JAWS

So, no this blog is not about the shark movies. I (Shae) have been miserable for the past three weeks with what seems like is TMJ. Over Christmas, my jaw started popping and about three weeks ago started becoming very uncomfortable and painful. Now, after 2 visits to the oral surgeon and another one next week, I can open my mouth less than an inch. It is pretty pathetic, though I think Dash still thinks he could pry my jaw open wider if I would just let him. The doctor tired a dose pack of steroids last week that did not seem to help and the pain got worse and my jaw will now open less. I am now on low dose pain pills and antibiotics to rule out an infection in my jaw joint. I appreciate the doctor being thorough and not wanting to misdiagnose TMJ, but the no gum soft foods diet he has me on is not going to cut it if I cannot fit any food in my mouth. Every day it seems my mouth will open less so soon I might be a frequent customer at Smoothie King for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Hopefully my appointment next Monday will have some sort of results and maybe if Dash is lucky, his wife will have to sleep in a mouth guard for awhile - how attractive!

More Dive 07 Pictures...

The whole retreat group!

back of the T-shirts designed by Shae and some of the youth

Student Life Conference


Leeland playing - check them out at leelandonline.com and on ITunes!

DIVE 2007 - Clarity

Our church's youth ministry held our annual Dive Retreat this past weekend and it was oh so amazing! Dash led a group of 10th grade boys and I led the 9th grade girls with one of my best friends, Ruth. We prayed that our small groups would grow and that impacts would be made in our Lord's name but the three of us leaders feel like we learned so much from the retreat as well, more than any of us imagined. We are fairly confident that the students in our small groups had personal relationships with Christ, but all left yearning to study His word so much more. The theme of this year's retreat was Clarity - having clarity God's Word, and we piggybacked the retreat onto the Student Life Conference. The speaker, David Platt, was so inspiring, and the worship bands, Leeland (led by an 18 year old from Baytown, Texas) and Kristian Stanfill, were beyond great. While we pray the students were motivated to get deeper in their studies of the Bible, we also feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to have taken part in the retreat.

Dash and I Before LipSync

Ruth and I at LipSync

Our 9th grade girlies

Claire, Amber, Ruth, and Shae - 9th grade Dive 07 Leaders

Dash shakin' his booty in LipSync with his 10th grade guys

DIVE!

Today is the start of our long anticipated DIVE retreat with our church's youth ministry. Dash and I will be serving as leaders, along with the best co-leader (or co-coach) Ruth Wilson! We are ready to DIVE into this weekend and would appreciate your prayers. Pray for our energy this weekend as we pour out God's unconditional love on 175 students. Pray that their hearts will be opened and they will gain 'Clarity' (this year's theme) in God's Word. We will post pictures of the weekend and the famous Dive LipSync next week!

And for a walk down memory lane, here is a picture for Summer of 2003 after being thrown in the pool when Shae and Ruth (with Susan) dominated T Bar M Sports Camp and won Cabin of the Week like 4 out the 6 weeks! Not that anyone is counting or competitive around here. ;)

Great Balls of Fire

This past Saturday, our part of town became breaking news across the Houston area. About 1/4 mile from our house, a pipeline explosion occurred. We were gone out to eat luckily but all the houses in our neighborhood shook like it was an earthquake and the access roads to our neighborhood were shut down for hours. Three hours later when we came home, we had to beg the police officers to let us pass through to go home. Our dogs were fine and since then our area has become a sort of tourist attraction with people pulling over on the side of Fry Road and standing on the roofs of their cars, straining to see a glimpse of the scorched area. Click here to see some of the photos our nearby neighbors took.



The above picture was taken at the intersection of Fry Road and FM 529. We live north of there, closer to the accident. The flames were 40 feet tall and the heat was felt up to a mile away. Click here to read more about our newest local attraction in West Harris County.