Time to Thrive!?

So stand still and see this great thing the Lord will do before your eyes now.

-1 Samuel 12:16

God sure has a thing about timing. He is SO faithful!

During (In)Courage’s 30 Days of Giveaways, I won this cute little day planner complete with a perfect little quote.

The day it arrived in the mail was the day I moved a few more prayer requests over to the second box because that day, I received an e-mail with an offer to come on staff with Thrive Africa.

Needless to say, I accepted!

(insert: happy dance)

p.s. more details to come of course! and the witty title of the blog…courtesy of Amy 🙂

tri-happy

Saturday is here! Normally, I leave the weekend free of blogging because it’s the weekend!  But, I thought I would make an exception because I have some fun pictures to share.  Not to mention, letting you all know that I got to put a little big check on my 2010 list.  Actually, I’ve had this on my “to do” list for quite a while and even pony-ed up during debriefing from my internship last year by letting all my interns know that I planned on completing one before doing a few other things. So, what did I do!? I completed a triathlon!  In lieu of competing in one and spending a ridiculous amount of money (some were like $90), I decided to save my money and make my own course. Here’s a little proof.

This would be my nervousexcited face with a “Am I really doing this?”

my attempt at getting a picture of my super cute swimsuit. took me forever to find one but I love it and i LOVE wearing swim shorts. if you had told me 5 years ago that i would think a bikini was immodest to wear…i would have laughed and said it’s just fine–not anymore! hello, change!

my little transition station. complete with my beautiful bike and bike shoes (i LOVE being clipped in). plus, i’ve got my bag full of stuff (towel, bike shorts, running shorts, camera, cell phone, running shoes, bike helmet, bike gloves, ipod).

why, yes, that is a creepy fake swan that gets to swim with me today…at least he keeps away the geese.

now this. this is beautiful. i seriously love lakes in the summertime. water like glass that is perfect for water skiing or wakeboarding on or well…swimming for 20 minutes. did i mention that i didn’t train for this part of the triathlon? at least i did a bit of swimming at camp. but yeah…..definitely should have! probably should have trained in general…

this would be my smile that means i’m so incredibly thankful that the swim part is finally done! I am so not a swimmer compared to biking and running. love it, but it wore me out!

and this here. is my I’m so tired, but I’m done look!!!!

Swim: 20 min.

Bike: 53 min. (12.4 miles or 20k)

Run: 27 min. (3.1 miles or 5k)

What did I learn?

• God provides cute little things to keep me going–like watching a bird swoop down to eat a fish while I’m swimming…at least it was a little bird.
• Swimming is hard. really hard. refreshing, but the time sure goes slow.
• I love creating new paths and ways to go with God–I biked a totally new trail.
• My legs felt so weird when I started running. I’m pretty sure that little 5k felt longer than the 20k I did before, but I finished while running in the woods which made my heart happy.
• Tweeting while doing things helps provide little goals and encouragement.
• When I’m focused on God and doing things with God, quitting or walking or slowing down may fleeting cross my mind, but leaves quickly.
• Gotta love the…what’s next/now what? that comes after completing a goal. Yeah, I’m achiever at heart.
• My body may be tired, but my heart is happy.

Wordless Wednesday: I’m Happy

What’s your word/phrase/picture for today?

right here, right now…joy.

hello week. good-bye weekend. i feel like i need another weekend. seriously i’m finding that the days and weeks keep going faster and faster. before long…i’ll be old 😉 i feel like a happy broken record coming here each week and saying that joy is everywhere and that i feel so….loved. joyful. at peace. excited. at home. seriously, y’all (i’m not southern but i just felt like saying that), God is so very faithful. months ago, one of my intern people told me about how when he was praying for me that he saw a book where i needed to focus on the page at hand rather than look ahead to the end. i think i’m finally starting to live like that and trust God like that. saying hello to the new adventure right here, right now and not trying to make another adventure happen on my own.  so, without further ado, here are some snapshots of joy…

816. knowing that people have my back

830. more swings, more swings (cute little kiddos on the playground)

871. eating brownies with a spoon from the pan with my people

876. melting into peace

879. moments where my heart stops in a good way

880. memories i want to hold onto

888. closing my eyes to soak up the moment

908. bananagrams and cribbage and laughing and fabulous people

938. watching life!

and before you run off…don’t forget to comment because it makes my heart happy to hear from you all! did you watch life? what was the highlight of your week? anything I can be praying for you about?

p.s. i’m SO close to 1000 gifts. 🙂

 

Up, Up and Away

The lovelies at (in)Courage prompted a challenge to find a coloring book page and explain why you chose it…here goes:

I’m all about “happy” and in terms of coloring that means lots of bright colors so when I saw this picture I got excited.  More than that, the page speaks right to where my heart is at.  See, I’m on this journey with God where I’m finding joy and letting Him do some deep heart work to break those ties that hold me to the ground.  He wants to take me to places that I can’t get to alone or would even choose.  Up, Up and Away to beyond all that I can ask or imagine because He is working ALL things out for good 🙂

What would YOU color??

Quotes that go along with this:

“Life is a work of art. You have to keep mixing the colors, creating new blends,and seeing things in fresh ways. You must be willing to get paint all over you.” -Erwin McManus

“God wants to take us to places we can’t get to by ourselves, but we will never get there if we hold onto where we are.”

“I would have never chosen that place to go…”

“It had opened her eyes to the fact that right down in the depths of her own heart she really had but one passionate desire, not for the things which the Shepherd had promised but for himself.  All she wanted was to be allowed to follow him forever. “Nothing else really matters only to love him and to do what he tells me.” -Hinds Feet in High Places

Food, Photos, and Vanilla Chai

Playing around with the camera beforehand. Here’s a shot of a bowl from South Africa–Chelsea and I walked ALL over a market trying to find the right one with the right colors and right design. 🙂

Pre-eating and cooking game face. ha!

Tofu…springy…mushy…I’m pretty skeptical at this point!

They look tasty….

Now to add some asparagus. (Yeah, I had to look up how to trim and cut asparagus just in case!) Add in a little vanilla chai and everything looks just about perfect.

Oh yes! Tastes fabulous! A little mediterranean peri peri to boot and my mouth is happy.

5 Things I Love

1.Yeah, yeah, I’m sure if you’ve been reading a while and saw the title then you just knew that this little guy would be on this list.  I love Lindo especially his amazing hugs and asking to be on my shoulders.

2. Bare feet!  I greatly dislike socks and even shoes. Going barefoot is the best and if not that then at least flip flops.  I must say that being back in the snow…I’ve gotten multiple comments about how I need to wear shoes…boo.

3. Wearing sunglasses on my head.  They make me feel summery and happy.  Oh and I love this girly too! She makes my heart happy!  Though, I’m not so keen on her living miles and miles away now instead of down my stairs…

4 and well 5 too there’s a lot of love in this. This picture shows so many random things I love: Wearing my hair in braids. The hat Tara made for me because I love her! and the hat.  The other hat that I got in SA hanging on the door. Being able to hang things on my door like sweatshirts and purses is so handy. Painted wooden chairs.  All the bright happy colors.  The South African flag in the background because I love SA and the people and God’s calling on my life. Also, below the flag now is a poster of the Hope House kids and I love them. My Lerato shirt from June because I love June, Lerato (love in Sesotho) is my name and that it supports Thrive.

ht: 5 things I love

Pocket Full of Thoughts

• Ha, I so need one of these….
• So excited about this new start because I am totally living out a “second chance” myself: a movement of people that would let radical integrity and radical grace consume them in their life and leadership.
• Took a nap on the couch tonight…so comfy and safe
• No cocoa for brownies….but popcorn when I woke up hit the spot
• New to me, free clothes make my heart so happy. seriously. 2 pairs of running tights and 2 under armor long sleeve shirts (plus, one with the thumb hole things!!! I am so set for running in the minnesota cold….) not to mention a cute tank top, other clothes and a fun bag.
• This looks totally awesome. I miss my bike and I heart Africa.
• Feeling the days slipping by so fast…
• We leave for debriefing and Cape Town on Saturday–what!?
• Why am I still up? Oh right, I took a forever long nap tonight.
• What are you up to?

 

Bam!

If you know me even a little, then you probably know that I tend to think….think a lot.  Sometimes to the point where it gets in the way and puts up walls (not a good thing) and stops things from going from my head to my heart.  The last few days I got all caught up in the thinking.  The heady, here’s what experience tells me.  I “know” the truth, but I couldn’t shake the all over the board emotions ranging from confused to frustrated to happy to disappointed to sad to lonely to okay to everything else.  I bounced around and couldn’t find my footing on the solid rock.

Until today. I sat in class and I tried to pay attention and engage in conversation, but every once in a while my thoughts would overwhelm me still.  Until I heard these words, “Follow Me.”  Funny thing is that we were talking about ministering to youth and I really don’t remember how that fit in and neither does my roomie (I asked her later).  So then, God immediately brought to mind the verse below:

“…what is that to you?  You follow Me!”

My reaction: Whoa. Lord, you are so here.  You are so getting my attention.  Because really.  What is it to me that ___ is doing this or that God is working in that way in their lives.  Even, who is that to me and what is that to you that I’m working in a way you didn’t expect.  When all I need to focus on is following Him then everything else fades away.  Africa fades away. Lindo fades away. Thrive fades away. Hope House kids fade away. Marriage fades away.

Yes, good things and yes, serving is good, but He just wants me to “be.”  He loves me when I’m just sitting on the floor with Him leaning against my bed.  He wants me to follow Him and be with Him.  He wants to step out only on His firm foundation.

“It had opened her eyes to the fact that right down in the depths of her own heart she really had but one passionate desire, not for the things which the Shepherd had promised but for himself.  All she wanted was to be allowed to follow him forever. “Nothing else really matters only to love him and to do what he tells me.” -Hinds Feet in High Places

Monday Musings

• excited to listen to this podcast when it comes out and love some of the thoughts Perry posted already:
  • Love for her intimacy with God…and not just the information she knows about Him!
  • When you focus on what you do not have (a relationship) more than you focus on Jesus and His Word…the result is usually compromise.
  • AND…YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMPROMISE…EVER!!!  If I could sit down face to face with every single girl I would say the same thing…WAIT for God’s best…it’s worth it.
• had my first “see you in His timing”
  • my heart is already aching at the thought of saying more of those soon…
• hung out with Lindo today….man, that kid is too much fun and I love his family
  • definitely made me smile today
  • working on making a video of the tons of pictures I have of him 🙂
  • can’t wait for next week so i can give him a soccer ball and whatever else random I find in town for him…so what does a 5 year old like?

  

• “no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.” ht: note
  • The weapon of jealousy will NOT prosper against you because we will CELEBRATE what God is doing
  • The weapon of feeling insignificant will NOT prosper against you because HE MADE YOU SIGNIFICANT when He saved you and called you…your significance comes from your salvation…not from “success” in ministry.
• can’t wait to see this girl.
• asking God to hold me tight tonight and help me fight
  • feeling a bit broken tonight.
  • getting away with Him.
• listening to this guy thanks to his free music. 
  • speaking of music. integrity music and their free song on friday makes me happy