I'm feeling "Risky"

Why is it that I have this desire to jump off perfectly normal cliffs into the water below? What makes me have the urge to jump on the back of a motorcycle? Why does learning martial arts all of a sudden thrill me? What motivated me to start a business with no background knowledge in business ownership? What possessed me to reach out to a stranger online (who ended up being my husband)?  I'm not sure what is happening, but lately I have been feeling rather risky. Am I just wanting more adventure in my life? Am I testing the limits of my abilities? Is God preparing me for something major? I hope its the last one.

I have been reading the book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. Its an amazing book and its stretching my mind to think outside the limits. I read this page today that resonated with my so loudly....

"Obedience is a willingness to do whatever, whenever, wherever God calls us. And that looks very different for each of us. It doesn't always necessitate going halfway around the world. Often the most courageous actions only require us going across the room or across the street. 

I'm not sure what lion God has called you to chase. It may mean teaching at an inner-city school or starting a business or becoming a foster parent. It may mean ending a relationship or beginning a new one. But one thing is for sure: You can't remove risk from the equation.

Part of me wonders if we've been sold a bill of goods. Is it just me or does it seem like some people act as if faith is the reduction of risk? They act as if the goal of faith is to eliminate risk so our lives are, in the words of the old hymn, "safe and secure from all alarm." 

Have you read the Bible lately? Faith is risky business.

The goal of faith is not the elimination of risk. In fact, the greatest risk is taking no risks. Isn't that the principle in the parable of the talents? Jesus commends the two men who take a risk and make a return. But the servant who buries his talent and breaks even is called "wicked." Why? Because he wasn't willing to take a calculated risk. Maybe risk taking is at the heart of righteousness. Maybe righteousness has less to do with not doing anything wrong and more to do with doing things right. Righteousness is using your God-given gifts to their God-given potential. And that requires risk. Maybe our view of sanctification is too sanitized. Maybe our view of Christianity is too civilized. Maybe we need to reconsider what made our spiritual ancestors heroic."

Go out and take some risks today...Chase your lion!!

Art abounds

I would never had thought that we would become "art collectors". I love art and always have. It was a vital part of my adolescence. I often say that if it wasn't for my art and photography classes in high school, I never would have made it out with my sanity. I owe a lot of that to my favorite teacher, Mrs. Hill. She was an inspiration to me back then, and was always so willing to sit and listen to the childish rants of teenagers...you know how hard life is for a 16 year old. Art was my escape from the stresses of life, school, home and work. It was time for me to be creative and explore talents that God has given me. It was the pressure relief valve of life. Sadly, I haven't kept up with my art in a LONG time. I still have unfinished projects from senior year of high school that still beckon for my return. Life got busy, and I got lazy. Plain and simple.

It was interesting for me to find out that most of the Lovell side of the family (Daniel's family) are very talented artists! When I met Daniel's grandfather Charlie, who used to have his own darkroom and is an avid painter, I knew we would be instant friends. He inspires me too, but just like me, he hasn't done as much art work lately. When Daniel and I went on our cruise back in the spring, we took the opportunity to attend an art auction on the ship. We did it in an attempt to kill an hour or so during a rainy afternoon, and for the free champagne (HA). Well it turns out that we really enjoyed the art and left the ship with 4...count them...4 pieces of art for our house!! So, I guess we got thrown into being art collectors after all. Here is the beginning of our collection.The first three are all in our guest room, and the last is a stand alone investment piece in our hallway.

The first two are by an artist named Linda Le Kniff.

This one is by Itzchaz Tarkay (Little Round Table #7)

And the legendary Peter Max (Woodstock Series: Profiles)

Updates on Life

These past couple of weeks have honestly been a whirlwind of emotion and looking back its pretty hard to remember all that has happened. Fortunately, I am one of the "lucky" ones in my city/state that was not effected by the flood financially. I was however affected emotionally, and I still find myself weeping at the sight of homes destroyed, or hearing stories of utter compassion from complete strangers. It amazes me to see the way our towns, cities, communities, and state in general have all come together to help our neighbors. I haven't been able to help out as much as I want to, but I know the work will go on for months and I will have many opportunities to help my neighbors.

So a quick run down of the last couple of weeks (that is if I can remember it all).

Saturday, May 1st:
We had a new group getting started in our MHR Program that morning so I had to get up at 6:00 and drive to Franklin. I arrived in Franklin around 7:15 and the rain started. It was raining buckets all morning and after the convocation we went to brunch. I left Franklin to drive back to Smyrna around 10:30. Now this 45 min trip took me over an hour because the small two lane highway leading back to Murfreesboro was starting to flood in areas and honestly, I was nervous. I finally got home around noon and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. When I awoke, the rain was still coming down in buckets and we started watching the news. After about another hour (3pm) we got a call from our friend Anthony. He was calling to tell us that he was stuck in traffic on I-24 near Bell Road and that the water was rising pretty fast. In the couple of minutes that we were on the phone with him, the "small creek" that runs beneath the interstate was in his car and rising fast. He and two friends had to bail the car, jump the concrete barrier and start walking back towards Nashville to the nearest exit. He talked to us on the phone as we watched on the news his car get completely covered with flood waters. We felt so helpless because we couldn't get to them to come pick them up. We spent the rest of the evening watching the news in utter disbelief and trying to figure out how to get Anthony, Jonathan and Dallas back home.

Sunday, May 2nd:
We had stayed up pretty much all night the night before watching the weather reports because they were calling for tornadoes overnight and the rain kept coming. So on Sunday we decided to sleep late, I mean we couldn't go anywhere. I got up around noon and went and turned on the news. I was sitting in utter shock at what had transpired overnight. The pictures were unbelievable and it was just getting worse. I spent most of the day on Sunday in my pj's watching the news and crying. I found out that one of my coworkers had lost her home completely, one had flooding in the basement, and one had flooding in part of her home. Again I sat feeling helpless and in shock.

As the rest of the week passed, I continued to be engrossed in the news stories, even though Daniel was tired of watching it. We went back to work, and started figuring out ways to help our co-workers.

Wednesday, May 5th:

A group of my co-workers and I went to Candis' house to help clean up debris in her yard. We spent a couple of hours over there and it felt so great to be a helping hand.

Thursday, May 6th:
Daniel and I had our first dental appointment at our new dentist in Smyrna. We walked in and one of my old co-workers from Outback was sitting behind the desk! It was so neat to be able to catch up with her. We really like our new dentist, even though the appointment lasted over 3 hrs b/c they had to do the x-rays, cleaning and tell us about cavities and such. Plus they only had one hygienist working that day. We left and went home to see that the contractors had started working on our new floors in the townhouse. By Thursday night they had all our floors ripped out downstairs so we spent our evening upstairs watching Hulu and Netflix, and packing for our trip to Virginia Beach the next day.

Friday, May 7th:
We got up and left our house by 8:30 because the guys were there to work on the floors again and we didn't want to be in their way. We went and picked up Anthony and took him to where his car had been towed so he could salvage what he could from the car. The car was pretty crazy to see. We ran a few errands and got on the road around 1pm to drive to Virginia. 11 hours later we arrived in VA Beach for the weekend.

Saturday, May 8th:
Daniel wanted to show me Naval Base that he used to be stationed at, so we drove to Norfolk and took the guided tour of the base. It was really interesting and it was fun for me to get to see that part of Daniel's life. He seemed excited to show me all those things too. I was very proud of him that day. He bought me a Navy t-shirt and we spent the rest of the day hanging out with our friends, playing volleyball, and eating!

Sunday, May 9th:
We got back on the road to drive back to Nashville around 1pm. 11 hours later we arrived back in Nashville. We walk in to our townhouse, exhausted and ready to crash, and the first thing I see is our house in shambles!! The contractors that did our floors did not finish on Sunday like promised and just left our house a wreck. I was so upset and then I couldn't sleep.

Tuesday, May 11th:
I awoke to go to work, still mad about the house. I got to work and emailed my landlord and spent the day chatting back and forth with her about how to remedy the situation so we could actually use our house. Daniel started his week-long trek to help Anthony find a new car. I get home and my landlord's neighbor shows up at my front door and says "I'm here to fix your house". So part of me was really happy, part of me felt humbled, so I rolled up my sleeves and helped her put my house back together and clean. Even in the awkward situation, I made a new friendship stronger and by the time Daniel got home, the house was clean again.

Wednesday, May 12th:
I got home from work to see the contractors back at my house finishing the floors. It was a welcomed sight :) I put my stuff down and changed clothes and went to Publix to try "couponing" for the first time. It was really fun and I saved $37.50 on groceries! I was so proud when I got home and Daniel heard about my conquest for at least an hour. We also went to our first neighborhood watch meeting that night and got to meet some more of our neighbors. I felt so grown-up.

So that brings us to today. As you can see, its been an eventful, tiring, and stressful two weeks for the Perry family. But it has also brought us closer together and strengthened our friendships even more. We love our life and are so excited to see what tomorrow brings.

Updates on the Nashville Flood

Hello, as most of you have probably heard by now, my beloved city is flooding. As of Tuesday morning, there are still major sections of Nashville underwater, including Riverfront Park downtown, the Titan’s stadium, the Opryland Hotel and Mall, and most of Bellevue. There are hundreds of people around the city and surrounding counties that are homeless now, including 3 of my coworkers. If you have not had a chance to see some of the photos of this tragedy, you can visit the Facebook page below, or look up the local news channels (2, 4, or 5) in Nashville. 

I survived the Nashville Monsoon of May 1st Click Here

I would like to take a moment and introduce you to one of my co-workers who lost her home on Sunday to the flood waters. Her name is Darla Sansom, and she along with her husband Johnny, and 18 year old daughter Abby have found themselves in a devastating situation with the total loss of their home and all their personal belongings. (please see the photos below) The first flood picture is of their home on Saturday evening. By Sunday, the house was completely underwater, including the roof. They fortunately have flood insurance, but it only covers the structure, not the contents of their home. They are currently living in a rental home of one of their church friends, but have nothing to fill the home. 

Please understand that Abby is graduating from High School in a few weeks and is planning to go to college, but now has nothing. Daniel and I want to help in any way we can and we wanted to share the opportunity to help this family that is so close to our hearts. Please see the list of items below and consider going to our website to purchase these items for Darla and her family. Even if you are out-of-state, you can order the products online and have them shipped to Daniel and I and we will make sure Darla receives the gifts.

Suggested items to purchase:

-      Laundry care items (detergent, fabric softener, bleach)

-      Cleaning supplies (LOC, scrub buds, Multi-purpose cloths)

-      Canned chicken and tuna

-      Boxed cereals

-      Shampoo, conditioner, body wash

-      Facial cleaners

-      Shaving gel/razors

-      Hair care items

-      Toothpaste

-      Paper products/trash bags

They have also registered at Target so that church friends and family can purchase items for them. We would appreciate your help to bless this wonderful family. If you would like to order through our website, please visit:

Http://my-Libertas.com

Password: health

If you are not currently a customer, please create a free account and have the products shipped to our address:

Daniel and Starr Perry

155 Oak Valley Circle

Smyrna, TN 37167

Thank you so much for your generosity!! Please spread the word about our amazing city and let America know about us J So proud to be a Nashvillian this week!!

 

Count your blessings

Well its April, almost May and this year is flying by. So many amazing things have happened this year and we are both so thankful and blessed. In January we celebrated Sara and Adam's wedding in Kansas City. We got to travel to a few new states together on that trip and got to experience my first blizzard. Then later that month we celebrated my 27th birthday with a great dinner together and a game night with friends. In February we celebrated our first Valentine's Day together as a married couple, although we didn't really do anything special b/c we were preparing for a cruise...and Daniel loves to remind me that he doesn't conform to the traditions of Valentine's day b/c he wants to celebrate that day anytime he wants to, not when the candy companies tell him too :) We also moved into our new townhouse in Smyrna in February. That was such a blessing to us and we still love every minute in the new place. The beginning of March we celebrated our 1 year anniversary with an amazing cruise to the Bahamas! What an amazing time for the both of us to spend some quality time together. Now we are back and the weather is beautiful and Spring is in full bloom. We are anticipating a wonderful summer and we can't wait to see all that will take place for us. As I look back on our 2010 so far, I am reminded of how blessed we are. We have been able to spend countless hours traveling this year and have been able to spend quality time with friends and family. We are diligently building our business and creating a future for ourselves. We have also been blessed to meet some awesome new friends through work, school and business. One of these great couples we were blessed to have dinner with last night and although both of them are in wheel chairs, they are so incredibly inspiring to me. They remind me how extremely blessed I am and how I often take God's blessings for granted in my life. I strive to make sure that I count my blessings everyday. I encourage you to do the same.

Perry's in Paradise

Well, maybe not Paradise, but at least we are going to Paradise Island at the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas! 5 days and counting! I am so excited to be going on this trip. I have never been on a cruise and I look forward to experiencing something new and adventurous with my hubby. We are going on this cruise to celebrate our one year anniversary/Valentines/Christmas! In the weeks leading up to this cruise, life has been hectic at times between dealing with the weather, school, big events at work, and projects with the family. I am ready to escape it all and just spend time relaxing, and eating!! I look out the window today and its snowing, again, for the 50th time this winter...and I think about how in 5 days I will be laying out in the sun in the 80+ degree weather. Ahhh...thats the life. In the mean time, I still have to worry about packing my suitcase...which is proving to be a burden. I have no idea what to take, what I will need, or what types of bags I should take to make sure I'm not ever missing something. Since I am a planner, I am freaking out a little bit. I am also in the midst of working on our taxes, which again...burdensome. Taxes are different this year because Daniel and I got married, merged our businesses, moved, and he started school. I dont even know where to begin. We are also trying to finish decorating our new house, planning a trip for my parents to come stay with us over Easter, and preparing for a few more big events at work. All that to say...I need this vacation desperately!!

On the up side of life...I have made some new friends at work, we have reconnected with some old friends in our business team, Duke is playing Carolina on Saturday night, and we played dodgeball again last night :) That always puts a smile on my face.

 I look forward to posting pics from our trip and posting updates along the way. Be blessed!!

Living out of boxes...

Well, this weekend is quickly approaching as Daniel and I begin to pack all of our earthly belongings into boxes and start the next step of our journey. As most of you know, we have been living in a very small one bedroom apartment in Antioch for the first year of our marriage. It's a great thing that we love each other so much and that we love spending time together and being close, because we couldn't get away from each other in this place if we tried. Its been a great place to start our lives together, but we are sooooo ready for a change of scenery. We are about to move to a three bedroom, two and a half bath townhouse in Smyrna, TN. This house has been such a blessing to us already and we can really see God's hand working in this move. Its a pretty great story how we came to find this place.

We started looking for places to live about two months ago in the Smyrna area. We knew we wanted to be closer to Murfreesboro (where Daniel goes to school) and we thought that Smyrna was a great small town that would be half-way for both of us to get to school and work. We knew what our budget was and we started spending the weekends perusing Smyrna searching for our next home. I started looking on Craig's list as well. I printed off quite a few possibilities and we started calling around. We found one right before we left for Kansas that stuck out to us, but we didnt have time to go check it out until we got back. There were three contenders when we returned home from Sara's wedding. We went and looked at those three and they were ok, but we still felt uneasy about them. We found the phone number for this house and decided to call. The lady's name was Jaime and she said we could come by and check out the place. As soon as we pulled into the development we knew it was special. Jaime actually is the landlord's daughter and lives right next door. She is our age and has a young son. She goes to school with Daniel at MTSU and we hit it off right away. We stepped into the house and it was beautiful!! The kitchen blew me away and I fell in love immediately with this place. I was a little reluctant because it looked way out of our price range, so we asked her to remind us how much it was. The price was the same as the other ones we had been looking at and it had an extra bedroom!!! Praise the Lord, we were home! Daniel and I spent almost a hour there talking to Jaime and just hanging out. We took the application and left. We got in the car and looked at each other and said..."thats the one". From there we contacted the landlord, Chris, who lives with her husband in Illinois and got all the paperwork worked out. The whole process has been a blessing. We came to find out that Chris has been diagnosed with late stage 3 ovarian cancer and is going through cemo and radiation treatments. It has been amazing to see how God has placed these people into our lives so that we can minister to them and show them God's love. They have done the same for us. I cant wait to see what kind of friendship grows between us and this family over the next few years.

So, as we continue to pack up our stuff and maneuver through the boxes that fill our tiny apartment, please remember us on the 6th of February, and if you are free to help move furniture, we would love to have your help!! Love you all...We will be inviting you over soon.