Sweet Sacrifice -- an Evening with Jani Ortlund

Last evening, Pendergraph Women's Ministry here on campus hosted speaker and writer Jani Ortlund (author of Fearlessly Feminine and His Loving Law, His Lasting Legacy). I had been so blessed when I read FF last fall for a class, and eagerly anticipated hearing directly from Mrs. Ortlund. We were so richly blessed by her years of experience and wisdom! It is occasions such as these that cause me to reflect on how blessed I am to be here at Seminary with my husband. Here is a photo of me with Mrs. Ortlund -- doesn't she look like a movie star? She is beautiful inside and out. You'd NEVER guess her age. :)

One sacrifice that Jani emphasized in her address was the sacrifice of your reputation -- being willing to turn one deaf ear and blind eye to any unkind rumors. She encouraged us to determine to live our lives in such a way that if people hear rumors, they would automatically dismiss them because of the testimony we bear. However, this is no guarantee that we won't be falsely attacked and misunderstood! She gave us several examples from history of great leaders who were treated poorly even when they lived lives of purity. We are promised suffering, right? Christ, who made Himself of no reputation, when reviled, reviled not again. Or as Romans 12 (which I have been memorizing and meditating on this week) tells us "Bless those that persecute you -- bless, and curse not. . . Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good."

I was so challenged with this wise advice. I know I am guilty of being defensive when I am misunderstood! It also challenged me to consider how I use MY tongue.

After Mrs. Ortlund spoke, we went over to Dr. and Mrs. Mohler's gorgeous home for dessert and (MY favorite) exploring the library in the basement! Here are a couple photos from the rest of the evening.

Me, with our lovely hostess, Mrs. Mohler.

This one is a little far away, but I like how it captured the scope of one of the rooms in the library. My friend Jena (with me in the picture) did a little video tour of our exploration of the library last night. It was great fun. Here is the post I wrote after my first visit to the Mohler's house 2 years ago. Kind of fun to see how my perspective has changed a bit. Not entirely, though. I'm still in awe!

Kingdom Kids Prayer Festival

Wednesday night was our end-of-the-summer festival for the kids at church. We had a prayer Festival around the world, as a fun conclusion to learning about unreached people groups in the 10/40 window. The kids got boarding passes and passports, and traveled around the world with their pilots. Each classroom was set up to represent a different people group in a different country. Here's a picture of my room. We were the Khamba people in Tibet. So use your imagination, that is my tent. My room was probably the most creative and imaginative and the LEAST accurate. Ha ha! We can't all have it all. Here I'm serving the cute kiddos Tsampa to eat when they visit my home. I bet when the Khamba make tsampa, it doesn't taste EXACTLY like cookie dough, but that's what it was when I made it. So mostly everyone really liked it. Also, the Khamba do not wear saris exactly. But that is all I had and I tied it differently so it's not so traditional-Indian.
Doris Stam hosting the China room. She's so cute! Her husband, Chip, is our Worship Pastor and the nephew of the John and Betty Stam who were martyrs in 1934. The Stams are some of my favorite people in the world! My friend Amelia, hosting the Turkey room (the kids had just come from the India room where they were shown honor with flower necklaces). Her husband went to Turkey this summer, along with a number of people from our church, Clifton Baptist. What a blessing to be in a community of believers who are so aware of God's movements in the world, and who desire to be a part of that!

Thanks, everybody, for helping! It was a great night of co-operating with a great team of competent , like-minded servants. I'd highly recommend the Caleb project material. The DVDs about unreached people groups are fabulous. Check out their website. I think you could even just use this for your family, or for a geography class in your homeschool group.

My friend Christen

I got a package in the mail yesterday from my dear friend Christen, who works in Brazil as a missionary. It was for my birthday, and I can't imagine a sweeter gift than this.

She sent me this jewelry that I'm styling here in this picture, which is made from coconut shells. I just love it!

The rest of the package was filled with an assortment of different tea bags from Brazil, all labeled by Christen so I would know what flavors they were. For instance, "Cha Verde com sabor de Pessego" says in Christen's girly handwriting that looks somehow the way she talks: "Fav! Green Tea w/Peach". MMMMmmmmmm . . . I'm sipping some of the tea you sent me right now!

Chris, your card brought me to tears, thinking of God's Providence in our lives that crossed our paths 2 1/2 years ago. That first night I sat and talked with you, drinking tea in my kitchen, I KNEW God was bringing me a true friend. I thought of praying together on Monday afternoons drinking green tea with pomegranate in the Barnabas house kitchen. There is no time or space that separates the love of the Father from His children, and likewise, His children from one another. We are bound together in Christ! I feel myself standing shoulder to shoulder with you, working joyfully to serve our Savior, no matter how far apart the map says we are.

Fellow readers, would you pray for my friend Christen today -- consider her as you drink a cup of tea this morning. She is just beginning her second year serving in Brazil, learning the language, and salivating with her husband to begin making plans where they will go serve and work when this phase is through. May the Lord use you to bring glory to Himself wherever you are serving, Chris! I pray that He will make you happy in Himself.

Thank you so much for the birthday presents!

Coffee Talk

I am so thankful for a blessing this season of life affords me: coffee dates with the girls I know and love. I have been especially blessed with a plethora of those lately -- and the sweet, encouraging, rich times they have been.

My friend Annie Meade has been a model to me of making coffee dates with the girls in her life. She willingly gets up at any hour, or stays up until all hours, to meet with the girls who want to talk over a steamy hot latte. Annie's flexibility is probably why she is so marketable in the coffee-date business -- she'll meet me early before work (thus forcing her to be up and ready for work much earlier), or late at night at the end of a long, exhausting week to lend a sympathetic ear to a single girl from small group. She has regular meetings with other girls, where they discuss books they are reading together. One thing I loved about Annie the minute I met her was how she "buys up" all the best bargains for this season of life. Since she and her husband John don't have kids yet, she knows this is the season of life she can be so flexible to meet girls wherever -- and whenever -- they're at!

I've started making coffee dates of my own -- frequently. In fact, the idea of "going to coffee" has come to symbolize to me the very act of sharing in female Christian encouragement (similar to going to lunch, which is a close second). The Lord has been gracious to give me wonderful coffee dates with girls who are ready to share, or open up, or who are so kind to listen to me explain what I learned from a book or my sin of discontentment, and then patiently encourage one another, pointing to Christ and the Gospel. What a beautiful picture of living out the "One Anothers" of Scripture!

I don't say all this to brag. I know there are many things in life that are more easily enjoyed in different seasons. If you are a stay-at-home mom, getting coffee with another girl might pose some challenges right now. You savor that girl time when you can get it! Or, if you are low on cash, you may not be able to afford a whole bunch of trips to Starbucks, so you have to be creative. Regardless of your current season of life, let me challenge you to make the most of it -- don't waste it shooting the breeze, discussing television shows or analyzing the minutiae of your child's everyday life. Instead, engage your girlfriends with deep questions, share time in prayer, confess sin to one another and then build one another up by reminding each other of the gospel and the glory of sin forgiven! Imagine if that were our template for spending time with our Christian sisters! Is this not true fellowship?

That said, who wants a coffee date? I'll put you in my planner.

It's a Small World

Imagine the music from that ride at Disney World begins to play (but don't picture the creepy little figures on the ride jerkily dancing about -- that'll give you nightmares. . . but I digress. . . ). Josh and I were pondering some of the connections we've made when meeting people here at the Seminary. I know I'll forget someone and some connection, but in case this sort of thing is of interest to you, here you have it. ***Edit: I meant to add that these connections are ironic since I did not grow up Southern Baptist, and here we are at a Southern Baptist Seminary!***

From our former church, Calvary in Danville, we were told to look out for friends from my high school youth group: Cassie Paddock and Jaimie Zaijek. I bump into Cassie all the time, and we enjoy a laugh over deep theological issues like the policies at the Covington pool, etc. I don't see Jaimie very often, but Josh had a class with her husband last semester, and the few times I have seen Jaimie and her cute little girl have been a delight!

From Maranatha, where we both spent our college days, we met up with Kevin McFadden last fall when we came to visit the school. Kevin told us that his roommate, Jason Erb (one Shooter to Carey!) was also a student, and was getting ready to get married. Who would he marry? My dear friend Andrea Nash! I had lost touch with her after college, but now we both take the same SWI class, and I really had this unbelievable deja vu thing the other night during class as we whispered something admiring about our professor. I am so thrilled to have Andrea back in my life. We go to church with Andrea, Jason and Kevin at Clifton Baptist.

Speaking of Clifton, the first night we visited (which was a Wednesday), the preaching pastor Tom Schreiner gave a greeting to Josh Waltz. He said he was glad to see him back visiting. I nudged Josh "I think I know him!" I hissed. When the service was over, my suspicions were confirmed. It was indeed the Josh Waltz I knew from MBBC, who was actually "Mr. Waltz" to me -- he was my English Composition instructor my freshman year. Side note: check out his blog, Waltzian Heresies. I guess it makes sense that a comp instructor ought to be a good writer!

One night after church, we were getting to know the couple sitting behind us, Tim and Jamie Gray. Josh said he was from northern Ohio (which is usually when people say "near Cedar Point? Cool!" and leave it at that, because there really isn't much else to know about northern Ohio!). Tim and Jamie said "where?!" They are also from northern Ohio and it turns out that the pastor's wife at Calvary in Tiffin (Josh's church where he grew up) was Jamie's volleyball coach and small group mentor in high school. The word I'd use to describe Tim and Jamie is faithful. Tim has multiple medical problems, but the richness of their communion with God is evident to the rest of the church body.

One morning during Sunday school I whispered to Josh "let's invite those new people to go out to eat with us". The new people were Jeremy and Rachel Kimble who just moved to L-ville from Wisconsin. We shortly discovered that our connection would not be Wisconsin, but Ohio. Jeremy had just finished up his M-div at the same school where our brother-in-law Lukas is a student. Josh asked "do you know Lukas Hafeli?" and in fact, Jeremy was the T.A. in a class Lukas was taking right then! Incredible.

Josh had gotten to know these super nice guys in our hallway, Kevin and Will. They have Greek together (2 semesters in a row), and we see them at Clifton pretty often as well. When Josh introduced me to them, he said "Will just came back from Kazakhstan -- he knows the Konings!" I don't know about you, but Kazakhstan is not the country you hear most about, so it was ironic no matter what that Will had been in Kazakhstan, but even more incredible that he knew the dear Konings, who have been missionary friends I've known since high school (I remember their oldest son as a baby). We'd just seen Otto a few days before we moved to L-ville because he was in the states recruiting at Urbana and then speaking at Calvary's mission conference. Amazingly enough, Will and Kevin were not familiar with the Pineapple Story, written by Otto Koning Sr. I am planning to have storytime with them in the future, after I get my book out of storage.

Is it a small world? In a sense, no. It is very big and diverse and only God knows all the people. But in another sense, the whole Christian community is just separated by a few degrees, and it should be that way. People who have ties to some of the people you knew here, ministered with there, prayed for during this, are people who have continued in the Christian faith. They have not fallen away. Connections like these should be cause for us not to consider ourselves in pride ("Well, I've been around,") but to humbly thank the Lord for His grace in our perseverance.

Jill

Guess whose baby this is?? My title gave it away, I know, but this is Jill Humrichous's (Weisert, I mean, of course) little girl, Lauren Rose. She is such a darling and good baby (think of all the goodness flowing from Humrichous blood) that we sneaked into our no-kids apartment complex like contraband.

My dear old friend Jill came to visit me this weekend -- just overnight -- and it was precious to sit and talk and enjoy yumm-o food with her. (Direct quote: "I hope you don't think I'm being really piggish but I really think I want to eat that cannoli . . . "). Total Jill.

She is the daughter of my dear Pastor Joe (whom I've referenced quite a bit of late). In high school, Jill constantly encouraged me to "make Jesus your Best Friend", and challenged me to love God's Word. We have stayed in touch over the years, through college and marriage. Now she has entered a phase I've not yet encountered -- motherhood! But Jill is still old Jill. In fact, more like "Old Jill" than ever (as we fell asleep last night -- Josh took the couch -- she said "I'm turning my back on you, but don't think I'm mad at you" which is something like what she would say when she was little).

It is rare, to know someone for a very long time and still be kindred spirits. I know some people who live in the same town all their lives cannot imagine otherwise, but for me, with all the shuffling and reshuffling, the making of new best friends, it is a precious jewel from Jesus to have a happy agenda-free relationship with someone who knew you at your worst, and can currently talk together about the Best.

Good news! I think I have Jill convinced to start her own blog, since she is in the dark ages, and just only got the internet at home. Post me a comment if you would like to vote that Jill should start blogging (even if you don't know her, just do it!).

Look at that Humrichous face! She and Josh show their matching hairstyles. They got on quite swimmingly discussing their do's.

Generosity

Every summer I am pleasantly surprised by the way the Lord provides through the generosity of others. As the bounty of the garden starts rolling in, my dear Christian brothers and sisters share the wealth of fresh veggies with us. There is a period of time (which I never wish to end, keep in mind) that I fairly live on tomatoes. I have conceived of ways to include tomatoes in my breakfast, lunch and dinner, and enjoy every rich ruby red bite. If we are given green tomatoes or zucchini, we enjoy a favorite dinner: fried green tomatoes and fried zucchini.

We can almost live off the spread we are given, and I wouldn't be sorry to do so! It may seem a small thing to share your garden harvest, but believe me, this generosity is not overlooked. If you have a garden and share your abundance with those who don't, thank you for being generous in this way. If your gifts are from a heart who longs to make the name of the Lord great and one who loves your sister in Christ, then it is not useless. "If I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and give my body to be burned but have not charity, it profiteth me nothing" I Corinthians 13:3. Christ tells us that anyone who gives a cup of water in his name is really giving it to Christ Himself!

What can we give? Maybe you are someone with extra time. I met a dear friend here who works full time and is married and has many responsibilities of ministry at our church, but she sees herself as a person with time to give, so she often seeks out people who need some quality time invested in them and goes out to coffee -- even late at night! I have recently seen the Lord show Himself strong by providing money through faithful friends who just want to be a blessing -- donating money for healthy snacks for the kids at Camp OUTT, for instance. If we have no time, money or extra resources, we can always give words! I am discovering how important are words that encourage, and I think the Lord is beginning to build that awareness in my life, so that I might speak words of grace to my fellow heirs with Christ. Whatever it is that you have -- give it in the Lord's name!

And if you are trying to pawn off those tomatoes . . . I have more room in my fridge.

What I love about Kari

Josh's sister Kari and her husband Lukas spent this past weekend with us, as I mentioned in the last post (which would mean Misty, Anna, and Sarah all knew the correct answer -- but only one prize, sorry!). We had great fun with them, of course, anybody who has ever spent 5 minutes with Kari/Lukas have left with their sides splitting with laughter. Just about all my voices (and the voices I frequently pass on) are "Kari voices" -- half the kids in our old youth group could do Kari "fake excited" voice. Add Josh into the mix, and "Bubby" and "Sissy" are just about "redonkulous" together. Kari is a sort of Mark Twain, constantly inventing new words, names and accents that are as realistic as they are hysterical, making them stick and become forever a part of our vocabularies.

I love how Kari makes us laugh. But I noticed something else about Kari that I really appreciated this weekend. She and Lukas have been married for 2 1/2 years now, and she is expecting their first little one, Max Garrett. Kari has officially moved past the newlywed stage, but I haven't seen her grow tired of her husband. She hasn't fallen into the common pattern of whining and nagging, scoffing and disrespecting that is typical of marriages today -- even Christian ones. I see Kari respect Lukas, naturally look to him to make the call, admire and laugh at him with fondness and even adoration. She doesn't take him for granted, or treat him like a child (which is, I think, easy to slip into when you have a husband that is very funny). She brags on him, and builds him up. They are great companions. It's easy to see that they are on the same team.

Maybe that is not a big deal to you. To me, it is amazing. The majority of wives, young and old, get in a pattern where their relationship with their husband is sort a tug-of-war game, a constant battle. I just finished reading Carolyn Mahaney's Feminine Appeal, which lays out the Biblical pattern for wives on how to relate to their husbands. I appreciated Carolyn's warm encouragement to the reader to remember how you felt about your husband when you first fell for him, to really look at him, and consider him and all his qualities. This is a great book! I couldn't recommend a better one on this topic (needless to say, I lent mine to Kari -- hope she reads it and is encouraged).

Girls -- those of you who are wives -- take a moment to take stock and consider how you relate to your husband. If someone observed you and wrote a blog post about it, how would you be evaluated? Is it quite clear that you love him? Can your children tell?

Little Max will have one thing going for him right away (besides the fact that he will just HAVE to have an incredible sense of humor) -- he'll have a mommy that esteems his daddy just like the Bible says. And that, Kari, is one of the greatest gifts only you can give him.

Sissy Love

Abby and Nancy (my 2 youngest sisters) have been staying with us since Friday. It's been great. They have been such good sports about taking down their beds every morning, setting them back up at night and organizing and re-organizing their suitcases and belongings to keep them all together in one spot in our bedroom. These things are necessary, you would understand, if you have spent any time in our home. It is quite small. I'd never have believed that 4 people could live in it so comfortably! I guess I'm getting the girls ready for camp next week, and they're helping me be a little more flexible in my home. I remember when my friends James and Christen were living in the Barnabas house by our church along with James' parents, and so James and Christen shared a bedroom with their 3 children, including a newborn. It really blew me away, and I sort of woke up to my own selfishness about the space I felt I needed. It's good for us to adjust our schedules and lives to make room for people!

Some fun things we've done include:
~Shopping and buying matching flip-flops at J.Crew, and then taking millions of pictures of us with the shoes (Johanna's gift of the flexible tripod was useful for this!

~Lots of eating out! We've gone to Josh's restaurant 2 times, a yummy fish place by the riverfront, coffee shops, Krispie Kreme, J. Gumbo and even Sonic (that's high living there!).

~Swimming at the pool here on campus, and at our friends' house.

~Reading, reading, reading! Abby pulled To Kill a Mockingbird off the shelf the first day she got here and said "I'll try to finish this while I'm here". It's on her summer reading list. She sure finished it -- in less than 3 days! We are planning to have a movie night tomorrow night and watch the movie version of the book (which is quite good, for anyone who has not seen it). I pretty much just have everybody bring a book with them everywhere. It's been a good break from television/Myspace. :)

~Tonight we are having a spa night. I hope my mom doesn't kill me! I gave both of them highlights! (see pictures below) We also are whitening Nancy's teeth (she is a recent braces wearer) with this cool stuff from Rembrandt that only takes 2 hours, and then you're done. It seems to be pretty effective! It was Nancy's birthday on Sunday, so this mini-makeover is her birthday present. I also gave her a bunch of clothes, and we are experimenting with hairstyles that are suitable for her hair type (curly and fluffy!). Does it look like Abby is worried about my concocting her hair dye? She shouldn't be! It turned out great! (I PROMISE, Mom!)

*Nancy and cap being doused with dye.*

*Abby and her foils*

*Ta da! Josh likes Abby's highlights so much, he wants some of his own. Nancy's "after" picture will have to wait, as she is still in the middle of her whitening treatment!*

Worlds Collide

It was the great meeting of the blogs as 4 friends from LaFayette traveled to Louisville for the weekend to visit Josh and I: G-Knee, Smoothie King, MadMup, and Red Couch. It occurred to me that (with the exception of Jason), I knew all these people from earlier in my life, it has really been because of blogging that I have gotten to know them so much better.

Good times were to be had as we enjoyed delicious Italian food at the restaurant where Josh works, sipped coffee and played Settlers-or-Scrabble at our favorite coffee shop, or took a million pictures by the river after some fresh fish 'n' chips. One felt as though with all the cameras clicking, one might need to watch his words or actions, lest they quite suddenly appear on another's blog! In fact, as Mark so graciously pointed out to ME several times "watch out, Gret, you know that's going up on the blog!"

Below is my camera's pathetic attempt to capture G-Knee and I in front of the L-ville skyline . . . I hope Geen's camera captured it better!

Below is pretty much the way G-knee looked the whole weekend. And that is how Josh and Jason looked.

It was so fun to have you all, and I hope you'll not be strangers now! (*ahem!* this might be a little plea/suggestion to other good friends from college to make a little road trip down this way! *Sarah! Cough*)

My Dear Darling Sister,

Emma,

This is the letter I should have written you before your graduation, but I wanted to spend enough time to get it JUST RIGHT, so I have put off writing thus far. . . but no more.

In many ways, this night before you leave for your trip to Europe is the eve of your grown-up days, perhaps even more than your graduation or 18th birthday were. Don't worry if you don't feel grown yet -- neither do I, and I've been grown much longer. The Lord keeps our young girlish hearts young and fresh all our lives, if we stay teachable and pliable to Him.

I want to tell you, dear sister, how very much I love and admire you, and how you have grown to be so much more than I could have ever hoped or dreamed (or prayed). You are what I wished to be at 18. I frequently say that you are so much better a person, and so much more mature and grounded in God's word than I was even just a few years ago. Many girls are beautiful at 18, many are talented, many have popularity, wit, personality, strength of heart and character . . . you possess all of these gifts, and more. You have what many do not -- an unshakable identity in Christ, and a vibrant connection to Him.

I have seen you die on crosses He has asked you to bear, giving up a bit of this world for the next. I have seen you choose to do the right thing when it is difficult. I have seen you respond beautifully to personal suffering that perhaps no-one else could quite understand (like saying goodbye to our best friends) and hold your palms up to God, blessing Him for giving and taking away. I have seen what you have read in the Scriptures and good books lived out in your life. I have peeked in your room many times to see you reading your Bible or writing in your prayer journal or quiet time diary. For these things, and countless more, I am so proud of you.

As a toddler, you were our poser -- ready to please with your blonde little ponytails (usually with a rather large bow of some sort -- perhaps made from shoestrings or curly ribbon?). You wanted our lipstick, our perfume, our attention. As a child, I saw you learning and growing at church and home. I recall many nights when mom and dad were out of town that you would have fears about wolves or fire or other scary things, and so often I got to be the sister who would sit on your bed and talk to you and pray with you (I shudder to think what feeble help I attempted to bring). I could identify with your fears, as I struggled with most of those things myself -- well, maybe not the wolves. :) As an early teen, I saw all the ways you were superior to your peers, even though you did not see it. I knew time was just ticking before all boys everywhere discovered you . . . and I was right.

You have always been precious to me. Oh, sometimes I was a self-centered brat, especially during my teen years, and I pushed you aside for some stupid concern, I'm sure. I am so sorry for that. I am so sorry I got so wrapped up in myself that I did not forsee that you girls would become my dearest friends, and spend more time investing in you. I'll warn you from doing the same -- though there is no danger in that happening with you, I suppose. Nonetheless, you will likely look back and miss those nights Abby invaded your room and long to have them back -- I know I miss a million times over having you ask me to do your hair or paint your nails.

Emma, you know how to make right choices in matters of the heart -- you have told me the prayers you pray -- and I am confident the Lord will bring you much contentment and joy in this aspect of your life. I charge you to love Christ supremely -- adore Him with abandon, and He will give you the desires of your heart. I urge you not to grasp with your hands what the Lord will bring you with readiness, at the best timing. Rest in Him, dear girl, He'll make it all right.

I love you so much! I pray for your trip, and all your endeavors, that you will be filled with the peace and joy that Christ gives, and will glory in the beauty and adventure He grants you. I'll talk to you when you get back! I only wish I could see you off in the morning, but this will have to do the best I can. Across the miles, I squeeze you tight and kiss your rosy cheeks. Have a terrific time, darling!

~Gret

One's Social Calendar:

Opportunity for ministry or detriment to spiritual growth?

This week has been absolutely chock full of blessed social appointments. I have been living "high on the hog" as it were, trying new restaurants with my friend Misty who stayed with us this week, meeting girlfriends for coffee, visiting with people from church (either in their home or out for pizza), getting doughnuts, pie kitchen, etc.

Whoa. . .

It is almost overwhelming. Jesus has blessed me with precious relationships, fantastic conversations, probing questions and endless moments of laughter -- so I want to take these dinner dates and cups of coffee as gifts from my blessed Savior's hand, and not take them for granted! This was a huge aspect of the seminary life that I was so eagerly looking forward to -- the social life!

I do, however, know my own nature enough to see where I could become almost addicted to filling my life with social events, and thereby rather complacent in my home life or negligent in my spiritual walk with Christ. It is true that it may be a bit harder to love Christ supremely, devote myself utterly to cultivating a relationship with Him and long for the glories of Heaven when I am so filled up with the benefits of these relationships on earth. When I have had meal after meal after meal in a new fantastic place, sharing in a dynamic conversation . . . well, it's a bit hard to miss my Jesus! I may feel like I need Him less, somehow, because my cup runs over.

We do need one another's sharpening in our lives, though, don't we? I need to be asked good questions, and to focus my attention on really listening to my friend's needs. Christ would have His body to be unified -- loving one another, showing hospitality, building each other up and speaking the truth in love. It is important to be able to cultivate that in day to day life, otherwise we might so easily turn inward, thinking our small world is the only one of importance, and our small hurts are the only ones that exist.

The key here? Balance. Quite obviously, my response to an overwhelmingly blessed week in the company of my Christian brothers and sisters ought to be to pour out my thanksgiving to Christ -- the Best Friend of all friends -- and seek to devote myself to some quality "us time": just me and Christ. I need to read His word, speak to Him frequently, and probably ensure that quite such a heavy schedule does not continue for weeks and weeks (I am thinking that after a shower I'm going to tomorrow night, that's gonna be it for awhile!). I need to pay attention to the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling me that my home, my relationship with my husband and my sweet walk with Jesus may start to suffer if I make one more coffee date.

It's been a great week, Jesus! Next week I want to spend more of it with you!

These pictures are a super small sampling of this week: Misty and I in the car sometime, eating dinner at our friend Brady's house, and with Elizabeth Coffman-Mackey at Lynn's Paradise Cafe.

Summer Evening

My friend Misty is visiting us right now, and we decided to grill out tonight (at the last minute, due to the weirdness of today's weather). Kevin knew of a huge pavilion where we'd be safe from sudden rain showers, if they were to arise again, so we set out, armed with enough gorgeous fresh summery food to feed an army.







We fixed veggie kabobs, asparagus, hamburgers, cottage cheese salad, strawberry shortcake, and the yummiest of all -- pineapple on the grill! Don't those kabobs look lovely?






Check out the look on Misty and Kevin's faces as they discuss how they truly feel about eating meat. I have to say they mirror my own feelings.







Heather and I pose for a self-shot (Heather is a friend I worked with . . . until this past Friday!). She ditched me for a better job, so I am currently looking for a fun single female to work with. . . must be able to put up with a lot and take my part on everything (girls stick together, right?).








Brady proves he does not care for asparagus (yeah right, he ate a load of it!). He is our friend from church -- lots of fun, and funny and single!





Misty shows us how to smoke your asparagus. It was so wonderful on the grill! Little summer tip if you want a healthy dish to grill out! Brush with e.v.o.o. and season a bit -- viola!









Here is a shot of my plate. Don't worry, I didn't eat a hamburger -- that is roasted veggies on a grilled ciabatta bun. The whole plated effect was rather artful, I felt. The colors and tastes of the evening were so vibrant and fresh. Josh and Brady discussed their summer school classes, Heather, Misty and I took a walk and played on the playground -- how summery can you get?