TGIF

For fun, I thought I’d post again today.  Plus, I’ve had a sleepy puppy all morning so I might as well take advantage of the quiet and snuggly time. I saw this on Alece’s blog and she gave credit to Brene Brown who said, ” I believe a joyful life is made up of joyful moments strung together by trust, gratitude, and inspiration.”  I did add the last FAVORITE part to it for an extra dose of joy =)

I am TRUSTING that god has a plan in this crazy wild ride that includes grad school, internship hours, marriage, and wonderings about how it’s all going to come together and work out. I’m trusting that all that I’m doing today will not be wasted and will not be for nothing, but that it has a purpose. 

I am GRATEFUL for slow mornings with my puppy and my Bible and for nights with my husband.

I am INSPIRED by bright colors, sunshine, friends, puppies, music, pinterest, traveling

My FAVORITE parts of the week were watching the voice with the husband, getting planet earth, and napping with Boaz.

 

How about you? What’s your TGIF look like today!? Any other ideas for another word that would work for the F?

Here…

5 minutes of fun, free writing on a Friday! Thanks to Lisa-Jo our prompt this week is….

here

i’m waiting here for you Lord. you’ve never left my side yet I sit in the silence waiting for the gentle nudge for me to be not afraid. you’re calling me out upon the waters. i know not where we are going yet i trust you for you’ve never failed me before. even when i was ever so angry and upset and disappointed….you were faithfully working behind my understanding, faithfully planning something even better and something set aside just for me.  yet in the same breath, you’re right there with me my fierce protector who shelters me from the one who steals, kills, and destroys. he may try to take my joy. he may try to take my hope. he may try to take my trust. but you’re the one who makes all things new. you won’t let my feet fall and  you hold my right hand. i’m secure in you. so i’m walking toward what we do not know. we’re walking toward you. hand in hand. learning this crazy dance called life and marriage. where you lead. we know not. oh how i so sometimes want to hand you a detailed plan, but then i’m reminded that you know so much more. there’s a reason you’re god and i’m not. so let meet us here. meet us in the questions and the wonderings.  meet me here, lord. i’m waiting here for you.

currently!

 

boaz is so silly.

Reading…Bringing Up Boys, Love and Respect, The Healing, and The Paradise War

Watching…The Voice, The Amazing Race (I heard there was an episode with Africa in it so we started…!), Planet Earth, and soon The War

Drinking…lots of water but craving a blended vanilla chai from dunn bros

Eating…cereal!!

Wondering…when spring will come

Thinking about…just how good God is at reminding me that He sees me.  Also, thinking about Andy Stanley’s book that lays out anger as saying, “You owe me.” and jealousy as saying, “God owes me.”

Hoping to…be able to run outside soon!

Thankful for…my Jesus, my husband, my church, my puppy, my home, good books, sunshine, joy, and things to look forward to in the future!

after

five minutes of writing on friday! i’m ready. are you? jump on in on the fun over here.

here’s the prompt!

after

the music fades, the people have left, the airplane lands, the fanfare slows, and we find ourselves in the after. the after moments of eery quiet filled with tense wondering of is this all there was and the wide eyed anticipation of just how these moments will change everything.  for in these moments and places and situations the course of our story changes.  sometimes i’ve known ahead of time that i will lay down my rock to create an altar of remembrance.  other times the moments pass me by before i’ve realized that that was the time when things changed. there’s the before and the after africa. the before and after “i do.” the before and after “god, you are my all in all.” my life is filled to the brim with these sacred moments and while some of them hurt so bad that i’d rather skip them altogether, i can’t help but still recognize the powerful ways they’ve changed me.  they’ve rearranged me. He’s rearranged me. He’s wrecked me. wholly and fully for His purposes and plans. being conformed and being renewed requires a whole lot of bending and stretching and fitting awkwardly into the new afters.

Oh hey…

I’ve been rolling around with all sorts of posts in my head, but haven’t had the chance to sit down to write them out.  This week is a little crazy between work and other commitments.  We’re busy every night of this week except for Monday….then we get all the fun Easter-ness over the weekend!  So, we’re going to write a little “mind-dump” slash what’s up Wednesday.

finished….breaking free by beth moore! now to see what one to do next. any bible study suggestions?

finishing….tonight’s the last night of Wednesday services at church.  I’m excited to celebrate with the kids about all that they’ve learned and accomplished this year!

started….a bible study on luke, a fun new strength & weight lifting program, and a running program

starting…another book that my mom gave me called healing which is supposed to be fabulous and about plantation life.

read….sacred marriage

reading…bringing up boys, love & respect

standing out….the prodigal son story and how the father went out to the older brother

wanting…mountains and a trip to africa

eating….homemade oatmeal cream pies and mashed potatoes (not at the same time!)

baking…a cake for tonight

realizing…cleaning and taking out the garbage are both my least favorite chores

looking forward to….saturday with the husband and easter services to hear the music they’ve been working on so hard!

thinking about…the prophecy that was spoken over us on sunday.

thankful for…so many things but especially parents who lend us cars when crazy things happen like windshields shattering.

praising god for…encouragement and affirmation.

 

How about you? What’s up in your life?

 

Remember…

Friday! This week has passed me by in a busy, but good way.  Last week, I was able to write all sorts of posts and this week, I’m just stopping by for the first time.  So, here goes a little 5 minute friday writing.

Remember

my husband remembers so many things i don’t. he remembers what he was wearing when we went on our first date and our first non-date and all sorts of firsts. he remembers what i wore to sonshine.  he remembers what we have ordered at restaurants. he remembers the details, the images, the moments. as he stirs up his own memories, he tells me the stories and i’m right there with him remembering and savoring the times we’ve had together.  he’ll take me back to bible study back in 2010 when we’d banter back and forth.  he’ll transport me to sri lanka when i made him wear a clown costume. he’ll tease me about how he saw me looking at him while he was on stage playing drums before i promptly adverted my eyes.  i love the rich and varied memories we have together. we may not have dated ever since i got back from africa, but he’s always been there and he’s often been the one i’ve looked to for support…whether it was to make a plinko board for the harvest party or to lead the preschoolers with drums or to offer to get my car in the rain or to scrap off the snow from my car. sometimes remembering helps make today even sweeter. i can’t wait to see what i’ll remember in the years to come. or i should say that i can’t wait to hear what he remembers.

Friday Fun

Let’s do this.  5 minutes of free writing with no pressure, no edits, no rules, and just plain fun.

Today’s topic:

Rest

I sneak over to his side of the bed after he’s snuck out to shower.  My sleepy brain is still in complete sleep mode.  When he comes back, he prays over me for my day and I mumble a prayer back.  Though, let’s be honest, I can’t say for sure that what I said was all that great.  I do remember how he made fun of me because my words were messed up and then I joked back with him that God was going to smite him because he was making fun of my prayer.  He played right along with my sleepy state.  When the nights are long and work schedules are late, I find myself needing so much more rest than I’d like.  I grumble about how I used to get up at 4 something or 5 something.  He gently reminds me that I also used to start work at 6.  Work starts at 3pm now and that definitely causes a shift.  He’s ever full of grace for my sleepy, restful state and I’m humbled.  Rest for the soul. A place to rest my heart. Rest for my body.  Saturday, come quickly, I’m ready for a day of rest.

Money Money Money

My husband the other day was talking about how he had read a devotional about the four money languages.  I had heard about these before, but couldn’t remember them so I promptly looked them up on google and found this fun video.  We both could identify our money languages and could see traces of our secondary languages as well.

Here’s the line that I identified with most:

“We can take that trip. We can buy pizza!”

Amiable it is!  Pretty sure I’ve been known to say, “Hey! We have unallocated funds [funds not put in the budget yet]….let’s go buy something fun!” Not to mention that the last time we had unallocated cash on hand, I ended up going and buying all sorts of food for people.  Hello, money means love =) Plus, gifts is one of my top love languages.

Ryan on the other hand…well, he’s an analytic and…”Money means security.”  He’s been known to have thousands and thousands of dollars just sitting in the bank. Handy, though, when it comes time that he wants to do something with it like buy a wedding ring or go to Sri Lanka or head to Norway for a few months.

Thankfully, I have some analytic in me too and he’s willing to spend on experiences, which helps us be on the same page money wise and we’re Dave Ramsey fans.

How about you? Are you a driver, amiable, analytic, or expressive?

What’s Up Wednesday

hearing Boaz crunch on an apple that I deemed too old for me to eat

seeing the book of Luke and my DSM book

thinking that I’m ready for spring and to be able to go outside!

doing bible reading, breaking free, and a final exam

looking forward to seeing sigur ros, going to virginia, and planning another vacay

feeling content and happy to have Boaz home

touching the wooden chairs my grandmother made

missing africa and friends

thankful for being able to sleep in, cereal, pretty wedding pictures, marriage, friends, sunlight, mountains

excited about going to the mountains again

coming up easter, spring, and ally & levi coming home!

something old the shorts i’m wearing that i love

something new a super soft liberty sweatshirt that i got for free

something blue Boaz’s chew toy

3 months and counting

3 super happy months of being married! woot! in celebration, I went through our wedding pictures and honeymoon pictures to finally post them on facebook.  if we’re friends, you can look at them here. made me totally want to do the whole day over again and to run off to the mountains and the beach like now. but instead, i’ll make a list of all the fun things i love about life right where i’m at! in no particular order here are 12 things for the 12th.

1. being married

2. my awesome husband

3. my adorable dog Boaz who loves me

4. my church family.

5. a wonderful place to live that is warm even though it’s still cold outside

6. traveling to look forward to in the future

7. friends’ super cute babies

8. being able to e-mail and text best friends

9. being able to cook all sorts of deliciousness

10.  pinterest boards of lovely things

11. books to read and time to read them

12. mornings spent with god reading the bible and doing the breaking free bible study

What are you loving about your life right now?