Trip to St. Joseph, Mo

As mentioned in my previous blog, we went to KC last weekend to Celebrate Adam's mom's Birthday! Happy Birthday Barb!!

To celebrate we had some of the most amazing cupcakes. They got them from Little Cakes in St. Joseph. Take a look here. The coconut cupcake was so fresh and light. Yum.

On our last day there, Adam and I took a walk at Krug Park. Here is a pick. It's a gorgeous park with old building, a pond, ducks, playground equipment, etc. I hadn't been to this park to walk around since my first trip there!

This picture is for Adam. To Adam's complete joy, St. Joseph, Mo now has a Chick-Fil-A. We went there 2x in 5 days. He is grieving he loss of moving to a place where we will not readily have one close by.
That's it for now, have a great day!

Pancake Morning

Good morning everyone! It's been awhile since I have been on- Adam and I were in KC for 5 days celebrating his mom's birthday and visiting his family. It was a great trip and I will post a few pics this weekend.

I took today off from work to play catch up and to work on some move stuff so I decided to get up and make Adam some pancakes before he went to work! It had a lot of fun and got a little creative!

Whatever is praiseworthy

These last few weeks have been very stretching for me. A couple of those weeks where you realize, "Wow, I still have a long way to go!"

The emotions of leaving Dallas are really starting to set it, yet I can't imagine what it is going to be like to not live in Texas. I am anxious about not having a place to live yet and it feels like there is a lot to do as we close up shop in Dallas and head out to PA.

I am starting to have thoughts like, "this is the last time that I will . . ." you fill in the blank. This has really caused me a lot of sadness.

With this mixture of stuff, I have had a hard time living one day at a time. My anxiety level has been pretty high.

I am currently reading a series of books by Beverly Lewis called Annie's People. It's about a modern-day Amish Girl who has an English friend. They are great and it's been a ton of fun to learn about the Amish through the books (we will be living close to Amish).

Anyways, when I was reading the book last night, the author used a portion of one of my favorite passages. Here I'll share the whole thing with you:

Philippians 4:4-9
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Definitely a scripture that I needed to be reminded of as I am facing so much anxiousness. Remembering that it is when we think on the things of God we gain so much peace and are no longer burdened with anxiety. For instance, I am working today to remember the ways that my heavenly father has given me so much. My sweet husband reminded me of this last night too. Remembering to be thankful for a hot meal, a talk with a friend, a safe drive home, a house to live in now, and on and on. I am working today to meditate on what is praiseworthy instead of what I don't have yet and what is troubling me trusting that God is in control and that He is going to provide for us.

Delicious Carrots

Roasted Baby Carrots Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs of 5 inch long baby carrots, carefully washed, greens cropped to 1 inch above top of carrot
1 red onion, peeled, cut into 8 wedges
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary, or 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Gently toss together the carrots, red onion, rosemary to coat with the olive oil. Lay out on a rimmed baking pan. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

2 Roast for 30 to 40 minutes on middle rack or bottom rack, until well browned.

Serves 4.

This recipe is sure to be a hit! I found it online from the simplyrecipes.com blog! Sending a few props their way, it's a great blog with pure recipes.

I made this last night and Adam and I both agreed that this recipe is a keeper for sure! Delish!

Watermark in Ethiopia

Hey friends,

I have a group of friends from Watermark that are headed out to Ethiopia on Friday. They will stay for 10 days and the next group will come next Friday to work behind them. Please pray for their safety their and that the Lord would turn many hearts to come to Him in faith.

If you want to track with them, then read this blog!

http://www.watermarkinafrica.blogspot.com/

I had the amazing privilege to get to go on this trip last year. If you want to read a story of what the Lord allowed me to do there, read here!

http://watermarkblogs.org/stories/09/51/

Getting Close!

I feel like the days and hours are starting to get closer and closer to the day we will depart. The time that we have in Dallas in narrowing down. While there is definitely an excitement to where we are headed there is a sense of loss as well. I feel like my heart is being pulled in many directions.

I feel incredibly thankful for something that the Lord has showed me though another one of His children.

A few week's ago I went to do a home visit with Jim my boss at Watermark. We went to see a couple and the husband was dying of cancer. He shared with us how he wants to live his last few weeks of life in such a way that makes His savior famous to those that he comes in contact with. The man passed away last week, and in his final days he had several opportunities to share about where his hope was found as he was leaving this earth.

It was so encouraging to see a man that has truly fought the good fight . . . finish the race so well. What a challenge and encouragement. Personally, it made me think about how I want to live during my last few months here in Dallas. I made me think about using my time well here as we spend our last moments in Dallas. I want to have good spiritual conversations with people and honor the Lord in serving folks here until the day I leave and not "check out". I think it could be easy to check out as a way of improperly dealing with the pain of leaving.

Psalm 90:12 in the NET Bible says, "So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely." When you think about leaving this earth and about the legacy of faith that you want to leave and share, it puts things into perspective.

Praying today about what kind of legacy I want to leave and praying about what changes I can make to live wisely and more consistently with who I want to be for the Lord.

Hang our Hats?

Hey friends!! I just wanted to update you all on our Pennsylvania plans of moving etc. It looks like we will head up there around September 1. We are VERY excited to get there and VERY sad to leave all at the same time.


We are still looking for a place to "hang our hats" once we get there. Translation . . . we haven't signed a lease yet. I just wanted to ask you all to pray for us as we are looking for a place to live. It has been a little more difficult than I anticipated and I am ready to have that part of that process taken care of b/c so many other things fall in line after that.

I really want to search and find a great place to live, yet I want to not obsess over it either and so that I can be present in this last bit of time here in Dallas. Please pray that I can find a balance during this time as Adam and I prepare for our move. That we can be dilligent in all that needs to be done, yet enjoy the moments that we have around us.

Rembering today Philippians 4:7 "and the peace of God which trancends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Creative Lately!

Here are a few creative things that I have been up too lately!

Adam gave me a gift card to Smashing Times as a wedding present. It's a really great place that you can go to make a mosaic in their shop! I just went a few weeks ago. I made this stepping stone below that is for our future garden or backyard.

I am actually in the process of making a coordinating one so they will be a pair! They let you keep your in process work at the shop.

This is a painting that I did for my sweet friend Beth's baby room! Love her and can't wait to meet their sweet one!

That's it for today!