Choosing Joy

Our sermon this week was on the excercise of celebration - essentially the choice of joy in every circumstance. Not for every circumstance, but in the midst of it, to reveal and show God's glory as the ultimate end of all situations. Brad challenged us to read Phillipians this week so I'm doing that each day this week. Today I did an overall reading and circled each time Paul wrote joy or rejoice.
Then today I ran across this article on Boundless, a marvelous Christian webzine I frequent. It reinforced much of what Brad said and I wanted to share it with you. Or you can read about it on Pastor Brad's blog here. Enjoy!

I've been tagged

If you don't know what that is....someone (in this case Bethany) tags you with a bunch of questions that you answer and then you tag other bloggers. Just a way to get people to divulge information about themselves and give those of us that like to blab something to blab about...or maybe I should say blog.

4 jobs I've had:
1) wearing the purple dinosaur costume for Stride Rite shoes
2) housekeeping/landscaping for several people in Rochester, MN during Junior High and High School
3) RA at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI
4) administrative assistant at Princeton University

4 films I could watch over and over:
1) Sweet Home Alabama
2) While you were Sleeping
3) Fifth Element
4) Pride & Prejudice

4 Places I have lived:
1) Paulina, IA
2) Madelia, MN
3) Hillsdale, MI
4) Cranbury, NJ

4 Favorite TV shows:
1) My Boys
2) Shark
3) Numbers
4) Ugly Betty

4 Favorite Foods:
1) green beans
2) mac & cheese
3) strawberry rhubarb pie
4) goulash

4 Websites I visit everyday:
1) Princeton University
2) cbs.com
3) tnt.com
4) Princeton University Federal Credit Union

4 Places I would love to be:
1) Camping
2) Home
3) Colorado
4) California

4 Favorite Colors:
1) cobalt blue
2) ruby red
3) kelly green
4) any shade pink

4 Names I love but would/could not use for my children:
1) Hezakiah
2) Tirzah
3) Libby
4) Job

I tag Bethany, Amy, Kristen and Karen.

Time warp

So it's been a while and life has been crazy but I thought I'd post something anyway, just so people would stop commenting on the fact that I haven't posted in a while.
Anyway, wedding plans are coming along quite well - I just bought my shoes on ebay on Friday and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. I have most of my attire/wardrobe for the forthcoming Saturday and we have the major things reserved so now it's onto minute details, like wording of the invites and favors and bridal party gifts and what style of tux shirt Matt wants to wear...all sorts of fun stuff!
Also, regarding my new job which I start in 3 weeks, we are interviewing candidates all day this Wednesday so hopefully we'll all agree on someone who we think would do well here. Someone asked me in church yesterday if I could be replaced so easily so of course my immediate reply was no, I can't be replaced but someone else can certainly do my job! :-) So we'll see how tired I am after Wednesday.
And for random's sake, this morning I got a text from a friend I haven't talked to in a while but it made me smile. It's good to have friends with whom you can easily re-connect! And I've run into all sorts of people on Facebook - but we're all having fun!
Okay, I 've posted people, so stop asking me. :-)

Engaging pictures

the boys giving me my pack of clues

my new piece of jewelry
a celebratory lunch with the family

A hard day at work...heh heh

So here's what we do at work...when it's our staff picnic day! :-) 2 of my co-workers and I having a good time and waiting for the free flowers!

I just wanted to post this marvelous pic of Annie...I love the look on her face!! What a delightful girl!

a random discovery

I realize, after reading a few of my older posts, that I use "so" quite often in my blogging as well as in my everyday speak. 5 of my last 8 posts begin with So. Is that even grammatically correct? I think I picked that up from D and B. They say it quite often but maybe don't realize it. I guess there could be worse words to use...

Work after vacation

So this is by far the busiest I've ever been after coming back from a vacation...my desk is an absolute forest with all this paper on it! At least the days are going by quickly. I guess that's what I get for being useful. :-) I believe a little overtime will be in order this week just to make it manageable! But when I get really crazy, I always have Fernando Ortega to keep me sane. Okay, back to work everyone!

A trip to Missouri

Matt and I just got back from a visit to see some friends in MO. We flew out with no problem on Thursday and met Doug at the airport. Doug is Matt's good friend from college with whom we stayed 3 nights. We went to a birthday party on Thursday night and on Friday had a lot of fun. We went to the Arch, rode the tram up and took some pictures, had some very tasty BBQ at Bandana's, then went back to Doug's place, played cards and he gave us a ride on his Suzuki...that was a blast! I love bikes! And yes Mom, I wore a helmet this time. Later that night we went to this awesome adult race car/go kart thingy. It was a Grand Prix Speedway race car place and we had 3 races with suits and helmets and everything. It was a blast!! We all qualified for turbo and I only got 1 warning. :-) Though we were sore afterwards a bit of Marble Slab dessert made us feel better. Saturday we played a bit of frisbee in Doug's really nice backyard, had some tasty pizza and then headed down to Bolivar to visit the Pitts family. They moved back to MO in November so it was marvelous to spend some time with them.
We went to Silver Dollar City on Sunday and rode a couple of rides before it started raining. We got 1/2 of our money back because we were only able to ride a few rides before the rain cut everything off but we still had fun. I highly recommend the Powder Keg and Wildfire if you are near Branson anytime soon.
Sunday afternoon we headed back to Doug's for one last time and on Monday flew back to Jersey. It was great and though we, I should say Matt, drove nearly 500 miles in about a day and a half, I think it safe to say we had a really enjoyable trip. Here are a few pictures:

the Arch from below

a view from the Arch
the new Busch Stadium
with the Pitts family
Doug and I in the tram pod

Mac & Cheese

So I went to Aldi's last night and was comparing prices. Cheese Club mac & cheese for .29 and Kraft mac & cheese for .89. Being the adventurous (and frugal) one that I often am, I opted for the the Cheese Club brand and much to my delight it tasted really good, well, as good as mac & cheese from a box can taste. Anyway, I was excited that I successfully saved .60 and will happily buy Cheese Club brand again! :-) It's the small joys that keep life happy.

C.H. Spurgeon

"He who grows in grace remembers that he is but dust, and he therefore does not expect his fellow Christians to be anything more. He overlooks ten thousand of their faults because he knows his God overlooks twenty thousand in his own case. He does not expect perfection in the creature and, therefore, he is not disappointed when he does not find it. When our virtues become more mature, we shall not be more tolerant of evil; but we shall be more tolerant of infirmity, more hopeful for the people of God and certainly less arrogant in our criticisms."

Backpacking

So a few friends and I did an overnight backpacking trip this weekend. It was really fun and we'll definitely do it again. Matt and I wanted to try it so we brought a few friends along who we also thought would be game. The hiking path in wasn't bad at all - it was, however, one the worst possible days we could have chosen to hike in, since it was in the upper 80s and super humid!! Needless to say it rained that night - as it usually does when one goes camping but it felt good..at least outside my tent. Inside was another story as most of the venting on my one-man is up top - where the rain fly had to be. I was sweating so badly because of the rain, humidity and lack of circulation. I've learned the lesson of bad tent venting and will be purchasing a better one-man for future backpacking trips, let me assure you! We left a little before 8 the next morning to hike out and made it back to the cars in record time. I drove home and threw my stuff in the laundry and promptly took a shower. I was telling my mom I felt like I needed to take a shower for every layer on me, sweat, bug repellent, sweat, wet wipes (supposedly to clean you) and sweat. I felt a world better afterwords, aired everything out on my teeny porch - I set up my tent at an angle and it looked funny but it worked! So we'll go again sometime, me definitely with a better tent. I must also say the ThermaRest I bought was a great investment!! So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! :-)

Japanese creativity

So Amy just posted some pics from her trip to Japan to visit Willy Wonka and besides the fact that she looks utterly Californian, there were three decorating ideas that just caught my eye...

I believe we should have climbing metal beetles on our buildings too...

SpongeFeet SquarePants

I should have this art on my wall
Thanks for the amusement Gimpy!!

Gray Hair

So I noticed this weekend that I have 2 fully gray hairs and a few others that are starting to look a good deal lighter than my normal hair color. I showed the two hairs to one of my co-workers and she started laughing, a very encouraging response I must say. Anyway, just thought I'd share. Now to narrow who or what it is that could possibly be doing this to me...I'm only 28!!

5/15: a post script - my sister reminded me last night that gray hair is a crowning glory and no, I will not be dying my hair. :-)

Classical music

I have recently fallen back in love with classical music and have spent a good deal of my time just sitting on my couch, enjoying a few good symphonies and concertos. I was trying to relax one night and instead of watching a movie or reading I decided to just turn on some nice music and the next thing I knew I was conducting and remembering all those days at Hillsdale -all the hours spent analyzing, conducting, listening and composing. So now I listen to it on the way to work in the morning to get ready for the day and on the way home at night to decompress and reflect over the day. I'm quite happy and who knows? I might even get my cello back out...

"Baby got Book" and a birthday

I don't think any explanation is necessary for this, besides the fact that I'm laughing so hard it's hard to type: http://www.whiteboydj.com/babygotbook.html

Happy Birthday Amy!

(And can anyone help me out with figuring out how to not have those long links anymore but be able to rename them and include them as part of my post? :-)

New beginnings

I love spring! On my lunch hour today I took my lunch over to a quiet spot at the seminary and enjoyed the shade, the breeze and a good time of quietly singing some hymns...I love days like this. I'm going running after work as well just so I don't waste any of the time I could have outside.
So two friends of mine got married on Saturday and had a fabulous day for it! It was beautiful and I think everyone had a good time - the dance floor was certainly full for much of it. We were standing outside taking pictures (I chauffeured part of the wedding party to the park) and got a bit warm but the trees were absolutely gorgeous. Going to all these weddings causes me to think about mine someday and so I'm tossing ideas around.
Due to a sermon my pastor gave a couple of weeks ago regarding the importance of time in our lives I have decided to change up my nightly and morning routines. Hopefully I can keep it up for some successful amount of time!
Enjoy your day!

Passing on

A mentor of mine from the Focus on the Family Institute recently passed away. She'd been battling cancer for a little while and scores of us were in prayer for her but the Lord decided she had done what He wanted her to do down here. Or else He just wanted her with Him, which would be completely understandable - we all loved Sheryl dearly and she was an incredible woman after God's own heart. I learned a ton about truly loving people and good and true femininity from her and often review my notes from her classes on marriage and family. She passed the torch onto all of us she touched so it is up to us to live out the truths she taught us. She desired nothing but the best from and for us. She left behind a good husband and 3 dear children. Sheryl was a great definition of love and her joy and sincerity will be missed. We will be praying and lifting her family up in prayer and love. Sheryl, we love you and will dearly miss you!

An Alabama Easter

So we recently returned home from a trip to AL for a wedding. The ceremony was beautiful and very well done and the reception was a good time too. I met a few of Matt's relatives/friends: Uncle Larry and Aunt Karen, Grandma Rosa, Grandma & Grandpa McKinley and the unbelievable Kerry -(I think that's how you spell his name and if not, I'm sure Matt will correct me.) Matt's brother Tim had just arrived back in the US from being in South Africa for 3 weeks and the poor guy was exhausted. Aaron's new wife is a sweetheart and I pray they will be fruitful and multiply in every way. Her family was really sweet and can grill shrimp and potatoes with the best! I've never seen shrimp that big!! I'm all for southern hospitality!
I had my dose of sweet tea and was very happy about that and I had a really good time learning more about Matt's family. Every family has its fun stories and interesting background and his is no different. His mom and I shared a hotel room each night while the men were stuffed in another one. We had a great time and we get along really well. His mom and dad are a great couple and quite humorous.

For Easter Sunday we went back to the church they used for the ceremony and heard some good Baptist preaching. He was actually a really good preacher and had an interesting take on John 20, specifically verse 7. I really like learning about the background and meaning of different acts in different cultures and he taught us about the significance to the servant of the napkin at a meal, whether it's wadded up and thrown in the middle of the table - signifying completion of the meal or if it's folded and set aside-signifying the master would be back. He then related that to John 20:7 in the sense that the napkin was folded and set aside away from the other grave clothes, meaning that Christ wasn't finished with his work. It was very good and got me thinking.

So I'm back at life and looking forward to the double date Matt and I are having tonight with Dave and Bethany. Have a great evening!

Chronological Bible and a wedding

So this year I started reading the Bible in chronological order and it's been really neat to see all relevant passages compared and to see the differences and try to figure them out. I'm reading the Samuels right now and they are interspersed with the Psalms as David created them in the midst of his circumstances.
Judges was read at a good time because I was babysitting the boys one night and the bedtime Bible story was about Deborah and Barak, which I had just read a few days before. Clearly the kids versions are summarized so I was able to answer all 511 questions Simeon asked regarding the story! Joel of course wanted me to sing the song of Deborah...
Anyway, it's been really neat and eye-opening and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year.

Matt and I are headed to AL on Thursday for his younger brother's wedding so it should be warm and fun and a good time meeting some of his mom's family. I'll check back upon my return.