How to handle a goodnight kiss

For guys who just don't know how

Jeff Dunham and Peanut part 3

HA !!!

Linkin Park - What I've Done

I love going to Riverside on the weekends. It's nice to be around people that speak your same language.

This last weekend was especially nice. After being gone for a while, I got to spend time with one of my best guy friends. We spent a long time talking about our lives, where they were going, and what we want to see happen in them. We spoke of hope, and seeing beauty in the world around us. This is probably what inspired me to blog these last two entries.

I love this song because it is the perfect depiction of mercy. I know myself, I know the things I have done. I know I have been forgiven, but I must forgive myself too. To shed the guilt so that I truely see myself as God does. Only then will I be free to be, free to work as He would have me.

"So let mercy come and wash away what I've done"

And though it was the darkest night, the Son still rose.

Hope. Hope is that which keeps mankind moving

Hope is the motivation and the cure

The promise that which has happened will not always be

It is the promise... tomorrow will soon come

With new life and restroration riding on its tail

Hope is the answer, Hope is the way

Hope is nothing this world can give

It is a gift from the one seated on the throne

The Son who rose

Through His eyes we can see

The beauty in this ugly world

On love and being loved

A couple of you have asked me how my quest for a man is coming along. Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought I should update you.

I recently visited my parent’s church. After the service had ended I couldn’t help but notice a young man who was smiling at me. I smiled back and continued to make small talk with the people around me. Every so often I would lift my eyes to find his eyes and smiled had not moved. After ten minutes of playing “googlie eyes” I came to realize that I am now 24 years old, and have no time for foolishness. My little sister just got married last summer, and I had to endure more than half my family and friends asking me when I was going to do the same. I stood straight, locked eyes with him, and began to slowly move toward him. Trying to do my best impersonation of a cat I tilted my head down and gently rolled my hips from side to side. As I got closer his smile got wider, until he realized that I was moving past him and out the door.

What I lack in shame, I make up for in pride. I am more than fine asking a guy friend to hang out, but romantically I would never make the first move.

I need to talk to my Johns (Jons). They have done nothing to help me find a man. I am a 24-year-old grad student living at home with her parents, and I have two cats. I don’t think they understand the severity of my situation. I have been on dates though…and by dates I mean one… and by one I mean a blind date set up by a friend at work. I must say that the date ended in a sturdy handshake, an awkward sides hug, and under the understanding that this will never go beyond friendship, and that’s ok with me.

When I go on a date I do a couple things to ensure my safety. First of all I make sure I at least know some history on the guy, secondly I wear my cross necklace, and thirdly I don’t shave my legs. I do the last two just in case he tries to get “frisky”. If one doesn’t stop him, then I hope the other will. If that doesn’t work my Jujitsu-practicing-Pastor and my military brother-in-law have taught me moves that I am VERY eager to try out.

I am by no means lonely though. I have my family, my sisters in the faith, my Johns (Jons) and people who take good care of me. A couple weeks ago my truck broke down and my friends Mike and McCormick came to help me. The same thing happened last week and my cousins fixed the starter so I could drive home. I love writing as a means of communicating, but other than that words mean very little to me. I feel loved by what people do, not by what they say. I feel very loved by people around me.

Happy Valentine's Day! I pray you are all feeling loved.

And now... Pictures

I sometimes find myself thinking back on the people I've met over the years, the roads I've walked, and the emotions that rushed through me during it all.

I carry these places, these people with me. They have been burned into me.

These are some of my favorite pictures from those places.



I love this picture for many reasons. One is the depiction of family and closeness. Another is how the little girl is reaching out. The world cries out for a Savior, but blind themselves to Him.



One of the ministries we had while in India were the street children. I found it funny that they crawled all over and covered an American Icon. That's Ronald McDonald if you can't tell.



I love this picture because they are all looking to a different direction. There is a lot of uncertainty in this area of the world.



I love this picture for its vibrancy. The people are like these umbrellas... beautiful, delicate, yet strong. I don't know what to think of my trip to China. There is still so much I need to sort through.

The whole earth’s is the Lord’s and everything in it. Psalms 24:1

Christmas at my house was… interesting. A couple days before we decided to decorate the house with lights. If you are familiar with the Griswald Family movies you understand what I say when I tell you it was shear chaos. At one point in time my sister and I decided to take over only to nearly break the front windows with the ladder. If my big sister would have been there it would have been something straight out of the Three Stooges.

Yeah… it was magical.

I am currently working at an animal hospital where I work four ten-hour shifts. During this time I was forced to endure countless hours of the same Christmas songs over and over again. Some were very annoying; others like Jars of Clay’s “Drummer Boy” were inspiring. When I first heard this song a couple years ago, I broke down crying saying “Jesus I’ll play my drum for you.” But my all time favorite Christmas song is and forever will be “Mary did you Know”

Did she have any clue as to what was to become of her son? Did she grasp the light that finally pierced the darkness? How generations had waited for this day, and how so many today long for his return? Could she fathom the impact this infant would have on the course of history? How nations would come to worship him? Mary did you know?

The blind will see, the deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb

To fear God is to know him. What other alternative is there? Who can say that they have been in the presence of God and not fallen prostrate? Who can say they have not marveled at the sight of his creations? HE is the one who created the heavens and the earth. The one who seared the sun in the sky, and causes the moon to graze the night. He molded man into being and breathed breath into his lungs. The God who caused torrents of water and fire to fall from the sky is the same God who reigns today. How can I not fear? I fear Him for who HE is, for what He has done, for what He can do. Compared to His majesty I am nothing. Compared to His might I can do nothing. And all of this leads to comfort.

I know of His wrath, I know of his might, I know he is a jealous God, but I also know of His great mercy. This great rock that will be unmoved, unshaken, and remain unbroken is the one who shields me, is the one who goes before me, is the one who loves me. How can I not love Him in return? This fear has lead to my comfort, and this comfort to my unyielding love. A love I pray will be strengthened this coming year.

Psalm 147
1 Praise the LORD.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
6 The LORD sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make music to our God on the harp.
8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.
10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;
11 the LORD delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
12 Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion,
13 for he strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
14 He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand his icy blast?
18 He sends his word and melts them;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
19 He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his laws and decrees to Israel.
20 He has done this for no other nation;
they do not know his laws.
Praise the LORD.