A Critical Distinction

From my reading this morning... 

"All sorts of people are fond of repeating the Christian statement that 'God is Love.' But they seem not to notice that the words 'God is love' have no real meaning unless God contains at least two Persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love. Of course, what these people mean when they say that God is love is often something quite different: they really mean 'Love is God'. They really mean that our feelings of love, however and wherever they arise, and whatever results they produce, are to be treated with great respect. Perhaps they are: but that is something quite different from what Christians mean by the statement 'God is love.' They believe that the living, dynamic activity of love has been going on in God forever and has created everything else.  And that, by the way, is perhaps the most important difference between Christianity and all other religions: that in Christianity God is not a static thing - not even a person- but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance."

-C. S. Lewis

From Mere Christianity

Honeymoons never end...

Here's to getting snowed in together and living as though we were stranded in the middle of nowhere... 

It's February. And I officially love this month. (I count off on my kid's essays for starting sentences with "And." oh well. 6th graders don't read blogs)
Anyways.... We, like almost everyone in America, were snowed in for five days of the past two weeks. I kept hearing of people getting stir crazy and suffering from cabin fever.... which baffles me. Jody and I loved every second of our lazy, sluggish, fat, wonderful, splendid, cabin days and would have LOVED for them to be continued. Coffee shops, reading, Scrabble and Yahtzee consumed our time, as well as hours cuddled up with reruns of Friends and Mad Men. Pretty sure teachers heart snow days more than their students...

 A glimpse into our little "vacation"... The pic of me is in no way an attempt to be artistic. I had just gotten hit by a huge snow ball by the person in the next picture. He's so sweet...

Snow ice cream, eggs benedict, spiced cider, and eating in bed! ... Also, the superbowl McDonald's special 50 piece nuggets. Don't judge.
Snow days, I love you.

I have to say, I was a little bit excited to see my kids back in Coppell...

Nostalgia...

Is it awful that I started a gigantic countdown to Summer?? Don't answer that. Every day in my planner is marked with a wonderful number, meaning I am one day closer to sweet summertime. Snow days are through. I'm tired of the cold weather and wishing for summer days like these...

Christmas craziness

This is a little a lot late, but I have some extra time during these two wonderful snow days in Dallas, so here is our Christmas in pictures:

Every. Single. Morning. You will find my husband's hair looking this lovely.

Beautiful Mollie and Kalee

Greatest family in the world... I'm serious.

Christmas afternoon with my love

It had been too long since my entire family had been together, so we soaked up every minute!! My sister Kalee is living in St. Louis right now (with a job she loves), and my brother Bryan is in the Marines, and well, not in Texas a ton either. Basically, the days couldn't go by slow enough. We played basketball,  watched movies, ate way too much, and had a blast finally being all together.

Barrett is everybody's favorite sibling. And we are all ok admitting it. He's just the best.

And then I turned 25. My older Bryan was in Dallas and flew out on my birthday for Embassy Duty training, so I had to say by to him for a good 2 years!!! It was sad. Very sad. Not a good birthday present... but I'm so excited for him. He finds out in about a week what country he'll be living in for the next year. 

Then I got to have dinner with some of my favorites at Tillman's, and it cheered me up :) So did the smore deserts. So did the scarf that Ashley knit me for my bday.

Happy snow day everyone!!

Every Season

I heard this song on the radio the other day, and for whatever reason it struck a cord within me. It could be the clever words, beautiful melody, or the sweet memories that came back to me when I heard it,  but it got me thinking... It's such a rich analogy of our lives - quickly going through season after season, some wonderfully full of celebration, and joy, while others bringing change, heartache and growth. All purposed. All planned.  Just as He orchestrates every intricate detail in the aesthetic change from winter to spring, so He also beautifully arranges the components of my life, providing purpose for each season though I may not see it now.

 I believe this is true, because I believe scripture to be true.
"For by Him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, - all things were created THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM. HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER." -Colossians 1:16-17


Through this song, my heart was stirred and I saw sweet glimpses of the Lord. Pursuing us with his creation, begging us to see his beauty and perfection through it... Giving me this life of change, growth, friendship that I may see the beauty in Him working through it. (Thankfully, even through my failures).

New York and Four Texas Ladies...

One of my biggest wishes for a long time has been to travel to New York City. I'll admit, it's a place I would never desire to live but the idea of spending a few wishful days there was always captivating to me... and something I didn't think would be realistic for a very long time. Then Grace happened. Grace is one of my friends who is such a go getter. She's not one to flippantly throw around ideas hoping they might turn out. Unlike me, Grace makes. it. happen.
I went to Colorado with Grace and two of our other girlfriends, Kelsey and Rachel this summer, and we decided that we liked being around each other quite a bit and the four of us should get together for another tryst soon. I was thinking maybe Abilene, Dallas or Austin? Of course, Grace was thinking bigger...New York City. Although all of us acted excited about the idea, in our minds we were thinking...$$$....??? Not going to happen.
Soon enough, Grace found us crazy cheap flights, a place to stay, and there was no saying no.

On our first night in New York City... Hot dog, dinner, desert, late night pizza = perfection.

My first New York Broadway show... I loved it just as much as everyone said I would.







We are all one year apart, and have a unique connection... Grace and Kelsey were best friends in High school (in Abilene), Kelsey and I played basketball together at ACU, and Grace and I became good friends through Kelsey. Rachel comes in the picture when she marries our friend... (my second cousin, Grace's friend from high school and Kelsey's husband's best friend from high school) Confused yet? It just works...


We have a blast every minute we get to spend together. Love this little group so much.

 These are some of the most uplifting girls I know. Our time together is always full of laughter. I'm so blessed by them.

Grace texted me yesterday and said she wanted to look up cruise prices....

Amazing Love, How Can It Be?

Something worth your read:

"When Christianity says that God loves man, it means that God loves man: not that He has some 'disinterested', because really indifferent, concern for our welfare, but that, in awful and surprising truth, that we are the objects of His love. You asked for a loving God: you have one. The great spirit you so lightly invoked, the 'lord of terrible aspect', is present: not a senile benevolence that drowsily wishes you to be happy in your own way, not that cold philanthropy of a conscientious magistrate, nor the care of a host who feels responsible for the comfort of his guests, but the consuming fire Himself, the Love that made the worlds, persistent as the artist's love for his work, provident and venerable as a father's love for a child, jealous, inexorable, exacting as love between two sexes. How this should be, I do not know: it passes reason to explain why any creatures such as we, should have a value so prodigious in their Creator's eyes. It is certainly a burden of glory not only beyond our deserts but also, except in rare moments of grace, beyond our desiring; we are inclined, like the maidens in the old play, to deprecate the love of Zeus. But the fact seems unquestionable."

-C. S. Lewis

from The Problem of Pain