Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Wisdom for Wednesdays

"Contentment is being able to enjoy the scenery when you are taking a detour."
 
-Gerald R. Payne

Saturday, November 23, 2013

7 Quick Takes [vol. 15]


So I thought maybe if I didn't put the word "Friday" in the title of this post, you guys might forget this is supposed to be a Friday post, not a Saturday one...but then I added in the picture logo and realized it's hopeless. I'm late. I'm cheating. It's Saturday and these are my quick takes.

 
--1--
 

I love these cozy Saturday mornings at home. Slept in (a rare occurrence), drank coffee like it was water in a desert, and just slowly enjoyed the morning with prayer, books, and pumpkin waffles. Four girlfriends came over last night for homemade pizza, visiting a nursing home with our pets, and then girl talk over hot chocolate until 1 in the morning. I'm always refreshed after being with such inspiring souls.

A, Me, and R

--2--
 
My roommate GOT MARRIED a month ago and moved to NORTH DAKOTA! Craziness. It feels like it happened so fast the reality still hasn't set in! We worked such different shifts, I think the adjustment has been easier than I anticipated. She worked 5pm-2am (poor girl) and I work 8am-5pm, so we didn't see each other very often even when we lived together. But still! I can't believe she's across the country now! I'll miss our random cooking nights, movie nights, and homemaking adventures. She and her husband are so cute together and very much in love. Pictures, you ask?
 
How sweet are they?!
 
--3--
 
I was looking for a new roommate (any takers??) but in the meantime, I've been rearranging...and I'm loving the extra space! I now have a craft and reading room, with a bookshelf, all my scrapbooking/cardmaking supplies, and a futon in it for any overnight guests. It's perfectly cozy and purposeful. I can't wait to make Christmas cards in it! (and be able to close the door on the mess until I'm finished with the project!) 
 
Bookshelf is where I'm standing, and there's a card table to the side for crafting

 
--4--
 
Second snow today. Just a dusting but very pretty to see the swirling snowflakes as they fell!
 
This was the first snow a few weeks ago
 
--5--
 

I saw a funny Facebook link on "dog shaming" pictures when your puppy misbehaves. So adorably funny! Since my Little Dog has episodes of misbehavior from time to time, I decided to try one out with him...and it didn't take long for him to provide the perfect opportunity. What do you think?
 
 
 
--6--
 
Road trip! A few weeks ago K. and I went to Holmes County, OH (Amish country, my friends!!) to visit our sweet friend L. We spent the night at her gorgeous home and then enjoyed a Saturday of shopping in the quaint town of Berlin, finishing it off at a yummy Amish restaurant. On Friday night, we had a little trouble and the 4 hour trip turned into a 5 hour trip due to *ahem* some navigator issues...(that would be me). In my defense, it is entirely mostly possibly probably not Mapquest's fault.
 
This is how their directions read:
 
Take interstate 75 South.                                    2.5 miles / total trip 50.5 miles
 
Now is it not completely understandable that I would accidentally see the 50 miles instead of the 2 miles and direct K. to drive 50 miles on interstate 75?
 
Well, that's what I did.
 
And so she happily set the trip tracker for 50 miles and we didn't begin to look for the exit until we were a good 45 miles past it! It's not a good thing when the gas station attendant looks at you blankly when you ask how far you are from your destination. ("Never heard of that town...")
 
All's well that ends well. (Right, K??) My kind, map-reading boyfriend answered the SOS phone call and got us back on track.
 
Mmmm...we love Amish peanut butter. Nevermind that it's comprised of five different types of sugar/sweeteners.
 
--7--
 
Last but not least, have a beautiful Thanksgiving. Families aren't perfect, turkeys overcook, and we can get lonely in a crowd of people...but there is always, always, always something to be thankful for. :) May our Lord bless you with a grateful heart, His abundance grace, and His unending love this week. I'm hugging you right now!







Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Wisdom for Wednesdays

Grace was in all her steps, heav'n in her eye,
In every gesture dignity and love.
 
-John Milton, poet

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Wisdom for Wednesdays

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through His grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word."
 
-2 Thess. 2:16-17

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Wisdom for Wednesdays

"Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

(emphasis mine)