Sunday, October 27, 2013

Remember this

Is there a problem too big for God?
What is the situation He isn't at work in?
Name the person so stubborn He can't reach them?
Which relationship is too messed up for Him to heal?
 



Apply these words because how you feel or what you can see is not the truth.
This is the truth.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

More smiley videos

These come by way of favorite bloggers, the evening news and FB posts but all of them made me smile.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!


Photographer proves strangers are friends you haven't met yet...



Highway sing-a-long...



Oklahoma teen acts to right his father's wrong...



Music in the forest...



An open letter to moms from Kid President...


Friday, October 25, 2013

Need to smile?

I can always use a good pick-me-up on a Friday!  How about you?

Here's another 'prank' by Improv Everywhere, who are dedicated to "causing scenes of chaos and joy in public places."

This is when they placed a Carnegie Hall orchestra in NYC with an empty conductor's stand.  Watch what happens and try not to smile!


Here are a few stills that capture the fun...








Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Never jump in a pile of leaves with a wet sucker.

(…Name that TV special!)


If only I could somehow freeze the landscape right now… the leaves on the trees are SO stunning and the weather is crystal clear.  It got up to 78° here yesterday!  What? 


It’s all I can do not to stop the car every few minutes and snap a few photos on my phone (see above) but people tend to get annoyed when you suddenly stop on the road in front of them.  As they race around me I shamelessly aim my phone and click away.  


I’ve told myself I’ll just stop for this one tree and that will be my last stop…


Then I drive down a tree-lined street and can’t help myself.  Of course these lame, unfocused camera phone pictures don’t even begin to show how incredibly showy God’s creation is at this time of year.  And I can already see that many trees are past their prime.  Sigh.

Time marches on, doesn’t it?  Tree leaves fall.  Grandbabies start making eye contact and smiling because they SEE you when they never could before.  Elderly parents can’t do so many things they used to do without a thought.  It’s almost Christmas when we just barely got done with August.  Hmmm.  I am so thankful that time is something God uses instead of just watching it pass.  He is at work in all our seasons, in all our moments.

We had a fun day with our kids last week – fish and chips at Ivar’s on Lake Washington.  What a beautiful setting!  We arrived when the sun was just dropping but still shining on the tree-lined road that leads into the park – it made the trees look like they were plugged in!




I so love these people!  And Hadley slept through the whole thing!


I’m sorry I have to tell you that we won’t be opening our pumpkin patch to the public this year after all – the seed that took over the backyard produced exactly TWO pumpkins and they are both still green.  So all the trailing vines and blossoms and tiny pumpkin buds?  Pretenders.  It’s very sad.  I feel like Linus – the Great Pumpkin never showed up.

I thought I had a very sincere pumpkin patch too.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Hadley time


I am literally soaking up time with my daughter and granddaughter visiting here this week.  Miss Hadley is 7 weeks old and pretty in pink!




Lots of holding.
Staring.
Rocking.
Bouncing.
Changing.
Kissing.

I'm loving time with Lisa - hearing about what if feels like (for her) to love your own daughter so much.  And nodding my gramma head in complete understanding.  Makes me remember so much about my early days with her - the one who would not have anything to do with a binkie.  Hadley looks so much like she did!

We even had some great-grandpa and great-grandma time today with my dad and Jeff’s mom…  I hope when I am 93 I get to hold my great grands!



Oops – gotta go!


Saturday, October 5, 2013

On my nightstand


Of course every day is a good day to read but each season brings with it things that make reading especially nice.  Summer reading means finding a cool spot and almost begs you to fill vacation-y hours with time in a good book.   Now we’re heading into the days of curling up on the couch under a soft blanket, fire in the fireplace (not in ours but I can wish), big mug of coffee and a new book to get lost in. 

It’s been a while for me since I’ve found a story that captivated me so I am always open to suggestions!  But these are the books I’ve been reading lately…


I’ve become a big fan of Rev. Keller – I love all of his sermons (found here).  He is an amazing teacher of the Word whose messages always challenge and usually surprise me.  Jeff and I often, after listening to a sermon together, say something like ‘I’ve never thought of that verse that way before’ or 'Whoa, I need to write that down and think about it.'  The Reason for God addresses the doubts and questions our culture of skeptics and unbelievers (and believers) raise about God...  How can a loving God send people to hell?  and There can’t be just one way to God.  It has sound bible answers and also rational, well-presented reasons.  I am loving this book.


We are going through this book/workbook in my bible study life group and the 20-something young women who are coming are helping me see these familiar bible stories in a new way.  I love hearing the ways they view the mistakes, weaknesses and rebellion of women who lived so long ago yet who they have so much in common with.  Bad Girls of the Bible is also very much about all of us girls.


A Long Walk to Water was recommended to me by an old friend who read it with her daughters.  It’s technically a children’s book, which only means it is in a category of some of the very best books out there.  Two concurrent stories are told about children living in Sudan – one in 1985 during the huge exodus of refugees and one in 2008.  Jeff and I are reading this one at night before sleep and we are completely caught up in the story.  I’ve read that the way the two stories intersect in the end is both ‘astonishing and moving’ – can’t wait to finish it!


Listening for Lions is also a children’s book.  It’s the award-winning story of a young girl in British East Africa with missionary parents.  The story contains everything you want in a good novel… She becomes orphaned, gets caught up with an unscrupulous couple who use her for their own greedy purposes and deals with grief, honesty and longing.  The book is not long but well worth reading!

When you can so easily go online to your local library, search for a specific book, request it and receive an email when it’s been set aside for you, you can hardly find an excuse for not reading.  I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading and can recommend!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Unlovable




Before we were lovable – I’m not sure we ever are – God chose to see us as good.

When we were utterly helpless, with no way of escape, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners who had no use for him… God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.  Romans 5:6,8

God saw me better than I am.  Before I even wanted anything to do with Him, He loved me and regarded me as good.  And it is always love that changes people.  

Can I do that?  Love someone before they are loveable?  With the help of His Spirit - and Only that way - the answer is YES.

Lord, by Your Spirit in me help me love the cranky, the prickly, the haughty, the rebellious and the rude… because that was (is) me too. 

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