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I am a family girl…a “home body” as my mom would call it. Most days I’d rather be chilling with the fam than doing something outrageously awesome and new (cause, as you might imagine those are my options *grin*). Come to think of it, outside the circle of my family I have only a few close friends.

On account of an email the other day, I’ve had the opportunity to do some thankful reflections. You know, I think that’s one of the strengths of David- he did a lot of reflecting. Sometimes the reflecting appears to be sulking because of his troubles, but more often than not the man who was known for being after the heart of God, wound up at a place of praising God for all that he had been brought through.

2007 was a year of extremes for me. On the one hand, the most wonderful thing to take place in my life to date (minus Jesus, which I assume is a given), happened- Cohen Reid was born into the world, all 4lbs of him. On the other hand, my marriage was torn apart by a lie uncovered, we refinanced our house out of necessity (increasing our payment to the point that it literally hurt), I moved with a tiny infant and the weight of the world on my heart… a host of other smaller yet very difficult decisions and struggles and burdens followed. If I were to put all of them into some giant grocery scales, the good would far outweigh the hurt thanks to Cohen. But I’d be a liar to say its a year I’d happily relive.

I left Seattle in late August and the first Saturday in October, my brother Aaron married his beautiful bride Becky. Not six months after that my little sister Beth married the love of her life, Shane. I did my best to make light of the timing of it all… I said, ‘hey if this were a film we could call it Two Weddings and a Separation- wait…isn’t there a Hugh Grant movie with a similar title Two Weddings and a Funeral? Close enough.” Everyone smiled and made efforts to allow me some room to cope, inappropriate as those statements might’ve been.

Emotions are as complex as they are deceptive. I could feel as happy for my siblings as I knew how and still find that hidden underneath was a complex web of pride, anger, hurt…and the kicker- JEALOUSY. I struggled to find a way to just purely experience happiness for others, but found myself envious of the tender touches and inside jokes spoken without a word. I’d try not to think too hard about what they had that I didn’t, but would at times find myself obsessing over it.

The email came from a new found friend whose story mirrors my own with a shocking resemblance. Thanks to the world wide web, we found each other and within one phone call, I knew maybe God had more to do with the connection than current technology. I listened to her story, spoke out the nuances that reminded me of the journey I’ve been on, and found a sister in Christ the Lord sent my way to lift up.

She sent me an email to ask me if the jealousy ever ends. Her honesty struck a chord in my heart, as I thought of wedding days and Thanksgivings and birthdays that had passed in the last two years with a notable about of conflicted emotions inside of me. As I read her words over and over, I heard in them my own heart cries, my own fears that the dark cloud would never pass, that the joy of the Lord might somehow be forever just beyond my grasp. I could’ve penned that email a year ago, had I had someone to send it to that I thought my understand.

There is something powerful about remembering the battles the Lord has already won on your behalf. I wrote back and encouraged her that the day will also come for her when she can look back on jealousies conquered and praise God for His mercies that truly are new with every sunrise.

My heart has been resounding with thankfulness the past few days as I have watched Aaron and Beck and Shane and Beth and my mom and dad whisper and snuggle and share intimate conversations and glances. I praise God for the work He has accomplished in my heart of digging out the seed of bitterness that had begun to take root and was watered and nurtured not by the sin against me but my own sense of entitlement. I thank God that He does, as Paul so eloquently state in the letter to the Philippians, finish the work He begins in us, carrying it on until its complete (which means, of course, we’re all a work in progress as long as we’re progressing- am I right?). I thank God for supernaturally transforming our wounds into the well-spring of His life. I thank God for His long-suffering and His patient goodness with a stubborn, prideful, ‘how could this happen to me?’ soul like mine.

I want to tell you what God is like when everyone you love has what you want… God is honest but gentle. He uncovers that truth about bitterness and envy and jealousy- that they are a noose around the heart, choking out His Spirit. God is patient not pushy, which is good beyond measure because most of us (include me) want to go on for awhile exclaiming how we don’t deserve this or do deserve that. God is merciful with our jealousy, though we malign our brothers all the while conveniently forgetting how our sin put His only son on the cross to die the most undeserved death on record. God continues to speak, mostly by bringing us around and around again to situations where the offense or the hurt is center stage. At first, this makes us mad but if we pay close attention we see that He’s not letting us escape the pain until we’ve submitted it to His Will. We’re not all that unlike the Israelites to whom the prophet Haggai said by the word of the Lord, “Consider your ways! You worked and yet little came of it… you had all of this trouble and yet you didn’t turn to me…” (Kate’s Paraphrase/Check out Haggai chapter 2)

God isn’t unaware of how we work… if He allowed an offense to go on without being refined, it would have no other end but to snuff out His Presence in us. And He knows if we are permitted to keep the attitude of ungratefulness because its easy and the situation is isolated and doesn’t come back around, we never will undergo that process of being refined… we only choose the to step into the fire we were are desperate for change… and what makes us desperate? Dealing with the same thing again and again until we either face it and allow God to transform us or we become a recluse or worse.

And that’s what God is like. He’s like the parent who refuses to let her child become a brat because she knows selfishness will undermine every relationship/friendship/job and so she disciplines the child until the child submits to an outside will, namely her own. For his children, jealousy is not acceptable. It feels good in the moment, but the after taste will have you raking the residue off of your tongue with great vigor.

There are two ends for man… one is death and one is life. And there is one path to life… its the narrow path of obedience and total surrender.

The good news I have to report is that jealousy, once given to God… and I’m not talking about cleaned up, polished, varnished jealous re-named in some nice Christian terms… I am talking about getting real with God and vomiting our sickness right out in front of him… that jealousy God has a way of dismantling so that we can see the division between our sinful, prideful, sense of entitlement and the real, Godly desires He has lovingly and purposefully put into the heart of His image-bearers.

Where jealousy had once tried to take over my soul there is now a soft awareness of my own longings for the good God has promised me as His daughter. The truth is not mixed with fickle emotion. The offense no longer has its power over me. I am not rushing around , trying to set good up for me… I really believe God when He speaks tenderly to me about what lies ahead.

And not one iota of any of this is to my credit.

So on this hot day in Cedar Hill, TX as I type of the front porch of the closed White Rhino I want to proclaim the goodness of the Lord and His unfailing love and I want to encourage those of you who are wrestling with all that you desire but do not have… surrender your humanness to the Lord and watch Him transform the ugly recesses of your heart into a dwelling fit for a King.

Blessings, friends

I’ve inherited from my mom this feeling right before I go on a trip… its the feeling that I don’t want to go. Even when I do. I always leave thinking, why did I do this? I have so much to do at home! And its costing me money! And I’ll probably miss being home… etc

Well I do have a lot to do and the plane tickets (yes, tickets as in more than one… Cohen is now requires his own seat, which means mommy has to shell out twice the dough) weren’t cheap, but I can’t say I am missing home just yet.

We are having a blast.

Its been a couple of years since I went on a real vacation and I’ve got to admit, I think I forgot how nice it is to get away and sleep in and splash in a pool. And in case you’ve forgotten too- its divine.

The airplane ride with my two year old beloved son was less than divine and perhaps closer to the other end of the spectrum if you know what I mean. He was screaming probably 40% of the flight, either because I wouldn’t let him stand up his car seat and push the ‘butts’ (buttons) or because I wouldn’t let him get down on the floor and play. Mean mommy, aren’t I? He was so excited to fly when we first took off, even exclaiming, “Mommy! Flying…. FAST!” but the novelty wore off within in minutes and being above the clouds didn’t mean a release from the car seat, so he wasn’t that into it anymore. Luckily we were sitting with seemingly the rest of the children on the plane, a seat in front of the engine so it was already loud and annoying and no one seemed to notice Co’s vocalizations amid the rest of the cries and arguments. We found ourselves in good like company.

Things have been way up hill since we landed at 8a yesterday morning. We’ve eaten and laughed and swam and everyone slept hard last night…. Cohen didn’t even stir until 8:30 this morning which felt like a miracle in and of itself. It was dollar day at the zoo today so we gave it a shot and even made it two hours, but then we realized every other child and attaching adults in the Dallas metro area were also at the zoo and the crowds plus the heat was making our crew of 12 a tad bit on the irritable side. So we came back…and got into the pool… again. We all love Shane and Beth’s pool so much, I opened my camera this afternoon and found that someone had taken longing photos of it without my knowledge..and without a single soul in the pool. I am going to go ahead and blame Dad. Its a very Dad thing to do *grin*

I am chilling at Panera all alone for the moment. I got Cohen down for a nap and decided to come and get some work done since Shane and Beth have no internet access at their house… in fact, Beth no longer has a computer… its like stepping back in time ( just teasing, Sis!) It is relaxing… would be more relaxing to unplug if I really could…

I’ve almost finished Mark Driscoll’s new book Religion Saves: and Nine other Misconceptions which I will be reviewing on here in a few weeks. Its really good so far, can’t wait to tell you all about it.

Well I am off to do some work…

Signing out from the Lone Star State

Choose your flavor! This stuff is amazing!

All recipes make about 4 cups of yummy, healthful ice cream.

Vanilla
Meat of 3 young coconuts
1 tbsp pure vanilla beans
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
4 cups of ice cubes

Blend together (start w/ 1 cup of ice cubes and keep adding as long as it stays thick- you might not need it all). You might want to use coconut milk to facilitate blending.

Chocolate
3 bananas
3 tbsp pure cocoa powder
2 tbsp raw tahini (can use yogurt or cream)
8 packets of Splenda or stevia
6 dates, pitted
3-4 cups of ice cubes

Again, start with one cup ice cubes and add more as long as the mixture stays thick.. blend well!

Strawberry
Meat of 2 coconuts
2 bags of frozen strawberries
8 packets of Stevia or Splenda
6 organic dates
1 tsp strawberry extract
4 cups of ice cubes

Same directions as above.

Orange Sherbet
Meat of 2 young coconuts
8 packets of Splenda or Stevia
6 dates, pitted
1 tsp orange extract
4 cups frozen, fresh squeezed orange juice cubes

Same directions as above

Enchanted Living

An enchanted life has many moments when the heart is overwhelmed with beauty and the imagination is electrified by some haunting quality… Enchantment may be a state of rapture and ecstasy in which the soul comes to the foreground, and the literal concerns of survival and daily preoccupation at least momentarily fade into the background.

For the past couple of days Cohen has had an on and off fever that defies any real explanation. (Perhaps I should call Dr. House)He isn’t coughing or sneezing or congested. He hasn’t thrown up or had any digestive issues. I thought maybe we were on to something this morning when he pointed to his mouth and said, “ouchie, Mommy”. I had him open his mouth wide, fully expecting to have an ‘ah-ha!’ moment of finding a new tooth. Instead, I found a peice of turkey stuck between two particularly snug teeth in the back. Don’t think that’s causing a fever. I am not a doctor, but you know, I just don’t think that’s it.

Aside from the lack of steady sleep (I’m getting sleep, just the highly disrupted kind), there are some sweet moments to be had when you’ve got an under the weather tot.

Cohen probably said a hundred times last night when he woke up hot and uncomfortable, “hold you, Mommy” which of course translates in Co-speak to “hold me, Mommy”.

We ended up on the couch after the last dose of motrin and he insisted that we lay spoon style with my arm underneath his neck and my other hand rubbing his back (he’s so my child). He drifted off to sleep and with the room dimly lit by the bluish tones of the TV, I just watched him. For a second I thought to myself how I would want to kill anyone else for waking me up at all hours of the night, but even that thought filtered in and out of my mind in a micro-second. In that moment, I realized how completely taken I am with him. Sometimes during the day things move so fast I get caught up in discipline and activity and even though I’d tell you in a second how much I love him, I’m not completely bowled over by it.

He’s gotten a bit of a tan this summer, being that he’d prefer to never be inside while the sun is shining. So his face is sunkissed and his hair has highlights I’d die for… some of them are so light they almost look white on the end of his curls. His eyelashes are thick and dark beneath is perfect almond shaped eyes.

I know the days are fast approaching when a fever will mean he’s begging me to stay home from school, not for me to hold him.

So I let myself be overwhelmed with the beauty of the moment.

I held him during naptime today for awhile too and I remembered the above quote from Thomas Moore’s incredible book, The Re Enchantment of Everyday Life.

At the point when I first encountered the book, it was a breath of fresh air to me as a person who had a hard time getting still. In devouring it, I discovered the depth of my busyness. I felt convicted by his take on food and friendship and nature… all things to be savored that had gotten buried under lists and lists of tasks.

Now, in re-reading portions of the book, I find he’s given words to the longings I feel gaining strength each new day.

I always wondered why adults complained about not having enough hours in the day and now I know. Regretfully, I know.

I dream of gardening and reading on the front porch and waking up naturally instead of to the annoying alarm on my phone. When I think about simplifying life and cutting down on the things I own, I just feel this rousing of my soul.

And I don’t want to ignore it.

I lived without a TV for a number of years and I am thinking of not moving the one I have into my new house. I know lots of people can have a TV and not get sucked into it, so I am not making that a standard of holiness or anything. Its just that when I think about not moving, I feel that rousing.

I am thankful that even though I got my house for an absolute STEAL, I don’t have much money to put into it. There’s something about knowing I will be intimately involved in all of the restoration and that most of the items coming in will be old and storied that gives me that same alive feeling.

I used to be attracted to people I considered to be the ‘movers and shakers’- the important people- the upwardly mobile people- the people with deep thoughts and intellectually solutions to problems. Lately, I’ve noticed my tastes have changed. The company of the quiet and the content and those whose days are full of normalness intrigue me most. I’m finding a like a good cup of coffee and a long conversation that’s peppered with profound truths amid a lot of everyday life stuff almost as much as I enjoy anything else.

I used to want to do BIG things in the world. You know, the kind of things that garner attention and accolades and praise. I wanted to leave my mark. Now, I find the greatest pleasure in seeing my herb garden grow and my son learn new words and sharing with someone God places in my path. I don’t think any of those things will make even Bellefontaine’s little newspaper, and yet, these are the things that make my soul breathe.

I feel compelled to simplify my life… not to just wave the white flag of surrender to the American pace of life and hope for the best, but to listen to the cry of my soul… and to begin to discipline my life in a way that affords my soul less activity and more life.

I am going to leave you today with another quote from the book that will hopefully give you some pause to consider the health of your own soul,

It’s important to be heroic, ambitious, productive, efficient, creative, and progressive, but these qualities don’t necessarily nurture soul. The soul has different concerns, of equal value: downtime for reflection, conversation, and reverie; beauty that is captivating and pleasuring; relatedness to the environs and to people; and any animals rhythm of rest and activity.

Growing up I was that girl who never let boys open doors or lift heavy things for me. I sort of reveled in proving my own strength and ability, especially if a male happened to be watching to take in the show.

I was driving to Columbus today, listening to my sister’s first album for old time sake, and the words of the first love song she penned sort of caught in my throat.


(go ahead and listen while you read, you know you want to *grin* -it’ll give you that mushy feeling we all secretly love)

Anyway, I had an hour drive and the only makeup I was wearing was water proof mascara, so I let the moment run away with me thoroughly enjoying every mushy minute of it. When a deer darted out in front of me (common occurrence here) the moment ended abruptly and I was instantaneously back to reality.

And to logic.

And to that gut-level honesty that only happens in places like your car where the rest of life is shut out behind four heavy metal doors and there’s no one within arm’s reach.

The honest thought I had went something like this:
Kate, you were never really that tough. You were always pretty vulnerable and raw and sensitive underneath all of the achievement and strength and self-reliance. And what you really longed for was someone that would see past all that to the real you and speak those feminine qualities into full blossom.

Yep. It went something like that.

And somewhat surprisingly, I am pretty okay with it.

Strength and a measure of toughness are admirable qualities, but lately I’ve found myself relaxing into my femininity like a person who has been sitting up straight and proper in a big ole overstuffed papasan chair and finally just gives in, leans back, and finds the chair quite accommodating.

I am not tough or self sufficient or above getting my feelings hurt easily.

These thoughts swirled in my head all throughout my body wrap (which was delightful, by the way) and when I laid down all wrapped up like a mummy in the moodily lit room with the cushy beds and soft music, I located my Bible and thumbed my way right to the very front.

As I read the cryptic and poetic accounts of how the world came to be with the first woman and man, I noticed something that had never caught my attention before.

I love the creation story for a lot of reasons… I spent years fighting with it and underlining and trying to make it adhere to reason, but now I like to read it with the kind of whispery cadence that elevates the story to a location above my mind… I get caught up in the beauty and the poetry and in imagining God hovering over the surface of the deep, brooding- no! churning with possibility. I imagine Him creating and separating with absolute delight….totally in His element.

And not that men don’t like to create, but there is something about that picture of God giving birth to all that would be… shaping and molding it… that I really identify with as a woman. I found myself a day ago out in the jungle of my new yard, planning and scribbling ideas and pruning back vines and branches and dreaming about what would bloom next Spring. And its no different when I think about the inside of the house… what colors should go where, what photos will be perfect. Its in a woman to create a home. The creation story to me reflects that quality in God, as He goes about setting a dwelling in order, with all of the trimmings and details.

I don’t think on the seventh day He just rested. I think He kicked back to drink in the beauty of what His hands had created. In a similar way, but on a tremendously smaller scale, there is a settledness in tucking everyone in and putting the house back in order and then just sitting quietly with a cup of tea and some pleasant soundtrack to just enjoy. That’s rest for the soul…

I was all caught up in the beauty of the epic tale and dreams of blooming lilies when the words I was reading jumped right out in front of my thoughts not unlike the deer a hour or so earlier.


{Genesis 2}
18Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

19Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

20The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for [b]Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.

21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

22The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

23The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

What’s so new about that, right? Well, the order of things frankly. God sees that man shouldn’t be alone but before creating woman God gets Adam started on naming all of the animals. And let’s be honest, its not like God really thought a beaver or an elephant was going to be the perfect pairing for Adam. He knew, and yet He didn’t just go ahead and make Eve and then let them name the animals together.

Most of the women I know do the naming when it comes to having babies. Not that the men don’t throw in their two cents and veto a name here or there, but I doubt if it was up to the men all of those baby name book writers would still be coming up with new ways to package the same old name books. I mean I started lists of names for my kids way back in fourth grade long before I even knew where babies came from, so let’s just keep it real here. How many men do you know who as little boys were scribbling names on their homework papers. Not many, I’d dare to bet

So it caught me by surprise…this whole commencement of naming that purposefully took place without the woman.

And then again it didn’t.

Men don’t pick out a suitable helper these days and then name her… ‘And I shall call you Diane!‘ nah, I don’t think so. But don’t kid yourself… men are still in the business of naming. Someone twittered yesterday, “you can see the character of man by looking into the eyes of his wife”. Put that together with “the eyes are the windows to the soul” and I think you’ll almost be able to hear my train of thought whistling down the tracks.

Just as the essence of woman is to create and nurture a home (in as many varied ways as that comes), so the essence of a man is to be about the business of naming those around him. If a father calls a child courageous, the child’s chest will puff out until it almost explodes. If a husband calls a wife beautiful, just watch and see if she doesn’t bloom into the most gentle spirit for miles. And likewise if a man injures his wife with sharp or evil words, you can almost feel the woman shrivel up from across the room.

Its Kingdom order for a man to love his bride as Christ loves the church… and its the fallenness by which we’ve inherited the curse,

{Genesis 3}
16To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you
.”

The naming which was meant for good is turned into the ruling women for centuries have been bristling and legistlating against. The naming which emphasized the man’s great responsibility in leadership has been warped into a power struggle over who has the upper hand.

And that’s not even the worst of it… read the last two lines of verse 16 again… “your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you”. What a potentially horrid dichotomy! The wife is longing for her husband and he’s heavy handed with her.

There’s no doubt that fallen order is taking place all around us… if you think about it, I bet you won’t have to think long to cite an example.

And yet the good news to those who believe is simple: The first Adam came and set into motion death, but the second Adam (aka Christ) came to fulfill what God intended… He became death in order to loose the chains on life.

Consider the words of Paul,

{Romans 5, Amplified version}
12Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.

13[To be sure] sin was in the world before ever the Law was given, but sin is not charged to men’s account where there is no law [to transgress].

14Yet death held sway from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who did not themselves transgress [a positive command] as Adam did. Adam was a type (prefigure) of the One Who was to come [in reverse, the former destructive, the Latter saving].

15But God’s free gift is not at all to be compared to the trespass [His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man]. For if many died through one man’s falling away (his lapse, his offense), much more profusely did God’s grace and the free gift [that comes] through the undeserved favor of the one Man Jesus Christ abound and overflow to and for [the benefit of] many.

16Nor is the free gift at all to be compared to the effect of that one [man's] sin. For the sentence [following the trespass] of one [man] brought condemnation, whereas the free gift [following] many transgressions brings justification (an act of righteousness).

17For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

18Well then, as one man’s trespass [one man's false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so one Man’s act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men.

19For just as by one man’s disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) the many were constituted sinners, so by one Man’s obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him).

20But then Law came in, [only] to expand and increase the trespass [making it more apparent and exciting opposition]. But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God’s unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded,

21So that, [just] as sin has reigned in death, [so] grace (His unearned and undeserved favor) might reign also through righteousness (right standing with God) which issues in eternal life through Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) our Lord.

I love the Amplified version… Romans can be a hard book to understand, so take away these key points. Death came into the world on the vehicle of sin and the vehicle was revved up by one man, the first man, namely Adam. From his one act of prideful disobedience, sin proliferated to us all-

among the curses we see this disharmony between men and women, in which women are oft pining over men only to have their delicate hearts crushed by the sharp tongue of a man whose left behind Godly naming for the weaker, fleshy counterpart: power-

But we who Believe that Christ came and released life have hope. For if sin was able to spread like wildfire just riding on the coattails of disobedience how much more will the profuse righteousness of God superabound to those who lay hold of it!

And how do we lay hold of this free gift of God that will breathe life and right living into each day, blowing the doors off of the curse?

FAITH.

By definition: believing God to the point of obedience.

If self promotion unleashed sin into the world, then certainly unrestrained reliance has the authority to keep it at bay.

Ladies we need not be pining after men and men, you can learn through obedience how to give the women around you Godly names.

Kingdom order is not out of reach, friends.

Cheesin’

One afternoon while Co was looking at himself in the mirror and brushing his teeth, he started making this face and saying ‘CHEESE!’ Now to see this cuteness all I have to do is ask for the ‘cheesy grin’- works every time *grin*

IMG_5424
IMG_5425
IMG_5427

…yeah, cause that’s what I did. You know how when you get email or a blog and you type in your password of choice, it gives you that meter that shows you the strength of the password? Yeah? Well, listen to the strength meter friends. I woke up a couple of weeks ago and all- yes ALL-of my passwords had been changed… and oh! one other tip, don’t have the same password for everything. It makes it so much easier for someone to throw your online world into chaos.

Anyway, after faxing in my identification and filling out paperwork, I am now back into my blog/emails/facebook/twitter. And now the passwords (yes, they each have their own now) are like strong, like OLYMPIC STRONG.

So I have like literally a thousand items to read in my google reader and a lot of catching up to do, so instead of writing a super long post, I thought I’d just let you know a few highlights of the last couple of weeks:

-I bought a house! We should be closing quite soon and I am ecstatic! After looking at homes for several months, the very first house I had put an offer on came back on the market. The person who had gotten to the bid on the house had to back out only a few days before it was to close so the bank was ready to sell. I ended up purchasing the house for almost $14,000 less than my original bid! Such a blessing!!! There is a bit of work to do on the house… some new wiring and gutting and windows and de-wallpapering galore. And the yard? Its a jungle. Which, I had to remind myself several times yesterday as I hacked through the yard in the 98 degree heat, I prefer to a bare yard with nothing to work with. I will post the before and after pics once there are after pics to post. They are going to be ridiculous! Right now there is pink tile and countertops in the kitchen…so the change, I promise, is going to be drastic!

-Cohen is growing like a weed and talking SO MUCH. He’s recently perfected his ‘cheesy grin’ as of late so be expecting to see photos/video of that!

-We are preparing for vacay in Texas here within in the week…some seriously good family time. Cannot wait!

Now, how are you all?!??! I’ve missed you! Cannot tell you how glad I am the hacker changed everything to the same password and didn’t post something awful posing as me… whew!

Great opportunity to give? Doing something for the Kingdom? Helping the fatherless get mentored?
Check. Check Check.
The Father’s Day gift is just the icing on the cake!

TMP Fathers Day Campaign from The Mentoring Project on Vimeo.

When summer comes to the midwest and you can cut the humidity with a knife the air is so thick, refreshing drinks trump food nine times out of ten…

This refreshing drink is sure to help you beat the heat!

Serves: 6
Calories per serving: 163

Ingredients
1/2 cup dark honey
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup firmly packed fresh mint leaves
2 cups fresh grapefruit juice, chilled
2 cups fresh orange juice, chilled
2 teaspoons grated lime zest
1 lime, cut into 6 slices

Directions
In a small saucepan, combine the honey and lime juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the mint leaves and remove from the heat. Steep the honey mixture for 5 minutes, then pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve placed over a bowl, pressing down lightly on the leaves with the back of a wooden spoon. Refrigerate the syrup until cold.

In a large pitcher, combine the mint syrup, grapefruit and orange juices, and lime zest. Stir until the syrup is dissolved.

Pour into tall, chilled glasses and garnish each glass with a lime slice

Usually the title comes at the end of the post.

Not today.

Because I am spontaneous like that.

Its a quarter after six and although I almost always am up by now (thanks to the cutest two year old alarm clock that has ever existed), but I am not usually chilling at Panera Bread in Columbus at this early hour.

I love Panera…oh let me count the ways!
1. soft, well filtered light
2. classical music
3. fall colors
4. fireplaces
5. the smell of baking bread
6. Hazelnut coffee, freshley brewed
7. a booth all to myself
8. free wifi
…need I go on?!?

I volunteered to take Shane and Beth to the airport this morning in large part because I needed to make a Mac Store visit anyway…getting a few hours in between alone to think in this warmly decorated cafe is an added plus.

This week flew by… computers crashing, brother graduating, a new haircut, lots and lots of training… I sort of blinked and realized the visit with the fam had ended. Beck and Aaron came on Thursday afternoon, Shane and Beth followed on Friday and this morning they’re all gone again.

Forget the easy button; someone find me a pause button!

More posts coming every day this week…forgive my unintended absence! I am off to sip on more Hazelnut coffee and try to figure out why none of my emails went through this week…

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