I decided a trip to Ft. Worth was in order for Stephanie's birthday, so we headed out last Saturday for the zoo and then onto the symphony at Bass Hall that night. It was lots of fun!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Stephanie's new digs (by Dave)
This has been a long time coming, but we finally made it up to the Watermark offices this past Saturday to get Stephanie's new office (cubicle) cleaned up and organized. We spent some time rearranging the furniture and making things more user friendly.
This was my first time to see her new desk as well, so now I can close my eyes and visualize where she's at when I'm thinking of her!
I'm so proud of her and her pursuit of this new job. It will certainly require a new frame of mind as she won't be doing any accounting, but I am certain she'll do a great job.
This was my first time to see her new desk as well, so now I can close my eyes and visualize where she's at when I'm thinking of her!
I'm so proud of her and her pursuit of this new job. It will certainly require a new frame of mind as she won't be doing any accounting, but I am certain she'll do a great job.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
My Handy Man
I thought that I knew what I was getting when I married Dave, but it just keeps getting better and better and I could not be more blessed than I am to have him as my husband. One of the ways he blesses my life is through his giftedness as a "handy man". People that have known Dave for some time definitely know this about him. In fact, this last week at my new job, several guys asked me if Dave still did wood working and stuff...people know Dave as one of those guys. I anticipate my life being full of projects that I can brag about my husband...to get us started...
Yesterday morning my car took a bit longer than it should to start and after work it took 2 times of turning the key to get her going. Luckily it did start and I headed home. Like I do everyday as soon as I get into the car, I called Dave to let him know I was on my way. I told him about the car and he said just pull it into the garage half way...and within an hour of being home I had a new battery in my car and it was starting up good as new!!! I feel like the luckiest wife in the world. I love my handy man!
With in a few weeks of being married, Dave tackled my closet. Check out the before and after photos below. He did an amazing job and life is so much eaiser in the moring when I get up with my new closet! I love my handy man!
Yesterday morning my car took a bit longer than it should to start and after work it took 2 times of turning the key to get her going. Luckily it did start and I headed home. Like I do everyday as soon as I get into the car, I called Dave to let him know I was on my way. I told him about the car and he said just pull it into the garage half way...and within an hour of being home I had a new battery in my car and it was starting up good as new!!! I feel like the luckiest wife in the world. I love my handy man!
With in a few weeks of being married, Dave tackled my closet. Check out the before and after photos below. He did an amazing job and life is so much eaiser in the moring when I get up with my new closet! I love my handy man!
Friday, September 5, 2008
A Perfect Moment with Stephanie (by Dave)
I was just reading a post by Michael Hyatt where he talks about a recent perfect moment. What is a perfect moment you might ask without jumping over to read his post, well in summary it's a term Eugene O'Kelly defines in his book Chasing Daylight as:
"an experience with others when time stands still. It is a time full of the present, when the past is left behind and the future is set aside. It is a special time of focused attention and heightened awareness. Interruptions and distractions are consciously excluded. Cell phones are off. Hearts are wide open. All that matters is this moment, the people I am with and the conversation we are having now."
So that I immediately began to think "do I have any perfect moments" I could share. Of course my mind jumped immediately to my first date with Stephanie! The entire day leading up to that evening was full of much anticipation and thoughts of what I was going to say, but once we finally met it was just like Eugene describes as a perfect moment - time stood still, we were both fully present and focused on each other. We were very aware and there were no distractions, our hearts were open and all that really mattered was what was happening between us and nothing else. It was amazing! We spent 3hrs talking about our lives and intently sharing.
I'll always remember that evening and the time we had and how time seemed to stand still.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Remember the Hydrangea...
A few weeks before we got married we saw some pretty pink hydrangea at Lowe's and got them for the front porch. It was my way of "moving in" before I could actually move in :) The funny thing about that is that once I did move in I quit going in the front door and started parking in the garage. And just a few weeks later they were no longer getting water and attention since I was not passing by each day. What's the saying...out of sight out of mind? So much for my green thumb.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Learning to embrace
For most of my life, my mind and heart have been filled with lies like “God forgot about me or got distracted when creating me”. As far as I can really think back, I remember thinking I wasn’t good at anything. After all I was never MVP on my little league teams, never received High Point on the swim team, I did not make the drill team in high school, I wasn’t going to be a good Architect so I changed my major to become a CPA, but I couldn’t pass the exam. And I am fairly certain I never got first prize in anything I entered (at least that I should have because I did it on my own).
About two years ago when I began Celebrate Recovery at Watermark, I started to really see how this thinking was keeping me down and only feeding bad choices and my unhappy life. But I still could not shake this thought process even though I began to experience God more and more and began having a daily walk with Him.
Fortunately, God does not give up and He keeps moving in our lives if we surrender. In just the last few weeks I have begun to see victory over this battle in my mind. And I can say that’s been my belief for way too long! What my thick head and heart and attitude for that matter have believed for all these years is just plain lies. Sure, are the statements about the things I did not accomplish true? Yes. But do those facts define me? Do they have to mean that I am not good at anything? Maybe in certain circles (like professional baseball players or Olympic swimmers) they do, but not under the realms of believing God! The truth to all those things above is that just because I am not the best, does not mean that I can take swimming or softball as a hobby or even participate just for fun. After all, if it was in God’s plan for me to be an Olympic athlete I am sure he would have made that happen.
So my question is: why is it that we so often struggle with what other people think about us? Why is it so hard to embrace who we are in Christ?
There is no doubt that over the last few years I have grown to understand more about myself and have been growing to a place where I can express what I am learning. But it was not until the last few weeks that I could even hear what God was saying was unique and beautiful about me. Now, I am beginning to see the ways that he created me and how those ways are like Him. As He intended - the more that we study His word and the more that we walk with Him, the more we begin to know are ourselves.
All I can say about that is there is abundant freedom in believing and embracing what our Father says about us!! Can I get an AMEN!
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
About two years ago when I began Celebrate Recovery at Watermark, I started to really see how this thinking was keeping me down and only feeding bad choices and my unhappy life. But I still could not shake this thought process even though I began to experience God more and more and began having a daily walk with Him.
Fortunately, God does not give up and He keeps moving in our lives if we surrender. In just the last few weeks I have begun to see victory over this battle in my mind. And I can say that’s been my belief for way too long! What my thick head and heart and attitude for that matter have believed for all these years is just plain lies. Sure, are the statements about the things I did not accomplish true? Yes. But do those facts define me? Do they have to mean that I am not good at anything? Maybe in certain circles (like professional baseball players or Olympic swimmers) they do, but not under the realms of believing God! The truth to all those things above is that just because I am not the best, does not mean that I can take swimming or softball as a hobby or even participate just for fun. After all, if it was in God’s plan for me to be an Olympic athlete I am sure he would have made that happen.
So my question is: why is it that we so often struggle with what other people think about us? Why is it so hard to embrace who we are in Christ?
There is no doubt that over the last few years I have grown to understand more about myself and have been growing to a place where I can express what I am learning. But it was not until the last few weeks that I could even hear what God was saying was unique and beautiful about me. Now, I am beginning to see the ways that he created me and how those ways are like Him. As He intended - the more that we study His word and the more that we walk with Him, the more we begin to know are ourselves.
All I can say about that is there is abundant freedom in believing and embracing what our Father says about us!! Can I get an AMEN!
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
Friday, August 1, 2008
God’s Purpose or Mine?
Dave has been reading "My Upmost For His Highest" each morning by Oswald Chamberg. He shared one of the devotionals from this week with me and I wanted to pass it along.
He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side . . . Mark 6:45
We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to
Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams
of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We
have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is
not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and
reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of
reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.
What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to
depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in
the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in
me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. What
He desires for me is that I see "Him walking on the sea" with no shore, no success, nor
goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I
see "Him walking on the sea" (Mark 6:49). It is the process, not the outcome, that is
glorifying to God.
God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in
the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to
concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.
God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If
we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time.
However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment
as it comes is precious.
He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side . . . Mark 6:45
We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to
Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams
of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We
have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is
not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and
reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of
reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.
What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to
depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in
the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in
me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. What
He desires for me is that I see "Him walking on the sea" with no shore, no success, nor
goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I
see "Him walking on the sea" (Mark 6:49). It is the process, not the outcome, that is
glorifying to God.
God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in
the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to
concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.
God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If
we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time.
However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment
as it comes is precious.
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