a boy and a train

At The Christmas Tree Farm

Sisters and Friends

Anna, Lizzie, and Leitha

learning from my sister

Sometimes you learn the most from the one you used to teach. Last night Anna - my little sister - wrote about hope. She expressed wonderfully some of the things that I have been feeling, but unable to say. Her words also brought conviction:

"When my desires are disappointed, it becomes apparent that the fault does not lie in others, but in my own heart."

When have my desires been disappointed recently? Oh, yesterday (or was it this morning?). The root of that disappointment was in my own heart. My own childish and immature heart.

"When I place heavy expectations on others to satisfy my needs, not only do I wrong them, but I also starve myself of what God desires to freely give." She is right. God designed me to be satisfied in Him, Him alone. Nothing else even comes close, and that is very, very good.

Little things

This afternoon I was in the car, coming home from a long day of classes. We took a back road instead of the main one, and it was a bit quieter, a little more peaceful, and definitely more beautiful.
We were heading towards the sun that was just starting to think of setting, and the light was filtering through the trees. Annadale (the road we took) has some stone-fruit orchards along it, as well a few cow pastures well dotted with oak trees. As the sunlight struck the orchards at a twenty degree angle they turned gold, but only as we were looking through them. If we turned to look back, the orchard had resumed its normal dusky late fall appearance.




The semester is drawing to a close, and my biology professor has only one major subject to cover before we prepare for the final: how we got here. We have covered the entire body, tip to toe, from before conception to after death, and all the wonder of it. Now we get to try to understand how such a marvel could evolve. Somehow, I just can't wrap my mind around it.

Learning A Little Bit More

Oh, the past few days/weeks have been full of decisions about the wedding. And I have been learning a bit more. Surprised? I was.

It has been absolutely wonderful to see the things that I have dreamed about for years come into being. It has also been like getting a pail of ice water being dumped on my head. Why? Because I have had to come face-to-face with the fact that dreams are not reality. There have been some rather tear-filled days, and other days of apathy. I had a very childish attitude, and am still trying to get over it. I had the whole "if I can't have it my way, then nothing matters" attitude, as well as the "but it has to be perfect!!! Why can't it be perfect?!!".
But you know what? I have been learning that God really does have something special going on here, and that something has much more to do with a woman, a couple, and marriage that rely on Him for their strength and give Him glory than it has to do with a "perfect" day.

He wants us to have joy, but most of all He wants us to delight in Him as we delight in each other.

What mattered it though the world were gray and wintry? We walked the golden road and carried springtime in our hearts ...

-L. M. Montgomery, The Golden Road, chp VII

Oh, the way things change!

Everything To Me

I was listening to a message by Beth Moore this morning, and as she was praising God in prayer she said: "God, you are everything to us."

It triggered some serious thought. Is He everything to me? Everything? Really?

No glib answers will suffice here. Is Christ everything to me?

a day spent shopping

street shot, originally uploaded by Lizi Beth.

Shopping, in the lovely autumn weather. Oh, there are few things as lovely!!!! Except, maybe, shopping in the springtime, or the crisp winter............ :)

Oh, fall is glorious!

Mom and I went looking for fabric for the wedding. We found a little tiny shop in Los Altos called Thai Silks that had amazing prices, and ........... we found some really gorgeous material.
Now, to start sewing.



*for all interested in progress regarding the wedding plans: Mom and I also bought the flower girl dresses.

p.s. Some pictures to get started:

Wedding Preparations

a bit of wisdom

"If ya wanna kiss the sky/ Ya better learn how to kneel"

- U2

from the mouth of Ben

Ben and I were working on his math homework yesterday when I heard him mutter to himself, "Now that is just vulgar."
Vulgar?
What?!!! Since when does an eight year old boy know words like "vulgar"? Hmm. I do not think he knows what it means, but I am curious to know how it got into that little noggin of his.

the firmament declares

the firmament declares, originally uploaded by Lizi Beth.

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing God
All powerful, untamable
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go?
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow?
Who imagined the sun and gives source to it's light,
Yet conceals it to brings us the coolness of night?
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

You are amazing God

- Chris Tomlin, "Indescribable"