Fun Times

Here's my little lady girl!

Here she is with Sam!

We had a wonderful fun weekend last weekend :) Although I was feeling ill almost the entire trip, we still managed to get many a laughs! Remember the puppy? Well, when I walked in the door, she went crazy! Jumping, barking, the whole bit, she was so excited to see me! We finally got her calmed down. Wow, she is getting so big! On Saturday we went shopping, which was such fun :) yet tiring.... On Sunday, Sam and I had the privilege of singing in the morning service, thanks to Dad's conniving :) and then we also got to sing as a part of my friend Rachel's missions service that night. In the morning service, God came in a very special way. It was just wonderful to sit and soak it in. I love attending that church. I also got to reconnect with an old friend from when I was a junior in high school. We got to play our flutes together again, and talk! Well, Monday wasn't quite the same.... we had noticed when we headed to Kentucky, that my friend's car, which Sam was driving, had been having some trouble shifting gears. When we started home, it started bucking horrible! To make a looonnng story short, we ended up leaving Kentucky around 2 hours later than we wanted, and didn't get home till around 6. To make matters worse, when we left Kentucky, it was beautiful weather, just a lil tad nippy if you didn't have on a jacket, when we arrived in Indiana? Well, it was around 32, and freezing! Such is life! But all in all it was a good, fun, trip! I can't wait till I can go again!

A really pretty bridge with a train!!!

Lady.....

Lady and I at Thanksgiving!

 

 

Funny story! When Sam and I went down to KY at Thanksgiving, we took a small puppy with us to give to Sam's parents. Lady is their dog, but somehow she thinks she's mine :) Mom Nelson says that when I call and they put me on speakerphone, Lady is looking all around trying to find me. She also told me that the other day, she was playing a video clip that I had posted which I was talking on, and Lady went running through the house trying to find me. Such fun! I'm so glad I get to see her this weekend, but not only see her, but see Mom and Dad Nelson and David too! Not to mention going shopping at some of my favorite flea-markets! I'm so excited! I'll try to post more pictures of 'my' growing puppy next week! Oh, and next week is Spirit Week here at school, so stay posted for some crazy pictures!! 

The Storm "Revisited"

This is just a little something I wrote back in 2005, and revised in 2006. Since we just had another Ice Storm, I thought I'd pull it out and share with you all.


It is amazing how God can take an inanimate object and turn it into a thing of beauty. In January 2005 we had an ice storm. The trees were coated with ice. What was once a dead and lifeless looking tree, now glowed and sparkled with light. Where just a few hours before a dark forest stood, with grasping arms reaching toward the sky, an enchanted woods now stands. Tall sentinels stand, encased in glittering splendor. Tiny shrubs are turned into a blaze of shimmering light. With one touch of the Master’s hand, something that once looked ugly -- a tree devoid of leaves -- turns into a thing of beauty that not even the finest painter on earth can recreate. If God does such beautiful work on trees, how much more beautiful and like Him can He mold us? Those trees did not look up to Him and ask “Why did you encase us in ice? It is cold and wet, and it is making some of our branches crack. This is not fair, why do I have to endure the pain?” We would think that asking God such questions would be silly, but we see the bigger picture. Yes the ice is cold, and yes the branches crack, but oh the beauty when the sunlight falls on the ice encased trees. The light and beauty make up for the cold feeling they had before. Just as the sun lit up the trees and turned their sorrow into beauty, the Son of God wants to shine upon us and turn our sorrows, our pain, our loneliness, our disappointment, and our confusion into a wonderful display of God’s amazing Grace. Just as the tree is made into a thing of beauty by suffering through the storm, the storms we face in this life have a purpose. Trust Him, He knows the beauty that will follow the storm.
1/2005 Revised 6/3/2006 JRH

Memories

The pictures that I posted earlier were pictures of my most recent cookie baking experience. Later that evening after all the baking and taste-testing was done, I was inundated with memories of my Daddy. I was taught how to bake cookies by my Daddy. As I was baking I could almost hear his voice in my head telling me how to mix the dough in my hands and how to roll it out and how thick the dough should be. I can hardly believe that this May will be 10 years since my Daddy went to be with Jesus.  Sometimes this sadness can overwhelm me..., but I know that my Daddy is with Jesus and I know that I will see him again. So baking cookies is a trip down memory lane for me.... but I will have to say that it's a yummy trip!

A pan... The dough.... In the oven.... Add the chocolate.... Yummmm!!!!! ;)