i am captivated by You, Lord

What can I say?
The last week and a half has been filled with "mountain top" experiences.

The Sr High youth retreat was intense and life-changing. We talked about what things hold us back and cause us to keep living as lukewarm Christians. One thing that was convicting for me was how I often live with limits. For example, I will only give so much of my time and energy to a person or a cause and if they take that forgranted, I tend to emotionally pull back. Partly, I think it's healthy to have boundaries and not let people walk all over me; but I'm still trying to figure out what that means. How much of my time and energy comes from my own strength which is why I run dry; and how much comes from the Lord's storehouses which overflow in abundance with love and energy for others?
Then we talked about the things that we are called to be as Christians. My life should be characterized by being crazy in love with the Lord. The Lord wants to pour on others through us His passion, love, truth, strength, grace and mercy. He wants our hearts to most desire His kingdom above our own life. To pour out every hint of self and be filled up with more & more of Him. This is Crazy Love.

After the retreat, I jumped on a plane headed for San Diego, CA for a little r&r with my friend Caitlin. We saw so much that my brain had a hard time recalling everything at the end of the day. There were so many new sights. The various views left me feeling breathless. Interestingly, her pastor/elder at Kaleo Church talked about how we as humans are glory starved and we try to seek that out going places and doing things. That sense of inspiration and awe you feel when you are staring in the Grand Canyon is glory. As humans, we are so designed to eminate glory to the Lord, but sadly, we try to fill it with these other glory snatching moments. This is the example he used: "Nobody goes to the Grand Canyon to look out over the magnificant view and think 'Wow, I am so great! This canyon reminds me of my stunning eye color.' We go there to see the glory of God and be left speechless by the beauty of our Creator. We look outside of ourselves." I have been chewing on that thought this week.

If you wanna see some more pictures, you can visit my facebook page. I also have a few fun stories to share.

Some Highlights from San Diego, California

Baby in uterus

- A little depiction of my work at New Life

Sushi at Sunset

Laying on the beach...soaking in the sun

Reunion with an old friend (Kelli Gallagher and her hubbie)

Climbing the waterfall with Melat


Me and Caitlin at the Oscars

young @ heart

I really want to post this video, but I don't know how to do it.
So click on the link if you wanna hear it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDxMQaMqsig

Speaking of Young @ Heart, my sister let me borrow a DVD documentary by that name and it made me chuckle. It's all about a group of elderly people (averaging about 80 years old) who are part of a choir in Massachusetts. It becomes the thing they look forward to in each day. I really like the frisky old lady. I hope to be that peppy when I reach 80.

strained optimism

"When a man plans, God smiles at us because He sees a much greater plan than we can imagine."

- quote from Bethany Christian Services magazine

this week's little joys

i am low on my hug quota.
I'm not really a touchy person in general, but occasionally I know my hug quota is low when I feel inclined to hug a sad cashier or small pet with smelly breath or store manikin. This is when I open my arms big & wide at youth group and share the need with high school girls. They usually jump in and help out in a pinch. This is one of many reasons why I love them.

judie says hi.
I was reading a Life magazine for work and a nice lady's portrait smiled at me from the pages of the magazine. I don't know why, but I felt a connection with the classy lady with a typical curled 'do. I felt compelled to cut her out. Now she smiles across the desk at me when I answer the phone.

dishes are still evil.
When I was a young lassie growing up in the 'burg, mom would often threaten me with choosing one of two tasks to accomplish after homework: practicing piano OR doing the dishes. As much as I hated practicing, dishes were always the worst evil. Now I find myself doing the dishes at least once a day, if not twice. I hate this about not having a mom around. Mom's are excellent dish washers. Sometimes I use my knee as a plate just so I have one less dish to wash. After all, laundry is much more fun than dishes.

the tank top with hearts.
I found a spaghetti strap tank top at Ragstock the other day. It has little red hearts all over it. Its great lounge wear in my 75 degree 2-room apt, excellent to exercise in, and comfy to sleep in. Lets be clear about one thing- I don't typically like things with hearts (Sorry, dad), but this tank top is pretty great.