Basketball

I hope this note finds you all happy and healthy….

March Madness is here… in the last few years .. I have become a basketball fan…. some of my interest I will readily admit can from my love of watching Michael Jordan play… he is and forever will be … in my humble opinion “the greatest basketball player that has ever played the game”…. as Dennis Miller put it… in the future we should teach our children how to count …21…22…Jordan…24…25… now with Jordan retired… my eyes have turned quickly to the Lakers… I have a friend that I eat breakfast with and he has nurtured not only my basketball love but my Laker loyalty….and it didn’t hurt that Shaq played for LSU… with the NBA in full swing and NCAA finals here…. I am getting my fill of the game…. you watch these teams play and the thing that amazes me is how easy they make it look…. it makes me want to go out and shoot hoops…. get into a mean game of horse… you know…..
…. this past weekend… Ron and I got a chance to watch some of college basketball…. I think the thing that I loved best was the last 2 minutes of a game…. what is great about those last seconds ticking off…is when it is a close game… and there have been several…anything can happen…. some games have been determined by the last shot…
…..I think of my life now…. what I want to learn from this game that I love is I want to live my life a little more like it… the worst games to watch are when folks quit trying… nobody’s rebounding… no hands are up… shots aren’t taken when they are wide open…. those of you who got the great fortune to watch me play intramural girls basketball at Centenary College…could say.. hey, Celia that sounds just like your game…OK I’ll be the first to admit… my game was a little in slow mo’…. but applying the things I have experienced and learned in my life so far…. I want to pick my life game up a little….I want to not just sit back and let the life come to me but I want to get in there and add my gifts… add my talents.. take a few risks… and live up to the last seconds….geaux Tigers!!!!! (that’s LSU)

Smokey Whitler

November 17, 1985 – Easter Sunday April 23, 2000

We called Smokey the wonderdog. He joined me (Ron) in the fall of while Celia and I were single. We were both busy working and building separate lives. Smokey went to youth group camp, to parties and to work at the church. As the years passed, he welcomed Celia into the family and they actually shared a house in Louisiana when I went to Texas to start work there. Celia and I counted his vocabulary once. He understood quite a few words. It’s amazing what a difference having lots of discretionary time to invest makes. One of my favorite memories of Smokey was of him singing with any choir that he heard, whether it was on the radio or on television. He declined kind of slowly and eventually died in our arms on Easter Sunday before our oldest son Max was born. There was something providential about losing such a great friend on the day we remember the Resurrection. Some friends came out to the spot by the Harpeth River where we laid him to rest on a beautiful Easter Afternoon. Smokey was the dog of “Dog Not Included,” the name we give our song publishing.

On Love and Strength

Hello Beautiful People… Life is good and I hope this message finds you happy and healthy… I just finished reading Christopher Reeves’ book, “Still Me”–written after his 1995 accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down… Several thing about this book struck me and I’d like to share a few… After his accident, his wife, Dana, came into his room… during a time of discouragement, he said, “Maybe we should let me go… save everyone a lot of trouble.”… she responded… “You’re still you, and I love you”… He goes on to talk about their love still being there… unconditional… accepting each new challenge… growing as they change and their relationship changes… their love grows stronger in his time of greatest weakness… He also talks about friends being there for him… an outpouring of love and support… people believing in him in moments when he struggled to believe in himself… and he touches on God being there… at one point he says, “I have to develop a relationship with God, right now, otherwise I’m lost.” He goes on to say… He doesn’t believe that God makes these things happen, but where God comes in, where grace enters, is in the strength you find to deal with it… the last thing he says about God is he believes that the comment that God is love is literally true…

I’ve thought about his inspirational story and about others who have faced great change… overwhelming challenges… heartaches… uncertainties in their lives… I’ve thought about the times Ron and I have been discouraged… at a crossroads… times of weakness and fear…

The one thing that has been true… the one thing that has been real and constant in my life is love… love for each other… not trying to change the other person, but really unconditionally loving the uniqueness each of us brings to our relationships… love from others… love from our relationship with Christ that sustains us… love that listens… love that encourages… love that is willing to go through the tough times… love that is a daily commitment… love that is reckless… love that builds others up and is unselfish… as I think about my life and the legacy I will leave behind… I pray that it will include that kind of love.

On Change

Greetings Friends… I recently picked up Steven Curtis Chapman’s new CD Speechless….he has a song on it called “The Change”… based on 2 Corinthians 5:17…. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He/She…is a new creation… the old is gone… the new has come!….. I loved the song… but more than the music …I loved the reminder I received listening to it and reading the lyrics… the Chorus reads… What about the Change.. what about the difference… what about the grace… what about forgiveness… what about a life that’s showing…. I’m undergoing the change……

The year 2000 is going to bring on many changes in all of our lives…. to be honest some will be easy and others painfully hard…. my prayer daily is that Christ will live in my heart and change my heart… so that I am more loving…. more God like… more forgiving… more grace filled…. so that strangers who meet me will see/and witness God’s love with our without my using words….

The hard thing about change for me is the letting go….letting go of control…. my good friend… and youth director buddy Dwight and Ron and I were on a trip with his youth…. and Ron was laughing about being in control…. and Dwight said “I ‘ve given that up years ago… I know I’m not in control….” we all laughed… but how many times… have I thought I was in control….. of a situation… of others…. of the future… of my fears…. of outcomes…. as I look at this new year…. I am praying that I learn a little more each day to let go…. to let God change me so that when others forget my name…. my kindness will live on……

Christmas

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner again. It’s been a quick year. I hope in the midst of all that this time of year is: (shopping, final exams, holidays, parties, family, friends, trying to find that just right gift, card writing and mailing) that you make time to remember that first Christmas. What a chaotic time that must have been, but in the midst of all the noise, crowds, smells and confusion that must have come with that day–there’s an incredible birth. Lots of folks surely didn’t even know that it was going on. Are we, you and I, making time to find the significance in this day? I heard a pastor say that he felt that if we could get our priorities right on this one day of the year, that we could get them right on all the rest of the days.

We’re not going to wind the year up just yet, I’ll send a year end update of our lives in a couple of weeks. Merry Christmas–Celia

On Fall

hope all is well with you… summer was a blur…. lot of singing… lots of traveling… but the best part was connecting with old friends and making new ones… Youth ’99 was a wonderful reunion with many of you… we had a great time! With all that summer was…great trips… feet in sand… lazy days… I am always glad when fall comes… the cool weather…. football…leaves changing colors… and a routine getting in swing…. school cranks back up and you get a new start…. each fall is a new chance for each of us to make some changes in our own lives…some I’m working on … hooking up with friends I’ve been out of touch with… more quiet time… more time reading and praying…. something I do just for me …like take a walk or run… lunch with a girlfriend or a great email or chat with an old school mate…. being more positive….speaking kinder words…calling my folks more just to touchbase… counting my blessings…

I am so thankful for today… who I am … what I do… and the people I get to work with and meet… as I look at the changes I want to make this fall…I am reminded of all that is in my life that is wonderful…. I am thankful for you and for your love and your support and for God’s grace that is present daily…

enjoy your fall,
Celia

On Striving

…hope this note finds you happy, healthy, and cool! …I was recently reading some poems written by American writers and came upon a familiar poem by Rudyard Kipling… If… wonderful words to live by… my father mailed it to me soon after Ron and I moved to Franklin, Tn. I think he felt we needed a little encouragement… he enclosed a note with it that said throught out the years this poem has given him inspiration and a challenge to be a better person… he had rewritten the last line …. to replace man, my son with great person…I share it with you and hope that like me you will realize the good you do in just being you and continue to strive to be more loving, caring and embracing life each day… here’s If….

IF YOU CAN KEEP YOU HEAD WHEN ALL ABOUT YOU
ARE LOSING THEIRS AND BLAMING IT ON YOU
IF YOU CAN TRUST YOURSELF WHEN ALL MEN DOUBT YOU
BUT MAKE ALLOWANCE FOR THEIR DOUBTING TOO
IF YOU CAN WAIT AND NOT BE TIRED BY WAITING
OR BEING LIED ABOUT, DON’T DEAL IN LIES
OR BEING HATED, DON’T GIVE WAY TO HATING,
AND YET DON’T LOOK TOO GOOD, NOR TALK TOO WISE

IF YOU CAN DREAM AND NOT MAKE DREAMS YOUR MASTER
IF YOU CAN THINK AND NOT MAKE THOUGHTS YOUR AIM
IF YOU CAN MEET WITH TRIUMPH AND DISASTER
AND TREAT THOSES TWO IMPOSTERS JUST THE SAME
IF YOU CAN BEAR TO HEAR THE TRUTH YOU’VE SPOKEN
TWISTED BY KNAVES TO MAKE A TRAP FOR FOOLS
OR WATCH THE THINGS YOU GAVE YOUR LIFE TO BROKEN
AND STOOP AND BUILD’EM UP WITH WORNOUT TOOLS

IF YOU CAN MAKE ONE HEAP OF ALL YOU WINNINGS
AND RISK IT ON ONE TURN OF PITCH AND TOSS
AND LOSE, AND START AGIAN AT YOUR BEGINNINGS
AND NEVER BREATHE A WORD ABOUT YOUR LOSS
IF YOU CAN FORCE YOUR HEART AND NERVE AND SINEW
TO SERVE YOUR TURN LONG AFTER THEY ARE GONE
AND SO HOLD ON WHEN THERE IS NOTHING IN YOU
EXCEPT THE WILL WHICH SAYS TO THEM: “HOLD ON”

IF YOU CAN TALK WITH CROWDS AND KEEP YOUR VIRTUE
OR WALK WITH KINGS NOR LOSE THE COMMON TOUCH
IT NEITHER FOES NOR LOVING FRIENDS CAN HURT YOU
IF ALL MEN COUNT WITH YOU, BUT NONE TOO MUCH
IF YOU CAN FILL THE UNFORGIVING MINUTE
WITH SIXTY SECONDS WORTH OF DISTANCE RUN
YOURS IS THE EARTH AND EVERYTHING THAT’S IN IT
( MY DAD’S ENDING…. )
YOU’LL BE A TRUE AND FINE PERSON.

…. through out my life… I have meet so many people who have shared courage, inspiration, a true willingness to live life to it’s fullness… just today on the cover of USA Today… Lance Armstrong, 22 yr. old from Texas is pictured carrying the US flag as he crossed the finish line to win the Tour de France… to hear his story… of overcoming cancer… believing in himself and drawing strength from those around him who love him…. …for my life Christ is this true inspiration …. a model of loving others… knowing who I am and being me… and sowing seeds of love and kindness on the path…

On Sabbath

We’re on the road… it looks like it’s going to be a great, busy, hectic, wild, exciting summer… lot’s of airports, hotels, camp songs, time in the car, new movies to see (yah baby), afternoon naps, firefly watching and sunshine… summer used to be a time to take my shoes off and relax, run in the sprinkler, drink icees (save those coupons–i still have the icee bear towel i got with those coupons) and drink those blue snowcones that turn your tongue blue, sliding on the slip’n’slide, the old turtle pool in the back yard and time to play hide and seek until dark… i hope in the midst of our busy-ness, we take time to rest and time to just be with friends… this summer, i’m looking forward to making new friends and traveling with my buddies… sabbath is what i’m talking about… i’m listening for God in the midst of this welcomed change of pace… i invite you to do the same.

On being together

Greetings to all… I hope you are well and enjoying what you are doing in your life as much as I am in mine… since Ron left the local church, we have been traveling together, we’ve been able to spend a lot of time working and playing together… I’ve always felt fortunate to be married to my best friend… it’s wonderful to be out singing, meeting new folks, trying new songs, sharing stories; great also to be home… playing bad golf, eating out with friends, writing songs, go-carting with my favorite 6 year old friend… (she drives most of the ride and I hang on)…. catching a movie or 2, hanging out with Ron, having breakfast at my favorite bakery, I am blessed and overwhelmed with this great, scary, wild, surprising, slow when I allow it to be, crazy life.

…since October, I have really missed Michael Krumrey… it’s hard to play with someone for 5 years and not be flooded with memories… airports we were trapped in for layovers, songs that he played, his pretzel appreciation, listening to Phish and classical guitar, his smile… a few times I have called the new guys I go out with Mike… we both smile and know it’s just out of habit… when someone is gone it’s the remembering that counts… not to remember him or mention him would be very foreign… so here’s to Michael… your memory continues for those who knew you and loved you… may we all be remembered…

I have had the joy to be traveling with 2 great guys that are playing guitar with me…

David Flint has been in town for sometime .. he’s from New York state.. he’s been working in country music… he’s a writer, producer, does some recording session work on projects while he is in town…. he plays the guitar quite lovely… he’s helping me on a new recording I am working on… lots of sing alongs and new songs written since Walk Chalantly…

Thad Beaty is also traveling with me… he’s been working in Christian music… we are very blessed to have him in our camp… Thad’s from Mississippi and calls me ma’am, which is quite charming… he and I have also been writing and he’s been singing with me at some concerts… he is bringing back bed hair and does it so well… plays great, too

Both of these guys have great senses of humor and are fun to travel and be with, what more can you ask for on the road?… I look forward to our future together.. they’ll both be with us at Youth ‘99 and at several events this next year…. I feel lucky to have them with me… let’s just say I feel blessed…

Michael Krumrey

the Loss of Michael Krumrey. On October 5, 1998 Michael Krumrey died. Michael was Celia’s accompanist (he played the guitar.) He had some heart trouble and died in his sleep. Michael was 29. If you saw Celia sing during the last 5 years, the odds are great that Michael was with her. He played beautifully and is missed. Memorial information is available on Celia’s new album, or by replying to this email asking for information about the Michael Krumrey scholarship.