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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

…we celebrate the day.

My best inspiration comes to me just moments after sliding under the covers and plunking my weary head on the pillow. I feel so tired from the day, yet my mind cannot stop "talking". And so I babble to the LORD about the day behind and the day ahead, and I pray that each thought racing through my mind would be translated, by the Holy Spirit, into prayer and praise before His throne.

Many of these babbling prayer conversations include the request that I be inspired with practical mothering creativity that will enhance Jayden's and Zachary's understanding of God and all His amazing-ness.

Last week I was moved to begin a new morning ritual called 'Celebrate the Day'. Both my kids wake up long before the first glimmer of morning sun, and so we typically begin our day hunkered down in the office quietly listening to praise music, drawing, and having our Quiet time.

But now as the sun begins to peek through the mountains we gather at the kitchen door to celebrate the new day. I crack the door just wide enough to let a bit of brisk air brush our cheeks and then I ask, "What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell?"

Zachary responds immediately in his deep man voice with warbled words of excitement. Often Jayden is quiet or tells me to answer the questions. But one day she took a deep breath and exhaled a most beautiful reply. She said "I smell precious sky."


The picture above is from that morning and I do believe it is very precious…that God made us a brand new morning simmering with an orange horizon and a sky lined with clouds eager to kiss the warm rays of the sun.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

...Thursday means fellowship with Aimee!

About a month ago I invited my dear friend Aimee to join me in a Beth Moore Bible Study called "Stepping Up. a journey through the Psalms of Ascent." I hated being on 'summer vacation' from my regular Women's Bible Study through EV Free and had prayerfully decided to plop down some bux and buy the complete DVD study online (http://www.lifeway.com/) in hopes that someone I knew would get excited about doing it with me.
My mom joyfully 'signed up', but the few friends I mentioned it to seemed disinterested. And then Aimee called and voiced the same eagerness to be in a study that would force her to dig deep every day into God's Word, and move her to the next step in her relationship with the LORD. So every Thursday from 9:30-11:30 we hunker down in my office to sip tea, and nibble on a quiche or other breakfast yummy while we share what we learned throughout the week or watch a video of Beth's on-fire and rich teaching. While we hang out, my neighbor and fabulous sitter, Unjalee, hangs out with Zachary and Taryn (Jayden has preschool).
This time together has become our absolute favorite hours of the week and is radically changing our hearts, minds and souls. We are amazed at how little we knew about these familiar Psalms (120-134) and their relevance to our pilgrimage as New Testament believers; and we are ecstatic to discover how God will change us through our time in His Word and with each other.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

..we pulled it off! part 1

On September 21st my 2 brothers, sister-in-law, husband and I successfully surprised my parents with a party to celebrate their 40th anniversary! All the months of planning and tightly zipped lips (so hard for me because I chit chat with my mom about everything ---especially party planning!) saw their fruition in the flabbergasted expression of my dad, and my mom's ecstatic beaming grin at the sight of very dear lifelong friends all gathered to commemorate their marriage.

The Sunday began with a series of decoy activites because they had gotten wind that we were concocting secretive plans. So the brothers and I came up with a full day of doings that would culminate with a lovely dinner and scavenger hunt in hopes that they would expect no further surprise.

Bright and early on the 21st Andrew drove Mom and Dad to Long Beach to meet Marty and I for a French Mediterranean breakfast at La Creperie on 2nd street. After our Parisian yummies we walked along the quaint streets and then headed to church at First Baptist Lakewood where Andrew directs the worship most Sundays. After the service we skedaddled back to Encinitas to meet up with John and Kelly and get ready for an early dinner. I had made reservations at their favorite Italian restaurant called Viggilucci's. They knew we were taking them to eat, but were convinced that it was the party and nervously expected something of a surprise when they walked in. This video shows the relief my dad felt when we told him "this is it, sorry to disappoint you, but it's just us".


Towards the end of the meal we presented the surprise scavenger hunt we had created for further diversion, and to allow us time to set up the party venue. We had drafted a series of clues that would lead them to various "memory spots" of their early life together. They were to drive to each location and take a cellular photo of themselves and text it to us and then we'd text back the next clue. The final clue brought them to Seacoast Community church where 60 of their friends had lovingly gathered in their honor.Here are a couple of the clues, answer locations and the pictures they were able to snap:


" Years 1966-1968; any given Wednesday. A single silver dollar for a full spaghetti meal. Self-snap a 40-yr kiss in front of the former site." :: The Courthouse Restaurant (La Jolla) ::
"Years 1968-1977. Ten-cent cream & a seminal frijole recipe feed the start of a new family together in a surfer's paradise of numbered streets. Get us both a Grey pic & a sugar cone snap at the former site." : The Grey House (Del Mar) :


My Backyard Sunrise