.

It's interesting how our (mine and David's) schedules have kind of flip-flopped through our marriage. While he was in grad school, I was home a LOT. Fortunately, I have hobbies (sewing, reading, crafts, running) that can keep me occupied pretty well without having to resort to much tv watching. Since D finished school, I've gotten involved in all kinds of things (Junior League, helping Lynn with Worth, selling Initials, Inc., book club, small groups, etc.) and David is left at home a lot of the time. He took last "semester" (even when you aren't in school, our year still operates on semesters for some reason) off to just relax and lay low. Obviously he was working like a mad man, so there isn't really much rest for the weary. However, he has successfully passed both parts of his real estate test, and he is spending a lot of time on house stuff now. Our house is still for sale (here, here and here-- we'll pay a finders fee!) and we're in the process of securing a contract on our Birmingham house too.

We've stayed pretty active on the weekends too (my poor husband doesn't have much of an option... I canNOT sit still), but at our own pace. We have made a concerted effort for 2011 to be more low-key than 2010 was. We're doing less going-out-of-town and more staying-home-and-enjoying-ourselves (well, minus Hawaii and New Orleans... and I'm headed to Kansas in a few weeks). We've almost done this to a fault because we haven't been to Birmingham yet to see my sister and her new digs! That is a top priority in the near future though...

This year is about uncertainty for us (lots of irons in our fires), and that is so good for refining our faith. God is sanctifying us through our reliance on Him and our relationship with each other, and it is such a blessing. I've really been overwelmed* lately with the reminder of how much God loves me, even through the ways he challenges and teaches me things.

*"I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" ... favorite movie! 10 Things I Hate About You

cookbook

Get excited! Cookbooks are coming!

seriously? Monday, again??

This weekend went by tooooo fast. I can not believe it is already Monday again.

Friday= book club until late, late at night :) I love these girls (and their hubbies), and we could just sit around and talk (and eat) for hours on end. Ok, so that's exactly what we do.

Saturday= registering with Sarah (for her baby BOY!) and Alex and Becca. Such fun girl time.

Basketball. David got tickets for the entire SoCon tournament, and he might as well have pitched at tent at the arena. I'm so glad for the freedom we have for him to do stuff like this right now, but I'm so glad it's over tonight :).

Sunday= church, Worth, Rochas and basketball. After watching the Samford women vs. UTC women duke it out into overtime (SU won! Go Bulldogs! They are playing in the championship game this afternoon!), we ate dinner with the Rochas and took them to the next game with us. We didn't care anything about either team that was playing, but it was lots of fun to be together and have the kids there. They were both darling, which made it that much more fun.

CASE

Now that I'm back home, I can write a blog post about my experience last week at CASE... Sort of. Let's just sum it up to say it was the most stressful conference I've ever attended. I didn't see much of New Orleans (though I did walk around the French Quarter and stopped at Cafe du Monde to eat a beignet. Wow! Delish!) because I spent the majority of my free time for the first few days dealing with my broken cell phone. Fortunately I had the iPad with me. Unfortunately we stayed in the only hotel on the planet to not have wifi in the guest rooms, or any where other than the lobby! It was stressful.

Anyway... there were some highlights of the trip. The conference was great. I learned a lot, and I heard some FABULOUS speakers. Like, knock-my-socks-off. Archie Manning kicked the conference off with our keynote address.  He was great. Super funny and very humble. He's such a proud dad (he even won "Father of the Year" in 2006), and I'm sure his three boys are just as proud to their claims as "Archie's son".

The last session of the conference was a panel discussion between Mary Matalin and her husband James Carville (who was wearing tennis shoes with his suit), which was pretty cool. I had to leave early to make it to the airport, but the part of that I saw was great. It was fun just to see them (specifically him, I had to admit I had never seen or heard of her before) in person rather than on tv.

However, I would have to say, the best part of the conference* was hearing Liz Murray speak. She is the "Homeless to Harvard" girl, author of Breaking Night and the inspiration for this Lifetime movie.




Oh.my.word. Not only is her story amazing, but her speaking style and her personality are so inviting. The whole room (of about 1,000 people) were crying, laughing and we were all totally engaged in what she had to tell us. Read this book! I bought it and got her to sign it at the conferece, and I have blown through reading her story in detail. If you ever have the chance to hear her speak, do it!

*The best part of the trip was getting to spend time with Sheri.

sacrifice no more

As I've been reading through my reading plan on YouVersion, I stumbled across the most astounding (yet elementary/foundational to our faith) truth. Each day I have a reading from the Old Testament, Psalms or Proverbs and New Testament. I just started Leviticus and Acts, and the parallels are amazing. You read in Leviticus about the detailed laws for burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings and on and on... and then...

Acts 2:22-24
22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Jesus came and died to take the place of every offering we have ever and will EVER need to approach the throne of grace with confidence! He saved us then, and he continues to make atonement for us every time we need forgiveness. Praise the Lord!