Recently, my sister and I were cleaning the men's (gross, no offence) bathroom in the multi-use building at church. Grace, 6, begged to help.
At Grace's suggestion, we started singing "Sing Sweet Nightingale" from Cinderella and were having a great time cleaning that bathroom.
Then Grace stops everything, and says "Oh but THIS song is so much better."
She dropped her voice to a husky low key and began singing "So this is love" also from Cinderella.
This is a moment, frozen in time, that I will never forget.
We all are wearing those yellow cleaning gloves, Grace is melodiously whirling around with a broom, I'm scrubbing a urinal and Kristy's sanitizing the toilets. "So this is love?"
Well sang Grace.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
The place I called home
I grew up at the base of these mountains. Wow.
Looking out my back door (yes, those are wild elk)....
Looking out my back door (yes, those are wild elk)....
Monday, March 22, 2010
the key to making a friend
When Lauren & Flynn were here recently, we were reminiscing about past Bible Conferences.
This is how I met their family.
I was probably 13 or 14. I was going through the food line, and I started visiting with the man in line behind me. We proceeded safely through all the meats, salads, hot dishes and picked up our punch. Almost home free, just the desserts to navigate now.
I have never been a good multi-tasker.
I tend to get animated when I talk.
It was bound to happen. It had to. He was wearing a white shirt.
Somehow, my cup of punch jumped out of my hand onto this poor man's white shirt.
Lesson learned: throwing beverages on a person is the ideal way to make a friend for life. I apologized to him frequently that week trying to make amends, and now we have an undying inside joke (or outside I guess since the punch was quite visible). It comes up every year. **Side note... we serve lemonade now. Coincidence? I think not.
Its amazing, I visited their church a few years later, and ate at a potluck. We were in close proximity again in line, and somehow the jug of water slipped out of my hand towards him.
I told the girls to tell him he should wear a wetsuit this year.
What is this man's name? Mr. Hartley, "your dad" ... I really don't know. But his daughters have become very good friends of ours, all because I'm clumsy. Can't wait to see you guys! :-)
This is how I met their family.
I was probably 13 or 14. I was going through the food line, and I started visiting with the man in line behind me. We proceeded safely through all the meats, salads, hot dishes and picked up our punch. Almost home free, just the desserts to navigate now.
I have never been a good multi-tasker.
I tend to get animated when I talk.
It was bound to happen. It had to. He was wearing a white shirt.
Somehow, my cup of punch jumped out of my hand onto this poor man's white shirt.
Lesson learned: throwing beverages on a person is the ideal way to make a friend for life. I apologized to him frequently that week trying to make amends, and now we have an undying inside joke (or outside I guess since the punch was quite visible). It comes up every year. **Side note... we serve lemonade now. Coincidence? I think not.
Its amazing, I visited their church a few years later, and ate at a potluck. We were in close proximity again in line, and somehow the jug of water slipped out of my hand towards him.
I told the girls to tell him he should wear a wetsuit this year.
What is this man's name? Mr. Hartley, "your dad" ... I really don't know. But his daughters have become very good friends of ours, all because I'm clumsy. Can't wait to see you guys! :-)
Monday, March 15, 2010
...on good ground: Brokenness
I was going through old sermon notes in my Bible case the other day. This is one that particularly fell on good ground in my life. Pastor Sowell preached it during the conference in '08. I have watched its truth unfold in my life many times since then. These notes of mine are a little incomplete... I have a habit of trailing off mid-sentence. There's just a few points I had written down. Psalm 46:1-3
......................................................................
Brokenness.
Matthew 14:15-19
For the miraculous things to happen through you - God will break you first.
God breaks as naturally as he blesses. It was the act of breaking the pitchers that won the battle for Gideon.
Tenderness always reduces the severity.
Through the breaking process, God takes you through the transition from nominal to miraculous.
...............................................................
I understand it so much more than I did two years ago, and God changes my life for the better every time He breaks me, but it never gets any less painful to go through. The more hopelessly broken we are, the more glory God gets when we are made whole again. "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27
......................................................................
Brokenness.
Matthew 14:15-19
For the miraculous things to happen through you - God will break you first.
God breaks as naturally as he blesses. It was the act of breaking the pitchers that won the battle for Gideon.
Tenderness always reduces the severity.
Through the breaking process, God takes you through the transition from nominal to miraculous.
...............................................................
I understand it so much more than I did two years ago, and God changes my life for the better every time He breaks me, but it never gets any less painful to go through. The more hopelessly broken we are, the more glory God gets when we are made whole again. "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Twenty-five.
25 things I'm thankful for. God is so good I can hardly stand it.
"good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over" Luke 6:38
1. My salvation through Jesus Christ. Forgiveness for my sins. Having my name written in the Book of Life in Heaven.
2. The Bible and those faithful martyrs that gave their lives to write, preserve and reproduce it.
3. My family. We stick like super-glue.
4. Strawberry Starbursts.
5. Built-in color vision and surround sound.
6. A Pastor whose heart for souls is bigger than this.
7. Hot water with the turn of a knob.
8. The privilege to live in the United States of America.
9. Rain. The sound of it, the smell of it, the life it leaves in its wake.
10. My job and the workload that makes me needed.
11. 10 fingers. Life would be different with 8.
12. The nose. Think how amazing it is. its so fine tuned that it can discern between flowers and roast beef. It can identify specific people and locations. AND where else would we set our glasses?
13. The way paper, fresh out of the copy machine, warms up my hands.
14. Deodorant.
15. The stars on a clear night out at the ranch. I miss them.
16. My church family.
17. Adobe InDesign.
18. The perfume of God's creation.
19. My friends. Those rare kind that some people never find, I have 5... Kristy, Dana, Rachel, Leah, Jayme
20. Things that give me butterflies.
21. The ability to walk, run, skip, twirl, ice skate with swan-like grace (the last is more of an aspiration really)
22. The wisdom of my Dad, the soft heart of my Mom, the protectiveness of my brother, the laugh of my sister-in-law, the prayers of my sister, and the kisses of the Little Turkey.
23. Sweetwater Coffee's roast beef sandwich. I'm certain its a preview of Heaven.
24. Our newspaper carriers. Faithfully delivering the news every week. Through wind, sleet, rain, hail, -25 degrees and mean dogs.
25. My neighborhood... especially the little girls that leave flowers in our mailbox, and wake us up from Sunday naps to hint for cookies they can see through the front door.
"good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over" Luke 6:38
1. My salvation through Jesus Christ. Forgiveness for my sins. Having my name written in the Book of Life in Heaven.
2. The Bible and those faithful martyrs that gave their lives to write, preserve and reproduce it.
3. My family. We stick like super-glue.
4. Strawberry Starbursts.
5. Built-in color vision and surround sound.
6. A Pastor whose heart for souls is bigger than this.
7. Hot water with the turn of a knob.
8. The privilege to live in the United States of America.
9. Rain. The sound of it, the smell of it, the life it leaves in its wake.
10. My job and the workload that makes me needed.
11. 10 fingers. Life would be different with 8.
12. The nose. Think how amazing it is. its so fine tuned that it can discern between flowers and roast beef. It can identify specific people and locations. AND where else would we set our glasses?
13. The way paper, fresh out of the copy machine, warms up my hands.
14. Deodorant.
15. The stars on a clear night out at the ranch. I miss them.
16. My church family.
17. Adobe InDesign.
18. The perfume of God's creation.
19. My friends. Those rare kind that some people never find, I have 5... Kristy, Dana, Rachel, Leah, Jayme
20. Things that give me butterflies.
21. The ability to walk, run, skip, twirl, ice skate with swan-like grace (the last is more of an aspiration really)
22. The wisdom of my Dad, the soft heart of my Mom, the protectiveness of my brother, the laugh of my sister-in-law, the prayers of my sister, and the kisses of the Little Turkey.
23. Sweetwater Coffee's roast beef sandwich. I'm certain its a preview of Heaven.
24. Our newspaper carriers. Faithfully delivering the news every week. Through wind, sleet, rain, hail, -25 degrees and mean dogs.
25. My neighborhood... especially the little girls that leave flowers in our mailbox, and wake us up from Sunday naps to hint for cookies they can see through the front door.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)