Beauty in the Ashes

Love at first sight!      You, reader, have never (ev-er) met someone who loves home videos more than me.  Never.  Ask my mom, dad, brother, husband, anyone-they will tell you no one could gleefully sit through hours upon hours of home video footage without tiring of it like I can (and do).  Blame it on my childhood aspirations of fame.  One of my favorite scenes is from my very first starring role (see above still shot from the set of Good Samaritan Hospital).  On the day I was born, my daddy began to hug me, kiss me, praise me, and love me.     Beach Party                        I don't believe anyone understands my father better than I do because there there is no one more like my father than I am.  We have a very unique bond because of the quirks and interests we share and the way we both view the world.  Be it through our disdain ...

Even though I frequently forget what day of the week it is, I am going to kick off my new idea-Family Feature Fridays.  Each Friday (forgive me if it happens on a Saturday or Thursday or, let's be honest, even a Tuesday), I will write about a different member of my family and what that person has taught me.  In the spirit of Julie Andrews, I begin at the very beginning.  As we all know, it's a very fine place to start!      Dawn Alice McClure, my mama, taught me how to blow a bubble, properly shuffle a deck of cards, french braid, and bake perfect chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin pies.  She told me to carry a book with me everywhere I went, and that said book should be written by one Dr. Seuss, master wordsmith.   Said book by said wordsmith could be checked out of the most magical place in the land--the public library.      She took me through her own School of Rock by saying, "I'll give you a quarter if you c...

My cousin Rachael and I loving every minute (this was the year we got matching Christmas  sweatshirts with blinking Christmas tree pins on them!) May I make a confession?  I love Christmas!  I love it as much now-as a cynical, world-wise grown-up- as I did in that picture up there.  I love ev-er-y-thing about it.  Everything!  Materialism and all!  I try to remember all the words in How the Grinch Stole Christmas ; I cry when George Bailey kisses Mary and realizes his life is worth something, I love the moment Linus explains the true meaning of Christmas, I love Louie Giglio's amazing teaching about what a screaming baby meant to a world who hadn't heard from God in 400 years and how the news was first delivered to a bunch of smelly shepherds who weren't even allowed to attend church (!); I love to ask kids to close their eyes and imagine the smells of the stable (their faces are priceless); I thoroughly enjoy blasting Christmas tunes (esp...

Ask anyone who knows me well...they will tell you that Lauren Alice McClure come Jacobs l-o-v-e-s Broadway!  I love everything about it-the music, the acting, the dancing, the costumes, the set, the smell of the Playbill-everything.  It is a magical world in which I always dreamed I would reside.   A few nights ago, my Grammy and I saw South Pacific at The Centre.  I fought hard for the pre-sale tickets months ago and got tickets in the very center of the very first row-just behind the conductor.  We were at the players' feet, and we soaked up every moment with simultaneous giggles, oohs, ahhs, and sighs.   Marcelo Guzzo played the lead (a Frenchman named Emile).  He had a deep, thundering voice which commanded I hang on his every word and note.  Aside from his incredible singing, one line of his really stuck with me.  During a heated scene with some Navy officers (South Pacific is set in WWII. in the, you guessed it, South Pacific), he ...

Growing up, my baby brother and I had a habit of speaking to each other only in quotes from funny movies.  I'm could not hazard a guess as to how many times we watched certain timeless classics-movies that made an impact on the world-Ace Ventura (1 and 2), Dumb and Dumber, Wayne's World...you get the picture.  And so, as I begin this blog, I think it only fitting to say, "Stop torturing yourself, man...live in the noow!"   What does this blog have to do with trying to talk Wayne Campell out of buying a Stratocaster?  Nothing.  I just happen to be a girl who has never been able to live in the now.   I am learning to release the chains of the past and the shackles of the what ifs of the future.  I am learning to rest in the One who holds tomorrow.  This year has been a time of extreme growth for me.  The leap into children's ministry has taught me precious and innumerable lessons about the heart of the Father.  He continues to show m...

I was recently asked to share my testimony so that people could know me better.  Who are you? Where did you come from?  How did a nice girl like you end up in a...just kidding!  I realized my story could be summed up in three lines from one of my favorite songs:  " No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me." I never thought I had a great testimony.  Those beautiful, Apostle Paul-like stories of conversion?  Notsomuch.  I was ten years old when I accepted Jesus into my heart to be my Lord and Savior.  I only waited that  long because I was afraid of being baptized.  Swimming underwater was not my strong suit, and my preacher told me he'd hold me down till I bubbled. (He didn't.)   I finally made the leap when I attended an evangelical event with kids from our church.  The depiction of Hell was enough for me-I wanted it taken care of that night.  I'll never forget the moment, after I made th...

September 13, 2007 I should really be working on homework. But I haven't written in a long time, and I'm feeling very introspective right now. My life is...wonderful. Literally, full of wonder. I have so many questions right now. Things that I don't understand, issues I cannot resolve. With help from a wiser person, some of the cloudiness has dissipated. I am resting in the arms of my loving Savior this week. God is faithful and patient. He has blessed me beyond measure. I find myself overwhelmed with the blessings in my life right now. Life is good, and I am truly happy. I have a job that is fulfilling. I love my work, and I love who I work with. To have that in college is no small miracle. I live in a place that is cozy and cheerful and home...and I have a dishwasher! I haven't missed a single class, and I started exercising (and secretly like it). There will be a new baby in my family by September 21st, and I can't wait to kiss his beautiful face and hold h...

March 27, 2008: The thought was familiar and close to my heart... Yellow Yellow awhile Speed up! S-l-o-w d-o-w-n. MAKE UP YOUR MIND! Thinking of my own Trooper (and the one that always idles near the intersection before pulling people over), I came to a graceful stop. As I sat at the stop for what seemed like an hour, pondering how I could have reached my destination already if I had sped up, I tried to give myself a pat on the back. I said to myself, "Self, you aren't in a hurry. You have no deadline. You should slow down and stop for the yellow (more like pink) lights when you have nowhere important to be. Because when you do have somewhere important to be, you almost always try to race the light to red." Of course my always-connecting, ever-wandering mind tied this simple stoplight thought straight to a reflection on the fate of the world and mindset of human beings. People want everything in a system of checks and balances.  1 Bad Thing + 2 Good Things= ...

The following is a facebook post I wrote on January 20, 2009: It is awkward to sit in a class on exceptionalities discussing things that I have been diagnosed with.  To hear people make ignorant comments and speak without knowledge. Perhaps I should not be writing this on here, but I don't feel up to curbing my inclination to wear my heart on my sleeve. It's just my style. So be it.  Sometimes I think I might be on a mission--in my classroom someday, certainly, but maybe something bigger as well. I have always prayed that God would use all of my pain, every hurtful thing I've dealt with, to help someone else. He has given me a lot of those opportunities already and will continue to do so. I know that, but something within me calls me to something bigger that I don't really understand. It has to do with the following: 1. I have been diagnosed with OCD, Anxiety, Depression, and AD-ADHD. A little PTSD as well, if you want some more letters. 2. Other people struggle...