31 January, 2011
As White As Snow
The Bible says "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
God sends the snow to cover up the ugliness of the dead grass. It falls white and beautiful, like a new beginning. But then along comes the snow plow and mixes the white snow with sand, salt, and other dirt, destroying its beauty. So God sends another snow fall, covering up the ugliness and replacing it with beauty again. And so the cycle continues.
The same is true in our lives. We were given a fresh start when Jesus died for us, but along comes sin and time and time again, we mess it up! But God, in his grace, forgives us and washes our slate clean once again. Lucky for us, this isn't just true during winter, but each and every day of our lives!
Praise God for his grace and forgiveness!
29 January, 2011
Why Pickles?
I wish I had a really funny story to share about why we receive such a gift, but it goes like this.
Mike and I both love pickles. As in: we'll have a pickle for a snack, Mike drinks the pickle juice, and my burger isn't complete unless it has at least 4 pickle slices on it!
When Mike would come over for dinner when we were dating, and we had a meal like hamburgers, he'd always go grab the jar of pickles from the fridge. If we were ever out, he'd add pickles to my mom's grocery list.
So last year, my mom saw this enormous jar of pickles and couldn't resist buying it for Mike and I!
This year there was a large bag under the tree for Mike and I. We were pleasantly surprised to realize it was another huge jar of pickles!
Here's one of our favorite ways to eat pickles!!!
26 January, 2011
Are you good enough?
We watched this video in church on Sunday. I thought the point was really neat!
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." --Ephesians 2:8-9
24 January, 2011
Friend Makin' Monday
If you've taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you're new, please take a moment to answer this week's question on your own blog then add a link at the bottom of the One Word on FMM Blog. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts.
Answer each question using only one word...
1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your most significant other? Mike
3. Your hair? Blond
4. Your mother? creative
5. Your father? smart
6. Your favorite? baking
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your favorite drink? fruity
9. Your dream/goal? loving
10. What room you are in? living
11. Your hobby? baking
12. Your fear? disappointment
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
14. Where were you last night? home
15. Something that you aren't? stupid
16. Muffins? chocolate
17. Wish list item? cookbooks
18. Where you grew up? Michigan
19. Last thing you did? pictures
20. What are you wearing? clothes
21. Your TV? on
22. Your pets? none
23. Friends? awesome
24. Your life? fantastic
25. Your mood? relaxed
26. Missing someone? nope
27. One place that I go to over and over? work
28. Something you want: sleep!
29. Your favorite store? Kohls
30. Your favorite color? blue
Detroit Auto Show
22 January, 2011
Anybody out there? Helloooo? *Tap Tap* Is this thing on?
Did you know there's a national "de-lurking day"? Seriously, there is! In fact, it was a week ago (I totally and completely missed it!) But we'll just pretend it's today!
So, if you're out there reading my blog, stop by and leave me a comment! I'd love to get to know you more! In fact, to get you started, why don't you tell me a little known fact about yourself?
21 January, 2011
Food blog
Falling in the the same-old, same-old dinner rut?
Looking for some inspiration?
Head over to my food blog for some of my favorite recipes! ("My food blog" is a clickable link)
19 January, 2011
Christmas Night
After gifts came BINGO!!! This is our favorite part of the night, everyone walks away with some fun prizes. Every time you get a BINGO, you get to choose a present, but you must take the first one you touch. You never know what you'll find...anything from sweaters to socks to aluminum foil to flashlights. We all had a great time!
18 January, 2011
Christmas Afternoon
17 January, 2011
Christmas Day
16 January, 2011
Christmas Eve
15 January, 2011
Christmas 2010
14 January, 2011
The Meaning of the Snowflake
13 January, 2011
Ice Sculptures
12 January, 2011
SEM Christmas Dinner
11 January, 2011
10 January, 2011
The Charlie Schulz Philosophy
The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip.
You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress!
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.
These are no second-rate achievers.
They are the best in their fields.
But the applause dies..
Awards tarnish..
Achievements are forgotten.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
Easier?
The lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the
most credentials, the most money...or the most awards.
They simply are the ones who care the most
''Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!"
09 January, 2011
New Opportunities
This year, I made the decision to move up to high school with my girls. I was disappointed to find out only 2 of my girls would be attending this year. From what I hear, our youth group "wasn't cool" enough for the other girls, and we "had too many rules". I'm sorry, but if learning about Jesus isn't cool enough for you, you're tough out of luck. And if your leader (me) requires that you not text on your cell phone during discussions, I guess my group just wasn't for you. (Please note, the last 2 statements were meant to be sarcastic!)
So here I am with a very small small group. And to top it off, one of my girls is going through a tough time right now and hasn't attended but 2 meetings all year. So it's just me and one other girl. We do the Bible studies our youth pastor prepares for us, but 1 person doesn't lead to much conversation and we usually finish in about 15 minutes.
You can imagine that I am frustrated with the dwindling interest in our youth group. Now, I did have an opportunity to combine small groups with the other group of freshman girls, but they meet on Sunday nights and that often doesn't work for me. We came to the conclusion that one of their two leaders would step down from the large group meetings, so our groups would combine for those, but she would continue to co-lead the small group since I was unable to.
So this morning, I approached the one girl in my small group. I had full intentions of telling her that we just weren't going to meet for small group anymore and I would just come for the large group nights. She attends the other small group's meetings on Sunday nights so I knew she wouldn't be missing out on the Bible studies. I wasn't ready to quit being a youth leader, I was just feeling like the small group times weren't worth our time anymore.
As soon as I mentioned it to my girl, I knew it wasn't going to go over well. We have a very close relationship (we've been together since she was in 6th grade), and she told me she still wanted me to come on the small group nights. One of her friends was standing there and jumped into the conversation, "the rest of us girls all just hang out on Wednesday nights, so why don't you lead another Bible study with us?" Out of the mouths of babes!!! (Well, if you consider 15 years old a babe still!!!) Now why couldn't I think of something like that? Here I am ready to throw in the towel and these girls are just aching for someone to talk to and spend time with. We came to the conclusion that they would talk with their friends and let them know of the plans, and I would find some good books for us to consider going through.
I'm so excited about this new opportunity and I just can't wait to see what God has in store for this incredible group of girls!
08 January, 2011
Trying
I'm tackling that right now. I've always wanted to say I am a runner. I did track in high school, but I was more of a field person, I threw discus and shot put (not very well, but I tried!). I did run what we nick-named the "fat man's relay", which was the 4x100 relay and each of us throwers ran a leg of the race. Give me a short sprint and I can do a pretty good job, but I've never been good at running long distances.
Last year, I told myself that I was going to start running. I wanted to run a 5k that they have on July 4. As you may have guessed, that didn't happen. I kept saying, I'll run tomorrow, I'll start next week. And you know how that goes, it never happened.
Well, this year is going to be different. A group of ladies from my church starting doing the Running Mate 5k101. It really seemed to work for them, as many of them are self-proclaimed "non-runners". Seeing their success made me want to achieve my own. So I decided I was going to go for it!
Basically the Running Mate program walks you through preparing for a 5k. The first week you run 2 minutes and then do a recovery walk for 3 minutes. Each week you increase your running time and decrease your recovery time. You repeat the circuit multiple times. By week 8, you'll run for a full 30 minutes.
I'm on week 4 right now. I'm running 4 straight minutes and only walking for 1. The whole workout is about 33 minutes. I'm really excited to see where this running journey is going to take me, and I'll keep you updated as I prepare to run my first 5k!
06 January, 2011
Unity
"Leave and cleave--different words, significant words.
When you exchanged your wedding vows, these two words became part of your life. But do you understand them? To leave means sever one relationship before establishing another. This does not mean you disregard your parents. Rather it requires you break your tie to them and assume responsibility for your spouse.
To cleave means to weld together. When a man cleaves to his wife they become one flesh. This term is a beautiful capsule description of the oneness, completeness, and permanence God intended in the marriage relationship...
...Years ago I heard a choice description of the coming together that is involved in cleaving. If you hold a lump of dark green clay in one hand and a lump of light green clay in the other hand, you can clearly identify the two different shades of color. However, when you mold the two lumps together, you see just one lump of green clay--at first glance. When you inspect the lump closely you see the distinct and separate lines of dark and light green clay.
This is a picture of your marriage relationship. The two of you are blended together so you appear as one, yet you retain your own distinct identity and personality. But now you have a marriage personality which exists in the two of you..."
(Taken from Quiet Times for Couples by H. Norman Wright)
I thought this was an accurate description of why Mike and I chose to do the increasingly popular unity sand at our wedding. We began our unity sand with white sand at the bottom to represent God as our foundation. Then we took turns pouring our sand into the bottle, I had blue and Mike had red. We each have our own layer of sand, but together they make a beautiful display--we each are distinct in our personalities. We will never be able to separate my blue sand from Mike's red sand--we have made our vows to each other, and to God, and that's something else that will never be separated.
03 January, 2011
Christmas Surprises
02 January, 2011
A Choice
Where did you come from? Why are you here? What is your purpose?
Choice #1: You are here by chance and your life has no lasting meaning or purpose.
Choice #2: You are a special creation of God and you are here to know God, to love God, and to serve God.
I choose #2, how about you?