Must Have Hydrangeas Always

Surely there will be hydrangeas in Heaven? If I had to live with only one flower for the rest of my life, it would most certainly be a hydrangea. Preferably an entire bed of them. I recently spotted some that were in no man's land and stopped to pick them. Actually, I made my friend Kara pull the car over and make sure no one was looking while I picked them. They are making me so happy every time I see them.

I also wanted to share part of this simple prayer from one of our favorite Puritan prayer books, The Valley of Vision.   I'm being reminded again that our time with the Patriots is in the Lord's hands and not our own. I have every confidence that Thomas can make the team, but the fact of the matter is the NFL is a game of numbers. If they need a player at another position, we could easily be packing our bags again. This prayer reminded me that a quiet spirit is all that I'm called to have. It is appropriately entitled "Resting in God."

O God most high, most glorious, 

The thought of Thine infinite serenity cheers me, 

For I am toiling and moiling, troubled and distressed, 

But Thou art forever at perfect peace. 

Thy designs cause Thee no fear or care of unfulfillment, 

They stand fast as the eternal hills. 

Thy power knows no bond, Thy goodness no stint. 

Thou bringest order out of confusion, and my defeats are Thy victories:

The Lord omnipotent reigneth.

Lord, help me, for I am often lukewarm and chill; 

unbelief mars my confidence, 

sin makes me forget Thee. 

Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut at their roots; 

Grant me to know that I truly live only when I live to Thee, 

that all else is trifling. 

Thy presence alone can make me holy, devout, strong and happy. 

Abide in me, gracious God. 

Humility

I recently finished reading Humility by CJ Mahaney, and I have the feeling I'll need to read it once a week for the remainder of my life. Certain parts of it were just too good not to share, so I wanted to write down a few of my favorite quotes. I hope you find this as encouraging/convicting as I did!

My favorite part was regarding Ephesians 4:29 "Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but ONLY what is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." CJ says:

      "Paul is referring to any and all communication that deters growth in godliness; any speech that hinders the cultivation of godly relationships; any words that have a deadening and dulling effect on the soul of another...there's to be no decay-spreading communication of any kind, in any way, at any time, by anyone...In my experience, when there's an absence of edifying words there's also normally the presence of pride and of self-righteousness, because those who are proud are too preoccupied with themselves and think too highly of themselves to care about building others up or to be sensitive to their true needs. It's the humble who are perceptive; they're skilled in discerning the work of God in others because they care about others and want to serve other. So I encourage you to memorize and meditate on Ephesians 4:29 and take it with you into your many conversations throughout day by day." 

Wow. I just think that is good, good stuff. And oh-so-easy to forget. Will you pray for me, that it will remain at the forefront of my mind...all day, every day?

Don't Waste Your Sports

Everyone who has any interest at all whatsoever in sports needs to go buy this nugget RIGHT THIS MINUTE.

I just finished reading Don't Waste Your Sports by CJ Mahaney and was so encouraged by what he wrote. Whether you're an occasional sports watcher, an avid March Madness bracket filler-outer, a soccer mom, or the wife of an NFL offensive lineman trying to make it in the big leagues, this book will reshape and redefine how you view sports. 

Over the past year, we've learned so much about how sports (and many other areas of life) are defined by performance. Most aspects of Thomas' job depend on whether he performs well or performs poorly, and oftentimes in the past year I'd find myself asking him questions about his performance in the eyes of man. "Did you outperform so-and-so? What did your coach say to you after practice today? Do you think you're a better player than _______?" And the list goes on. Basically, I was asking him if he was being glorified in the eyes of men. About halfway through the season, we had a discussion about it and we were both reminded that he doesn't play to gain the approval of men. He plays because the Lord gave him the ability and gifts to do so, and he'll be in the league as long as the Lord deems appropriate. We have to be reminded of that on a daily basis, and this book is a wonderful reminder of that Truth. 

This book is also really, really short, so it is a quick and easy read that is so encouraging. AND it is only $4. Try to think of a reason you shouldn't buy one. 

A Worthwhile Quote

"When we honestly ask ourselves which people in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief or bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face us with the reality of our powerlessness; that is a friend who cares." -Henri Nouwen

Birthday Books

I'm back from the conference. My brain is definitely on overload and I can hardly remember what I learned, because I learned so much. I took pages and pages of notes, but hardly comprehended anything because I was just trying to get it all down on paper! Maggie and I are going to try to combine and type up all of our notes {eventually} and between the two of us, we went to about 5 breakout sessions and 5 large group sessions. If you're interested in getting a copy of the notes, email me! The conference theme was marriage, but I think the classes applied to counseling all types of people, not just those who are married. I love how CCEF teaches that you do not have to be a professional to give wise, Gospel-oriented counseling. If your understanding of the Gospel is clear, you can counsel people who are struggling by simply telling them the Truth.

As part of my birthday gift to Thomas, {he turned 24 yesterday!} I bought books at the conference. And just as I suspected, I couldn't have given him a better gift. He was SO excited about all of my purchases and immediately asked if he could stamp them with his own book stamp:

Maggie and I were thankful that our husbands were not there to see all of the books available for purchase. There would have been major marital/financial strife as they would have been wanting each and every book they saw. Most of the books were half off and there were special promotions throughout the weekend {kiss your spouse for a free book, buy one paperback get one hardback free} and Thomas and Tyler would have been like wild animals. Thomas would have probably even caused physical harm to anyone who got in his way of the promotions. They love books so much that they included it in their bet over the Patriots v. Steelers game last night. The loser of the bet has to buy the winner one spiritual book of his choice, and dinner for all four of us next time we are together. Maggie and I thought that a shopping trip to Anthropologie should be included for our benefit, but they didn't like that. 

Did I mention that we won the bet as the Patriot's beat the Steelers 39-26? I'd better get back to researching restaurant choices...

Church Girl

We got to go to such a fun Broadway show called Church Girl at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Friday night. We've actually never been to the theatre together so it was a fun "first." It felt like watching a Tyler Perry movie on stage...and if you know us, you know that we LOVE Tyler Perry movies. The crowd was interactive and LOUD and we had such a blast. The music was phenomenal gospel music and it really felt like a little taste of heaven.

Afterwards we went to Baraonda with every intention of just getting drinks and ended up having the most delicious {real} pizza and an appetizer at 11:30 at night. It was such a fun treat!

In other news, {there isn't much lately} my mom and I made a delicious salad the night before Thomas and I left York.

My cousin is running a CSA through The Bush-N-Vine in York, and he gave us some of the leftover lettuce from this week's basket. It was some of the best lettuce I've ever tasted. And I'm not exaggerating. We also used fresh figs from my mom's garden. Delicious!

Here is an attempt at a recipe for our salad:

half a head of red leaf lettuce, torn
a few handfuls of arugula, torn
8 fresh figs, sliced lengthwise
1/2 of an apple, chopped
sprinkle of feta cheese, or goat cheese would be good too

dressing:
2 T each of white balsamic vinegar and olive oil
1 tsp each of honey and Dijon mustard

Whisk quickly and drizzle over salad. Add fresh cracked black pepper. Toss salad and serve immediately.

Happy Monday!

In the face of this chaos

Last night as I drove to pick Thomas up from the airport for what seemed like the millionth time, I listened to this song by Andrew Peterson on repeat. I laughed to myself thinking about how I never would've planned our life to look this way when I said "I do" 2 years and 3 months ago. Someone told me recently that they'd been to a wedding and it made them scared to think of what a commitment marriage is. I couldn't agree more, and I think it is right and good to be scared of marriage because we should view it as sacred and for a lifetime. But I also think that it is a terrifying place to ever be able to say "I'm ready for marriage. I know what it takes." I think it is encouraging when couples are able to simply say "we don't know what this will look like, and we know we'll never be 'ready' for the storms of life, but no matter what the future holds, we are laying our lives down for one another."

As we've been in this crazy period in our lives, I've been talking to older couples and I realized that each one of their stories is highlighted by the unexpected. Life never goes as we plan, and I think the most important thing I've learned is to be able to say "Lord, my life is totally and completely Your's. I trust that You know best and my job is to simply enjoy the days You have given me, no matter what they bring."

This song seems to encapsulate my thoughts, and I included my favorite lines here. I pray that whether you are single or married, you will be encouraged that our sweet Savior knows the future.

And that is enough to enable us to sail through the storms.

Dancing in the Minefields
Well ‘I do’ are the two most famous last words
The beginning of the end
But to lose your life for another I’ve heard is a good place to begin
Cause the only way to find your life is to lay your own life down
And I believe it’s an easy price for the Life that we have found
Cause we bear the light of the Son of man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadow lands
Till the shadows disappear
Cause He promised not to leave us
And His promises are true
So in the face of this chaos baby
I can dance with you

So lets go dancing in the minefields
Lets go sailing in the storms
Oh lets go dancing in the minefields
And kicking down the doors
Oh lets go dancing in the minefields
And sailing in the storms

Oh this is harder than we dreamed

But I believe that’s what the promise is for

That’s what the promise is for

Prayer

Well, the funny stories are hard to come by these days as my counterpart is working his tush off in Minnesowtah (that's how they say it up there). After shedding many, many tears at the GSP airport, I trucked to Camp Desoto for a few days of feeling useful, needed, and busy as I helped them prepare for camp. Then I trucked it back to York, SC to help my mother host a lovely wedding luncheon. If I do say so myself, it went off without a hitch and everyone shared their favorite "go to" recipe with the bride. It was so much fun!

One of the coolest things about Thomas being gone has been how supportive people have been. We are definitely in a unique situation that most people deem "glamourous," but believe me, it has many low points. We were having one of those low points on Saturday afternoon and our agent happened to call Thomas at just the right moment and spend some time in prayer with him. Apparantly his wife overheard his conversation with Thomas and decided to give ME a call and pray with me too. It was so meaningful and such an encouragement to both of us. They were in the NFL for 14 years and they "get it" when it comes to our situation and it is such a blessing that we were reminded of on Saturday.

I also had a neat time of prayer this morning with my dad and his running parter. They actually PRAY on the last mile of their run,and it was special to get to be part of that prayer time this morning. I used to run with them when I was living at home before we got married, and I forgot how difficult it is to RUN and PRAY at the same time. But despite all the huffing and puffing, it is truly an encouraging time. I have been reminded of how the Lord works in mysterious ways in order to strengthen us for what HE wants us to do!