Snow Peas

Last Tuesday I planted
some little seeds in some peat pots.

Today the first snow peas peaked through!

1 Corinthians 3:5-7

"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

Housewarming

My mom gave me the best housewarming gift!
A shovel and a gift card to Lowe's to pick out a tree.

This is me trying to get the tree home. :)

A dad who was walking by told his son:
"look there is a tree growing out of her car!"
( Yoshino Cherry)

Mia in the shade of the new tree :)

Are you serious??

One of my students brought this into class today!
Yes, it is a poptart!

Los Santos Vienen Ya!

avocados, beware!

I had a gift card to Williams-Sonoma. Good thing! Among their highly specific kitchen tools, over priced everything (a pepper grinder for $70?!?!), and very enthusiastic staff, I found the answer to all my guacamole dreams. A beam of light shone from heaven upon this magical piece of human ingenuity. Behold-The Avocado Pitter/Slicer!

two wolves

My stepmom forwarded this to me...

Two wolves...

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two ' wolves ' inside us all.

One is Evil. - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed".

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." Galatians 6:7-8

Father

"Dia, What are you doing? Dia! Look at me, look at me. What are you doing? You are Dia Vendy, of the proud Mende tribe. You are a good boy who loves soccer and school. Your mother loves you so much. She waits by the fire making plantains, and red palm oil stew with your sister N'Yanda and the new baby. The cows wait for you. And Babu, the wild dog who minds no one but you. I know they made you do bad things, but you are not a bad boy. I am your father who loves you. And you will come home with me and be my son again"

Isaiah 43: 1
But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

Ezekial 36:26-28
²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁸ You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

Jeremiah 31:1,3 "At that time," declares the LORD, "I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people."³ The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:"I have loved you with an everlasting love; have drawn you with loving-kindness."

First Softball Game

The two coolest coaches ever! Oh wait, that is Meg and I, and yes, we are cool! Especially with our new official coaches' shirts!

Who could not love coaching these beautiful, sweet, middle school girls? Even after a loss, they are still smiley and excited! Megs and I decided that our score (29-11) was really a sign from God. Jeremiah 29:11...For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Perhaps this applies to softball!!?!?!?

Moved in

I can't believe it has already been two weeks since I moved! There are still boxes to be unpacked and painting has not yet happened, but it is already beginning to feel like home.

Mia and Riley are getting along well. I was trying to get Mia to catch a frisbee....it worked...... until Riley charged Mia to steal the frisbee.

Hmmm...perhaps Riley does not realize that he is- a) a cat, b) a lot smaller than Mia, c) not the kind of animal that catches frisbees.

This is Mia's watchdog face to keep away all the neighborhood thugs.

The tail wag is an indicator that she is getting ready to attack. BEWARE!

Riley is helping pick out paint colors. He decided on "amaretto" (a burnt orange) for the kitchen and "sweet annie" (an olive green) for the master bedroom. Good choices! I couldn't have done it without him.

there's no place like home?

I was supposed to close on house back in December, but everything fell through because of a bad appraisal. BUT, God has definitely taken care of the details! Everything that didn't work out with the other house seems to be going smoothly with this one. SOOO, hopefully I will be able to close mid-February! AND, there is even room for the doggie some very sweet friends are giving me :)

Thank you, Lord, for all the "no"s along the way!

New Fav

Toasted 15 grain bread
Humus
Freshly sliced tomatoes
YUM!

Thanksgiving at Gramma's House

The cousins!

Yum! Dinner! Thanks grammom!

Aunt Keri did NOT have anything to do with any spilled drinks,
no matter what any other people might insinuate (uncle steve)

Uncle Bob, Uncle Steve, Mom, Grammom

Trish and Nicole

Tortellini Soup

Tortellini Soup:
3 Chicken Breasts
1 TB butter or olive oil
3 cans chicken broth (also use the broth from the chicken when you boil it)
1 (9oz) package of refrigerated 3-cheese tortellini
1 (10oz) package of frozen spinach (thawed and dried)
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (undrained)
Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Boil the chicken in salted water for about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Saute garlic in butter or olive oil. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add tortelliniand cook 6-7 minutes or until tender. Stir in spinach and tomatoes. Shred chicken and add to soup. Simmer for 20 minutes. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and serve. Alternatively you can leave out the chicken and make it super easy and quick.

muffin + pumpkin = muffkin?

It is fall. It is time for pumpkin muffins.

1 8oz can of pumpkin
1 box spice cake mix

Mix ingredients.
Put in muffin tin.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Follow box directions for time/temp.
Bake and eat!

Back to School

It is almost incredible how quickly time has flown- we are already in week number 6 of school. All the enthusiasm of the first few weeks is beginning to wear down and it has finally hit us-summer is over, school is work, lunch break is only twenty minutes, and all those dreams of doing everything differently, being more "together" are dwindling (but not without a fight!).

Please pray for all the teachers in your life :) It is hard work, and often our dreams of changing the world drown in the sea of paper grading, parent phone calls, and lesson planning.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Jess and I enjoy some coffee and early morning flag football during our High School Retreat at Windy Gap (A Young Life Camp)


These Seniors are ready for flag football!


More seniors, supporting their dodgeball team. The seniors went on to win this years class competitions. Congrats!

Forgiveness

This quote was on a missionary update I read recently...

"Should it surprise us, then, that when God determined to forgive us rather than punish us for all the ways we have wronged him and one another, that he went to the Cross in the person of Jesus Christ and died there? As Bonhoeffer says, everyone who forgives someone bears the other's sins. On the Cross we see God doing visibly and cosmically what every human being must do to forgive someone, though on an infinitely greater scale. I would argue, of course, that human forgiveness works this way because we unavoidably reflect the image of our Creator. That is why we should not be surprised that if we sense that the only way to triumph over evil is to go through the suffering of forgiveness, that this would be far more true of God, whose just passion to defeat evil and loving desire to forgive others are both infinitely greater than ours." --Tim Keller, The Reason for God

Home again, home again, jiggity jog

Sunday night Jenny and I arrived back in Charlotte. My school was visible from the airplane window....it definitely brought tears to my eyes. Traveling and searching for adventure is very exciting, but there is nothing like coming home. Especially when you realize that the biggest adventure is trying to live and love the Lord right where you are. Praise God for a good summer and safe travel. I am glad to be home!

A Pirate's Life For Me!

Thursday, my friend Jenny Eicher and I arrived in Honduras! The first part of our trip....a pirate type adventure!

1. We pilfered: Andrew Davis, Jenny, Andrew's friends (Hugo, Meli, and Hector) and I did some damage at the grocery store. A pirate must eat (of course).

2. We commandeered a ship: The ferry was not running from La Ceiba to Utila, so Andrew found us a not so sketchy guy who would take us across for 30$ a piece...not bad, except the boat was really small and the waves were really big. Therefore, we got really wet (including my poor camera that is not working anymore).

3. We got shipwrecked: Well, not really, but we were accidently dropped off at someone's private dock and we were so wet that it looked like we, and all of our luggage and food, had just washed up on shore.

4. We ended up on a deserted island: this part was actually planned! Our friend Andrew rented Little Cay Island....at only 115$ a night, even a pirate can't complain :)

Priceless

Bus Ride from San Luis Potosi to Mexico City: 31$
Two nights in the Hostel Cenote Azul: 20$
Turibus: 10$
Taxi: 10$

Seeing Mexico City and hanging out with RUF people and almost getting struck by lightening: PRICELESS!

Angel de Independencia

Library at the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)

The Zocalo: the main plaza in Mexico City

10 QUE?

Last Sunday I ran my first race since October.....a very slow 10K! I was just glad to run and praising God that I could.

Funny thing...since every thing was in Spanish, somehow I ended up without a chip timer. Glad I had my handy-dandy watch. Next time, I will know!

http://www.maratontangamanga.com