He brings the Spring

The daffodils are budding and beginning to bloom! What a beautiful reminder that The Lord will always bring spring-time after a cold, dreary winter season.

What a Great God we serve!

Hope you have a sun-shiny, spring-time day!

Carl and Ellie

I'm at Global Outreach this week learning LOTS of info about the next year of my life in South America! So thankful that The Lord has led me to this place. He is good, isn't He?

Happy snow day from my fire place to yours! :)

Great is His Faithfulness

Who is Jesus for you today? I was reminded of these powerful words this morning in church. It seems so easy to feel defeated by the rough bumps in our lives, but there is Someone so much bigger than all the bumps!

Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

No matter how often we lose hope, He is always faithful. We've nothing to worry about. He gives us strength for today and a bright hope for tomorrow! He longs for our obedience...all we need to do is follow. He has already provided everything we will need. I am learning to be thankful for the ways Christ is faithful in my life, for the lessons He is teaching me, and the opportunities to reach out He has given me this semester. He's got a reason for waking me up every morning, I only need to "be still" so that I can hear where He wants my obedience. He is faithful to me!




"There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son,
all the way you went until you reached this place."
Deuteronomy 1:31

Downfall Desserts

I had a fat-girl moment at 3:00 am last night in the middle of the night. My growling tummy woke me up and demanded that all it would accept was a bite of the gooey brownie from the pan downstairs. Really? Dessert in the middle of the night? I snuck down stairs in my PJs, got a fork, and dug in. All the time laughing at the sight of myself, hiding in the kitchen, sneaking the self-forbidden bites of brownie.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out. Tummy satisfied. Such a fat-girl moment that I wanted to share with all you "sweet-tooth kindred spirits" out there. :)

I've been practicing skype, ichat, and gchat with my roommates lately to prepare for my time in Ecuador! Come find me so I don't have to run to the other room to pretend-chat with someone in my apartment, though it's quite entertaining, Dianna and Katye!

Squishy Fruits and Boots

My new favorite mid-morning snack? The mini-banana. I can buy them green and eat them before they ripen into a mushy, brown-spotted fruit.

Did you know that bananas ripen more quickly when they stay attached to one another? As soon as I get home from the grocery store, I separate them because I can't stand a mushy banana. :)

Hope you're having a sweet, squishy, rainy day! I love an excuse to wear my happy rain boots all day!

Merry Christmas!

What a marvelous surprise we found Christmas morning when Mom, Jarvis and I ran outside! The sight was breath-taking!

This little machine was the second most exciting part of Christmas morning (besides the snow!) My mom poked fun calling me Suzie Homemaker, but I don't care a bit! :) I've already finished the top piece of my quilt and looking forward to many more sewing projects!

I hope y'all had a beautiful Christmas with your families! How blessed we are to be with special friends and family during this time!

26.2

It was probably the most painful, difficult thing I've ever done, but gosh...I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It was awesome!

Were it not for my dear friend, Kate, my running buddy living in Texas, I wouldn't have made it. So thankful for her encouragement and friendship!

After 25 and a half grueling miles, the man at the corner yells, "26 at the top of the hill! You're so close!" All I remember about those last 2 tenths of a mile is lots of cheering, a huge grin, and giggling the whole way to the finish line! Ah! That feeling of sprinting over the finish line after 5 and a half hours was indescribable. Glorious!

I cried and laughed at the end, saw lots of sweet sweet friends, and then slowly shuffled to the car. Grandaddy Loftin, who you just need to meet, later asked if I'd like to borrow his walker. Said it seemed like I needed it more than he did! :)

What a day. Let's do it again soon!! But not really soon.

There are lots more applications for this moment in my life, but I'll just save those for a later post.

Hooray for the end of the semester/exams and the coming CHRISTmas holidays!