Mad About...

Interior Decorating

If I could have any job in the world, it would be to be a wife and mom. But considering I'm not in control of that, teaching assisting is wonderful! I really do enjoy teaching this year. I'm growing more and more convinced that I would like to stick with it. The little Kindergarteners have stolen my heart!

That said, if I wasn't a teacher, I think it would be a blast to be an interior decorator. The great thing about interior decorating though, is that anyone can do it for fun...in their own home or room! ;) And I get to redecorate my old room again! When I moved out and lived with some friends for awhile, Dany moved into my old room upstairs. When I moved back, I converted the sewing room/den downstairs into a bedroom. I took most of what I had in my room at the Valley house and stuffed it in there, and painted the back wall...what else? Red!

Here's some pics of my current room downstairs:











Well, this little room has served me well, but it's time to move on. Dany is getting married on December 28th and so she and Thomas are flying to Germany on the 18th. That means my old room upstairs is free. I contemplated staying downstairs, but I absolutely love my window upstairs! It has a beautiful tree right in front of it, giving the feel of living in a tree house...and it has a ledge wide enough to be a window seat. Perfect for reading! In addition, how can I pass up the chance to decorate a room again?!

So right now, I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I love red, but it's time for a new shade. I think I'm going to paint the back wall a bright blue/tealish color...move my black rolltop desk up there...maybe use one of my larger paintings that Amber gave me as a headboard, and besides that...the sky's the limit!

Here are some pics I found as inspiration online:






The pic of the mirror and little dresser are to prove to my mom that teal and black work together.



Tell me what you think about the above wall color. Now mind you, it would just be my back wall...a small wall. My mom LOATHES the idea. :(

And to finish off; some pretty knobs for my dresser:







Yay for decorating!

Thankful

"The gifts of grace are not enjoyed all at once by believers. Coming to Christ we are saved by a true union with Him, but it is by abiding in that union that we further receive the purity, the joy, the power and the blessedness that are stored up in Christ for His people. See how our Lord states this when He speaks to the believing Jews in the eighth chapter of John: 'Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye coninue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' (vss. 31-33).
"We do not know all the truth at once: we learn it by abiding in Jesus. Perseverance in grace is an educational process by which we learn the truth fully. The emancipating power of that truth is also gradually perceived and enjoyed. 'The truth shall make you free.' One bond after another snaps, and we are free indeed. You who are beginners in the divine life may be cheered to know that there is something better still for you: you have not yet received the full reward of your faith. You shall have happier views of heavenly things as you climb the hill of spiritual experience. As you abide in Christ you shall have firmer confidence, richer joy, greater stability, more communion with Jesus, and greater delight in the Lord your God. As physical infancy is beset with many evils from which adulthood is exempt, so it is in the spiritual world.
"...You have to live with Christ to know Him, and the longer you live with Him, the more you will admire and adore Him. Yes, and the more you will receive from Him, even grace for grace...Oh that we may continue to grow up into Him in all things who is our Head and prize Him more and more!" - Charles Spurgeon

Yesterday, I think everyone in our family was dreading the point at which we would go around the table and thank God for the ways He has blessed each one of us this year. It may be a bit of a cliche thing to do, especially considering that we should be thankful all of the time, but nonetheless, I enjoy hearing the hearts of each member of my family. Not many other occasions afford such an opportunity. But anyways, like I was saying, things were a little different this year. We all knew it would be a particularly emotional time. How do you thank God for your dad's death? It sounds wrong to say so, but I think that's because if it was up to us, we wouldn't have chosen it. However, he's in Heaven, with God! And although we miss him, we have the hope of seeing him again. So it was interesting to see, we often go on about the various aspects of our lives in which God has blessed us; job, home, etc...and while we are thankful for these things, as Jeremy put it, those are all the more obviously temporary in light of the ways God has shown us His love, protection, provision and ETERNITY this year. The section from Spurgeon above reflects what I have been learning through it all.

"Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation." Psalm 68:5

Mad About...

TARGET!

Or as it is properly pronounced...Tar-djay. That's kinda hard to type out phonetically. I pretty much call it that without fail and a couple of years ago my mom told me that my Grandma Shaw also called it that without fail -- only she seriously thought that's how it was meant to be said. :)

Anyway folks...think about it. Necklaces, purses, wedding presents, birthday presents, baby shower presents, eggs, milk, chocolate, make-up, shampoo and conditioner, tents, sleeping bags, paper, sweaters, opaque stockings, umbrellas, sunglasses, pillows, blankets, mp3 players, novels, sudoku, Starbucks, pasta, candles, cd's, wrapping paper, gum, underwear, cereal, pots, pans, mulch, tennis shoes, scarves, wallets, greeting cards, puzzles, bathing suits, Pizza Hut, nail polish, photo albums, Sudafed, Hello Kitty diaries, cacti, Burt's Bees products, clocks, storage bins, strollers, dvd players, hair straighteners, dog food...

Name me one other place where you can find such a pletheora of items under one roof.

A few other reason why I love the Bullseye:

- It's favorite color is red.
- I can ALWAYS count on seeing a friendly face. Even when I've just left the checkout line and think I made it through without seeing anyone I know, there Summer Paige will be opening the door. (I seriously used to run into Summer everywhere!)
- (I have this thing where when I'm making a list, I have to have at least three bullets.) But the whole post is about how I can find almost whatever I need at Target, so there you go.

I LOVE Target! But I won't marry it. Although I could get married in it...or not.

Mad About...

I have always enjoyed blogs in which the writers have a little special somethin' that they post weekly. For example, Lisa Martin has her www.wednesday.what? Girltalk has Friday Funnies. I enjoy things I can count on. So, I have decided (in keeping with my thankfulness theme) to post things that I am "mad about" on Fridays. Probably not every Friday...but I would like to be optimistic about it. Without further ado, today I'm Mad About...

CINNAMON!



I have recently decided that cinnamon makes almost anything taste better. I think I actually heard that in a movie a couple weeks ago. Although, I think they were talking about butter. But in my book, it's cinnamon. Cinnamon is delish! This might be the very reason why Cinnamon Toast Crunch is my favorite cereal, and maybe just maybe why I eat it every morning.
After I saw the movie Ratatouille for the first time, I had this overwhelming desire to start cooking. I wanted to come up with my own recipes or add secret ingredients to favorite meals in our house. I made a salad one night and added...you guessed it...cinnamon, and it really made a difference!
A few nights ago I went to Coldstone's with a friend and thought, why not add some cinnamon to my cake batter ice cream? Let's just say, it was dangerously delectable.
Have you ever added cinnamon to your coffeemaker before you started brewing? If you haven't, go ahead and try it. I doubt you will ever turn back.
All this to say, I'm thankful that God created cinnamon. In my opinion, its the best spice out there!

Retraction

Wow, here I said a few posts back that I would, EVERY time I post, list three things that I am thankful for and in the last three posts, I failed to do so once. So, to make up for it, here are some things I have been thankful for recently:

~ A short, relaxing vacation in San Diego with my Mom, Emily, and Erin. I particularly enjoyed swimming in the ocean for the first time this year, watching the surfers and the gorgeous waves at San Clemente on the way home, and for just a fun time hanging out with three amazing people!

~ A fresh reminder of where my dad is and most importantly, WHOM he is with. Is that right? Whom? or Who? I never know. It made me long to be with Jesus more.

~ I am still enjoying those Kindergarteners. They bring so many smiles to my face. I enjoy going to work each day.

~ God reminding me of how much I need to depend on Him alone.

~ Sisters and Mothers. I mean, I only have one of each obviously, but sisters and mothers are wonderful in general.

~ Cooler weather.

~ Becky and Hannah. They are so fun to work with! And drive to San Diego with! And yes I am ending my sentences with prepositions! Is that not grammatically correct?

San Diego

This past weekend I went to San Diego with some people I love! Here is a smattering of pictures I took. I could't stop, it was so beautiful there. Lately I have been obsessed with Alicia Bock's photography. Her pictures have a vintage feel. From what I can tell she likes to use a polaroid. Or else she gives her photos a polaroid feel. Either way I love the light, pastel colors in her photos and I must admit they influenced my editing of these shots.
The weekend was so nice and relaxing! A perfect chance to get away, think on God's power by watching and swimming in His mighty waves and to look at His dazzingly beautiful creation! He is so awesome and I long to see the Creator face to face!

Surfer Em

I LOVE my cool sister!

Dany and Thomas

As I have said in the past, I am by no means a great photographer, but I have always loved photography and enjoy any opportunity to practice. So I was extremely excited when Thomas agreed to Dany's plan for me to take their engagement pictures.
Dany is from Germany and I first got to know her eight years ago when she came here to live with us my senior year of high school. Dany wanted to live with a Christian family with daughters that went to a public school. So, our family was a perfect fit. I was devastated when Dany went back home because I felt that she had become a sister to Emily and me. Thankfully, God provided for her to come to Master's two or three years later. She would stay with us over summer breaks and she has been living with us again since she started the teaching credential program. She now teaches German to Kindergarteners!
Dany and Thomas met at Master's and started dating over two years ago. Thomas is from Zimbabwe and they plan on going there after he finishes seminary at TMS. They are getting married in December, most likely in Germany. I'm still attempting to make it there, but we'll see.
Dany and Thomas are both very kind and humble people. I learn so much from their gentle spirits and I am SO GLAD that God has brought them together and has allowed them to get married!
Here are the pictures. I promise this is not becoming a photography blog. I feel ridiculously pretentious enough posting these. :)

Direction

I recently noticed that my frequency in blog posting has significantly decreased within the last few months. There are various reasons why this is the case, but one of them is the fact that there is not much direction or point to this ol' blog. Not that every blog has to have a main focus, but still, as I was reminded today at church, we are to do ALL to the glory of God, and this little blog is no exception.
So, I was doing some thinking. I don't think I ever explained the title of my blog. I guess it's pretty self explanatory, but for those of you who may not know, a "red letter day" is one to celebrate. As believers, every day is one of celebration because we have been saved! Christ has risen and is ALIVE and is preparing a place for us. No matter the trial, no matter the circumstance, we have much reason to celebrate.
So from here on out, I plan to have this blog be a reminder to myself and to you that we have much reason to rejoice. I'm going to start out with listing a minimum of three things I am thankful for each time I post. Whether it be major or minor. We have much to be thankful for.

Today in particular, I thank God that/for:

1) He has blessed Becky and me with a relatively obedient group of kids this year. These Kindergarteners seem excited about school, they are sweet and of course, funnny. The older brother of one of the boys in our class came up and tapped me at night church to say hi and I was reminded of how much I enjoy them.

2) A chance to encourage a high schooler with some verses and some ways that God has provided for my mom and my sister and me. 1 Corinthians talks about comforting others with the comfort that we have from God and that verse was made more clear to me today.

3) A wonderful lunch at Egg Plantation with Megan, Jessica and Ashleigh. Jessica and Ashleigh are sophomores in high school. They bring much joy to my life with their quirky, fun humor and desire to grow to be more like Jesus! And who doesn't like a delicious Strawberry Cream cheese stuffed french toast! MMm MMM...!

Lately

I miss my dad. It's strange how life goes on and in one sense things get easier because I'm "getting used to it" and yet at the same time things get more difficult because its been a longer time that my dad has been gone and so I miss him more. I don't have the panic feeling because I know God is loving and sovereign. I hope that last statement doesn't go ignored just because it's something many Christians say all the time and it's a known fact. It's not just a familiar truth...it's INCREDIBLY true! So, knowing that, there is GREAT hope in all of this. That said...it's sinking in.
But if you want to know how to pray for me and my family, well, for me, please pray that I would joyfully serve my mom and demonstrate not just a service kind of love to her, but an affectionate love. The kind of love that will comfort her. I fail at this a lot.
Today is just one of those "sad" days as Emily calls them. Tomorrow is Sunday...a time to be surrounded by our large family, the church, which inevitably results in a "happy" day.
...boy...I'm sure starting to use quotation marks a lot...

I Am My Mother's Daughter? :)

I've heard a lot recently that I look like my Mom, especially after people saw pictures of her when she was younger at my Dad's memorial service. So, in being the nerd that I am, I experimented. Here are the pictures of her that I put in the slideshow and some recent ones of me. I don't know, you tell me.

The Wells

At my dad's memorial service I read a poem that he wrote long before he was ill with Valley Fever, about four years before he was married. I think it might have been before or right around the time he came to Grace.

A couple people requested that I post it somewhere, so here it is. It wasn't titled, so I gave it one. :)


The Wells

My soul is troubled, I do not see them!
My heart is full, but there is no release.

The end of my journey is near,
But my legs are weary from striving.
I would crawl if I could
But my hands burn on the dust of the ground.

My eyes are caked with dust and sweat.
Faith is my only hope.
Hands of the masters have ripped my clothes,
The sun scorches my skin.

The birds of the dead circle in the sky,
But still I seek for the living water.
But the heat of the world is so oppressive
That I long to return to its dust.

My body collapsed, my soul cried out,
“I can’t go on, I have to stop!”
My senses are numbed, my sight destroyed,
And I despair for all is lost.

The tears of my heart washed clean my eyes
And I beheld the wells at my side!
For I received the promise in ages past
That when all was lost, the wells I would find.
They were overflowing with the water I sought.
I had trusted in God, and He was sight.

Mike Taylor
April 21, 1979

Remembered

After my dad died, I remembered reading this a few years ago. It stuck out to me at the time when I read it and was the main section of the book that I learned from. Our memories definitely play an important role in our lives.

"A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered. You are speaking, Hman, as if the pleasure were one thing and the memory another. It is all one thing. The seroni could say it better than I say it now. Not better than I could say it in a poem. What you call remembering is the last part of the pleasure, as the crah is the last part of a poem. When you and I met, the meeting was over very shortly, it was nothing. Now it is growing something as we remember it. But still we know very little about it. What it will be when I remember it as I lie down to die, what it makes in me all my days till then - that is the real meeting. The other is only the beginning of it. You say you have poets in your world. Do they not teach you this?"
"Perhaps some of them do," said Ransom. "But even in a poem does a hross never long to hear one splendid line over again?"
...
"the poem is a good example. For the most splendid line becomes fully splendid only by means of all the lines after it; if you went back to it you would find it less splendid than you thought. You would kill it. I mean in a good poem."
...
"Undoubtedly," he said. "Maleldil made us so. How could there ever be enough to eat if everyone had twenty young? And how could we endure to live and let time pass if we were always crying for one day or one year to come back - if we did not know that every day in a life fills the whole life with expectation and memory and that these are that day?"

- C.S. Lewis Out of the Silent Planet

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, and ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

On Friday night at the hospital a group of us sang some hymns while my dad was in ICU. Someone chose to sing Great is Thy Faithfulness and I remembered that this is my Dad's favorite hymn. This was just one of the many little ways that God has showed His faithfulness to us in my Dad's death. And because of Christ we can say, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

A few weeks back I had noticed that God has been surrounding me with multiple friends who had lost one of their parents at a young age, a few were very recent. I started to wonder why this was the case. I believe it was just one of the ways God was preparing me for what was to come. What was to come in His perfect timing. My Dad had complications with the medicine he was on for Valley Fever and so it would be easy to question, "What if he had never entered the hospital?" and so on. But it was another blessing that God allowed Rick Holland (along with many others) to be there with us. He encouraged us on Friday night not to ask the what if's or why's, not to even allow our minds to go there, but to trust in God's perfect will. This helped me a lot while lying on the waiting room floor praying that God might let him live, but knowing it might be his time to go home. We didn't know that much about Valley Fever and we have no idea how hard it would have been for my Dad if he had kept on living.

I will miss my Dad terribly. Everyone keeps talking about his big, booming laugh. Definitely true. It embarrassed my Mom at the movies and Em and I used it as a means to find my parents at church after the service got out. I loved my Dad's sense of humor. Ever so often a bit cheesy...but he could handle teasing well. And Em and I teased him as he did us. He teased my Mom a lot too. Thinking of that brought me to tears the other day when my Mom said something that he would have totally teased her about. He loved sports and movies and road trips and spent a ton of time with us. I never ever felt neglected by my Dad. He was SUPER organized, he loved making lists and itineraries. Something that has helped us since he's been gone. He wasn't the most patient man but now he is! He's sinless now! And seeing my Savior's face!

Three things stuck out to me recently about how my Dad encouraged me spiritually. When my Grandma died he had me read 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 in the car while we were parked outside someone's house. On Sunday, the day after he died, John Rourke read this passage in church.

I remember we were in the "Sewing Room" (really the Den) in our house when he taught me about election. I don't know how it came up, but he explained how God loves everyone but He has chosen to love and save particular people.

When I doubted my salvation in high school he went over Hebrews 11 with me pointing out that we live by faith. We trust God and obey Him just like countless others did in that passage.

My Dad was a saved sinner. A wonderful father. I love him and rejoice that I will see him again someday, because my heavenly Father is most loving of all.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
"For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?"
"Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?"

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

My Dad

Well, I promised a blog update on Facebook for those who don't know what's going on with my dad. I don't know how many people actually read this thing...but here goes.
As some of you may know, about three years ago my dad picked up some nice little spores in the air (yes, Secret Garden fans, Colin did have something to worry about after all) that resulted in Valley Fever. I don't know much about the illness other than it effects people differently. He started getting terrible headaches while we were on our Christmas vacation in Oregon that year, so terrible that he we had to leave a tad early and he couldn't drive us home. The spores produced a disease (I hope I'm getting this somewhat right) called coxy. The coxy traveled to his brain and he ended up with meningitis. The doctors gave him medicine instructing him that he would be on it for the rest of his life, and that was that. The headaches went away and it seemed that all was well.
Well, a year or so later my dad started having back problems. He went to a few chiropractors but nothing seemed to be working. I had a suspicion that it might be related to the Valley Fever, but there was no evidence of this.
To make a long story short, the backaches eventually morphed into loss of feeling in my dad's legs and now he can barely walk. After many many months of doctor's visits, referrals and the like; the doctor's discovered that the backaches and the loss of feeling are all related to the coxy from the Valley Fever. The coxy moved to an area where no one expected, my dad's spine. Something, we found out, so rare that the doctors didn't even think of that as an option. And apparently, the medicine currently available does not reach the spine.
My mom asked the doctors if the coxy could possibly move up the spine and effect his arms. They don't know.
On Monday, my dad was admitted to the hospital for a week to ten days where he will be receiving medicine pretty much continually through an I.V. in an effort to stop...kill...do something to the coxy. We are praying for the best, but know the reality that it may not work and my dad may wind up in a wheelchair.
Let me tell ya, I don't feel too old. I did just turn a quarter of a century but I often, whether it's a good thing or not, feel like a kid. I don't FEEL like either of my parents are old enough to be experiencing something like this. My dad's not even 60 yet. Don't let the gray hair fool you! :0)
But age has never been a determining factor in trials.
If you're reading this and you don't know the Savior, I want to let you know that we're not questioning God's goodness. My sister and I were privileged to attend the Resolved Conference a couple of days ago and wow! God's timing is superb! We were able to hear wonderful messages from John Piper on the sovereignty of God; particularly over sin and it's effects. Already I've seen TREMENDOUS growth in my mom's trust in the Lord. I've been encouraged to see my dad's lack of complaint, especially since he's been in the hospital and found out he may wind up in a wheelchair. My dad has always been an active, hearty, loud-laughing man. It's WEIRD to think of him in a wheelchair, but he doesn't appear scared. We've already had the opportunity to tell my grandma, who does not understand why God is allowing this to happen to her "good" son, that GOD is good, and He is allowing this to happen for a very good reason(s). God has revealed my own sin to me and shown me much grace...my sister too.
We may have to move to a one story house, if I get married someday, my dad may be rolling me down the aisle, "The Office" style. :0) BUT, this place is not our home. We are all hopeful in our precious, infinitely loving Savior!
Thanks for praying!