Please Pray For My Friends July 2, 2008

Hey readers :)  I don’t have any idea who reads my blog, but I think that a lot of you are involved in adoption.  Please be praying for our great friends Jamie and Aaron.  They have come to a major roadblock in their Haitian adoption of 2 sweet little kids.  Please head to their blogs and offer your prayers and support.  We are praying for a miracle in their adoption.  I have watched God move mountains through the prayers of His people–especially with my family.  He still longs to work in such big miraculous ways–we just have to ASK!  So please join me in praying for this sweet family!  Thanks!!

6! June 28, 2008

Happy Anniversary Love!  Can you believe it’s been 6 years??  I love you 6,000 times more today than I did then.  Here’s to 60 more

Please Pray for Ava June 23, 2008

Hey friends.  Please be praying for our sweet Ava.  Somehow yesterday she strained her neck pretty badly.  We still haven’t figured out how it happened, as no one saw her fall or anything.  It may have happened earlier in the day or even the day before and then she turned her head wrong and it began spasming.  Anyways, last night she just started screaming uncontrollably and after about 45 minutes of not being able to comfort her I decided to take her to the Urgent Care clinic.  (Once again, I am SO thankful that God has brought us back her amongst family, so I had lots of help!).  Once we got to the clinic she completely stopped moving her head and was just laying there in my arms–very out of it.  They tried to get some x-rays but they couldn’t get a full view of her neck so they thought it would be best to take her to the ER.  And since it was a neck injury and no one saw it happen, they wanted her to go in an ambulence.  So EMS came and put the tiniest little neck brace on her and then they strapped her to a body board.  I was in complete panic mode by this time, but trying so hard to keep myself together for Ava’s sake.  I did NOT want her to see a freaked out Mommy because she was already freaked out enough.  We took a ride in the “big truck” to the ER and they got us in pretty quick to do a Cat Scan.  Praise God it came back normal–her neck was just out of alignment close to her spine.  Sounds bad, but it was all muscular and it will heal on its own in the next few days.  We got home around 12:30am and got Ava to bed.  What a scary night.  I don’t think I’ll ever forget my sweet little tiny daughter in a neck brace and on a body board being loaded into an ambulence.  It was just torture for my heart.  I kept begging God to put her pain on me.  What an eye opening night as I poured out my heart to God, begging Him to heal my daughter–to protect her and comfort her–it reminded me yet again that her little life is in His hands–not mine.  What a sobering lesson to learn.  Please continue to pray for her.  She is in extreme pain today (the doctor said today would be the worst day) every time we move her.  We’ve just been laying on the couch watching one movie after another.  She is barely eating–so pray for that too!  Praise God Matt got home today!  Of course he came home with a vicious stomach bug and has been asleep all afternoon, but I’m just so glad he’s home.  God just knew that I couldn’t go through this with him on another continent!  Thanks for praying for my family.  We are in rough shape.  Oh yes & me–my back is out from the stress and physical-ness of carrying and holding my daughter non-stop for the past 24 hours.  Those of you that know me well, know how easily this happens.  I need supernatural strength right now to take care of my sickies.  Please just pray everyone…thank you!!

Lovely Summer Sandwiches June 13, 2008

My brain is fried from working on my lesson for our college girls event tomorrow, so I thought I’d take a little break and talk to you about food.  How could you go wrong with that???  It is way too hot during the summer to be slaving over a hot stove (well, in my world there is always an excuse not to be slaving over a hot stove!!) so most nights we eat sandwiches.  Here are some of my favorites–one’s you may be familiar with and others that I’ve created on my own :)  You can make them as healthy or unhealthy :)  as you want to!  Have fun with them!  What is your favorite summertime sandwich??  Oh yeah, and since a lot of these contain tomatoes, make sure you get the non-salmonella-inducing kind.  Got that?  Ok, off we go

• The BLT–My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE summer sandwich!!  This is such a classic but to me it tastes like pure summer.  I like mine on toasted wheat bread with Dukes brand mayo and lots of fresh ground pepper and just the tiniest bit of salt.  I’ve tried to fancy this one up & I’ve come to the conclusion that it is best in it’s purest form.
• Grilled cheese w/ tomatoes and onions–This one is so beyond messy you almost have to use a fork to eat it, but who cares.  There are so many ways to dress up a grilled cheese, but this is my favorite.  I especially love it on some kind of thick crusty bakery bread.
• Chicken salad–Oh my goodness–this is pure joy on bread!!  I know that everyone has an opinion on chicken salad and how it should be made, but here is what I include.  And of course I don’t have measurements for you, b/c I just kind of mix it and balance out the ratios until it tastes right.  Ok….the ingredients for Rachel’s chicken salad:  shredded chicken (I usually just buy a rotisserie chicken & use that–SO much easier!!  I like it to be as small and shredded as possible!), Dukes mayo, a little squirt of mustard, grapes, pineapple chunks, tons of celery, honey roasted almonds (I just buy those salad almonds that you find in the produce section by the bagged salad), a little bit of finely minced onion, and the teeniest tiniest bit of Adobo seasoning.  And I love it on bakery sourdough bread or potato rolls.  I’m not a huge fan of the croissant when it comes to chicken salad.  I like the bread to be a little heartier.
• Cucumber, Cream Cheese and Dill–Ok, start with pumpernickle bread (or whatever kind you like, but I LOVE pumpernickle!!).  Slather it up with cream cheese (light is fine), place a couple of cucumber slices on top and tons and tons of dill.  Add a little salt if it makes you happy :)  I like to eat these open-faced b/c they’re so pretty :)  And I love the way they smell!
• PB&H&B&C on a Tortilla–I make these for Ava all the time.  I take a whole wheat tortilla and cover it in natural peanut butter.  Then slice bananas all over the peanut butter and press them down so they stick.  Then drizzle honey over top and sprinkle with cinnamon.  It is sinfully good!!!
• Whipped Cream Cheese on Raisin Bread–Another one I make for Ava on occasion.  It’s not the healthiest option, but it tastes so stinkin’ good sometimes you just don’t care!!  I use the whole wheat raisin bread and just spread whipped cream cheese on both sides.  You can used flavored cream cheese (we like strawberry), but my favorite is just the plain kind.  This is such a quick and easy sandwich–love that!
• Turkey & Avacado–Another one of my favs!  Deli turkey meat, avacado, sharp cheddar or provolone cheese, a little ranch dressing and some onion and lettuce.  Just to be obnoxious I have to say YUM-O!! 
• The Burger–does anything taste more like summer than a big ole burger straight off the grill??  I love mine with avacado, mustard, a little mayo, lettuce, dill pickle, sharp cheddar cheese, green olives and onions.  And maybe a tiny bit of A-I sauce.
• BBQ Pork with coleslaw on top–Don’t know how to make BBQ pork, but my dad makes a Bobby Flay recipe all the time.  So I like to eat it–you could do a search online to find a recipe.  But I love it with coleslaw piled high on top!!  So good & oh so southern :) 

Well, that’s it for now!!  Hope you enjoy & maybe found something to make for dinner.  If you have any favorites to share, I’d love to hear them!!  I’m always looking for more ways to not turn on my oven! 

What I’m Learning June 11, 2008

“Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. 

Let Your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins,

O, Lord, who could stand?

But with You there is forgiveness,

therefore You are feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in His word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

O, Israel, put your hope in the Lord,

for with the Lord is unfailing love

and with Him is full redemption.

He Himself will redeem Israel

from all their sins.”

Psalm 130

 

 

I’m teaching through this passage on Friday night at our college girls event, Completely, and I’m really excited about it.  I got up early this morning and kept reading and rereading it over and over–just letting it wash over me.  This is one of my top 5 favorite passages of Scripture.  What hope lies in these words.  These words allow me to get up each morning: new and fresh.  He does not keep a record of our sins!!  Even though I do (and beat myself up over them usually) He does not.  If I put my hope in the Lord and His word, He has promised to me unfailing love and FULL redemption.  Wow…so good!!!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things June 2, 2008

• Grapefruit…sometimes 2 a day.  With just a little sugar on top.  Yum!!

• Skype:  Because it lets me talk to my husband several times a day even though he’s half-way across the world!
• My friends Jamie, Aaron, and Bush who are doing amazing work for Haiti!  Go check out their blogs and see what you can do to help.  (Sorry it’s taken me so long to get this up on my blog guys!)
• Gilmore Girls.  This, of course is a given :)  Right now I’m on Season 2, episode 3.  I LOVE season 2 the very best!!! 

• Ava.  And her sillyness and her little Avisms.  Such as:

* Cookie = Toochie

* Elbow = Elmo

* I love you = I Lull Eww

* “Silly Mommy”…one of her favorite things to say

* After watching “A Bee Movie” tonight, she turned to me and smiled and said “I liked it Mommy!”

* When she stands at the TV and musters up every manipulative bone in her tiny little body and gives me the saddest little puppy dog eyes and says, “GG Mommy??”  (GG is what we call Gilmore Girls)  She LOVES it!!  And she knows that I can hardly ever say no to it

* Apple Juice = Apple Jooooooooose”

* When she wants to be held she says, “Achoo Mommy”  (AKA: Got You Mommy)

* Coldplay’s new single “Viva la Vida” = “Daddy’s Song” (and we have to listen to it the entire time we’re in the car

* Purple = Purple Lola.  Anything that is purple, say a flower, is a purple Lola flower.  So cute!

* Car = Go.  And she loves to wave at the cars passing us and yell “Hi Go!”

*Lexie (My parent’s dog) = Sexy

* Aprile & Erin (my 2 best friends) = Airpill and Air

Ok…enough Avisms for  now :)  There are so many more–I’ll do another post of them someday!

• Unsweet Ice Tea w/ Splenda.  My new beverage of choice…bye bye Diet Dr. Pepper
• My Utmost For His Highest.  I’ve been going through this devotional since 10th grade.  I still love it and I still get so much out of it! 
• Painting.  This has become such a fun hobby for me!  My sweet Texas friend Glenna encouraged me to try it at camp last summer and I’ve really had a lot of fun playing around with blank canvases and lots of paint!  Yesterday I bought a sketch book so that I don’t have to use a canvas every time.  Much cheaper & I can experiment a little more.  Who would have thought I’d be a painter? 
• A COMPLETED homestudy that’s going to final revisions this week…YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• The movie P.S. I Love You.  I got this from Netflix and was dreading watching it b/c I thought it would be dreadfully sad.  But I actually really liked it.  Go check it out.
• Faithful friends who are praying for my Mama.
• My husband….I’ve been SO PROUD of him this week.  He is doing such amazing work in China.  It’s so much easier letting him go knowing that He is doing such amazing things for God’s kingdom.  For safety reasons I can’t really elaborate on what they’re doing, but let me just tell you–it’s very exciting!!

THE END.  

 

 

A Hard Day May 25, 2008

I feel like I’ve been such a Debbie Downer on here lately!  I’m really not trying to be that way–it just seems like everything in my life is very heavy right now.  Stay tuned about some cute “Ava-isms” that I’ve been collecting :)  Hopefully that will be a fun post.  This blog is my space to vent, to collect memories, to get all of my thoughts in order.  Some people blog for other people, some blog to have a place to dialogue with others.  I blog for me–hope that doesn’t sound too selfish–and if people read it, cool, if not, also cool.  SO….back to the reason for this post!  We took Matt/Daddy to the airport today.  He had a flight to Houston today to prepare for his trip to SE Asia tomorrow.  That normally wouldn’t be super difficult or emotional, but today was the beginning of our summer.  We will only see Matt for about 3 weeks combined all summer.  We will get to see him for a couple of days every 2-3 weeks.  It’s going to be a tough summer apart.  I have been dreading today for months, and today it got here.  I cried all morning, all the way to the airport, all the way into the airport, the whole time he was checking in, saying good-bye, and then leaving.  Man.  Poor Matt–he was probably ready to get away from his crazy emotional wife by the end of it!  I just really struggle when he is away.  I am not a brave person.  I really struggle with fear.  Not just scary fear, but fear of doing things by myself and fear of wasting time.  I am painfully shy and can be very socially awkward!!  He keeps me much more normal!  I feel so much braver when he is with me.  I know that God is going to use this summer to teach me so many things.  I should find my courage in God alone–not my husband.  I know that God is going to work on my heart in that area!!  I also have lots of goals for myself this summer.  I’m not going to share them yet, b/c I need to organize them all in my head first.  Ok, I need to go–I have my first Sunday of teaching the graduating Seniors tomorrow.  My friend Erin & I are teaching the girls class for the summer before they move up to the College ministry.  I’m very excited about it.  Pray for my sweet husband!  He’s traveling the globe this summer.  Pray for safety, pray for God to move in mighty ways.  Pray for me as I parent alone for the next several months.  Pray that I will be brave b/c God makes me brave.  Love you all

computer woes May 24, 2008

Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile.  My computer is dying a slow, painful death.  My charger blew a fuse (or something like that–it’s all black and charred–yikes!) so I can’t turn my computer on.  It’s been in the final stages of death for months now, and I know it’s going to die at any second.  It’s about 6 years old and has been treated pretty roughly due to Matt’s traveling days!  We’re debating buying a new charger (costs about $120) and hoping my computer makes it through the summer, or just biting the bullet and buying a new (or used) computer.  Any thoughts??  We have no idea about anything computer related!  Is anyone trying to sell a laptop??  Know anyone who is??  What are your thoughts about Mac vs. PC?  Help!!

Sad May 14, 2008

I am so sad tonight.  My heart is just heavy.  I feel like it has been an overwhelmingly sad couple of weeks.  The recurrence of my Mom’s cancer.  The loss of our Pastor and his young son.  The tragedy in Myanmar.  The earthquake in China.  The unsucessful court dates for families in our adoption program.  I know that there are seasons in life.  Sometimes we are so full of joy, other times difficulty, suffering and sadness.  I just feel like I’m walking through a very sad season of life.  It’s times like this that I just have to cling to the truth of God’s character.  I have to trust that He is sovereign–none of this caught Him off guard.  And most of all–I have to remember that He will work all things together for good.  I feel like right now I’m grasping at these “threads” of truth.  They don’t feel very strong right now, but I know that they are there & they are sure.  It is hard sometimes not to doubt God’s goodness.  Do you know what I mean?  Sometimes it’s so hard to understand why God has allowed such difficult things to happen.  It just doesn’t make sense in my finite little brain.  And that is hard to deal with sometimes…knowing the truth, but fighting against doubt.  I am reminded once again of the importance of hiding God’s Word in our hearts.  All day long Scripture has come to mind.  What peace that has brought me (and conviction that I need to be more disciplined with Scripture memory).  I have also been reminded of the Spirit’s work in our prayers.  The Spirit helps us in  our weakness, when we don’t know what to pray.  He “interprets” our prayers to the Father with groans that we cannot comprehend.  What comfort I find in that b/c I feel like my prayers have been so inadequate lately.  I just don’t know what to pray.  I am longing for a season of great joy!  My heart is so heavy these days.  It makes me long for heaven more & more.  Where there will be no more pain, no more tears, no  more death.  Where we will be reunited with the ones we love.  But most of all to see Jesus face to face.  Wow.  It just blows my mind b/c I know that then, and only then, will all of this make sense.  A better day is coming…..

Please Pray May 13, 2008

We just got news that Forrest and his son Preston didn’t make it.  They found their 2 bodies with the plane wreckage.  Please pray for the family.  This is just tragic heartbreaking news.