At the end of the day, when my little family puts up with my silly ideas of fitting everyone on the green chair for a picture, when the puppy is sleeping on me, when I get to watch my man play with our little man, when I get to hold them all close, and when I get to breathe in all the pieces of this life that’s when I feel a glimpse of resting in being the beloved wife, mommy, and puppy owner that I am. They love me well.
This past weekend we had such a fun time since we are finally feeling better!
We started Friday off by going to a birthday party for some awesome people from church. I’m always curious to see how these things will go now that we’ve got a baby in tow. He did great though and was pretty content the whole time! Plus, I’ve realized that I just love seeing other people love him. Our pastor’s daughter and our worship leader got to hold him quite a bit and he loved it! I am so incredibly thankful for all these awesome people in his life and for how they bless our family. I totally need to get more pictures of him with other people though! Too often I don’t get my camera out.
Saturday was a day that turned out different than the first plan, but it worked! We had wanted to go to the Farmer’s Market and go to their community breakfast, but then we saw it was raining and we had been slow at getting ready anyway. So, that plan went out the window and we went instead to eat breakfast in town. Then we ran some errands and I did some work at church before getting home to my much needed nap! The longer stretches Asher sleeps at night makes it harder for me to go right back to bed sometimes. Though, I am NOT complaining about him sleeping longer! I will take my 6 and a half hours of sleep in a row whenever he will give it to me!
(these are from a couple of weeks ago, but he’s just so cute and funny when he sleeps!)
Sunday meant getting ready for church and getting there in time for worship practice. After church we hung around a bit and then Ryan’s aunt came over with a present for Asher. Visiting time, nap time, and then family walk time all before our fun bedtime routine. For bedtime, we’ve started giving Asher a bath and sometimes reading a little. It’s pretty much my favorite.
(blurry but I just love how he rests his hand on the stroller strap!)
All in all, a perfectly good weekend and now we’re back into the Monday routine with the husband off at work…but at least I got to go out to lunch with Asher, the husband, and my mom today! And eat the most delicious greek grain salad and tomato bisque soup…mmmm.
How was your weekend?
Are you ready for a triple shot of real? If not, then skip ahead to the weekend and come back after I’m done playing in the puddles…
Sometimes life feels like one big puddle where you start splashing around only to realize that the water’s gone up and over your boots. That feeling? Not so pleasant. For me, rejection sometimes feels like that. I’m running along, playing, laughing, enjoying, only to be suddenly struck with some cold, wet reality.
In my first year of college, I found my boots flooded with dirty water. I skated through first semester: made friends, studied extra hard, even met a boy. Come January, I found myself participating in rush. Why? Good question. I’m not a sorority girl and I knew that. But that was the thing to do on a campus with probably 90% of the students in a sorority or fraternity. So, I followed suit. Problem number one…
The thing that they never tell you is that some girls…don’t make the cut. I was one of those. After parading around campus going to the different houses for little get to know you parties, each house makes a list of those they ask back. These girls I didn’t know. These girls I met for one night. Slashed my name off the list of “wanted.” And, yeah, those cold waters pierced my skin in a not so pleasant way.
Except, the amazing part? God turns things around. I can still feel the sunshine, the crunch of grass beneath a blanket covered in books and my pink Bible laid open. See, I used all this extra time to soak up and wrestle with God instead of running around with a sorority. He brought me further along in the journey of learning how to turn toward Him instead of clutching some of my idols (success, money, my plans). He started me on a continual journey of learning to look to Him for who I am rather than what others say because then I can play in the puddles and if the water comes rushing, I will not be shaken. Because see, He wants me, I’m on His list, and in the end…I am His delight.
Ready to put on your rain boots and go play in some puddles with me?
Because I know that I don’t want to miss out on some fun because of the fear of getting wet…do you?
*prompted to serve up a shot of faith by the Faith Barista 🙂
The last week or so, or maybe most of my life, I find a few songs that I keep on hitting that repeat button over and over. Especially because certain bits and pieces of the lyrics hit a chord in my heart and either make me bust out a dance move or throw back my head in worship. To end off the weekend with a bang and bring a little joy right into next week, here you go, for your viewing and listening pleasure:
“You Won’t Relent” sung by Jesus Culture (Found at 1:50 in this version of the song)
And here is song #2 “Hold Us Together” by Matt Maher
In doing a little word study on trust, I found this definition…
Love it…and I’ll be mulling that one over for sure this weekend!
What do you think of about trust? How do you define it?
Or if you need a bit of a lighter mix, what are you looking forward to most this weekend?
I am bursting at the seams with love and am completely overwhelmed with the love God has for me. This weekend was a tough one. One of battle after battle. Not listening or entertaining the lies and distractions that desperately want me to believe that I’m not enough, that they won’t want me to come back, that I need to lose weight, that he’s gone, and that their actions say they don’t care, etc. Rather, holding fast to His words of truth and promises by reading His Word and prayer while laying things at the cross.
Yet, God turned the tide and came like a rushing stream last night and this morning. My fellow interns prayed for me as I let the tears fall down my face. I sat vulnerable, broken, and honest about the hard weekend. Afterward, strengthened by prayer, God provided a source of life, of passion. The timing worked out that I stayed up late editing a curriculum for the Leadership Summit classes. I devoured every word and came alive. I could barely sleep. When I woke up to see the sunrise, I found myself drawn to Isaiah where verse after verse captured my heart.
Isaiah 58:8-9 “Then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring forth and your righteousness will go before you; the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry and He will say, ‘Here I am.'”
Isaiah 61: 10 For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.
Isaiah 62: 4 But you will be called, “My delight is in her,”
As I write, tears flood my eyes and stream down my face because I am so broken by His love. So broken to feel the love of God. That even through everything, He keeps saying, “And I’m madly in love with you” and to show you that I’m going to give you an amazing gift today:
My heart broke in July when I had to say good-bye. I cried so many tears and prayed so many prayers for him. Each Friday still made my heart happy, but not like when he was there to give me a hug. Today, I got that hug I’ve been wanting for months. He played with my hair, I met his new family, I held him in my arms, I said I love you over and over, we sang Hakuna Matata, and he jumped up on my shoulders. All the things that I loved and missed. Yet, he stole my heart all over again and brought tears to my eyes when I heard the sweet words:
“I missed you too”
Safari time! I am astounded at how fast time has gone. We leave for Safari tomorrow morning and then my parents fly out on Sunday. Yikes! See you after the weekend!
My mom and Gugu at Hope House 🙂
-pita with hummus
-orange
-better than sex cake
-2 slices of peaches
-granola
-part of an apple
or
-1/2 cup oatmeal
-1/2 cup cereal with banana
-one pancake
I miss being able to eat whatever I want whenever. Instead, I only get to do this for lunches on the weekend and for breakfasts. I love breakfast and the weekends because we get to eat our own food instead of prepared food by the kitchen staff. On the plus side, I am glad that we are able to provide jobs and get to know the people who prepare and serve the food for us.
Wow, I am in SO need of this weekend! So thankful that the weekend has finally come too. I’m looking forward to some down time, homework time, working out time, and whatever time. I’ve been rocking out the podcasting while working out. Love it. I’m on an Erwin McManus kick and got really giddy when he started talking about Africa the very same day I turned in my application. Other than that, here’s some quotes to ponder before bed or breakfast depending on when you read these:
“This is your life. It doesn’t wait for you to get back on your feet.”
-A Lot Like Love
“Love is our response to our highest values”
“See I thought love was black and white
That it was wrong or it was right”
-Missy Higgins
I am so thankful:
b'ahava 