a birthday letter to Aaron

It's October 13th today. Did you know that 29 years ago on this day, my husband was born? It's true.

So, Aaron Jack Bauer, this blog post is for you.



aaron,

on the day you were born, i'm pretty sure the sun was shining a little brighter. and even though i wasn't around yet, i am glad that God was already working out his plan to bring us together.

on the day you were born, my world changed because you were now here and breathing and changing lives. and you started becoming the man you are today. the man that i love with my whole heart.

on the day you were born, your mom became one of my heroes because she gave birth to you and she loved you more than i know and she started raising you to love Jesus. she married your dad and they gave you a family to grow up in that taught you how to be a good husband and a good friend and a good leader and a good dad one day.

on the day you were born, it was one of the best days. God created you just the way you are. and he loves you so much and i'm so glad you loved him back. and i'm glad that he kept you safe and close to his heart until i could keep you safe too and keep you close to my heart.

happy birthday, aaron.

i am glad that you are my husband and i love to celebrate this day with you. and i will always love to celebrate it with you forever. 

love,

whitney

Aaron writes a Friday flashback

You're sure in for a treat today. We have a guest blogger! It's none other than my very own Aaron Jack Bauer. He thought of this week's Friday Flashback, and I thought he would be better at telling the story than I would. So, without further ado, let's go back to...

January 2010...

We were having a game night with our two good friends Renee and Derrick.  They were coming over to the townhouse I was living in at the time (this was before Whitney and I were married).  When we do game nights, we usually bring four or five games down and narrow the field from there.  On this occasion, Renee brought the game of Life - except it was a different edition.  This was the Game of Life: Twists and Turns Edition.  The original Life had been a favorite of mine growing up.  I like that I could get a college education (or not) and get married, and have kids, play the stock market, buy insurance, retire, and maybe become a millionaire at the age of twelve and do so in just over an hour.  But this edition was more.

The Game of Life: Twists and Turns Edition has the same concept of the original game except your money is on an electronic debit card.  You can set how many years (turns) you want to play.  It moves along a lot faster and different jobs, salaries, and twists and turns that can make win or lose at any moment.There isn't a finish line.  At the end of the years, everyone's total is added up.  Money is converted to "life points" and your experiences (marriage, kids, etc.) is also converted.  You could have all the money in the world, but if you don't have family, your life may not be worth spit.  That's the underlying message of the game.  That's the way I see it anyway.  We ended the night, had a good time, and everyone went home happy.  But that wasn't the end.

In every person's life there comes a time when one obsesses about something.  It's when you experience something so great that it lingers for days and weeks, and months.  Twists and Turns was such a thing.  It lingered for a few days.  Then a few weeks.  I would say, "Wasn't that game fun?" 

"What game?"

"You know - the Life: Twists and Turns game we played."

"Yeah..."

I had to have it.  I had to have it!

A few weeks later, Whitney and I were hanging out at her parent's house.  

"Let's play a game" Whitney suggested.

"Like what?" I said.

"Well, let's see."  

Whitney's parents had a cabinet of games.  Dominoes.  Cards.  Aggravation.  

"There's about four versions of Monopoly down there..." Whitney's dad said.  He was ridiculed for that statement.

"You know what I would love to play?" I said, dreaming.

"What?"

"Life: Twists and Turns Edition.  I wonder if it's available somewhere."

The truth is, I already had looked.  It wasn't on Amazon.  It wasn't on Barnes and Noble, or Target.  I found it on a game board enthusiast site for about $50.  The truth was, I discovered, the game was out of print as of a few months ago.  Whatever stock existed was left on shelves at stores here and there.  But I hadn't checked Wal-mart.  (What would we do without Walmart?)  So, I did what anyone in our generation would do.  I pulled out the iPhone and looked on the Walmart mobile app to check inventory at local stores.

"They have three copies at the one in Garner.  Let's go!"

Off we went.  It was about 8pm at night, but that store was just about 10 minutes away.  We arrived, and quickly went to the toy section.  It was a mess. 

It's important to note that this was just after Christmas.  Which means that every Walmart in America was selling discounted overstock of EVERYTHING and every aisle was a disaster area.  

So, we started searching. The game aisle turned up nothing.  We checked the clearance aisle.  It was full of Monopolies (multiple editions), Risk, Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, and the Game of Life - boring, old, regular, non-electronic, straight edge edition.  No Twists or Turns.

"Let's ask someone," I suggested - which really means, "Whitney, why don't you ask someone?"  She has a sweet smile that turns stubborn, rude, store employees into magical, helpful philanthropists.  That's why she had to ask.

Whitney found someone and he said, "We have that game right over here." 

My heart raced.  Finally!

"Here you are."  The employee guided us to a stack of the Game of Life: Dull Edition.  

"Thanks..." 

It was pointless to try to explain.  But our trusty mobile app said that the Walmart on New Hope Road had a few.  What's another twenty minutes?

We arrived to find that store in worse shambles.  And it was spookier.  No luck.  

"Since we are here, we might as well run over to the one on New Bern Ave." I knew it was late, but it was so close.

"It's late."

"But it's so close."  Convincing argument, right?

So, we jumped in the car again and went to New Bern Avenue.  Our last stop.  We searched.  No luck.

"Can I help with you something?"  said a voice.

Walmart employees are sometimes considered to be mythical creatures.  That's why you should know that when a Walmart employee asks if you need help with something, you say yes.  If you say no, they disappear and you will never find one again.  

"Yes.  We are looking for a game.  The Game of Life: Twists and Turns."

"We have lots of those!" she said.  

"No you don't." I explained it all again.  How this game was different.  This was not a white box.  This was not cash based, but credit based, electronic transfers.  Twists.  Turns.

"Let me check our inventory."  

We followed her up front and explained our plight to a cashier who looked bored and needed a story. 

"Why don't you check the other stores?"

"I did.  There should be two at the store in Holly Springs."

I explained that we looked at inventories online.  They lied.  Was her inventory lying?  

"No.  The online ones get messed up because people make stuff up."  

I didn't know what that meant.  Except that we were driving to Holly Springs.  That Walmart was big, and huge, and new and clean.  They had to have it.

We got there (it was now about 9:30pm).  Game aisle turned up empty.  Clearance aisle.  Disaster.  I looked under racks, between shelves, behind Clue.  Nothing.  The inventory lied.  After twenty minutes of searching (and involving two other employees) we came up empty.  This game didn't exist.  Two hours, half a tank of gas, and four Walmart visits brought us nothing.

Fast Forward Four Months.

Whitney and I are preparing for our wedding just a few months away.  I'm at Walmart.  I'm only there to get a few things.  But, something inside me that day...something nudged me.  I can't explain it...to this day I can't explain it.  Instead of turning left to check out, I turned right.  What is in the seasonal clearance section today?  You never know.  Maybe that game, that old, out of print, long forgotten game, of twists, turns - maybe it's here today.  

I slowly walked down the clearance racks.  Old stuffed toys.  A bunch of action figures from last season.  A slew of Elmo merchandise.  This was a bad idea, I begin to think.  I start to walk away when something sparkles in the right corner of my eye.  I turn.  There on the shelf, sat a lone, isolated, sole, copy of the Game of Life: Twists and Turns.  My jaw drops.  Sure, the box is bent but it's the only one.  The only one!  And I have it at last!  I called Whitney.

"You'll never guess what I just found!"

about #FMSphotoaday

Back in February, my friend Ashley, who I have known since the 2nd grade, started doing this "photo-a-day" thing that she got from a blog written by a lady in Australia. 

It was super cute. So, in March, I started doing it. Every month, there is a new list of "prompts," one for each day of the month. They are completely random (i.e. "friend," "spoon," "what you ate," etc.).

You kind of interpret them however you want, take a photo with your phone, add a cool filter with Instagram if you so choose, and share them with all the other participants out in cyberspace by adding the hashtag #FMSphotoaday. (If you don't know what a hashtag is, go here)

I am quite proud of myself for keeping up with it since March. I haven't missed a day (I might have had to go back and make up one the next day a couple times), and I have a picture for every day for the past seven months so far.

I'm not a great photographer or anything, and I know some of mine are better than others, but I have so much fun doing it!

And, it makes me be somewhat creative every day.

And I'm excited to get them all printed after I complete a whole year.

Like, "My Year in Pictures," or something clever. I don't know.

Heck, I might even keep up with it again. I'm kind of addicted to it now. I love finding my picture for the day each day!

Feel free to join in! You can check out my photo-a-days in my Instagram feed over 
there. -->

an attempt at advice about marriage and things

Aaron and I have been married for about 28 months now. I don't suppose that's very long in the whole scheme of life yet.

Although I don't even remember much what it was like to not be married. I feel like we have always been married. Not in a weird way. Or in a way like you might say "I feel like I've been in school forever." In a better way than that. Like I love being married so much that I can't even imagine being single again.

I love being married. And very truthfully, Aaron is my very best friend.

Anyway, if I stop and think about it, I do remember a time when I wondered if I ever would get married. When everyone else seemed to have a significant other and I had nobody. And it sucked.

But thankfully, I had people speaking into my life that reminded me who I was in Christ. If you don't have people like that, and you're reading this, here's what I learned:

Since Christ lives in me, I am His, and He loves me more than anyone else ever could. He would be mine even if nobody else would. And He promises that He will love me forever. And He has a really awesome plan for my life. 

It's hard to remember that sometimes since it's not as tangible as a relationship you might have with another person.

But it is true. And when I just lived my life believing that and pursuing Him, I didn't have to pursue anybody else.

I really didn't.

And a couple years later, I found myself being pursued. And it was kind of confusing because I really had no clue what I was doing. But I didn't rush it at first. And he didn't either. Until we both quickly realized that it was meant to be. And we were quickly the best of friends.

And then I got to marry my best friend. It was definitely worth the wait. 


If you are in that single and waiting period, I do know it's hard. 

But I know that marriage is a wonderful thing. And it's a gift from God. And I guess I would say, not to give up the desire to get married as in quit trying, but give it up as in surrender it to God.

You never know, one day, you could be 28 months into a marriage and not even believe how blessed you are.

Don't settle for less than who God created you to be and who He created specifically for you! I promise it's worth it!

my verdict on sports

Have I mentioned before that I'm not really a "sports person."

I don't mean to offend you if you are. I mean, you might not be a "music person" or a "Disney person."

I don't hate sports. I just feel like they are confusing. And time-consuming.

I mean, if you are going to commit yourself to sports, it becomes kind of intense.

First, let's just say you pick one sport to follow. I'm not even talking about the people who follow all of them.

You have to pick a team.

Then you have to know about the team. And the players. And the coaches.

And you have to know the rules of the game. And what teams they play. And their rank or whatnot.

And you have to give up weeknights or weekends to watch their games.

Then you might have to actually go to a game at least once to be a real fan. I mean, depending on where they play, we're talking money.

You probably need some team paraphernalia. 

You have to be willing to stick by them even when they suck.



It makes me tired to even think about it.

No, I'm not into sports. 

My mom, who loves to watch sports, used to say, "You better learn to like them! Your husband will want to watch them someday!"

To that, I say, "Ha! You were wrong! And I still love you."

Thankfully, Aaron doesn't like sports either.

However, Aaron Jack and I found ourselves at a football game, of all places, on Saturday.

Yes, to those who know us well, it's true.

We have a few guys that come to Journey18:25 that are on the Louisburg College football team.

So we went to see them play.

I will say that I did have fun hanging out with everyone else that came.

And I did try to watch!

And I tried to understand things to an extent.

They won by a lot of points. And we held up signs. And I caught a little rubber football from the cheerleaders.

It was fun. But I'm still not ready to be a "sports person."

Proof

about FX

Our first ever FX was on Friday night at Journey. It was great!

FX is a part of our monthly curriculum for Kindergarten-5th grade. It is a time for parents and kids (families) to come together for a night of fun, worship, and togetherness.

From now on, we will have FX on the first Friday of every month. If you missed it this month, no worries! Each FX will introduce the new virtue for the month that the kids will be learning about every week in UPTOWN. 

This month, the virtue is Individuality:  Discovering who you were meant to be so you can make a difference.

So at FX, we introduced what it means to be an individual and how God wants to use each and every one of us to make a difference.

There was awesome music with some serious dance moves. I'm talking "High School Musical" here...way out of my league.

There were some funny skits performed by some very talented people. And my wonderful husband gave a great talk on different ways we are individuals...maybe we are helpers, leaders, creative, good listeners, or even funny! God made us all unique and wants to use us!

My favorite part of the night was the Family Talk part. All the families sat down together and talked about Individuality in their own family.

At the end of the night, we sent each family home with the monthly "Widget," a tool to use for the month to help remind each family member how they are an individual created by God for a special purpose.

It was a really fun night, and a great catalyst that will hopefully keep families discussing Individuality at home each week after we talk about it on Sunday.

After all, two influences speaking the same thing into a child's life is better than one influence alone.

The light of the world (Church) + the warmth of the home (family) = ORANGE

Check it out on the right side of my page!