Sunday, August 30, 2009

Where I am - End of August

Where I Am: Just finished a fantastic nap & I'm watching a little television while the hubs is at a Fantasy Football Draft (I hope he gets a great team! He has been prepping for days - literally...he has been reading, planning, etc). I am about to go support two of our amazing zoe small groups - first young professionals & then the Tech connect group.

What I've been listening to: I've been on the search for some great music for PURSUE & I'm finding that there is some great songs about missions out there right now (loving "Two Hands" by Jars of Clay & "Follow You" by Leeland)...also, I've been stuck on the Ingrid Michaelson pandora station when I"m working - it helps mellow me out (I've needed that quite a bit this week).

What I've been reading: I'm in a dry spell when it comes to reading...I've tried to start Crazy Love but I can't seem to get into it...so I'm spending most of my time reading the Bible, blogs & pregnancy books...

What I've been watching: Project Runway is back!!!! Love me some PR...Mad Men is back too - Josh and I love just how true they are to the time period - it's kind of dark, so not sure if others will like it...but we've watched it from the beginning & are jazzed that it is back. I went and saw "500 Days of Summer" on Friday night - I really liked it! Also saw "Time Traveler's Wife" - didn't like it so much...

Crazy Things that have Happened Recently: Just this past week my belly popped out...at some points I love it - love that it is finally obvious that I'm pregnant & at other points I'm kind of feeling weird about it. Got some great maternity clothes from my sister...we'll see how much longer I can squeeze into my regular clothes though...

Cool Things that have Happened Recently: A couple of weekend's ago Josh and I took a weekend get-away to Ruidoso (I LOVE the mountains). It was just what we needed - we went hiking, played golf, ate great food & spent some time resting and connecting before the craziness of fall hits.

zoe started this week, and I love our young adults ministry! It makes my heart happy to see our young people back in town & ready to jump into what God has in store for this year. One thing that was super cool is that we have some friends from Belgium in town for a couple of weeks. Christian & Mieke are a young couple that Josh and I met a couple of years ago when we traveled to teach at a Bible School in Belgium...anyways, they attended our first zoe service this past Thursday night & after it was over they asked us to pray for them. During the service the Lord spoke to them that they are to go back to Belgium and start something like zoe. They asked us to pray over them & it was a really powerful time. I was incredibly honored & it was almost like a small encouragement from the Lord at the beginning of this new year that we are doing something right...and it is contagious!

Favorite pics fro the last couple weeks: These are from our trip to Ruidoso...LOVE watching my husband play golf...I should mention he shot 1 over par during this round...he's quite good.


Saturday, August 22, 2009

Women are a Solution


Just wanted to share this short video/article from the New York Times. It is a testament to the fact that around the world women are not the problem but rather the solution.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/08/20/magazine/kristof-audioss/index.html

After I watched this video I just stopped to think & realized this is SO true. Although I've met many wonderful men around the world who are making an impact, the stories that I've heard from women and the lives that I've seen them live are typically what sticks out in my mind - mostly because they've had to sacrifice, prove themselves, struggled along the way...and yet they sacrifice with love, prove themselves with passion, and struggle with such grace that I'm always in awe.

So, to women like Missy & Rhoda who made a food truck a reality here in Lubbock...to women like Elizabeth Lee who works tirelessly to share the gospel in Thailand...to women like Dita Targosz who juggle a business while also building a church in Czech Republic...to women like Ina in India who teach other women to sew so they can build a better life...to women like my mom who are willing to take on major dreams like a Dream Center or starting a business to help women who've been sex trafficked...

Thank you for showing the world that we are can be a solution.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Where I am - August 2009 & a bit of a rant

Where I Am: As usual, I'm sitting on my lovely couch...just got home from work, but the cray thing is - I'm not really happy about it. I need to work more...I want to work more...I'm doing things that I'm passionate about, but this pregnancy thing is throwing me for a major loop. I literally feel as though between the hours of 3-5pm my body (including my brain) completely shuts down. I'm good for nothing - so I find myself either staring into space, aimlessly trolling around on my computer or just giving up and going home. Today I decided to take a stand. I WANT to work, so at 3pm, I took some work to the local coffee shop (I love you Sugar Brown's) & had a cup of coffee (everything I've read says that 200mg of caffeine a day is fine - so give me a break)...and then I did some work. Actually I did some reading which was work for me today. I read a long letter from a missionary, which left me with the conviction that I need to hop on a plane & go visit...and then I read a lady's talk that she is giving at an upcoming Walk to Emmaus...she had asked me to critique it for her (Wow!!! It was fantastic & I learned so much more about her life)...Sorry for the tangent, but that is what I did as I sipped my iced vanilla latte. So by golly, I worked until 4:30pm today - yay!!!! Sorry for the rant, but I'm the girl that typically works at least one 12 hour work day a week...because I love it...and I'm so frustrated because it hasn't been working for me these past 3 months. Bring on the 2nd Trimester with MORE energy please!!!!

What I've been listening to: This past weekend I went to Rock the Desert Music Festival to work a tent for Pursue Missions (www.pursuemissions.org) & I listened to some great live music there. I found out that my team loves LaCrea & I really enjoyed Leeland & the winner of the Battle of the Bands (Josh Bramos). When I'm at work - perhaps because I'm so tired - I've been so lethargic I've been listening to Family Force Five. It's so crazy, but I love it! Kyla & I are slightly obsessed with them right now :)

What I've been reading: The Pregnancy Journal & What to Expect when you are Expecting. Good information, but it's also a bit redundant... I also started Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity (see, I'm trying to embrace this time of slowing down with grace) - so far so good. It is all stuff that I know, but definitely not what I live. I'm praying that it sinks in - what I like about this book too is that she doesn't just describe rest as doing nothing but talks about playing, giving, and other ways we rest as we love God & love others.

Favorite pictures of the past couple weeks:





Madison at Taylor's Birthday party...she was slobbering...but isn't she just gorgeous?

I LOVE Taylor's expression here...she just realized that Ally bought her a BIRD for her birthday. She was SUPER happy about this.

Josh's sister, Joy & her daughter Zoe came in town for a weekend. Here are the siblings in their superhero T-shirts.

At the 4th of July, Uncle Josh helped Ava with her shrimp. He's going to be the best dad!

LOVE this picture of my mom & Ava. Ava has the squinty eyes when she smiles big too! It is a family trait.

At Rock the Desert this weekend. We gave away Flavor Ice (Popsicles)...at the end of our time there, these fabulous people decided to race to see who could eat one the fastest. As you can tell, Katie was the winner.
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