It's that time again...although I can't really believe it. Maybe I don't want to believe it?
There was a time when every Christmas entailed the required "update letter", with all of the boring details of our lives crammed into a measly page, stuffed into a generic card. Then came the photo card, which took the writing out of Christmas, and kept it to a picture and holiday wish. This year.....this year will be different. Shutterfly (who has been my go-to online resource for Christmas photo cards and gifts) now offers a "Christmas story card"....actually, hundreds of these cards (click here for their story card selection). Of course, they also have hundreds of standard photo cards and other photo gifts such as calendars. The thing I love about Shutterfly is that they are competitively priced, always on time, and their product is amazing. All that scrapbooking I do? Pictures are provided courtesy of none other than Shutterfly.
In the interest of keeping the design a surprise, I'm not going to post my final version here. But, I'm confident that after looking at the site, you will know that they're going to be beautiful!
Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Through the Lens...
What I discovered is beauty in the plains.
I wondered how many times in my life I've missed beauty because I wasn't taking the time to look for it. And how many times have I considered something "plain" that was full of beauty?
Oh to have His eyes...
" And his eye sees every precious thing. " ~ Job 28:10b
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Why Not Me? Why Not Now?
So, I've never really opened up about the subject of child-bearing, or the struggles we've encountered so far, and really, I'm not sure that I am quite ready to broach that topic. Suffice it to say, that we want babies, as soon as God will give them to us, and initial reports from the doctors are not encouraging.
I choose to trust the Lord implicitly, because He is GOOD, always GOOD, and because He has always proven faithful in my life, and because His timing is perfect, and His ways are not my ways, and He knows all the days He has numbered for me, and for my children.
This trust, however, does not negate the little twinge in my heart when I hear stories like this one I read today on FoxNews. A mother killed her 6 month old son because she thought he might be showing signs of Autism, and was afraid that it would "ruin" her life. So she just killed him, left him in the crib, and went downstairs to plan a vacation with her husband. It wasn't until early the next morning that the gravity of what she had done hit her, and now she's sorry. Is she sorry she killed him? Or sorry she got caught? That's really not the point. The point is, this woman had a beautiful child, who was perfectly healthy according to all of his doctors, and she threw it away because it was inconvenient for her. And yet, here I am, wanting a baby almost as much as I want to breathe, but haven't been able to have one yet.
Why not me? Why can't I have had that precious little one? I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wouldn't kill him while he slept.
I know I'm not alone. There are thousands of women who have babies and treat them like garbage, and there are thousands more who shed innumerable tears of sadness as their barrenness echoes in the deepest grief of a heart.
I guess it's one of those things I'll never understand. Good thing that God does, and He has a plan, and it's PERFECT. If if not now, then He has something He's doing in me to prepare me for the "when".
"You're amazing God, You're amazing God, You can bear the weight of every heavy heart. You can heal the pain, You can clean the stain, you can turn our tears into songs of praise. You're amazing God!"
I choose to trust the Lord implicitly, because He is GOOD, always GOOD, and because He has always proven faithful in my life, and because His timing is perfect, and His ways are not my ways, and He knows all the days He has numbered for me, and for my children.
This trust, however, does not negate the little twinge in my heart when I hear stories like this one I read today on FoxNews. A mother killed her 6 month old son because she thought he might be showing signs of Autism, and was afraid that it would "ruin" her life. So she just killed him, left him in the crib, and went downstairs to plan a vacation with her husband. It wasn't until early the next morning that the gravity of what she had done hit her, and now she's sorry. Is she sorry she killed him? Or sorry she got caught? That's really not the point. The point is, this woman had a beautiful child, who was perfectly healthy according to all of his doctors, and she threw it away because it was inconvenient for her. And yet, here I am, wanting a baby almost as much as I want to breathe, but haven't been able to have one yet.
Why not me? Why can't I have had that precious little one? I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wouldn't kill him while he slept.
I know I'm not alone. There are thousands of women who have babies and treat them like garbage, and there are thousands more who shed innumerable tears of sadness as their barrenness echoes in the deepest grief of a heart.
I guess it's one of those things I'll never understand. Good thing that God does, and He has a plan, and it's PERFECT. If if not now, then He has something He's doing in me to prepare me for the "when".
"You're amazing God, You're amazing God, You can bear the weight of every heavy heart. You can heal the pain, You can clean the stain, you can turn our tears into songs of praise. You're amazing God!"
Friday, May 28, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Promises Promises Promises
I just love creative the Lord is, and how beautiful a rainbow is. There are few things that are as awe inspiring as a beautiful rainbow, a sign of His promises. Here are some pics of the rainbow just over our neighborhood tonight! Notice the Double rainbow! My camera couldn't quite capture the entire thing...but oh so beautiful!
You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.
~Josh 23:14
You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.
~Josh 23:14
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
PET PEEVES!
Ok, this has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time, but today it's exploding inside of me, so I have to let it out!
Why is it that the worst people I deal with at work are self-proclaimed Christians and ministers? Why is it that a pastor who has a blog and website extolling his work in missional outreach and how he gives seminars teaching Christians to reach out and be relevant to the community is the biggest ARSE in the world? Why do my peers hate handling claims for ministers/pastors? SERIOUSLY??????
What happened to being light? Or loving like Christ loved?
We all get frustrated. We all want to throw a customer service rep out the window a time or two, but what separates us from the rest of the world is our love. Isn't that what Jesus said?
They will know we are Christians by our love......
So, what if instead of being the biggest cheapskates in the world, we tipped our server AT LEAST 15% every time, even if they don't deserve it? What if we stopped taking our frustrations out on the representatives who are trying to help us, and take our issues to the Lord and believe HIM for the favor that we have as children of the King? What if we actually for once lived for God's reputation rather than our own pleasure and comfort? What if......
Why is it that the worst people I deal with at work are self-proclaimed Christians and ministers? Why is it that a pastor who has a blog and website extolling his work in missional outreach and how he gives seminars teaching Christians to reach out and be relevant to the community is the biggest ARSE in the world? Why do my peers hate handling claims for ministers/pastors? SERIOUSLY??????
What happened to being light? Or loving like Christ loved?
We all get frustrated. We all want to throw a customer service rep out the window a time or two, but what separates us from the rest of the world is our love. Isn't that what Jesus said?
They will know we are Christians by our love......
So, what if instead of being the biggest cheapskates in the world, we tipped our server AT LEAST 15% every time, even if they don't deserve it? What if we stopped taking our frustrations out on the representatives who are trying to help us, and take our issues to the Lord and believe HIM for the favor that we have as children of the King? What if we actually for once lived for God's reputation rather than our own pleasure and comfort? What if......
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Story of Dreams Come True
The Story of Dreams Come True
I always knew that I would travel to Europe again some day. I always wanted to kiss my love at the Eiffel Tower. Little did I imagine that I would get to do both within just 3 years of being married.
If you had told me in 2006, that I would spend New Years Eve 2009/2010 in Paris, I would have laughed at you. So, how did we get there?
In the faithfulness that only He lives up to, God led my husband to sign us up for Financial Peace University in February 2007, much to my chagrin. The next 13 weeks would radically change our lives and alter the course of our destiny. We learned Kingdom principles for handling money, most of which are counter culture. We shredded our credit cards, put together a budget, and stuck with it, often delaying the "I wants" with the less fun "We don't needs". It was soon after we started this process that my best friends moved to Germany, and invited us to come and visit. Of course my "I WANTS" screamed louder than ever, but with the wisdom of God, Paul simply said, "not now - later". I was mad; I pouted; I was pretty sure Paul was just punishing me for my debt (school loans and a tahoe payment comprised of most of our $77K in debt). But, pretending to be the good wife that I someday hope to be, I submitted to his direction (and the Lord's). We remained faithful, knocking out our debt little by little until we got to June 2009, and we owed $2700.
I got home after a beating of a day, to find my husband grinning from ear to ear, with the excitement of a little boy who just got his first bike. He said nothing, but handed me an envelope. Curiosity got the best of me, and I opened it to find a letter from a relative which stated, "We have been blessed this year, and we want to bless you. Please use the enclosed gift however you would like." But there was nothing enclosed? SO I looked up at Paul, and that's when he handed me the check for....$3000! I was speechless! I choked, sputtered, but no words would come. It was exactly enough to give 10% to the Lord and pay off our debt! We danced around, jumped up and down, and I cried tears of joy. It was then that Paul looked at me and said, "Do you know what this means?" I looked at him, and I screamed "EUROPE!"
So we booked our days, started shopping for tickets and the rest is history. We spent a glorious 3 full weeks exploring Southern Germany, Switzerland and Northern France (and Paris, obviously).
It was magical! It was refreshing! It was life-changing! It was a kiss from God! It was simply a dream come true!
I always knew that I would travel to Europe again some day. I always wanted to kiss my love at the Eiffel Tower. Little did I imagine that I would get to do both within just 3 years of being married.
If you had told me in 2006, that I would spend New Years Eve 2009/2010 in Paris, I would have laughed at you. So, how did we get there?
In the faithfulness that only He lives up to, God led my husband to sign us up for Financial Peace University in February 2007, much to my chagrin. The next 13 weeks would radically change our lives and alter the course of our destiny. We learned Kingdom principles for handling money, most of which are counter culture. We shredded our credit cards, put together a budget, and stuck with it, often delaying the "I wants" with the less fun "We don't needs". It was soon after we started this process that my best friends moved to Germany, and invited us to come and visit. Of course my "I WANTS" screamed louder than ever, but with the wisdom of God, Paul simply said, "not now - later". I was mad; I pouted; I was pretty sure Paul was just punishing me for my debt (school loans and a tahoe payment comprised of most of our $77K in debt). But, pretending to be the good wife that I someday hope to be, I submitted to his direction (and the Lord's). We remained faithful, knocking out our debt little by little until we got to June 2009, and we owed $2700.
I got home after a beating of a day, to find my husband grinning from ear to ear, with the excitement of a little boy who just got his first bike. He said nothing, but handed me an envelope. Curiosity got the best of me, and I opened it to find a letter from a relative which stated, "We have been blessed this year, and we want to bless you. Please use the enclosed gift however you would like." But there was nothing enclosed? SO I looked up at Paul, and that's when he handed me the check for....$3000! I was speechless! I choked, sputtered, but no words would come. It was exactly enough to give 10% to the Lord and pay off our debt! We danced around, jumped up and down, and I cried tears of joy. It was then that Paul looked at me and said, "Do you know what this means?" I looked at him, and I screamed "EUROPE!"
So we booked our days, started shopping for tickets and the rest is history. We spent a glorious 3 full weeks exploring Southern Germany, Switzerland and Northern France (and Paris, obviously).
It was magical! It was refreshing! It was life-changing! It was a kiss from God! It was simply a dream come true!
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" ~Eph 3:20
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