Doing the Rain Dance

We are currently in the midst of severe drought in North Carolina. It's one of the worst seasons of drought in the history of the state. As I was just gazing out the window from my desk, I noticed the lack of any vegetation, especially on the trees. This is the time of year when life should be budding again, but the only thing that's green is the new grass planted outside of our apartment building. Fortunately, we have had some heavy rain over the past couple of weeks, but the drought has been so severe, we're still categorized as being in severe drought, one notch below extreme drought.

The lack of life saddens me because I have always been in love with springtime. I love the new growth and the beautiful colors that God paints across the earth. There is a beautiful dogwood tree right outside of our window, which was blooming beautifully last year but has nothing yet this year. Right next to it is a tree with dried up leaves still left over from the fall and winter. Signs of life are struggling through, however, when I see a small tree or bush on the side of the road with tiny buds reaching for life.

I worry that, despite the "green" culture that thrives in our area, the recent rain will give a false sense of security and send people back to unnecessarily washing their cars and watering their lawns. When the drought was taking a serious turn for the worse last fall, residents of a local city actually complained when they had to stop watering their lawns because the drinking water reservoir was not going to last longer than three more months. I sincerely hope that they are smarter and "greener" this spring. If the green culture here doesn't get a little more serious we won't be seeing any green at all this year.

The Madness is Near

March=College basketball. Once again we have arrived at the time of year when everyone goes crazy about their brackets and maybe their favorite team, but only if they picked their favorite team to win it all.

This year will be a little bittersweet for us. This is our last March Madness living in the middle of the infamous Duke-UNC rivalry, which makes even the basketball clueless fired up and shouting about calls he doesn't understand. By the end of the tournament, we will most likely have decided about our new home in the fall, and thus we will have a new team to cheer for. So what happens if our new team plays North Carolina in the tournament? I'd prefer not to answer that question and just hope it doesn't happen. I will, however, always have a soft spot in my heart for the Tar Heels when March Madness rolls around. We're not going to a new school for the sports anyway...

Red or Blue?

It has been an exciting couple of weeks in the Tiearney household. Last year at this time we were grasping at straws for the next step in our life, wondering what God had in store for us. This year, we are reaping the benefits of taking the time to listen to God's voice and his gentle guiding for our life.

If you remember, I applied for grad school last year with a dismal turnout. Out of the nine schools I applied at, I received no acceptance letters. It was pretty depressing. As the application season rolled around again this year, I approached it with a cautious trepidation. Melissa and I had both decided to apply for grad school this time, so there were a lot of blocks that had to fall just right. The waiting period was just as bad this year, even though I had experienced it before. Fortunately, just over a week ago I received a phone call from the University of Illinois informing me of my acceptance, which was shortly followed by an email with a full funding package offered for the school year starting in August. I was physically shaking on the phone. Not one day later, both Melissa and I received acceptance letters from Indiana University. We're both being considered for funding, so we'll have to wait a little longer before we know anything certain. That was the best weekend I'd had in months.

As the April 15 decision deadline looms closer, we are planning a trip to visit both schools and see some family and friends while we're at it. Melissa is hoping to hear from Illinois any day now so we can further plan our visit there. God has really opened the floodgates for us this year, and it's really exciting to embark on what we feel is God's call for our lives right now.

So, the big question will come down to this: Do we choose the red pill or the blue pill?