The Week in Pictures - The First One

I love taking pictures. I'm no photographer by a long shot, but sometimes my brain does think in pictures. That probably makes no sense, but just last week someone texted me and asked me what I was doing and I responded in pictures. It's just easier. I love images. I love making things stick by taking pictures of them.

Usually I end up with 1,000 pictures on my phone before I just dump them to my computer. The kids will sit and look at pictures there, though. And when I used to scrapbook, they'd look at those books too. So I thought how nice it would be to have some order to all these pictures. If I have a "Week in Pictures" on this blog once a week, they can just click through and know what they did when.

I also am more aware than ever that these years are fleeting, no matter how long the days are. I am determined to capture what I can of them.

Plus, since people we love keep moving away, maybe this will help them feel like they are here, just a little.

These are all quick snap shots taken with my phone, but one day I really would love to learn to use a real camera. Just for fun. But for now, these are just my simple snapshots of our life. That's it.

from the rising to the setting of the sun, He is faithful. He shows me this over and over throughout my day

super moon

Cleaning his brother's shoes

truths I'm desperate to know

First book on the Kindle

I woke up after the baby kid one morning to find no kid, but this. So I knew he was awake, somewhere. (He was in the garage with the kittens) 

planning for and praying over next school year

(this is not my picture) it is a juniper tree. read 1 Kings 19 and then I'll let you know where to find one. I'll be underneath it.

impromptu date with the middle kid

popsicles for lunch 

keepsake nearly thrown away accidentally

these titles make him laugh

favorite dinner

my favorite early morning place to be

my kids need me to spend time with them in leisure

new coffee cup gift 

she promises to always love me and be my friend 

Gardenias

Gardenias are my favorite.

Actually I have several favorite flowers, just as I have several favorite children, and gardenias are definitely one of them.

I only tried to grow them once. And I failed miserably. As such, I am reduced to sniffing the neighbor's gardenias, and I do this unabashedly.

(They haven't called the police on me yet, so I'll continue...)

I hadn't noticed them blooming yet until one morning last week. They were blooming near the house on the corner of the block where I walk. I noticed them, and made no haste going over and burying my face in them.

I breathed deeply over and over again. Their scent fills me with such joy.

A friend used to have a ginormous bush in her yard, and she allowed me not only to sniff them, but to also cut branches to take home. I'd put them in my window sill in the kitchen, where I seem to spend most of my time, and smell them until they finally withered.

Then I would go get more.

I really love gardenias.

It was such a treat to find them for the first time this season. I wondered how long they had been there before I noticed them.

And then a strange thing happened.

Their scent is noticeable from the street. After pausing to plunge my face into their fragrance that morning, now each time I pass the yard, I can smell them. And I couldn't before. Now that I got re-acquainted with their smell, I can recognize it from a far. And even today, almost a week, later as I passed, I could smell them from where I walked on the street.

But I couldn't before.

The Spiritual truth was poignant.

I am currently obsessed with 1 Kings 19. It's become my favorite chapter in the Bible.

Okay, so I have several favorite chapters.  (I am sensing a theme here.) And this has become one of them.

1 Kings 19:11-12

So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.


...a gentle blowing...

God revealed Himself in the gentle blowing of the wind.

When is the last time I stopped to listen to the sound of a gentle blowing?

A wind that whips around the house, shaking it to the foundation?

Yes.

A gentle wind?

Not so much.

Yet I want to spend time with the Lord, breathing deeply of Him and His fragrance so that when the scent of Him floats across the wind, I will sense Him and respond.

Our pastor has said that "God does not reveal the intimate things of His heart to those who casually come and go." I want to visit Him in prayer and in His Word and in worship and linger there. I want to be quiet and still and hear loudly the gentle wind that He is.

Wrathful and holy and mighty and strong and fierce, yet gentle too...

My commentary paraphrases the Lord's message to Elijah by saying, "My still small voice brings the Word to the listening ear and heart. Yes, there's a time and place for the wind, the earthquake and the fire, but most of the time, I speak to people in tones of gentle love and quiet persuasion."

Am I still and quiet enough to hear?

What if I hadn't stopped by that gardenia bush that day? Would I enjoy smelling it each day as I run by? What would I have missed out on if I hadn't stopped?

What am I missing by rushing past the Lord to meet my own needs and wants?

What do I risk for a lost and dying world that so desperately needs Him?

Oh, 2 Corinthians 2:15:

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing...


I am desperate to spend Him with Him so that His presence is all over me, inside and out, filling me so that it spills out of me and flows to a world that needs to see Him in me and hear His truth from my mouth.

As those flowers send their scent on the wind, I pray that He sends His out of me.

The Lord has shown me afresh that He is all I need. Spending time with Him, both in concentrated study and fellowship with Him in His Word and communing with him through prayer and worship, are the things what will nourish and sustain me.

And pour His scent over me.

And while I am obsessed with Elijah, I remembered the time he sat by his brook waiting on the Lord. Why? To ready him for what was to come.

I am glad to wait by my brook today. For however long He chooses.

To wait well.

And while waiting, what a joy to experience the fragrance of Him in the gentle wind.

How to turn 40

It was a little hard to believe. 

It was time to turn ~40~

Oh boy. 

The birthday celebration started with a sweet, long night's visit with a precious friend. 

Utter Cream is one of our favorite inside jokes, and I was delighted to find it in my birthday present. 

This dragonfly ring was nestled inide my owl change purse, and the accompanying description meant a lot to me. She chose it with these thoughts in mind, and it was precious confirmation of all the good the Lord is doing in my life:

(I'm going to let the grammar mistakes go)

Laney asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I told her I wanted some special girl time with her. Getting a manicure is quite the treat for us, and we had fun choosing our colors and just being girlie.

 Yep. ~Four. Zero~

We then all went to eat lunch together, the kids, hubs and I. 

When I had pondered by birthday, in the months (yes, months) leading up to it, I had decided I wanted a road trip. With some friends. There were 4 of us all turning 40 at almost the same time, and we thought it would be fun to take off and celebrate. We tossed around ideas about where we would go (one of us kept mentioning Minneapolis, Minnesota for some strange reason) and it seemed like the best way to celebrate such a monumental milestone.

Then, much like a needle scratching across a record, that idea came to an abrupt end. 

My friend was sitting in my kitchen when I said to her, "There isn't going to be a road trip." It was a sad admission.

I was sad. 

When she called later to tell me the plans for my birthday Saturday, she said to wear comfortable shoes and that was all. I panicked just a little. I don't do surprises well. 

In fact, they send me into panic mode. 

I refuse to discuss my neurosis on my birthday post. Since it's a birthday post, let's just celebrate the neurosis, okay?

Surprises are not my favorite. 

Anyway, my sweet friends took me on a local mini road trip. It was so carefully and thoughtfully planned out. I was blown away by all the work put into it. They made every effort to not only include all of my favorite things (like having Josh Garrels playing in the van when I got in) but to do things I had never done in our city. It was so sweet, and even today, these weeks later, I'm still thinking about it. 

When I got in the van, I was handed a bag of "road trip goodies" that had some of my favorite things in it. Then, as we approached a stop, I was handed an envelope that had a clue about what the stop would be. There were several stops throughout the day, and they were all sweet and fun and included a present. 

I was spoiled rotten. 

There was a stop to the local "beach" because no road trip should be without a beach trip. We had virgin margaritas (yes, really) and I loved this wine glass that was part of the present. 

This was one of my favorite stops. I had driven past this monument for years but never actually been to it. The thoughtfulness of including it nearly made me cry, especially since the clue said, "Next, a stop at the place where 'all nations come together' to celebrate your love for missions." 

It was a beautiful view.

We also rode a trolley! That was so much fun. We made friends with the nice lady that drove and bid farewell to all that left the trolley. It was nice to be a part of the community in a way I never had before and see our city at the same time. Such a good idea! 

They even took me to Target, one of my favorite places, with a gift card, where I got a birthday dress.

We had dinner at a place that I had never eaten before, and it was so good. Then more friends met us for cupcakes and we ate them in the van. It was a perfect day and I am so thankful for my friends and the way they love me. 

I got home just in time for the husband to go to work, but first the family gave me their present: a hammock. It was such a great present, and I have loved using it. We were so rushed and I was so tired from my fun day that I forgot to take any pictures of that part of the day. 

But I do love my hammock. 

They even wrote my name 40 times on each card!

Once I figured that my birthday was going to be more of a normal day, I embraced the normal whole heartedly. It was a Sunday, so we went to church first. That was good, since it's one of my favorite places to be. It was not good that my old small group ambushed me in my new small group to sing "Happy Birthday." I didn't handle that very well. Surprises and I are not friends, but I think we already covered that. 

Then, after church, my favorite charity had a walk to raise money for their organization. The family and I met friends there and had a great time walking for water. When it was over, we all ate cupcakes again! It was fortunate that we had just walked a 5K...

Some of us had a hard time walking the whole thing, and some of us needed to burn some extra calories due to all the cupcake eating, so this set up worked well for both of us. 

After the walk, the husband took the kids home, and my sweet friend and I went to her house to try to get presentable enough to head back to church. 

I love these earrings. 

This particular Sunday just happened to be my last theology class of the semester. I was very happy to go. I honestly can't image a better way to spend part of my birthday. Theology is a love of mine, so it felt like a gift to get to do this on my day. (Cheesy, I know and I don't care. I'm a geek and I know it. )

After church the girls and I headed to another of my favorite places for  a late dinner. 

We do this a lot. It's what keeps us sane. 

My love of cupcakes was celebrated over and over again this weekend. I do love them. A lot. 

This stinker cut herself out of the picture on purpose. This makes me laugh every time I see it. 

My mom got me a precious owl necklace and this. She knows me so well. 

Later the next week, my sweet sister asked my mom to babysit while hubs was at work so we could have a date to celebrate. I had mentioned in conversation a while ago that although I used to love to eat sushi, it was something I never did anymore. (I can't see dragging kids to a sushi restaurant. And what if they *gasp* liked it? I'd go broke.) She remembered that conversation and planned a date where we could go have sushi. I'm not kidding when I say that it was one of the best meals I've had in awhile. 

We then got to go see a movie that I had been wanting to see. I loved spending time with my sister and we always have fun. It was such a great way to end my birthday mardi gras. 

I am so blessed by the friends and family God has gifted me in my life. I felt so celebrated and special after all of this love. Aside from the well meaning people who leaned in and asked how I was handling this "monumental" birthday, turning 40 has been a breeze. 

When you feel this loved and celebrated, how could it be hard?