Monday, September 10, 2012

What God has promised...

Yep, I'm alive.  Pretty cool huh? It's been nice to take a break from blogging, feeling like one less thing is on my plate to think about and feel guilty and not doing.  Well, it's my Monday off, the kids are back to school (I'm speaking in a more global term, we don't have kids, yet) and I'm feeling inspired.  The sun is out this morning as it finally rained over night after 49 days of NO rain here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, yes that is possible.  And it's starting to feel like fall, which I absolutely love, love, love.  If the rest of the world knew what the weather is like here in September, the warm days, 60-70 degrees, some rain here and there, almost cool enough to start to wear jeans and long sleeves, they don't know what they're missing. And I get very reminiscent of the time when I met my husband almost 7 years ago Sept 18th, 2005, on our first/blind date for dinner at Le Pichet in Seattle.  It's fabulous.

Now thinking and dwelling (my mother's blog), on these verses since last night as I read them to my husband while lying in bed, as we talked through all the hardships and 'sufferings' we have endured this last year.  Nothing major, but just the every day grind of responsibilities, projects, work, our health, marriage, finances, the future, our spiritual walk...well I guess it is major.  We've just needed some hope, some inspiration, some motivation to continue to do what we're doing and knowing and having some FAITH that God WILL do what He has set out for us in our lives and we cannot forget that.  These verses sum it up completely, be encouraged if you are struggling through things too:


Romans 4:20-25 NIV

"(speaking of Abraham) Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”  The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."

I love how there is emphasis on what Jesus did for US, that he died for OUR sins and OUR justification, not for any of his own glory or gain.  This shows how much HE TRULY LOVES US!


And my favorite verses, Romans 5:1-5

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

Dwell on these words and don't take them for granted, they are God's inspired words and they have some serious power.  Be blessed!



Homemade delicious Peach, Apple (from our backyard), and Plum crisp I made last Sunday

Thursday, July 19, 2012

As far as right now goes...

Well, seems like I'm taking a break right now, as it is still summer and honestly blogging right now just feels like a chore.  Maybe when it snows another 7 inches and I'm bundled up and finally get the urge to blog then I'll probably come back.  Thanks for all the encouragement and what not so far, I'll keep in touch with you soon! Blessings,

Leah

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Lessons and other other things

Alright, have to post now before I run away and do something else.  Life has been busy this past month with family parties and babies being born, as well trying to get through personal things, learning life things, marital lessons, etc.  The weather has been much cooler than the rest of the US, but abnormally muggy, in the 60s-70s and cloudy.  Mr. Sun has not been making his much needed appearances!  I started a veg/herb/fruit container garden back in April which has been taking off pretty well, I've had lots of snap peas to harvest, chives, parsley to cut fresh into meals, and have been anticipating harvest a ton of baby zucchinis when they're ready.  The early girl hybrid tomato plant has exploded with lots of yellow blossoms but no fruit yet.  My alpine strawberry is very happy but makes very tiny fruit, which I wasn't expecting, should have done some research on what type to get for bigger size. I also have 3 garlic bulbs going, some blueberries, and bell pepper and 2 sad dill starts that have barely started but needed to be replanted in their own pot, I don't think they like sharing space with parsley.  It's been much easier growing all of this on my back porch, right outside my living room so I can just hope right out and cut whatever I want and not needed to put on shoes to walk out to through the wet grass to my now neglected garden bed.  I just have a huge bush of thyme growing and some mint that came back from this year's bad winter.  It's a lot easier with containers growing things because of the ease of moving them with the change of sunlight and the soil stays warmer than the ground which makes the plants happy :) I will post some pictures soon of the amazing bounty...

Today I'm planning on taking the bus up to Seattle to dink around a bit while my husband is at a MasterArts class for graphic illustrators/animators/designers in Seattle Center.  There's more to share about life right now, our quest to get rid of our debt by working through Dave Ramsey's amazing Total Money Makeover.  As well more family events to get to next weekend best friend's bridal shower/bachelorette party, then husband's cousin's wedding, then visiting bro and sis in law and all the babies all down in Portland/Vancouver area! It's going to be a whirlwind of craziness.  I have been enjoying pressing through and getting connected to the ladies in my SDG writing group, getting emails with the questionnaire I put together and learning more about you all! FYI--I am on Facebook and would like to connect with you there, my profile is here, so please friend me on there and we can probably get better acquainted that way!

And just a reminder to some of you that can relate to what I've been learning: Remember that through all your struggles, frustrations and discouragements in life right now, that Jesus is walking with you through it all.  It may not seem like it, you might feel like you're standing in a fog with no where to turn or answers but He is with you, He has not forsaken you and forgotten you.  You are His beloved child, His creation and He is ALWAYS creating a new, perfect and blessed work within you.  It hurts, its sucks, it's difficult, but through it, you will be blessed.  Sometimes you need to get down on your knees, I mean literally, cry it all out, tell him why you're pissed, give it all back to Him and simply say, "Give me the words to say because I don't know how to say them." Then you wait for His guidance, instruction and Holy Spirit to push you to do the right thing and guess what? It works, you'll be surprised!  That's what I've been learning :)

Read what this sweet gal has to say about encouraging your family and husband, I like it :)


Staying connected here:




And not to forget my amazing mom and her writings:

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Short but sweet!

Had a very eventful, fun and memory-making weekend with my family and the babies and seeing so many people I haven't seen in a long time... First, read about the main event here at my mom's blog.

Now you can see pictures that I took with my husband's 'older' Sony semi-fancy, fat lens camera that I got to play with and take several good shots.  Tell me what you think. We went over to my parent's house first before the wedding reception to see them and my brother's family visiting from Vancouver for the weekend...

William having fun with baby Luke (our nephew).

Luke (8 months) and I
 
At the party, the middle kids quickly ran in all directions and found this fun bench swing.

Peter, Abigail and Paul

My cousin Jeremy and his beautiful bride, Amaleah.

My dad and the kiddos cuttin' a rug!

My uncle Dave (on the right) chatting...

The kiddos greeting Amaleah

Cutting the cake...

Smooshing the cake...

And dancing...

Traditional Groom/mom and Bride/Dad dance :)

To read more about my family's story and how this all happened, again, go here.



Thursday, June 07, 2012

Joyful Anticipation!


 Yes! Feeling like I'm finally stayed 'in the mix' of things with getting comments, email replies, follow-ups, forwards and feedback from all you ladies in my writing group and it's feeling good! I think I've squashed the enemy's lies well enough but I'm gonna keep it up...

Today I had a full day off and planned to meet one of my bestest friends, Hannah, in downtown Seattle while she's on a short bit trip up here from Santa Cruz and staying with friends in Ballard.  I took the bus to Seattle from Tacoma, met her at Westlake, shopped for a much needed good-quality, preferably leather work purse for her (finally found at the Clarks store), as well got some baguette sandwiches at Le Panier at Pike Place and had some good conversation and catching up.  It didn't rain and we were able to talk about almost everything I could think of to talk about in the short 4 hours we visited.    It has been very wonderful to know her for as long as we have-32-ish years, and still keep in touch over the miles and years.

Hannah and I before she had to get on the bus back to Ballard.

On my bus ride to and from Seattle I was able to journal and read my 'Insight for Living' devotional book--even though it was May's issue, I just read the one from the 6th day, the verses Psalm 25:4-10. It had some pretty good meat to chew on, about meditating on the word, getting wiser and more disciplined, therefore more hopeful and at peace and ultimately having a 'joyful anticipation' in your life that only comes from knowing Christ.  When we are obedient and disciplined with his will and direction in our lives we're more in-tune with what He's doing.  You build up a trust between you and your heavenly Father by demonstrating wisdom and godliness, therefore He enables you to impact others greatly.  It's about knowing the truth that only Jesus can supply you with, the power that He gives us through the Holy Spirit, and using that power to strengthen your own walk and spread that to others.  Here's some more thoughts from today's devo:

"With all this available to us, wouldn't it be wise to invest our time and energy in building the truth of God's Word into our lives? The other activities which clamor for our attention seem so important or pleasurable, but none of them can offer us the spiritual riches of a life grounded in truth."

And in other news, one thing you may not know about me as how much I love to bust a move at any moment that I'm listening to something that wants me to bust a move.  Lately, I've been rocking out to Chris Tomlin's 'newer' album "And If Our God is For Us", which has several really good worship tracks.  Many have been over played on the radio one too many times, but there's one song that we've sang at church so far, "No Chains on Me" which I totally dig! Here is a video with lyrics for you to check out, please watch, get the album, rock out!


Yeah, I stole this from Pinterest, woot woot! I LIVE by this motto...

Still staying connected here...



And if you didn't get figure this out already, my mom blogs here:  Three Way Light

Sunday, June 03, 2012

hello again!

Well, I think I've gotten over my whole intimidation issue about reading other people's blogs and feeling completely inferior which is a very good thing.  I think finally letting it all out and venting really helped and having some nice kudos and comments from some of you was very encouraging :).  Got several things on my brain but can't type now, too late and tired to think.  Just wanted to keep posting regardless to keep this going, as I've said, I'm fighting back!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Fighting Back


Alright, enough of this silence.  I have been battling with numerous frustrations about blogging.  First of all, my sourdough came out horribly.  I ended up making 2 orangish-brownish very oddly smelling hockey pucks instead of 2 fluffy, crusty, flavorful white loaves.  So that gave me little motivation to update about how they turned out after that.  But I'm starting again.  I took the starter I started, and now currently 'refreshed' it per the instructions out of my Cook's cookbook 'bible' and going to try it a different way now.  It's already got lots of bubbles and looks very happy, unlike the first starter I started which was just very thin looking pancake batter with no bubbles.  I'm hoping very much that my loaves will turn out much nicer, because I want to give one to my mom, which was my intention in the first place as a Mother's Day gift, and possibly give one as well to my cousin and husband as a 'baby welcoming party' present in a few weeks.  I'll keep you posted, promise.

My other frustration--ever since Jen got me connected with 4 other ladies in a 'small group' for connecting and writing, I've been constantly comparing my blog to theirs, what I say, what they post, what we have in common/what we don't, etc.  Oh and I'm so good at it too!  I'm 32 years old, married, no kids yet, work full time on my feet, DO NOT own a copy of Anne Voskamp's book (and may not ever just because I have to many other books I need to read first), don't have an extra 8 hours to blog every day...don't type in a special "Christian-nese" that every one else speaks...don't...can't...oh shut up already. I emailed my frustrations to Jennifer.  She tells me I have to fight back and that's what I'm doing. 

So here I am fighting back and typing like a mad woman because I'm tired of not feeding my creativity and passion for writing just because I'm screaming "If I read one more stinkin' thing about "One Thousand Things"!!  It's with SO many other things, my love for working in the dirt, in our yard, with my very happy and flourishing veggie/fruit/herb container garden, mowing the lawn even.  Organizing, cleaning, creating new things to display in our house, a picture frame, a piece of furniture, a painted wall, a well-scrubbed driveway almost 80% free of moss.  Sweating--working out, moving my body, doing a Biggest loser DVD workout, with yoga, cardio and dancing! I love it! How about spending GOOD quality time with my husband, I mean like actual conversations about deep, meaningful, spiritual stuff.  Not just common surfacy, shallow stuff.  Give me some meat.
There's getting our finances together, paying off our debts, staying disciplined. And church...oh church.  You could call us 'regulars if being regular is attending ever 2-3 weeks.  We are very regular with that.  What about every Sunday, that would be awesome.  And reading my bible, which I don't do on a daily basis and never have really.  I started reading through Ephesians, and Philippians and there's SO much good stuff...I want do a post just on all the favorite verses so far that I've read, too many to choose from! 

There's so many things that we fight for and so many things we give into.  Our flesh, the easy way out, laziness, selfishness, 'I'll get to it tomorrow/next weekend/next year' kind of thinking.  You know the wonderful rush of adrenaline, fulfillment of being satisfied, your soul is singing praises of thankfulness for getting a job/project/task done that's been gnawing at you for a very long time. You know that feeling I'm talking about and it's so wonderful.  I want more of that all the time.  You feel like you're seriously thriving, and not just getting by and pushing and wading through the mucky waters of life.  The enemy doesn't like it when you're thriving, he wants you to stay stuck, keep believing his lies and continue to muck around. The devil is winning and I'm tired of it. 

I want start to seriously saying yes to more life-giving, edifying, spiritually heavy and healthy things and no to stupid satan.  Every time I get a negative thought, idea or lie I'm going to knock it down with the truths that I know.  Before my married days, I was dealing with a very yucky secret that I tried battling on my own without much help from anyone else and failed until God took hold of me.  I had a index card taped to my computer monitor that I had written in marker "Note to self: Do not forget the following, I'm a woman of worth, a child of God, a woman of value, and I deserve the BEST ALWAYS!"  Reading that worked, most of the time, but other times I ignored it.  I want to stop ignoring what I know to be true and what is right and start fighting back. 

How about you?

2 Corinthians 10:3-6
"The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity." The Message

Still fighting back with these sisters...







Monday, May 07, 2012

What kind of sourdough are you?


So you take these following smells: (I apologize to the non-Pac. Northwesterners in advance that don't get it) the "Aroma of Tacoma", the sewage plant smell in Renton that you smell as you're driving west on 405 towards Southcenter, "cow farm" smells, the most stinkiest possible cheese you could ever imagine, some really horrible flatulence, and ummm...baby poop...combine all that and you might possibly have the 'yeasty aroma' of Sourdough bread starter. 
Have you ever made sourdough starter (i.e. the beginnings of sourdough bread) at home? The smell is horrid, absolutely horrid, but the most amazing thing is how it makes the most amazing bread, the bread that I absolutely LOVE. It just has to go through many processes to get to the most delicious, finished state.  For 7 days you have to take a cup out of the starter and replace it with 1/2 c. water and 1/2 c. flour and stir, without fainting or vomiting.  It's almost like pancake batter, with a almost alien-like spongy, bubbly texture. 
Just like us, we go through a lot of stinky transitions, processes, learning curves, opportunities and slowly and sometimes painfully, we get transformed into a warm, crusty, nice thick slice of bread with some butter and jam smeared all over yourself.  Or maybe you're a big bread bowl with some steamy clam chowder ladled into the middle, or a delicious grilled cheese sandwich with some extra sharp cheddar, or a cold BLT with avocado and mayonnaise.  Or French toast, soft, warm, eggy crust, with maple syrup, powdered sugar, maybe some strawberries and whipped cream? Oh the possibilities... 
Thoughts?

Saturday, May 05, 2012

The Word, have you heard?

2 Corinthians 6:3-13 (NIV)


As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
  and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.

 

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: 
                                                              in great endurance;
in troubles, hardships and distresses;
in beatings, imprisonments and riots;
in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;

in purity, understanding, patience and kindness;
                                                          in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
                        in truthful speech and in the power of God;
            with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;
                                              through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report;
        genuine, yet regarded as impostors;
                                 known, yet regarded as unknown;
                                                                        dying, and yet we live on;
                                                     beaten, and yet not killed;
      sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
                                            poor, yet making many rich;

                                        having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Always a 'to do...'

Every day, off and on, there's always a list of things to do in some way and capacity. Phone calls to make, bills to pay, getting a question answered, either online, by email, through someone. There's brainstorms and ideas and 'hypotheticals' for all sorts of aspects of life. For example, I still need to find a new dentist, call about getting our security system hooked up but they're not there later than 2:30pm Pacific time, following up with my L&I claim for my still numb fingers on my left hand, getting some estimates/bids on landscaping jobs for our backyard, paying our mortgage, looking up some low-carb dinner ideas...it's never ending. All these small chores make life a little more interesting and after I've completely each one I feel like I got more room in my brain for something else, know what I mean? :)
 
Getting Connected here... 

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Redeeming the Past

Recently I had a online conversation with one of my 'virtual' friends, Tina, a married Christian mom that I've never met.  She's been very encouraging towards me every time I've talked/asked her about life issues every time I've needed it.   I talked with her about the new movie "Bully" that came out in theaters about several stories of young teens and their struggles with bullying in school and how they're dealing with it.  Seeing the previews and stories of these kids lives seriously struck a chord with me because I was a victim of being bullied when I was fairly young (mainly 6th-8th grade).  Tina let me vent to her about my issues and what I went through and was able to share some very insightful and BIBLICAL examples and now I feel and see thing a lot differently.  If you can relate maybe these words will be encouraging to you too, and mom, PLEASE don't feel bad.  God has taken all this garbage from the past and wiped it clean, he's given me a new life, new chances and a HOPE to redeem the situation.  He is a BIG God that has covered all those sins with his blood, shown us there is another way and continues to show us to how to be more like HIM  because of it.  That's what I've learned so far.  Read and be blessed!

"Ezekiel was asked to prophecy to the Jews that had been taken into captivity. He was told they wouldn't listen. At times he had to lay on just one side for hundreds of days at a time. When his wife died he was told not to grieve. He did all these things to tell God's message to his people, but his life must have been miserable.

Abraham was told to wander in tents in a land not his own. John the Baptist came for the purpose to prepare the way for Jesus and as soon as his work was done he was killed by Herod. Joseph was sold by his own brothers and was a slave and was put in prison - it was to eventually bring the jews into Egypt to make them a nation, but he didn't know that at the time. There are so many others! God has his people to do hard things, but not because he doesn't care. He does care which is why he allowed his son to suffer so much for our sake.

We are told we will suffer as Christians. The apostle Paul suffered greatly for the cause of Christ. I realize suffering because we are doing what God wants us to do is not the same as being bullied, but my point is that God cares, even though he allows suffering.  So, we know God allows suffering for his sake and he also allows innocent people to suffer numerous things. If things were perfect here, we'd never seek God or desire God. This temporary place is not what is all about and we long for something better!

You've grown up, you wear cute clothes and pluck you eyebrows and put conditioner on your hair - and so what if you didn't? You have a husband you are crazy about and you love your family. I would say you weren't crushed by the torment you received. You know there is so much more to life here and the here after! Because of what you've been through, you can be more sympathetic to people who are a little different, you can care for those who have no voice. When you raise your own kids, you'll teach them the same thing. You will also teach them that God and the hope we have in Christ is what fills us. Others may hurt us, but they cannot snatch us from the hand of God, the only thing that really matters!


I am sorry for the pain that has been dredged up with this movie. You may choose not to see it. It is good to address things from our past - it makes us stronger for our future.

You are so right about parents and church leaders may have not prepared you for the harsh realities of life, but they were only trying to protect you. We all hope that the next generation will be different and not have to experience the pain. It may have ended up being neglectful,but the motives weren't bad.

Hugs to you, Leah. I know you can work through this!"

Here is a link to the website for the Bully movie if you're interested in seeing it:

  
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Getting connected through here...

 

Friday, March 02, 2012

There's Always a Reason


 It's now March and February just seemed to blow by.  This past month I've been finding myself constantly waiting on things to happen and be done with so I can move onto something else.  That's why I haven't posted in over a month.  I keep telling myself, "Just wait till the house is clean, you've checked everything you possibly can on the internet and your brain is free to think and then you can type up something eye-opening and honest."  Well I can't keep waiting because none one of those things are going to happen at the same exact time, I just have to seize the 10 minutes I have to type and go.  So here I'm going, because all the things I'm waiting on, house projects, life projects, and job-changing projects are not in the current right now.  There's also trying to get some sort of sliver of motivation to work out in same way, shape or form.  You'd think that just because we bought ourselves a treadmill, weight bench set, workout games on the Xbox or Wii, a yoga ball, and have a good chunk of time in the afternoon before I pick up Billy from the bus station...well it's just not happening.  I've considered getting up possibly 45 minutes earlier in the mornings to get on the treadmill or put in a DVD to workout to, that would really be the best solution.  That way I could get my metabolism ramped up, be ready for my day and not have to worry and beat myself up later if I didn't work out.  It could just be DONE.  That would be so wonderful. 

There's always a reason why we have to wait on things, there's no instant gratification, you have to be patient, God is teaching you something that you can't see right now.  He's putting it together like a beautiful orchestration of moments and bits of information all for a reason.  Maybe just to teach you patience, because you need that.  Maybe He's working at chipping away all the rough edges of your life that you need to get rid of.  Don't be anxious, don't keep saying 'If only this/that/I could/they would/I wish/let me figure this out really quick..."  Just do what's in front of you and live and be in the moment.

House, future baby, job, health and God, each other.  In no particular order.  Now go and just be. 


Monday, January 30, 2012

One of the Most Amazing Things

Truly one of the most beautiful and amazing things that God created, Yosemite National Park, is seen here in this time-lapse photography video put together by several very talented people.  It starts slow at first, but at about 2mins30secs...wait for it...the music crescendos and you'll get goosebumps. I recommend you put this on full screen to watch it and not have anything going on in the background so it won't skip.


Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.


I have very sweet and happy memories of spending many summers here with my family while growing up in California...


My dad (yes, that's him, can't you tell?) was driving through Yosemite Valley before I was born circa 197?...
 These memories include: driving through the hollowed-out redwoods, riding our bikes and feeding the deer in Yosemite Valley, camping in tents or in the "housekeeping" cabins, swimming in the clear, cold water of the Merced River and basking on the granite rocks in the summer heat, fishing with family and friends for trout and bass...


 Yep, that's me holding a dead fish, I think age 9 (yes, I really was once THAT tan.)

...Attending a very fun and memorable family reunion for my mom's side of the family (eating bean dip and fritos while sitting on beach blanket after swimming with my cousins and brother), wondering through Curry Village and seeing where and how the Native Americans lived in replicas of traditional huts. Standing in awe at the bottom of a waterfall and seeing the power and force of it, feeling the stinging spray on my hands and face.  Dreaming of one day your family affording to stay just ONE night at the Awanhee Hotel and seeing what it was like.  In the winter, drudging up to the top of a hill, feet and legs pushing through waist-height snow only to finally race down the hill while sitting on a thin plastic disk while getting a major adrenaline rush...I could keep going.  There is truly nothing like being there.  I hope someday to return with my family and share some many more wonderful memories!   

Riding in the back of my uncle Alex and aunt Pam's VW Van with my cousins, brother and mom, traveling to/from Yosemite 1988.  Love our expressions, especially Aaron's :)

Monday, January 23, 2012

Oh yikes!

Frozen berries on our hawthorn tree and the neighbors garage last Thursday during the deep freeze in western WA.
Alright, you made me do it.  I HAVE to blog NOW.  I just discovered this by making a comment on my mother's newly put-together blog that MY blog is in dire need of an update :)  Well here it is.  It's 2012, January 23rd.  We're still living in the same amazing, wonderful house in Tacoma, still working at the same jobs (Harbor Lights for me and Girvin for William).  Been attending a wonderfully new and exciting church called Destiny City Church here in Tacoma and loving it.  God has been very good to us, throughout all the craziness and busy-ness of life, through our jobs, home-making, relationally, financially, most recently birthdays, holidays, 4 Christmases, travel, SNOW and ICE and WIND...and...and...

For the new year I can finally say that we are finally trying officially to start a family.  Being married for five years and counting, I thought we would've had 2 kids by now (I thought that when we got married).  Right :)  Well I can also finally say I'm SO happy that hasn't happened yet.  Just looking back and taking stock in all the things we have accomplished as listed above, as well including road trips/travel, endless home projects,  five years only feels literally like a breath.  Five years feels like we've barely scratched the surface of really knowing what it's like to be married and live life as a married person.  I just feel like I've been together with my best friend who loves me very much and I get to do fun things with :)  Make a home, be in love, make a family, share things, make decisions, create things, understand yourself in ways that you would've never known unless you were married.  As well we also get to learn many lessons along the way of how God is never-ending in his forgiveness, grace, provision, faithfulness, truth and creativity...and...and...

As always we are always striving for more.  Our quest to find the almost-perfect church has been completed, only took us about five years and what felt like 7 churches.  Like I said earlier, it is very wonderful.  We went for the first time last Easter and it was almost a no-brainer on whether or not it was a good fit.  Non-denominational? Check. Fairly close to our house? Check.  Encouraging and energetic worship and preaching? Check.  Seriously friendly pastor and people? Check. Good amount of ministry opps? Check.  God has had his hand on this all the way, and the most amazing part of it was that my husband was the one to say something about checking it out.  Until then I had been the one always to instigate the idea of checking out this new church I heard about, read about, checked out the sermon online, etc.  But I really needed to let my husband lead and be the one to be interested first and take the initiative to go there or else it I KNOW it wouldn't have been important to him.  So for now, we just make it a goal to get to service FIRST, that's the biggest challenge.  Then, there will be greater chances of us naturally getting to know more people by doing more 'during the week things' like bible studies and retreats, etc.  I'm excited for what God will do.

Look at that, I actually typed 4 paragraphs.  Maybe it was reading my mom's blog that got a little jolt in me to type again or the fact I actually have been reading a lot more.  Actually I have about 4 books right now that I have been randomly been reading.  I believe you read more and you'll be more inclined to write more, its like this reciprocating energy.  Ya know? Makes sense to me. I have ALWAYS been irking myself to get a blog going on a consistent basis, it is the 'thing' to do it seems, for the past, well now, 10-ish something years that I started journaling everything.  So now, who knows.  Maybe I'll come back to this in another 3 years or 3 days, gotta keep my brain and my hand moving or the need to express myself somehow will fester.  I have a lot more in my brain to share about upcoming ideas, dreams, thoughts, struggles, happiness's, projects, travels, memories, verses, maybe even some pictures in between. For now here is a wonderful 'quote' that I copied from another Leah that I vicariously know through my mother.  Enjoy and Amen.

 
"Others may do a greater work,

But you have your part to do;

And no one in all God’s family

Can do it as well as you."


P.S. I've updated my blogs I follow list and possibly other things. Look around.