The Long Stories Short (Sort Of)

I know, I know. It's been forever since I've blogged. I will, however, make up for that this week-promise!

Do you ever have "those" stories--you know, the ones that, to you, are not long--but they somehow turn out to take forever to tell when relaying them to someone else? Ok, then you can see where I'm going with this.

First Long Story Short (sort of):

~As most of you know, John and I have a condition called Gymrataholicness...quite simply put, we frequent Gold's Gym on a daily basis (sometimes twice a day if I'm wanting to play racquetball). We know most of the people that come at our regular time, and we chat it up a lot between sets. Actually, we have people come up to us every now and then that are very friendly and just want to strike up a conversation.

This is one of those instances.

While working out alone one afternoon, about 5 wks ago (John was on shift and I was minding my own business), an older man came up to me and began asking questions.

"Ma'am, do you go to church anywhere?" he asked.

"Yes sir, I do," I replied. I was really trying hard to ignore him, but he wasn't going away anytime soon. I'm just really not used to talking to "strangers" when John isn't around.

"What church? And are you involved in your church at all?" he quizzed.

"PCF, and yes, I am involved. I play the violin with the worship team amongst other things."

"You play the violin, do you? Ohhhh....can you fiddle?"

"Actually, yes sir, I can."

"Wow. Well, can you play 'Cotton Eyed Joe'?"

"Absolutely!"

"Ohhhh wow. I would LOVE to hear you play sometime. It's been years since I've heard that song. Do you play anywhere else besides church? See, I go to The Church At Quail Creek, and we have a great team of musicians. Maybe you'd like to join 'em sometime??"

*Oh dear. He was now putting me on the spot.*

"Well, I'd love to come play, but I'm sure I'd have to find time to do that. Maybe someday."

He nodded and walked away.

Seriously, I thought that was the end of it.
He had other plans.

EVERY DAY since then, he has sought me out in the gym and talked to me. Actually, truth be told, I've begun to really enjoy our short talks. He's a great guy, and he obviously has the same love for the fiddle that I do. Hmmmm....

Ok, so fast forward to today:
John and I were heading into the gym, when this same man stopped us in the parking lot. He dug around in his truck for a few moments, then handed me these:

Apparently, he has been working on getting these tickets for me for some time now. This "opry" at his church is "a big yummy BBQ with a bunch of fiddle playing."
I'm so excited!!

I was completely amazed and blown away by this man's kindness. Just the pure fact that he thought of ME was mindboggling. Wow. I am truly blessed!

I will let you all know how it goes--it should be a lot of fun!!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Second Long Story Short (sort of):

~Tomorrow is a very busy day for 2 reasons.

First of all, I'd like to let you all know that Stellan, the baby that I've been reading about on his mom's blog for a year now, is having MAJOR heart surgery in the morning. This particular surgery hasn't been performed on a baby and is very risky. In honor of him, people that read his blog are being encouraged to wear orange--it's his mom's favorite color and kind of a way to show support. I am pretty sure I have something orange in my closet (did I mention it's MY favorite color too?!?), so I think I'll join in and have a "wear orange for Stellan day" too.

Also, to help Stellan's family out with the ever-mounting medical expenses, I recently purchased hair accessories off of Etsy.com for Caroline. Aren't they cute?!?

Ok, now on to something a lot more important and closer to home:

My mom, Kathy, was recently diagnosed with endometrial cancer.

I am sharing this here and now 1) because she said I could, and 2) because I'm asking that you pray for her tomorrow. She will be undergoing major abdominal surgery around 12:30pm. Although this type of cancer is very curable and they think they've caught it in the early stages, she's still very concerned (and who wouldn't be?). I will be spending the majority of the day with her, and I will update tomorrow evening with her status and the findings.

Basically, they will go in and take things out, but they won't know for sure the true extent of the situation until they get inside.

I'm just asking for peace and healing for her body--she has a wonderful doctor, as well as as the Great Physician working on her behalf, so really I have no worries. I just want her to be as much at ease as possible.

While you are going about your morning routine, just remember her please. Thank you in advance! :)