Praise God for This Man

This is audio from a sermon by Paul Washer titled "Shocking Message" for youth today that was made into a video and put on YouTube. I've heard this sermon many times, yet fall under conviction each time I hear it.

I praise the Lord for using Paul to speak the truth of scripture against our/my culture.

Silly, Silly, Silly!

I read this joke while reading the Girl Talk blog (you'll find the link to it on the right) but it was a good laugh so I thought I would pass it along! : ) And, it's complete with a silly picture of me and the girls.

Smart Blonde Joke

A cop pulls over a blonde, and says, “Ma’am, you were speeding. May I please see your driver’s license?”

“Oh, well, you see officer, I don’t have a drivers license,” the blonde replies. “I never really had the time to go to the DMV and stand for hours in line…and anyway, all you get are terrible pictures.” The slightly taken aback cop says, “Well, then, may I see your proof of registration?"

“Well, officer,” the blonde says, “this isn’t my car. I wanted to borrow it from my neighbor, because it’s so much faster than mine and I was late for a wedding – that’s why I was speeding – but he said no really rudely, so I hit him over the head with a tire iron and stuffed him in the trunk.”

The horrified police officer backs away and calls for backup, and the police chief himself comes out, along with a squad, to see about this.

“Ma’am,” says the chief, “may I see your driver’s license?” The blonde hands it to him and it hasn’t expired or anything, everything’s okay. “May I see your proof of registration?" The blonde hands that to him, and it’s her car, and everything’s okay. “I hate to bother you,” the chief says, “but may I look in your trunk?”

So she pops the trunk and there’s nothing in there. The chief comes back to her window. “We’re sorry, ma’am. The officer over there said that you didn’t have a driver’s license, this wasn’t your car, and that you’d killed a man.”

“You know what,” says the blonde, “I bet he told you I was speeding, too.”

A Little Perspective For Myself...

Yes, so I think upon reading my last post that I am going to ban myself from posting anything in the midst of a full-on, old-fashioned come-apart! I apologize for the ramblings - but needed to get all the junk out of my head. Now that I feel human again, and I'm not quite as busy, I feel I can post now with sound mind.

It's so funny how I get so incredibly scatterbrained, out of sorts and overwhelmed when life gets so busy. A dear friend pointed out that it seems to be magnified when we aren't getting the sleep we need. And that was last week to a tee for me.

But upon reflection, I see now that my focus and perspective has been off. I had been so focused on the jobs and responsibilities that laid before me, that I failed to keep my mind and focus on the Lord.

So I've chosen to make this post an interactive one. For those of you who follow my ramblings, how do you make time for the Lord and keep your focus on Him in times when family, responsibilities, careers and life in general pull you in different directions?

What scripture brings you the most joy and comfort in the midst of an overwhelming "to do" list?

Surely I'm not the only one with this struggle. And my thoughts today are on the fact that as a single woman, I don't even have nearly the responsibility that many of my friends do that have spouses, children, and homeschool, and even have jobs. So I know I need to get a handle on this in case the Lord has those things for me in the future.


So the pictures that I have posted today are from a recent trip to the zoo and aquarium in Cincinnatti. (If you don't like even the sight of snakes - I will warn you now to not look at the last picture! It's the third one down.) Anyway, just a bit more of God's amazing creation by an amazing creator. How can I not know in the midst of the storm that it's all going to work out??

Just when I think I've learned the lesson of trusting in the Lord, taking a deep breath and not coming-apart, the Lord shows me just how much farther I have to go.

Where are you Peace?????

In the midst of one of the worst days I've had in quite a while, which just happens to be at the tail end of one of the most horrible weeks I've had lately, I'm trying oh...so...hard to find a bit of peace in between photo assignments here at the paper. The picture above is from one of my favorite places, the Berkshires in Western Massachussetts, and I remember that day vividly. I went hiking with a friend in the snow on one of the mountains there (I'm blanking on the name). But OH! It was so beautiful and peaceful and quiet.

So many things have occurred this week and then, aside from a wonderful brunch with a dear friend this morning - my day completely unraveled. I don't like to cry at the office - and only have once (when I was working on a photo story about a cancer patient and his relationship with his daughter who was just 10 at the time - very emotional for me) but I just couldn't contain it today. I was assigned another emotional photo assignment, one of a few this week alone, and I guess too many times I hide my emotions behind the lens.


One of the cemeteries here has an annual Holiday Luminary Display where folks can come out and place a luminary at the grave of a loved one. Fresh and still raw from losing Mrs. Jessie and with thoughts of my dad since the holidays are here, it's a bit hard for me to hold back the tears when talking with others who have also experienced the pain of losing a loved one. The gentleman in the photo above just lost his 10 month old daughter a few months ago. I cannot imagine the pain and pray I never do. Before I left, I placed a luminary at my dad's grave and Mrs. Jessie's grave too. It's a really hard thing to justify photographing someone in the midst of their grief. Yet, I had a job to do and struggled greatly while doing it.

>>Pause my writing to shoot the basketball game<<
So, now that I'm at the tail end of my day, I really just cannot wait to go home and just be. (I'm waiting for some technical stuff to be finished on the paper's website so I can link up the pictures and finish the day.) I really don't think, at this point, I even have the energy to reflect upon the day anymore -- but I found myself crying out to the Lord that I just don't have it in me to be strong anymore. I so want things to change for myself - but shouldn't I be content in where God has me today? Or is the Lord confirming my current path to change through this discontent? Jeese, do I even make any sense??? All I know is, I am not strong enough to work three jobs at one time, yet every three months it seems, all three jobs I work have their busy time all at the same time.

All I'm hoping for now is some rest and renewal and perhaps a lull in the chaos that is my life right now.

Oh those views!!!!

Being a lover of all things Space related and Christmas related, I decided to share a really cool website I found today!

What a better way to count down the days to Christmas than with images from the Hubble Telescope of God's amazing creation!!

Enjoy : )

Oh So Thankful

Well, it has been quite a while since I've last written, mainly because the Lord has been stirring my soul with so many things (and showing me my sin) and I've been too overwhelmed to write about it. Perhaps sometime soon, as I process a bit more, I can blog on some of the places my mind and heart has been lately.

So with today being Thanksgiving - for two more hours anyway - I thought it would be appropriate for me to list some of the things I am thankful for in this current season of my life. (I'm a list kinda gal so this is quite exciting for me : )

1. The Lord loves me enough to show me my sin and bring me to repentance, granting me forgiveness and hope in Christ.

2. A wonderful loving, supportive and fun family!

3. Amazing friends who point me to Christ, sharpen and encourage me.

4. Two beautiful nieces who bring me such joy!

5. Sunsets.

6. Health.

7. Heat that keeps me warm and a roof over my head.

8. A reliable vehicle that gets me where I need to go.

9. A church to worship at!

10. Music that aids me in worship.

11. The education I've received.

12. Friends who truly love me.

13. My mom

14. My two little pooches.

15. A warm bed to sleep in tonight and plenty of food to fill my belly.

So that's just a few of the things I'm thankful for - there are many many more but I'll stop here. And now for my picture for the day. I was having a string of hard days not long ago and on my drive home the Lord blessed me with an amazing sight. It was the most beautiful sunset I've seen in a while. So I drove further into the country to take a few pictures. Enjoy : )





May the Lord reveal even more of Himself to our hearts.

Those Mighty Milestones!

This week has been one of the busiest ones I've had in quite a while. Since my brother and sister-in-law are out of town this week, my mom and I are taking care of the girls, getting them to school, dance and girl scouts. Mom still isn't doing well after her surgery, and I've gone with her to either a doctor's appointment or medical test every day this week. She finishes up with a stress test in the morning. On top of it all, I've been trying to keep up with my work. Not that I'm complaining, but I seriously have a renewed respect for all moms everywhere!

But today, as I was trying to get my head together to remember everything on my mental "to-do" list I suddenly began to feel overwhelmed. Way too many things left to do and not enough time to do it all before the girls got out of school. And once they're home, there's no chance at all of me getting to my things until after homework, dinner, dishes, laundry, bath time, a bit of entertainment and finally bedtime. So what became a crazy, busy hectic day was completely made worth it in one little moment.

One of the things Lauren has to work on this week for school was learning to tie her shoes. My brother told me this morning that she was close to doing it all the way - but not quite there yet. I almost forgot during homework time (which was also cleanup time from dinner) but I saw the reminder on her homework paper, grabbed her shoes and seated her high up on the bar to see how much she knew.

She made an "eleven" with the strings, then made an "X", then a bunny ear sprouted quickly from the right side. With a little instruction and a few attempts, she nimbly stuffed the final bunny ear through the hole and learned to pull it tight. At the sight of the completed product, her little face just lit up with pride and excitement at the fact that she just tied her shoe on her own!! I couldn't resist but to take a picture (mainly to drive home to her how proud we are of her achievement!) It totally made today - and this whole week worth it!

I love little moments like that, and I'm so glad that the Lord has made me an aunt to share in such joys. I love these girls so much!!!