Sunday, June 27, 2010

Reading

If I could dream up the perfect day, it just might include a chilly cave {complete with a hammock...or firm mattress} and a good book. I've hit it pretty close. There's something about reading that reminds me of this:Beautiful B at her 4-year-old birthday party...a princess for sure


And this:
Big brother N playing superhero with the gift-wrapping supplies

I'm not sure it's good for me.

Do you remember those days when feeding your {fake} family was the greatest of all worries you confronted? When a feud between siblings ruined a perfectly good card game and day? When you could find escape from a world you knew little of in a giggle-full game of hide-and-seek?

Reading sends me back to those days...until somewhere deep inside me, a geyser of soul-seeking I'd typically prefer to avoid opens up--Soul-seeking that plagues me with questions about the human connection. Because life isn't like those days anymore...but it feels like it is supposed to be.

If I had to choose, I think I would choose the princess dress or superhero cape over soul-searching and sin-shrouded reality.

Which is why I avoid reading most of the time...but hot summer days and *vacation* comes with a prescription for one long afternoon spent in a cool, air-conditioned cave with a good read and plenty of soul-searching.

And so, the clung-to princess days fade and the soul-searching begins. Hello, summer.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Celebration of Summer #3

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Nothing like a hot day at the zoo with visiting friends to celebrate summer! {please excuse the poor image quality}


"...There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother..." (Prov. 18:24).

Don't you just love the eagerness oozing from this picture? I'm sure we left lots of finger prints on the peering glass... The kids had a blast seeing and learning about unfamiliar animals!

Afterward, we collapsed at Uno's Pizzeria for a delicious lunch.



What a fun way to celebrate someone's 4th birthday!
Happy birthday B! I can't believe it was 4 years ago that I first held you in my arms! May you continue to grow in gentleness as the love of Jesus shines through you!


Thursday, June 17, 2010

Summer Celebration #2

The destination...


My shoppin' partner...
Abigail+Abigail=tons of fun!



Gotta test out the wares...


The purchase!
Simple and fun.


Happy Summer!



Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Riding on the wings of...

Caffeine and prayer...
to the beginning of my two week break!

And I've decided to do something crazy or fun every day of my

Stay-ish-cation.

So here's Celebration of Summer #1:



Nothing like some Sonic to start out a two week summer vacation!

What does summer mean for you?


Friday, June 11, 2010

Daydreaming...procrastination...

Doesn't this--

look yummy?

I just have to get through--ahem--f i n a l s before I can indulge.

What do you think my chances of passing without studying are? 'Cause I am once again in the presence of some of my favorite people...and year-round school gets v e r y l o n g...

...Ithinkicanithinkicanithinkicanithinkican...


Monday, June 7, 2010

Today I imagined my world without a Savior...

I sat through my very last lecture in a psychosocial nursing class, the discourse covering eating disorders. I've always wondered what my life would look like without Jesus, and I can't help but wonder if I would be in this place:

Shriveled
heart and
spirit scarred by
years of trying to
please the girl in the
MIRROR

Who
is she?
the image of
the tempests storming her
life barely filling out her
REFLECTION

Control
insufficiently attained
through counted calories
and lost pant sizes
while hollow, haunted eyes scream
HELP

Are you ever just aware of the pain consuming the world spinning around you? I am broken by the breaking I see, knowing that the Healer is waiting, arms outstretched, to be called upon.

Oh the joy, to be a Broken in the hands of the Healer...to then be a Restored that can be cracked by the hurts of more Brokens...so that the light of the Healer can illuminate and restore them too.

Are you cracked by the hurting world around you?