Now that I’m home again and have access to my camera’s USB cord, I thought I’d post some of my pictures from Nashville.

Which is pretty convenient since HEY, Y’ALL, I CAN’T THINK OF NO WORDS RIGHT NOW.

Here are my fun friends Keely and Chris when we met for coffee (and pie! and brownies!) in Franklin this past Tuesday.

Both of these sweet people were on the Compassion trip to Uganda. I heart them a whole bunch.

Chris’ husband Randy also met us for coffee. But he was late because he was trying to take a photograph of a mother robin feeding her newly-hatched baby bird in the nest outside his kitchen window.

And if you know Randy, you’ll recognize that this was really no different than any other day for him.

Because I think he could stare at All The Nature while saying the word “awesome” over and over again for pretty much the rest of his life.

So anyway. Where was I?

Oh yes.

Right here:

Say it with me, internets: “KEELY IS SASSY.”

So we went to an adorable restaurant and sat down and I got very, very tickled when I saw everyone texting and Twittering. Because my phone and I, we can barely text. In fact, we just te-.

I’ll give you one guess as to which phone is mine.

Oh, I am very techy.

I seriously think that my phone had developed an inferiority complex by the time our coffee (and pie! and brownies!) date was over.

Because I’m telling you: those iPhones and Blackberrys can do some TRICKS.

Anyway, coffee was so much fun that we followed it up with supper.

These boys make me laugh. And they LURVED it when I snapped their picture in the dimly-lit restaurant. Because they weren’t briefly blinded by the flash OR ANYTHING.

And you know, I wish I could rock a Fundana^TM as effectively as Keely rocks her Funbeanie.^TM

Perhaps that will be my fashion goal for spring.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

I’m in Nashville for a couple of days (not for the CMT awards, I promise), and yesterday afternoon I met Keely, Spence, Randy and Chris for coffee in downtown Franklin.

It was the first time I’d seen any of them since we were in Uganda, and I have to tell you: hanging out with them did my heart a world of good.

Because I enjoy All The Laughing.

I haven’t talked about the friendship side of the Compassion trip very much, mainly because it’s difficult to explain why I feel so connected to the people who were there. But there’s no question that part of the connection (now I’m feeling like a contestant on “The Bachelor” because I keep using the word “connection.” Next thing you know I’ll be using the word “amazing” repeatedly. And then I’ll be saying “amazing connection.” And then SOMEONE WILL HAVE TO MAKE ME STOP.) is just that we went through a very emotional experience in each other’s company. I think it’s normal to bond under those circumstances.

But there’s another part of it, too - for me at least.

Because what absolutely blew me away about the other people on the Uganda trip is how inspiring they are - and yet they’re completely unaware of it. They’re smart and creative and funny, and they love them some Jesus like nobody’s business. And because they’re all so totally humble, there was a freedom and an openness in all our conversations that sort of made me want to stand up and tap dance.

I think you’ll be relieved to know that I stifled that particular inclination.

And then to hear everyone talk about the creative outlets they love - songwriting, painting, worship leading, cooking, WHATEVER - well, I can’t even tell you how much it encouraged me.

The last day that we were in Africa, I sat on the balcony of the lodge where we were staying, I looked out at the Nile River, and I bawled my eyes out. I think we all have moments in our lives where it becomes crystal clear that ONLY GOD COULD HAVE DONE THIS THING, and that morning in Uganda was one of those times for me. Even in the midst of wrestling with the emotions that come from witnessing deeply profound poverty firsthand, I was completely overwhelmed by God’s grace. His mercy. His faithfulness.

And - even though I wasn’t expecting it at all - how He used all the people on our trip to show me more of who He is.

I will never get over that.

So last night, I sat at supper with Shaw-awn, Keely and Spence. And we talked about all the normal stuff: families and church and music and blogging and Compassion. We talked about the evil Ugandan stomach parasite that WOULD NOT LEAVE SHAUN AND ME ALONE AFTER THE TRIP, OH MY SWEET DIGESTIVE MISERY, and we talked about the carrot cake that we had for dessert that was really more like a doughnut dipped in butter and then covered with cream cheese icing.

THE CAKE, IT WAS TASTY.

And you know, I held it together really well at dinner, as I typically do in public settings. I held it together really well when we were having coffee yesterday afternoon, too. There was so much stuff I wanted to say, but I was scared that I’d go into the ugly cry, and really, nobody wants to see that.

So instead I had a little conversation with each of them in my head, and the very one-sided conversation went a little something like this: “You have no idea how much I love you. You have no idea how much you inspire me. You have no idea how profoundly grateful I am for the blessing of your friendship.”

That’s what I wanted to say.

And you know what?

I guess I just did.

Hey there, internets.

I’ve been meaning to tell y’all this for a couple of days, but between the child’s rockin’ fifth birthday and a fun weekend of company - not to mention All The Napping we had to do this afternoon - I’m just now getting around to the aforementioned Thing I’ve Been Meaning To Say.

So.

Most of y’all know that Shaw-awn was one of the bloggers on the Compassion trip to Uganda. And I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that he is one of my favorite people in the whole universe. Because he’s hysterically funny. And a thinker. And someone who loves his wife and kids so much that when he talks about them all you can do is say “AWWWWW” and smile until your cheeks hurt.

To sum up: Shaw-awn - He’s Good People.

And that is why I want to tell you something that you may not know.

Shaun travels all over the country so that he can minister to people through music and tell them about the work that Compassion does. And he does this pretty much for free.

So if Shaun sang at, say, your church, all your church would have to do is provide him with a hotel room and a meal, neither of which has to be fancy. He’ll take care of air fare and any additional expenses. And he can sing one song and speak for two minutes, or he can sing ten songs and speak for two minutes, or he can preach and sing while wearing tap shoes and a Fundana.^TM

The possibilities are endless.

I can’t help but think that there are probably a lot of people here on the interweb who would love to have someone as talented as Shaun visit their church, but you might think he would never visit your church because it’s sort of small, or he would never visit your church because your church doesn’t have a high-tech sound system, or he would never visit your church because your church choir wears purple robes and WHAT IF SHAUN DOESN’T LIKE PURPLE?

But I am here to tell you that Shaun will visit any church or campus ministry (schedule allowing, of course) provided that he can have two minutes to tell his audience about Compassion.

So if you think you might like for Shaw-awn to visit your church or college campus, click here for details. And if Shaun does in fact sing at your church while wearing tap shoes and a Fundana,^TM I’d really like a copy of that video.

Thanks, y’all.

This morning I had an email from a friend of mine at church. Her name is Rashel, and two and half years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She was 28 years old at the time.

Today she’s cancer-free.

The work that Rashel has done since her diagnosis is remarkable, really. She has started her own foundation, and through her foundation she ministers every single day to people who are walking through the devastation of cancer but may need some help getting to doctor’s appointments or buying groceries or keeping up with their household chores.

Once every couple of weeks Rashel sends an email to several hundred people and basically just makes needs known. Today she shared about six children whose parents are walking through cancer or some other life crisis and asked for help providing those kids with Christmas presents. She mentioned a family who is in serious need of prayer. She included a link to a new business started by a mother of six who lost her husband to lymphoma last year.

Totally inspirational, that Rashel.

And the end of her email today? It hit me right where I’m living. For the last couple of weeks I have been BOGGED DOWN - that’s the only way I know to say it. And while my husband probably had no idea when he married me that COUNSELING SKILLS would be required, God bless him for listening to me and talking to me and loving on me while I’ve poured out my heart to him for the eleventy-fourth day in a row.

Here’s what Rashel’s email said this morning:

In closing, anyone who knows me well knows that life can be sixteen shades of messed up, and I’ll find something to be positive about. Some may say that’s endearing, others would say annoying.

All of that being said; even still… I struggle…

I have a full heart, a pocket full of dreams and hopes; I’m planted firmly in the foundation of God’s character and word, and daily grasp at hanging on to that. I lose perspective, I have moments I’m ashamed of, and I feel weak, tired, restless and grouchy at times.

My reason for telling you that is this, we’re all in that… Every single one of us… Cancer aside, fill in the blank, we all struggle.

I’m taking Phillip Keller’s words and making them my own:

“In brokenness and contrition I humbly cry out to God for help. I reach out to Christ for restoration and healing. I exercise faith in another because I know I must touch someone greater than myself. Similarly I seek out others I can serve and in my suffering service I find fulfillment and freedom from myself. It is to my soul that God gives himself gladly and freely.”

Translation: I must get over myself, love on others and in that, I can’t and never will miss God.

Be encouraged.

That really spoke to me today.

I hope it speaks to you, too.

And if you’d like to check out Rashel’s blog and read even more of her story, you can do that right here.

Oh, y’all. I can’t even tell you how much fun I had with Melanie and Shannon this past weekend. We talked, we ate, we laughed, we ate, we shopped, we ate, we blogged, we ate, we drank diet Coke, we ate.

You may be noticing a bit of a pattern.

Tonight I was talking to my friend Daphne, and she asked me if it felt even a little bit strange to finally meet the girls in person. I told her what I will now tell you: it wasn’t even the teensiest bit weird for me. Although for the first couple of minutes after I picked up Melanie at the airport I kept having to mentally pinch myself because HEY, WE ARE NOT JUST TALKING ON THE PHONE! LOOK! SHE IS REAL! I COULD TOUCH HER ARM IF I WANTED TO! BUT THAT MIGHT FRIGHTEN HER! LOOK! MY WORD! HER HAIR IS STUNNING!

(Seriously. Y’all have no idea about Melanie’s hair. Really. She has totally been holding out on the internet by not sharing the fabulousness that is her hair. In fact, it is so great that this afternoon I actually had the semi-serious thought that Mel could really minister to all of us by creating some sort of hair discipleship program. If she would let the internets walk with her during an average hair week, let us see how she navigates her daily hair challenges, let us see the source of her hair comfort during those tough hair times, I really feel like the Lord would honor that.)

(Because He has quite literally placed an anointing on her head.)

(I am going to pray that she would be faithful to her higher hair calling.)

And that Shannon - I’ll tell you what. When Melanie and I finally got to pick her up a little bit later Friday afternoon, it really did feel like we had known her our whole lives. Shannon is not just sassy, she is SASSY!, and she is also funny as all get out and SMART AS A WHIP. Because did I mention that she does CROSSWORD PUZZLES FOR FUN?

I’m still trying to wrap my head around that last thing.

The three of us talked a lot yesterday about how blogging can only show so much of a person, about how there are some pretty significant chunks of our lives that we don’t blog about for the sake of sanity and privacy. Since Melanie and I have been working on a project together for the last seven or eight months, we’ve tackled a lot of those real-life, would-never-blog-about-it-but-oh-my-word-how-do-I-handle-this situations, and as Shannon shared some things along those lines with us yesterday, I was reminded that while yes, the blogosphere can be fun and wonderful and encouraging and edifying, it can never, ever replace the joy of real-life, face-to-face relationships.

Because while I love to read Melanie’s and Shannon’s blogs, if push came to shove I’d happily trade reading their blogs for being able to sit with them in a barbecue place and hear about God’s faithfulness during some incredibly difficult times in their lives.

Or for hanging out with them in a Mexican restaurant and laughing until we wheezed and / or wet our pants.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: real-life trumps blog-life. Every single time.

So yes, we had a blast. And no, it wasn’t strange at all to spend the weekend together. In fact, it was delightful. And I guess if anything at all caught me off-guard this weekend, it’s how sad I was when I dropped Shannon and Melanie off at the airport this morning, how much I have missed them all day long, and how I wish like crazy that they lived closer.

(I’m now feeling a strange urge to embed a clip of “Friends Are Friends Forever.” It’s just like junior high, only now I’m old. SOMEBODY STOP ME.)

And slowly but surely, I’m easing back into normal life, the life where I had to put Alex in time out for swinging a plastic baseball bat AT THE DOGS and then all his grandparents arrived this afternoon and I took Martha and Mama to Steinmart and then came home and made soup and cornbread and changed the sheets and washed a bunch of clothes and thought about how I needed to be editing the podcast but it wasn’t really a great time what with all the company, and seriously, would you want to be the one to tell Martha that you can’t take her to Steinmart because you have to edit a podcast?

I didn’t think so.

But please remind me to tell you the story about Martha trying on jackets and coats at Steinmart this afternoon.

It is not to be believed.