Violation

In all four of my years here at Anderson, I've always passed all of the "Health and Safety Inspections" (read: alcohol checks), but today, I came back from work to find this:

That awesome paper chain I made the other day is a hazard to both my health and my safety, so it had to come down to the wall. ;-)

The Remedy.

This is What Cute Looks Like

Look at this and tell me you've seen something cuter:
That's Orion, age 8!!! (can you believe it?!)

Eager

I'm getting pretty eager to be done with school. Last week I had thoughts of going to grad school...feeling thankful that those thoughts were fleeting, because I'm getting to that burned out stage. Let the countdown begin...with the help of a paper chain.

There are 96 links...one for every day until graduation (May 2). The black ones are for the notable days: start of spring break/day I take my LEED exam (46 days), my senior review (80 days), and of course, graduation.

I just finished reading Memo to the President Elect by Madeline Albright. She had some thoughts I found quite appropriate for today, Inauguration Day.

"Our sixteenth and greatest president did not suffer from lack of advice. Since he was thought by so many to be unfit for the office , he was lectured at--in print, at public meetings, even ridiculed to his face. Everyone, it seemed knew better than he how to win the war, reunited the nation, and handle the question of slavery. The story is told that after one especially condescending harangue, delivered with fault-finding zeal by a delegation of New England clergymen, Lincoln asked quietly: "Gentlemen, do you remember that a few years ago a man named Blondin walked across a tightrope stretched over the falls of Niagara?" The men nodded their heads, so Lincoln continued:
Suppose that all the material values in this great country of ours, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, its wealth, its prosperity, its achievements in the present and its hopes for the future--could all have been concentrated and given to Blondin to carry over that awful cross and that their preservation should have depended on his ability to somehow get them across to the other side--and suppose that everything you yourself held dearest in the world, the safety of your family, and the security of your home, also depended upon his crossing?
And suppose you had been on the shore when he was going over, as he was carefully feeling his way along and balancing his pole with all his skill, proceeding with slow, cautious steady steps over the thundering abyss. What would you have done? Would you have begun to shake the cable and shout at him, "Blondin! stand up a little straighter! Blondin! stoop a little more; go a little faster; lean more to the south! Now lean a little more to the north!" Or would you have stood there speechless and held your breath and prayed to the Almighty to guide and help him safely through the trial?

...So God bless you, Mr. President, and keep you and guide you, and help you."

Kids Love Their Mucus

I work with the 2-3 year olds at church and they are constantly bringing me joy when they say hilarious things. A couple months ago, I had a girl lick her tissue after she blew her nose. This week, we upped the ante.

I had a little boy in my class tonight named Rockford. He was kind of chubby, huge eyes as deep as the ocean, and super rosy cheeks. He was adorable. We were sitting there during "small group" and I'm looking at him because he had just wiped his nose on his sleeve and was now licking it like it was a sucker or something. It never even occured to me to get him a tissue. The whole time I was thinking Oh my gosh...kid's love their mucus. This is a really weird innate human behavior. Then he looks up at me with those adorable bigs eyes and says "Can you get me a tissue?" And I was thinking...you don't need one. You've already wiped your nose and removed the evidence!

Oh, kids...they are hilarious.

This is What Cold Looks Like

We've had a couple of what I'll call "Colorado cold" days here in the last week. 17 degrees in the morning and a 30 degree wind chill. Brrr, huh?


This is what I saw on my run this morning:

Look at the diagonal one. What an overachiever.

I have to admit, I get a little prideful about the cold I've experienced. People are like "the fountains are frozen!" and I just think to myself...um, I've had snotsicles before, so...

That was gross and pretty unnecessary, so sorry.

On My Mind...

I'm developing a habit of keeping a stack of index cards with verses pertaining to whatever is on my mind during a certain "season" of my life. During this season, I'm trying hard to trust that God has a plan for my future, but not knowing what that plan is is absolutely wearing on my mind. I'm convinced that if I will replace my own thoughts with God's truth, I'll believe Him and His promises more. So, here's a few verses from my stack that I am absolutely wearing out:

• O, LORD God Almighty! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, LORD? Faithfulness is your very character. Psalm 89:8

I can cry out "no one!" to that question. As I look back, I can remember the Lord's faithfulness and I know that He will be faithful once again.

• This I declare of the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety: he is my God and I am trusting him. Psalm 91:2
• The LORD your God will go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6b

I can be certain that wherever God has me in the future, He is already there, preparing the way for me.

A "Romper," if you will...

I really can't believe I'm posting this because this is definitely not a cute look for me...but I love these jammies because Mrs. Rentel made them for me. Mrs. Rentel has made these (or other jammies) for her girls since they were babies for Christmas. She's always said I was like a daughter to her...but I guess this year she really meant it...because guess who else got Christmas jammies!? Yep, me. It's really like an enormous onesie with a cleverly placed pocket. My dad laughed at me when he saw me wearing this and told me it was difficult to take me seriously. I can see that. What do you think?! Haha.
By the way, the jammies are made of three fabrics because each of the Rentel girls have theirs made of one of the fabrics. It's fun because I miss them a whole lot so this reminds me of them. :) Love them and love their mom for making this adorable thing!

My Prayers for the New Year

Here's what I'm praying for myself in the coming year:

• To destroy my perception of Christ, that I would believe Him for who He is, not who I've made Him to be and that I would always put Christ before Christianity.
• That I would see people as Jesus does and that my heart would break for the lost.
• That I would gain a vision for my future post graduation (in May) and that I would believe Him for provision wherever He has me (job, church body, friendships, meaningful relationships with co-workers, etc)
• To be reminded of where I was when Christ found me and be compelled by His grace to love others.
• For boldness to confess God's goodness with my lips to my family. That I would use my lips for good and not for evil.
• That I would fall in love afresh with God's word and that, in that, I would be able to discern His voice.
• That I would draw nearer to Christ completing His good work in me and that I would be satisfied in Him.

It would be a privilege to pray for you as well, just let me know how I might do that!