I've been doing pretty well recently. Not physically, and emotionally is on and off (that's how I work...), but spiritually I've been doing really well. God has been teaching me so much about praising Him, and about who He is and how He cares for people. It really is such a wonderful thing to praise God simply for who He is rather than what He's done. After all, He loves me for who I am, and definitely not for what I've done (and it's a good thing). Through the Psalms (especially), but also through the lives of people like David, Solomon and the accompanying characters throughout the Old Testament, God has shown me time and time again His infinite mercy and love, His passion for the oppressed and poor, and His mighty power over all that exist. I love phrases like:
"My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever."
And it's true. Even the breeze rustling through the trees, the beautiful sunsets that light up our western sky and the birds chirping early in the morning through our open windows speak of His praise.
God's sustenance and provision through all circumstances and at all times is mind-boggling. How He provides us with what we need when we need it--and not a moment too late or too early (even though it might be way more comfortable if He provided earlier rather than later...). I've just learned to trust in His will more than mine, and praise Him in whatever circumstance. And I hope I can hold onto that during my upcoming time of unemployment and uncertainty about what the future holds for Luke and I. (and when I start feeling sorry for myself, please remind me of this post...).
I have lots of thoughts I am yearning to share, but I also have 16 pictures to post for you. So maybe next week I'll catch up. Or the week after that (we have two packed weekends coming up--this weekend in Texas for a wedding and next weekend backpacking for our anniversary!). So no promises, but hopefully a real post coming your way soon. But, for now, enjoy these pictures.
God's sustenance and provision through all circumstances and at all times is mind-boggling. How He provides us with what we need when we need it--and not a moment too late or too early (even though it might be way more comfortable if He provided earlier rather than later...). I've just learned to trust in His will more than mine, and praise Him in whatever circumstance. And I hope I can hold onto that during my upcoming time of unemployment and uncertainty about what the future holds for Luke and I. (and when I start feeling sorry for myself, please remind me of this post...).
I have lots of thoughts I am yearning to share, but I also have 16 pictures to post for you. So maybe next week I'll catch up. Or the week after that (we have two packed weekends coming up--this weekend in Texas for a wedding and next weekend backpacking for our anniversary!). So no promises, but hopefully a real post coming your way soon. But, for now, enjoy these pictures.
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June 10, 2009: I love the neighborhood where I work...it's filled with small children, sidewalk chalk and pets. This fellow was staring at me on my way to work on Wednesday (I know, June 10th was a long time ago...). 
June 11, 2009: As I think I mentioned in a previous post, the bathroom at Polaris matches my eyes and the shirt I typically wear during an overnight shift. Here is the proof. I was bored, and it was a slow week for pictures. =)
June 12, 2009: I met my mom, dad and two of my sisters at IHOP for pancakes, strawberries and a lively discussion about their mission trip, my work, and life in general. I love my family a whole, whole lot.
June 13, 2009: On Saturday Luke and I explored the nearby Franciscan Monastery, as well as a couple of trails in the Rock Creek Park system of Washington, DC. The Franciscan Monastery was really interesting. It holds "exact replicas" of "places every Christian should go"--like shrines in the Holy Land, etc. This is an "exact replica" of St. Francis' first church. I like it a lot better than the massive Monastery devoted to him. For some reason I think that he would too...
June 14, 2009: On Sunday we went kayaking on the Potomac with our friend Edison. It was so much fun, and I will gladly go with any of you people who want to come visit. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera on the kayak for fear of it getting wet. In the future, I will not make that mistake. However, this is us afterward on a little patch of grass, which we sat on after we took the picture. I love laying in the grass, and would gladly spend every afternoon of my life lounging in the grass 
with good friends.
June 15, 2009: Monday's have taken up a reputation as garden days for me. This is our okra, which is doing splendidly well, as you can sort of (but not really) tell from this picture. I really am starting to love gardening. I wish I had done it more with my dad growing up. He would have taught me lots of tricks and secrets because he is really good at it.
June 16, 2009: I didn't mention that the Franciscan Monastery is right near where I go to therapy. I decided, after visiting it's beautiful gardens, that after therapy on Tuesdays I would have my quiet time in the peaceful gardens of the Monastery. This is a statue near where I had my quiet time. She is located in the middle of the garden in a field of roses (which you can't really tell from this picture). I really like her a lot.
June 17, 2009: Frequently after an overnight shift I will come home to little sticky notes all over the place, left to my by my wonderful husband, that declare his love for me when I am participating in certain events--such as brushing my teeth or looking for something to eat--or in this case, looking at the lovely flowers he bought for me. I do have a wonderful husband.
June 18, 2009: We had some members of our small group over for the goodness sloppy joes. I haven't yet confessed to our new found Washington DC friends my obsession for taking pictures, so instead of taking one of them while they were here and they could see me, I creeped around and took one of them while they were leaving...I know. I'm a creeper.
June 19, 2009: Leaving for our first wedding celebration in three weeks (we'll count our anniversary as a celebration of a wedding too...). We got to ride a train to the airport, and if you can't tell by Luke's obvious running towards the train, he was really, really excited.
June 20, 2009: The wedding was of Luke's cousin, Drew to Allison. It was a wonderful wedding, sweet and fun. This is Drew singing to Allison at the reception. I'll confess, it is not my picture. I didn't take my camera to the wedding because I didn't have anything to carry it in. So I stole this one from Kendall (another one of 
Luke's cousins) off of facebook. It was such a sweet moment, though, I needed to include it in my project.
June 21, 2009: I really like flying when it's cloudy out and I get a window seat. It's like a whole new world...
June 22, 2009: It's VBS week at Washington International Church. I'll confess...I love VBS week. I even like the corny little kids songs. I've been singing them to Luke all week...SON ROCK KIDS CAMP!
June 23, 2009: The beginning of this week was gorgeous--sunny and not humid at all, with a nice breeze. I didn't have therapy this week because my therapist is out of town, so instead, after Bible School, I headed to Rock Creek Park and sat outside in nature to praise God. It was glorious. I really like the colors of nature...
June 24, 2009: Who needs LA? I was up all night with the stars. Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson are shooting a movie in DC and they were working on a scene across the street from Polaris all night on Tuesday/Wednesday 
night. You can't really tell here, but the next picture is proof that something big is actually happening in DC. The people in Adams Morgan (a posh neighborhood where all of this went down) may be weird and slightly self-centered, but they do not have cameras and lights everywhere...that equipment is for the movie stars....
June 25, 2009: Hooray! All caught up. Today at VBS there was a traveling petting zoo, complete with one of the world's smallest horses and this alpaca. It was a big hit, as you can imagine.
June 10, 2009: I love the neighborhood where I work...it's filled with small children, sidewalk chalk and pets. This fellow was staring at me on my way to work on Wednesday (I know, June 10th was a long time ago...). 
June 11, 2009: As I think I mentioned in a previous post, the bathroom at Polaris matches my eyes and the shirt I typically wear during an overnight shift. Here is the proof. I was bored, and it was a slow week for pictures. =)
June 12, 2009: I met my mom, dad and two of my sisters at IHOP for pancakes, strawberries and a lively discussion about their mission trip, my work, and life in general. I love my family a whole, whole lot.
June 13, 2009: On Saturday Luke and I explored the nearby Franciscan Monastery, as well as a couple of trails in the Rock Creek Park system of Washington, DC. The Franciscan Monastery was really interesting. It holds "exact replicas" of "places every Christian should go"--like shrines in the Holy Land, etc. This is an "exact replica" of St. Francis' first church. I like it a lot better than the massive Monastery devoted to him. For some reason I think that he would too...
June 14, 2009: On Sunday we went kayaking on the Potomac with our friend Edison. It was so much fun, and I will gladly go with any of you people who want to come visit. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera on the kayak for fear of it getting wet. In the future, I will not make that mistake. However, this is us afterward on a little patch of grass, which we sat on after we took the picture. I love laying in the grass, and would gladly spend every afternoon of my life lounging in the grass 
with good friends.June 15, 2009: Monday's have taken up a reputation as garden days for me. This is our okra, which is doing splendidly well, as you can sort of (but not really) tell from this picture. I really am starting to love gardening. I wish I had done it more with my dad growing up. He would have taught me lots of tricks and secrets because he is really good at it.
June 16, 2009: I didn't mention that the Franciscan Monastery is right near where I go to therapy. I decided, after visiting it's beautiful gardens, that after therapy on Tuesdays I would have my quiet time in the peaceful gardens of the Monastery. This is a statue near where I had my quiet time. She is located in the middle of the garden in a field of roses (which you can't really tell from this picture). I really like her a lot.
June 17, 2009: Frequently after an overnight shift I will come home to little sticky notes all over the place, left to my by my wonderful husband, that declare his love for me when I am participating in certain events--such as brushing my teeth or looking for something to eat--or in this case, looking at the lovely flowers he bought for me. I do have a wonderful husband.
June 18, 2009: We had some members of our small group over for the goodness sloppy joes. I haven't yet confessed to our new found Washington DC friends my obsession for taking pictures, so instead of taking one of them while they were here and they could see me, I creeped around and took one of them while they were leaving...I know. I'm a creeper.
June 19, 2009: Leaving for our first wedding celebration in three weeks (we'll count our anniversary as a celebration of a wedding too...). We got to ride a train to the airport, and if you can't tell by Luke's obvious running towards the train, he was really, really excited.
June 20, 2009: The wedding was of Luke's cousin, Drew to Allison. It was a wonderful wedding, sweet and fun. This is Drew singing to Allison at the reception. I'll confess, it is not my picture. I didn't take my camera to the wedding because I didn't have anything to carry it in. So I stole this one from Kendall (another one of 
Luke's cousins) off of facebook. It was such a sweet moment, though, I needed to include it in my project.June 21, 2009: I really like flying when it's cloudy out and I get a window seat. It's like a whole new world...
June 22, 2009: It's VBS week at Washington International Church. I'll confess...I love VBS week. I even like the corny little kids songs. I've been singing them to Luke all week...SON ROCK KIDS CAMP!
June 23, 2009: The beginning of this week was gorgeous--sunny and not humid at all, with a nice breeze. I didn't have therapy this week because my therapist is out of town, so instead, after Bible School, I headed to Rock Creek Park and sat outside in nature to praise God. It was glorious. I really like the colors of nature...
June 24, 2009: Who needs LA? I was up all night with the stars. Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson are shooting a movie in DC and they were working on a scene across the street from Polaris all night on Tuesday/Wednesday 
night. You can't really tell here, but the next picture is proof that something big is actually happening in DC. The people in Adams Morgan (a posh neighborhood where all of this went down) may be weird and slightly self-centered, but they do not have cameras and lights everywhere...that equipment is for the movie stars....
June 25, 2009: Hooray! All caught up. Today at VBS there was a traveling petting zoo, complete with one of the world's smallest horses and this alpaca. It was a big hit, as you can imagine.
_________________________
Well that's that. Have a fantastic Friday and a happy weekend y'all.
1 comment:
Hey! Did they have a 19-pound rabbit? What was the horse's name? Captain Jack? I think they came to Camp Friendship last year while I was there :D I love you a whole, whole lot as well!
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