Choosing Joy

I'm back from the rose-filled city of Guadalajara, Mexico. I loved it - every part. I wouldn't mind making that a yearly tradition. Who knows - perhaps someday I'll live in that fair land of tacos, quesadillas, and the best teriyaki chicken on the whole northern American continent (or that I've tried.) Here are a few pictures of the occasion.

It was so lovely. I'll have happy memories as I work through another school year.

I was listening to my brother relay his frustrations about his busy schedule this year. I empathize. He's probably busier than I was when I was a junior in high school. But as we were walking to the tennis courts this evening - he apologized for his outburst. I told him, that he can't really control his situation, but he can control his attitude.

I thought it was pretty good advice. And I still do. Advice that I need to follow.

There are so many thing I could grumble about, many things that I could be stressed about, many things that I could worry about. But really, I can't change too many things about my situation. I still need to pay x amount for school. I still have x number of papers that need typed for my portfolio. I can only work x number of hours in a week. My body cannot live without sleep. I can't just look some guy up in the phone book and ask him to marry me and take care of me the rest of my life. So many things are out of my control. Yet one thing is not. My attitude. I can either do my best with a smile on my face, or I can gripe and complain and let my situations flood in and drown me.

So, I'm choosing joy. I'm choosing contentment. I'm choosing to do my best and allow God to take care of me. For better or worse. For richer or poor. I'm in His hands - happily.

Choosing joy.

Life is a Whirlwind

I just got back from an awesome family vacation. (Well when I started this post - it's been a few days now!) This vacation was probably one of our busiest, which results in lots of lovely memories. :) Esther came with us most of the way and then met some friends near Springfield. It was fun having her. Our time at Grandma and Grandpas could be summed with these words: baby Sawyer, fireworks, suprise birthday party, and UFO sighting. :) The pics are in very random order - just so ya know!

Well - that's just a sampling of the pictures. We had a great time! I'm blessed to have such an awesome family!

Life is still a whirlwind a week after I wrote this - so many things happened these last few weeks-  flute lesson, viewing and funeral, doctor's appointments, dermatologist appointment, lab work, bridal shower, blueberry/blackberry picking, work and then my cousin has been in the hospital in WV after having a close call with a ruptured appendix - craziness! I'm ready to get to Mexico so I can relax! :) One more week!

God is good and so faithful - all the time!

A good morning

I watched the world wake up this morning. There is something breathtaking about mornings - the stillness, the quiet, the raw beauty, the freshness of a new day.

I think I need to start partaking of mornings more. Not the rushed glance out the window as I maneuver through traffic trying to get to work. But the quiet stillness of watching the world wake up. Somehow I feel closest to Him in the mornings - before the distractions of the day set in.

I found a gem of a Psalm this morning - Ps. 145 (NASB). Here are some of my favorites:

"The Lord sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down" v. 14

"The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds." v. 17

"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth." v. 18

"He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them." v. 19

"The Lord keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy." v. 20

"My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever." v. 21

My heart sings with creation this morning.

Flowers and Butterflies

I've worked 25 hours this week and will work 5 more tomorrow. Wohoo! Paycheck is coming!

I made buscuits and gravy the other morning, and I think I put too much flour in them. Lol. Live and learn. Andrew ate almost all of them. Love his little heart.

I made goulash for supper last night. I'm feeling like quite the little homemaker. ;)

Ok. Has anyone noticed the abundance of wild flowers in the tall grass along the roads? I certainly have. It reminds me of Ireland. I thought the grass and wildflowers were so pretty there, and lo and behold, I come back home and the wildflowers seem to pop up out of nowhere. I just had to stop and pick some; I even went out of my way. It made me very happy! I heard of a girl who used wildflowers in her wedding and I think I might just do that too!

Our family went to WV for a wedding and we stayed with our extended family. We have entirely too much fun together which is evidenced in these crazy pictures!

Ah...I love them! :)

Well...another day of work tomorrow. We're celebrating my coworker's 30th bday tomorrow which means O'Charley's for lunch! And then I think I'll go to LBA's kindergarten graduation. Each kindergarter will let a butterfly fly free in honor of one of their teachers, Mrs. Brown, who passed away two weeks ago. I'm sure I'll cry.

I miss all of my buddies. Let me know if you want to grab a coffee somewhere or walk in the park. :)

P.S. Tomorrow is Friday!

Late Night Thoughts

It's getting late, but wanted to share some thoughts.

A couple nights ago, I was listening to Alistair Begg on the radio on my way home. He was preaching about parenting and gave an acronym about teaching our kids to be respectful. I thought it was good:

R - Reverance to God and His truth
E - Enthusiastic about duties
S - Sympathetic to needs of others
P - Prompt in all aspects of life
E - Economical
C - Courageous for standing for what is right
T - Truthful in all aspects of life

This is definitely a place to start!

Today, I went to a funeral for one of the Kindergarten teachers at LBA who went to be with Jesus on Saturday. She had been battling with cancer for 8 years. She had over 100 chemo treatments, three surgeries...and I guess the last treatments were too much for her, or perhaps Jesus wanted to heal her completely. I know now she is in a place of perfect peace with the Giver of Peace. No more pain. No more cancer. No more disappointments. No more setbacks. She is now with Jesus. I tell you, heaven gets sweeter with each passing day.

The pastor asked us four questions in his message.
1) What am I here for?
2) Whom am I here for?
3) Have I done enough?
4) Will it last?

Oh and he added a last one:
5) What am I doing in my life right now that is preventing my answering the first four questions?

Good questions - I know I need some quiet time to mull over these questions. To think about things of eternal value, heavenly things. To make sure what I'm doing will last. And perhaps you'll do some reflecting yourself.

Blessings!

I actually have some time to post...

I'm sitting at home. It feels weird. Seems like I should be doing something other than being at home. I counted up last night that I haven't been home during the evening for over three weeks straight. I don't even want to list out everything that's been going on. I'm just glad that life should be slowing down soon.

I've been spending a lot of time at Eden Park recently. I wish it wasn't 30 miles from my house. Even though I usually just sit in my car at the overlook, it's become my little haven. I'm going to miss it this summer.

I've been spending WAY too much time on FB. I think I'm going to make a clean break - or just get on weekly. It's a bit annoying. I want real relationships: parties, barbecues, coffee shops, walks in the park, conversation, face-to-face, etc.

Life is truly bittersweet. I'll be attending a funeral on Friday and a wedding on Saturday. I'm realizing more and more how beautiful heaven is/will be.

I have so many things that I want to accomplish this summer. In two shorts years, life as I know it will drastically change. I need to get a lot of things in order before that happens.

This cloudy weather is making me especially melancholy. Or perhaps it's the fact that I've been chronically running short of sleep. Or because my room is a mess.

I think I need to pray and then tune up some Adventures and Odyssey and start tackling the room.

Soon...

With each passing day, the stress is subsiding and the excitement is rising. Soon, my academic responsibilities will be done for this semester, and the fun will start! I'm really looking forward to seeing my Grand Camanian friend and my Mexican amigo! It was so good to talk with both of them today!

Persevere for 2 more days!!!