Summer Fun

Just a glimpse into our summer!

Yup. We pretty much just go to the pool. I mean, how else do you spend your time when it’s 103 degrees outside?

So what are you up to this summer?

Sky Watch Friday

Captured these at the ball game last week. Crazy sky.

The storm came close, blew and spit, but ended up going around us.

We briefly saw a rainbow in the sky (around dusk). I happened to catch the beginning of a lightning bolt that spanned the entire sky.

For more sky pics, check out Sky Watch Friday.

Works for Me Wednesday

I haven’t done one of these in a while, and I’ve been thinking about sharing my fruit tips anyway . . . so this is what works for me with fruit!Summer is here and with it an abundance of FRUIT. Here are a few tips I found work for me.

1) I buy mostly organic fruit (and veg), in bulk at Costco . . . but I share it with a friend. That way we can get through the fruit, and I can afford a wide variety. Today I got blueberries, strawberries, bananas, apples, and grapes, plus tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, carrots, mushrooms, and corn for around $25, and I have plenty to feed my family of three for the next couple weeks.

2) I wash and prep everything when I get home, including veg (except mushrooms), before I put them away in the fridge. I find I am more apt to use things that require little extra work once they are stowed away in the fridge. I submerge my fruit and produce in water (usually in a bowl in the sink), and swish it around while I also spray it with the sprayer. I empty the water from the bowl and repeat until it’s mostly clean water.

3) I store my fruit in pretty bowls or serving dishes, so I can just pull it out and set it on the table. Fruit that does not need to go in the fridge also gets put into a pretty bowl and placed on the table. If you put your fruit away freshly washed and still wet, I suggest using a more rounded bowl. Wide, flat-bottomed bowls let the fruit sit in water . . . which I think makes it soggy and rot more quickly. (Or at least be sure to drain out the water periodically.) Sometimes I just use my pretty colander, and then I just place a napkin or paper towel underneath until it stops dripping.

4) If your fruit is close to going south, and you don’t think you can make it through it all in time, throw it into the freezer. You can thaw and use later, or blend the frozen fruit into smoothies. Plus frozen grapes are fun to eat on a hot day!

I’d love to hear your tips for fruit . . . or anything else for that matter. You can find more Works for Me Wednesday posts at We are THAT Family.

Silence

So it finally dawned on me the other day (aside from the busy-ness of summer) why I’ve been struggling to write on my blog.

Silence in my walk = Silence on my blog.

I often write to process my thoughts or make record of my journey, and lately I don’t have much to process . . . because I’m not putting myself in a position to have much to think about. Of course, I can give a million excuses, but that’s all they are. Excuses. And no excuse will ever justify being disconnected to the Giver and Sustainer of life.

So I’m working on diving back into the deep end. Back to reading some books and trying to be intentional about quiet times and study times. I’m not saying times of silence aren’t good for everyone once in a while (I mean, really, how much do you need to hear ME talking??) At the same time, I’ve found that my blog is a good indicator for myself of where I am spiritually.

And I guess I’ve just made myself accountable to you, too. Another beautiful thing about living in community!

So how are you?

Sky Watch Friday

I haven’t participated in Sky Watch Friday in a while, but since I snapped some pictures of the storm last night, I thought it provided an opportune time.

This is the view from our backyard as the lightning moved away from us. The sky was completely dark (this was well after midnight), until the flashes of light backlit the clouds.

EXIF: f/3.5, 1/15, 1600 ISO, 28.0 mm

EXIF: f/4.0, 1/15, 1600 ISO, 28.0 mm

EXIF: f/3.8, 1/15, 1600 ISO, 26.0 mm

the Bridegroom

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Revelation 19:6-8

On cue from the first chords of music, the audience rose to their feet. Brilliance filled the doorway as every head turned to see the bride, alone, adorned in white and radiating joy. She paused in the entrance, looking toward her groom who waited for her at the end of the long aisle. He smiled broadly at her, drinking in her beauty.

And then he ran . . .

. . . From the front of the church to the back where she waited, he ran to her.

She slipped her arm into his, and he escorted her through the crowd of tear-soaked faces to the place where they would publically declare their love for each other and their commitment to be united forever.

Every time I tell that story (or even think about it!), tears fill my eyes at the earthly vision of our heavenly bridegroom. My friends Tommy and Elise traveled a difficult road to arrive at their wedding day. Struggles and deep pain, intermixed with moments of happiness and encouragement, refined their relationship with God and with each other over the months before. “With my father painfully out of the picture, it was important to me that I didn’t just choose a stand in to fill his shoes,” shares Elise. “A few great men offered, but none of them were going to erase the rejection or fill the ginormous void in my heart. Until, that is, my sweet husband said he would come for me. My pause at the end of the aisle was not in hesitation, but in expectation. I am my beloved’s, and he is mine. Those who know the love of Christ understand what it means to be claimed unconditionally by him. I love being the bride. God gave me great comfort when he gave me Tommy that day. An even greater hope we have in Christ’s coming.”

After such a challenging, but growth-filled road, Tommy and Elise wanted to use their marriage celebration to paint a clear picture of the love of Christ. “It was a secret (what was to happen) between Elise and I, and I looked forward to it for two months,” explained Tommy. “It wasn’t intended to be a dramatic element for the ceremony, but an expression between Elise and I of Christ and His church– and a view toward our final redemption.”

Tommy and Elise left an indelible mark on my heart about the way Jesus feels about me. My time on earth is preparation for the day when I will be eternally reunited with him. All of my joys and sorrows, pains and pleasures, are refining me and my relationship with him.

And on that day, he will run to meet me.

In fact, I’m grateful he pursues me on a daily basis.

Photo: (Rings, June 2009) It’s wedding sesason! Here is a recent shot of the rings that I took.

Still Here . . .

One of the most difficult parts of returning after a brief blogging hiatus is writing that first post. Getting back into the swing of things. Distilling down all the things I’ve been thinking about blogging and deciding what to talk about first.

So here’s a little post just to break the ice. Just an update to say

I’m still here.

Life isn’t necessarily overwhelming, but it is full. And good.

Summer arrived in full Texas force.

Wedding season is upon us, and I love it. I’m also designing albums now, so that’s a lot of fun. Because

I figured out the types of things I love to do.

And the things I don’t love to do.

Which lets me focus more on the love-to-do. And say no to the don’t-love-to-do.

And that is very freeing. (Plus much more enjoyable!)

So happy beginning of summer to you. I should be around a little more!

Sunday Morning Leftovers

Sunday morning service was great, but what’s stuck with me this week is the performance we heard Sunday afternoon. My husband and I were given tickets to the last performance in the symphonic series of the season at our local symphony. On the way there, we discussed how we were glad to be going, but would probably be just as happy taking a nap, too.

But of course, all of that changed once we arrived. I forgot how much I love the symphony. I’ve been thinking for the past two days about how I could derive some spiritual connection between the orchestra and life, and then I realized that the beauty of the music itself is a spiritual connection on its own. I didn’t need to fabricate some meaning. I could just appreciate our amazing symphony for performing with excellence. I mean, at times I felt like the music was colorful . . . tangible . . . worshipful. It made me think that when God spoke the world into being, perhaps it wasn’t just with words but with music. Because that’s what I witnessed Sunday afternoon in the concert hall downtown. With each pull of a bow or blow of a horn, something was being drawn from nothing. Being came from empty space. Creation occurred before our eyes (and ears).

We were honored to hear a guest performance by Augustin Hadelich, an amazing 25-year-old violinist. I’ll leave you today with a video of him from a competition a couple years ago.

Snapshot Saturday

Haven’t done one of these in a while, and since I have a new camera and lens to play around with, here are a couple pictures from my daughter’s art show at preschool. I’ve known she is creative and artistic, but can I tell you how incredibly proud I am of her work? I can’t wait to see the whole portfolio!

My daughter and her art – 1) Left, going down: stages of a butterfly (eggs on leaves, caterpillar, chrysallis, butterfly), 2) Snowman (made of glue/shaving cream mixture – really cool texture!), 3) Bottom, center: based upon Starry Night by Van Gogh, 4) Girl (see next photo), 5) Far right, top: based upon Mondrian painting, 6) on the floor that you can’t see: family portrait.

I’m particularly proud of this one. She did the entire drawing by herself with no help or prompting from the art teacher. And she’s only 3.5 years old!

That’s all for today! Have a fantastic Saturday!

Finding Jesus, Part 2

He sat alone and forgotten on the shelf next to the bathroom entrance.

Or maybe he was waiting for us.

Regardless, we found him as we noted the sign to “watch our step.” At first, we felt oddly aware that Jesus was watching our every move as we settled in to our cabin. Then we began to giggle at the sight of him being, well . . . bouncy. Not a bobble-head really, but a bobble-body. And with open hands (not quite charismatically raised, mind you, this was a Methodist encampment after all), he looked as though he was doing a secret little “raise the roof” gesture.

And then the late night silliness kicked in. Did we get irreverent? Perhaps a little. But I mean, c’mon. If you’re going to make Jesus on a spring, what do you expect? Besides I think the Savior enjoys a good laugh. And we had lots of those as we conducted our first mini-photo shoot.

Did we steal Jesus from the encampment? I’d like to say we just fully claimed Jesus as our own, committing to take him wherever we go and share him with others. (He’s since been to Chicago, and then passed along to bless some water in a friend’s fridge.)