Thursday, December 2, 2010

THANKSGIVING


Thanksgiving,

What an awesome time of year you are in. We have the awesome crisp air to breath in boots to wear and scarves to adorn our necks. I am a big fan. I would also like to mention the amazing additive of pumpkin to any and every dish. I should also give a big shout out to all the spices that actually give pumpkin the spice it needs to be so amazingly flavorful! We cannot forget about sweet potato pie and sweet potato casserole. Yum! The food is an also an amazing part of Thanksgiving. I think we would all agree on that as well.

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is always family and friends. This is by far the best part for me. With out family and friends none of the other attributes that come with Thanksgiving would bring me so much joy.

That is why I write today. This Thanksgiving I was so thankful for my family and friends......though most of them were not in my presence they were in my thoughts more than ever. I love thanksgiving with my family. As crazy as we can be it just feels good to be all together. Yes, there may be loud voices and the smell of cigarettes which by the way I HATE. It may be hectic and crazy with over drinking family members and kids running around and sometimes arguing. None of us are perfect and we are all very different but together we are family and it is beautiful. So, I'm not going to say I missed the smokey smell that lingers on my clothes and hair for days and all the drama that can come with the reuniting of family but I will say that I would have rather had it than not. ;) Thank you Lord for family and not just any family but the beautiful and colorful family you gave me!!!

Dear Family,
I love you and I miss you. I love that we are so close and make a big deal out of a special day. I have a lot to be thankful for but your are by far first on my list!

Thankful we will be all together next year!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Distance makes the heart grow fonder


We all know the saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder".

I can say that right now being thousands of miles away from some of the most important people in my life this rings very true in my life.

My heart was so blessed a few days ago by a note I was tagged in on facebook. It was a conversation that my nephew Korben was involved in. He is only six and he has no idea what his precious thoughts and words meant to me but they were such a blessing. (Thank you so much Janet for sharing them with me )

Korbens conversation with Mom Janet:

After dinner tonight we were sitting at the table talking and Korben (who just turned 6) says......."Mom, why don't you give me money?" If you want me to give you money you have to do chores for it? "What's chores?" Feed the dog, give her water, keep your room clean, stuff like that. " Oh, OK" ( as he's filling the dog's food bowl). I'll water her so you don't spill it. "No I can" (as he drips water across the kitchen). Fills it half full and takes it back (dripping all the way.) Gets the towel and cleans it up too!). "What else?" You done with your plate? "Yep." (Takes the plate, rinses it, AND puts it in the dishwasher.) By the time we were done talking about chores the kitchen was done! Korben, what are you going to do with your money? "Put it in my bank and save it." Good deal, what are you going to buy with it? "I want to save it so we can go to Arizona so I can see Aunt Amber." GAVE HIM A DOLLAR!

I KNOW!!!! How precious is that?!?! I love my nephew and how beautiful it is that he would want to spend his hard earned money to come and see me. I hope that when he is a teenager he still feels the same way ;)

So first off, I need to thank God for the blessing and how He loves us through people. I know that was God himself loving me through Korben. It was a love letter straight from God himself.

All day I have been thinking about the whole idea of how distance makes the heart grow fonder and how I miss my friends and family so much. Then it dawned on me how much I miss the Lord. I know, I know, your thinking He is always with me but what you don't know as that I am not always "being" in His presence.
I don't know about you but I don't want distance from the Lord to make my heart grow fonder. I want sitting in his lap everyday to make my heart grow fonder. There is something about tasting the Lords goodness. Once you have, it is never satisfying to be distant. Something is always eating away at you. Something always feels as if it is missing. Life is just a little off beat.

I asked myself today. DO you think the Lord needs a love letter from you? A reminder of how much I miss him too? Just as I was blessed by knowing how much my nephew misses me I think the Lord wants that from me as well.

He wants me to save up all my "dollars" to spend time with him. ;)
This is so juvenile and simple, I know.

But sometimes that's what we need. A "simple" reminder.

May we sit with the Lord daily and listen to Him as He speaks. May we give him all our "dollars" or time or whatever it is he wants from us.

Thank you Father

and thank you Korben!

Blessings, from another child <3

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Away We Went....

On August 16th my husband and I set out on a venture to our new home in AZ. Rather then go straight to AZ we thought it to be a much better idea to use this as an opportunity to travel some of the states on our way (or out of our way) there. The idea of this traveling adventure was yes, to see some of our own country but more so just to see some people that we both love.

The hardest thing about this trip was knowing that YES we were about to see a lot of people we care about but in doing so we were about to leave some people that we love very much and have been sharing our life with. It would be an understatement to say that it was very difficult to say goodbye. But we did it....we shared a few more days together and we did it. We said good bye or what I like to say "see ya later" and away we went.

You see, we moved to Lynchburg VA. after we got married because some of my very best friends live in that town and I wanted to share my life with them for a few more years before leaving the states again. Greg was going to go to a culinary school that was starting in the fall and it was the "perfect" plan. Well, if you too are living this great life in hopes to honor and glorify God with your life and to be obedient no matter the cost....(which I fail at time and again) you also know that many if not most of the time your plans seem to change. Well, that's exactly what happened. God told Greg to go to AZ and with a hesitant wife he was patient in the planning. But finally this stubborn girl let go of her fears and said yes.(that's a whole different blog)

So here we are. We are now in AZ. We have been here for about 3 weeks and I am more out of my comfort zone than possibly when I spent time in the Middle East. With that said I have a lot of free time on my hands. Time that I honestly don't know what to do with half of the time. So in the spirit of deciding its time to do all(or some) of the things that God had been telling me to do for A VERY LONG TIME. I decided it was time to start "that" Blog. A little late yes, but started none the less.

So for the next few blogs I will catch you up on some travels that we took as well as some lessons along the way. Be patient dear reader for I have a lot to say and well a lot of time to say it all. ;)

Love and Blessings