Lucky Day

It looks like today just might be my lucky day!  We were a bit delayed this morning when I pulled up and couldn't get into my building because of four firetrucks blocking the way.  The "fire" was apparently in the building across the street.  It made for an eventful morning!  I walked into the office and found this kind note on my desk--just a little "Thank you," but it went a l-o-n-g way.  (And you can never go wrong with chocolate!)  I remembered to wear green today, which is quite remarkable, and I have a porkchop dinner to look forward to tonight with somebody special.  :-)  I am a lucky girl.

This Irish blessing always makes me think of Nanny, who wrote it in her beautiful calligraphy handwriting.  I've always loved it...

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

And here's one more Irish-something, just for grins...

From St. Patrick's Breastplate

Christ be with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ on my right
Christ on my left
Christ where I lie
Christ where I sit
Christ where I arise
Christ in the heart of every man
who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man
who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me
Salvation is of the Lord.


Happy St. Patrick's Day!

{Nice, France}

Weekends are for... 

rejuvenating

relaxing

reconnecting

reorganizing

reflecting

rejoicing

Happy Weekending!

How Sweet It Is...

Have you ever had a moment where you step back and realize your life is really sweet?
Like, really, really good?
Today was one of those days for me.

Today reminded me how much I have to be thankful for.
Today I got to have a really great lunch with my Dad.
Today I got to run in the cold weather with Adam and talk.
Today I got some time to myself to think.

Tomorrow I have lunch with a dear, sweet friend.
Saturday I will celebrate being alive 24 years with some of my nearest and dearest.
Wednesday I will continue that with my family--I like to drag out the celebration as long as possible...
Thursday my family will all get together under one roof and celebrate being especially Thankful.

And while most of us haven't had actual locusts eat away at us, I'm certain we can all think of times when things weren't going so great, and we were wondering what in the heck was going on.  I love that God restores things.  In His way, and in His time.

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— 

   the great locust and the young locust, 

   the other locusts and the locust swarm— 

my great army that I sent among you. 

 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, 

   and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, 

   who has worked wonders for you; 

never again will my people be shamed. 

 Then you will know that I am in Israel, 

   that I am the LORD your God, 

   and that there is no other; 

never again will my people be shamed.

Joel 2:25-27

Now that's really something to be thankful for.

This is the Day

While I love looking back at Baylor, I couldn't help but be reminded that I'm not there anymore.  I'm here.  And here is really great, too.  So this is what I'm doing right here, right now.  And I'm grateful.

This is my friend Taylor.  We get together every so often and chat about life.  She's an incredible dancer and is looking to go to college to do what she loves.  It's pretty awesome.  I saw her Sunday, when I got to go back to the church I grew up in and sing.  It's so nice to come back every once in a while and see people I've known forever.  And I always love singing.  Always.  

Apparently booties are in style this season!!

Sunday night, Adam and I carved a watermelon and a pumpkin, respectively.  Adam decided that a watermelon would be much better smelling.  I must agree, it wasn't nearly as goopy as my pumpkin!  I haven't carved a pumpkin in so long.  And I've certainly never carved a watermelon!  It was so fun.

And tonight I came in from a day-trip to San Antonio, and Claire was making dinner.  It was SO worth documenting!  She made stir fry, and it was really yummy.  What a treat to walk in the door to a fabulous dinner!  We ate in front of the TV and watched Gilmore Girls, and now we've switched to the Ranger game.  {Pretty awesome that we're in the playoffs!}  Life is good.

This is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalm 118:24

The Best Laid Plans

Hope you all have enjoyed a long Memorial Day weekend!  I spent most of it at the lake relaxing with friends and family.  It felt so great to get away.  I laughed a lot this weekend and made many sweet memories.  Sometimes I am so awe-struck that even in this earthly life we get to experience such joy.  I am so grateful. 

Today on Baby Bangs, Amanda Jones wrote a great post about how fragile our calendars are.  Instead of a week-long trip to Israel with her mom (Beth Moore), sister and Living Proof Ministry volunteers, Amanda ended up in Oklahoma at her husband's grandmother's funeral.  She was not complaining about any of it, but it did cause her to think and share this:

Then the question comes. Who exactly wounded me? No one. This was no one's fault. But God ordained it. And why? Is He trying to tell me something? Is He mad at me? Is He trying to show me how little control I really have over my life?

I don't know the answers but whatever lesson I'm supposed to be learning, I want to learn it. Not just learn it, but graduate summa cum laude, walk the stage with an honor sash around my neck, and be done with it. This paragraph alone shows my maturity, doesn't it?

I need His grace.

 

Many are the plans in a man's heart,

but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 19:21

 

I really liked her wanting to learn this lesson and graduate summa cum laude.  Such honesty.  I needed that reminder today about how fragile our plans are. It's so easy for me to plan out my future.  In fact, I already have it planned out in my head.  Ha.  I've been asking myself lately, though, what are the odds that it will really work out that way?  I have to remind myself that God's plans are so much bigger and better than mine. 

 

So I hope this encourages you today, to trust in the One who knows every hair on our head and has every one of our days mapped out. 

A little encouragement for Today

Good morning.  I thought found this blog entry from Desiring God to be particularly inspiring this morning, and I wanted to share. 

Click on the title to see the actual article, God Provides Direction, Resources, and Ability.  But I've also just pasted it here--less clicking that way!  :-)

In Exodus chapters 26-30, God gave Moses very detailed instructions about how to make the tabernacle, its furnishings, the priests’ garments, and all the instruments used in worship. And then in chapter 31, God tells Moses (much to Moses’ great relief, I imagine),

See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you. (Exodus 31:2-6)

Then in Exodus 35 God commands anyone “of a generous heart” (v. 5) to contribute to the needs of constructing all these things. And the people were so stirred that they had to be “restrained” from continuing to give (Exodus 36:6).

Here’s the encouragement: when God calls us to do something, he provides all the necessary direction, ability, and resources to accomplish it.