Pour Out Your Hearts

Trust in Him at all times, o people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. – Psalm 62:8

I love that throughout scripture I see examples of God hearing and answering His people.  He longs for them to cry out to Him and to come to Him.  He asks them to cast their cares on Him.  He binds up their broken hearts.  He knows their sitting and their rising.  He does not act like an indifferent bystander.  He’s working for us and for our good.  So, today, in light of writing that, I’m going to share some of the things that are tucked into my heart and just plain make me happy (besides, Fridays are for happy things!).

1. That husband of mine who does life with me.  He is such a gift.  Such a rock and such an encouragement. The road has been rocky and full of adversity, but I’m grateful that I chose him and am still choosing him…and grateful that he chooses me still.
2. Baby oh baby.  Mr. Asher is pretty much the happiest baby and my goodness I am so blessed and privileged to be able to be his mom.
3. My Lindo. He’s the one I miss and the one who taught me to love little boys so much.  I’m so glad I got to know him and for all the ways he cracked open my heart.  He taught me much and he is part of one of my absolute favorite God stories.
4. My Africa. My heart still beats for this place and for this country.  This is such a both and of happy and the heart wrenching grief of not being there.  This is where I pour out my heart waiting for God to weave this piece back into my life in a bigger way.
5. That crazy Boaz.  He pushed me out of my comfort zone and led me on a path toward more joy, laughter, and lots more snuggling than I could have guessed when I brought him home.
6. Church.  I couldn’t have guessed all the ways being on staff at my church would challenge, encourage, change, and ground me.  There’s so much goodness in being planted in a local church.
7. Community/Friends/People.  The world is so full of so many good, good people and I am so glad I’ve gotten to know and do life with a lot of them!

I think (maybe?) sometimes part of knowing you are the beloved of God is remembering, taking note, and being grateful for the things He has put in your life.  He is good to us.

What has He put in your life that makes you happy?

25 Things

I snagged this from my favorite Vizsla loving blogger because it looked so fun!

1. I’m happiest when…. 1) I’m hanging out with my favorite people (my boys! the husband, my little man, and Boaz) 2) when I’m outside. 3) eating delicious food

2. …Especially if it… 1) involves mountains, the beach, or some kind of adventure!

3. I’ve always wanted to….move back overseas.

4. My family and I…love going on walks!

5. I was a terrible…er let’s say I have a terrible time noticing things that need to be cleaned.

6. My first job was….babysitting!

7. I could probably eat ice cream and cake every day!

8. I stole…I’ve got nothing on this one…hm.

9. I was born on the same day as….Brad Pitt

10. My all time favorite film is…I do love the Narnia movies and there are a few others too!

11. I do a pretty mean…forehand while playing tennis.

12. I’m still mad…I didn’t take advantage of post-secondary options.

13. I met my husband…at church!

14. I always knew I wanted…enough books to fill a room/library in my house.

15. I’m not afraid to…climb mountains and jump off cliffs!  Well, I may be afraid at times, but I do it anyway!

16. I make the best…desserts!

17. I have almost no…flexibility.  Sit and reach always messed up my physical fitness awards in school.

18. I always cry when…I’m done using anger as a cover up for being hurt.

19. I’m a Minnesotan with who still calls Africa home.

20. I spent 1 year living in South Africa.

21. I wish my folks…the best 🙂

22. As a child, I was deeply in love with…making up stories

23. I believe if everyone had a better sense of their worth and how loved they are the world would be a better place.

24. I can’t stand…the smell of black licorice.

25. Whenever Amazing Race is on I’ll watch it.  Mainly I love seeing all the amazing places they go!

Your turn!  I’d love to hear your answers to any of these 🙂 

10 Day You Challenge

The title of this post totally makes me think of a fitness challenge…but it’s not.  I saw this on my favorite Vizsla loving blog and thought it was so fun!  Since it’s a perfect sunny day and I’ve got the morning free, I’m taking a little time to start this.  Here’s the lowdown…

ten secrets, nine loves, eight fears, seven wants, six places, five foods, four books, three films, two songs, and one picture.

So, today, I’m going to start off with six places!  Mostly in random order 🙂

1. Africa. First place that comes to mind that has my heart and that I can’t wait to go back to someday.  I loved falling in love with Africa even when there were the incredibly tough times and the things that stretched me to my limits.  Living there for a year definitely was one of the best things I have ever done.

2. Greece…this trip for school was so good for my heart and filled with so much fun with fun people.

3. Italy.  I loved all things pistachio and all things food!  I would love to go back to Italy and explore more and see more of the coast.

4. Mountains.  I love mountains.  Hiking in them, looking at them, skiing, whatever.  They’re my favorite.  I would totally be down for living in the mountains someday.  I loved living on the side of one in Africa.  Add in a lake by the mountains and I’m set.

5. Dirt Roads. When they’re dusty, but not too dusty and stuck in the middle of nowhere.  I love a good run or a walk or even a drive on a dirt road.  6. Bed.  My bed has one of my favorite places to be.  So in bed with a good book or a movie with these two makes my day.  I love being able to retreat there and just be comfortable and relaxed. 

Oh and for the record…this was actually really hard to keep it to just 6 places! I could have added in a ton…the beach, the water, sitting outside, running, and that doesn’t even include all of the places that I want to go to but I haven’t been!

 

 

 

 

What I Learned-February

I had so much fun writing last months “What I learned” that I thought I would jump on board again this time!  February really felt like a short month and yet I definitely feel like there were a lot of big learning curves as well as fun things to learn too!

1. The Olympics are my favorite, but I learned that I do have a limit of watching…I eventually hit the: “We need to do something else!” stage!  But all in all, I loved being able to see the athletes and the competition.  Plus, my husband likes them too! Even Boaz loved all the times he got to either “watch” or sleep on us.

Boaz is so high maintenance.

2. There are SO many baby options for everything. I’ve started bookmarking a few things and my Pinterest page is growing!

3. This baby loves to move and I am in love with baby feet.  One of my favorite ultrasound pictures definitely was the one with cute little feet.  Not too surprising because I have always taken feet pictures wherever I travel.

Speaking of, I’m ready to be back in Africa… 🙂

4. I definitely have a bump and people have noticed. Maternity clothes are around the corner.  Not yet, but definitely soon!

Oh and how cute is this picture with my husband.

5. My limit of handling winter is getting shorter.  I am longing for walks and runs outside.

6. It’s okay to spend money to take care of me (even when I’d rather spend the money elsewhere!) and to do things afraid. I definitely had to be open to making this decision and to God’s promptings.

7. Downton Abbey turned into a perfect thing to watch while on the treadmill with Boaz! And I will say that I was thankful for a “happier” ending than last season.

8. Communication is ever a learning process, but worth the hard work.

9. Even though February is a “short” month, we totally used all of our grocery budget to make good food early in the month.  Next month, I might need to spread things out a bit!

10. This salad dressing is delicious. 

11. The book of Numbers hasn’t been nearly as hard to read as I thought it would be this time around and I am loving reading Romans this month.  (I’ve been using this plan since I think July last year and have been more or less reading a day or two or three at a time.  I love getting to read out of 4 different books each day.)

12. Baby names are hard to pick!  But I am loving all the potential names and options…I may or may not be a name hoarder.

What did you learn this month?

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.

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.

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

Learning to Deal with Disappointment

How you learn to manage your disappointments in your life will determine your destiny.

-Christine Caine

Disappointments come all around us in life.  They start coming even when we’re little.  When the friend chooses someone else to share her cookie with that day or when we don’t get to go on a class trip or when we miss out on getting the most amazing new toy ever.  Sometimes we’ll pout and throw our fits.  Other times we’ll get mean and say some angry words because at the core, we’re hurt.

 Then we get a little older and well, the disappointments don’t stop coming.  The little disappointments are still there like missing out on getting a cute new Starbucks mug because they sold out or missing going to a store because it closed or someone else getting what we wanted.  “Bigger” things too can crush our fragile hearts like not getting picked for a job or watching a ministry close down or not being able to get pregnant or watching our plans change.  That’s when we might simply cry because we had a plan and now it’s going all wrong.  We’d prayed and prayed and things weren’t supposed to turn out this way.

I started writing this post on December 12, 2011.  I had no clue on that day what God would do in my life and how different everything would be just a year later.  There’s the acknowledgement that if some of my disappointments hadn’t come, I wouldn’t be where I am today.  Yet, there’s also the acknowledgement that those disappointments were exactly that. A disappointment.  Something to feel, grieve, and walk out.  Even when good is worked out of a situation, it can still hurt.

But that’s where Christine Cain ever so convictingly reminds us that how we handle those disappointments will determine our destiny.  Will we stay in our hurt and in turn hurt those around us?  Will we thank and worship God even so?  Will we hold grudges and reject others because of our jealousy or hurt?  Will we choose faith or fear? How will we handle our disappointments?

Lord, I haven’t always handled my disappointments with grace and love….help me, teach me, and be with me as the disappointments keep coming so that I can handle them in a healthy, godly way that draws me closer to You.

Africa!?

 

Check out the super exciting news below!!

Donate here!

Home?

i’m still catching my breath not sure if it’s really okay to breathe again…still tentatively being like, wait really? and yet all the time thinking oh hey maybe this is just the beginning of a beautiful year of celebrating!

so without further adieu here is the current photo menagerie of the place i’m calling “home?”

it’s a start. a work in progress. and likely things will change, but so far i do love it and it’s me.

first off. i legit love my bed.

and well as you can see…i have a love for shoes and standing mirrors.

I’m in love with this shelf I found–for now it’s here in the kitchen! Plus, the clock has always made me happy.

a little cluttery but convenient and logically placed to include all sorts of happy over here from my mod podge magnetic board to my yellow cup to the paper towels with cupcakes on them to my pink blender to my bright colored silver wear.

love from africa postcard + marathon love water bottle + cute white table + painted chair=happy

the words came of course…because I love me some words and can stand in front of the fridge for FAR too long playing with these–at least I’m not eating?!

and this one found a spot on my wall.

here’s my lived-in living room

i LOVE accessories! hello tons of earrings and some necklaces! and cute african boys giggling at me as I get ready.

added a few pops of color in here =)

this room gets SO much sunlight in the afternoon it’s glorious.

transformed this little area into a nice workspace.

and here’s some more books and more africa.

and oh hey craft corner!

and lastly cue my fave furniture find!

there you have it! the lovely picture tour =)