One of those authors....

There are very few authors that move me to the very core like Francine Rivers does. She is amazing, and every book I have read has brought me closer to the Lord! I'm so excited about this compilation coming out...check out the link!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/CSS-Virtual-Book-Tour-Francine-Rivers-Sons-of-Encouragement-5-in-1/198750670146525

Happy Reading, my friends!

The Faithfulness of God

Nearly 4 months ago, Paul changed his name to Abraham, and stepped out into a season of unknowns simply because God said, "Go to a place I will show you." He left his job of over 5 years, and embarked on a journey through unemployment, pressing into the Lord, seeking His face, and listening for the next step. 2 months ago, Paul emailed a CEO of a company in the area, indicating his interest in the company and looking to maybe pick his brain a little bit, and within half an hour he had a response. This was the beginning of a new relationship, and as of yesterday, employment!
Was it easy? NO! Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! God grew both of us in so many ways, and His faithfulness was always present, even down to providing a little extra money for us to celebrate our anniversary.
And now it's a new season, one with a new routine and new challenges (including an 85 mile roundtrip commute for Paul), but this I know - "I've never seen the righteous forsaken". God is faithful...isn't He amazing?

February 2011 is here?

I still have a hard time believing that it's 2011, and yet it's already February. And boy, has February come in with a bang! We've been iced-in since Tuesday (2/1) when an ice storm hit, leaving an inch or two of ice on all of our roads, followed by plummeting temperatures, which has kept the ice around. This has resulted in most of us staying home, working, playing, trying to stay warm amidst rolling blackouts (in most areas - our house was spared - Thank you, Jesus!).
It's been a fun week, and productive -
And we know this, God is up to something - in our lives, in the world (just look at all the craziness in Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon). Let's embrace His move!

The End of January, what??

So today I looked up from my desk and noticed that it is already January 20th. What? Wasn't it just Christmas last week? Wasn't I supposed to start that diet on January 1st? I've exercised once so far, does that count?
As this year embarks, there are more questions than answers. It feels a bit like we are Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade, stepping out into a chasm hoping and praying that there is a hidden rock bridge. It's exciting, it's scary, it's fun.
So, who knows where we will be at this time next year. This is our hope - that we are closer to the Lord, and more in love with each other.
Best wishes for you and yours......

It's time for Christmas Cards....

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

Through the Lens...

On our trip to Colorado, we had to drive for hours through northwest Texas. BORING! I have driven through this part of the country several times, and have struggled to stay awake. I think they call it the "plains" for a reason. Flat lands, with nothing but miles and miles of land and sky. As we started driving, I decided to get my camera and play around. The weather was beautiful, low 80's, sunny with some clouds, so we were driving with the windows down. And I started just snapping random shots.

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

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!"