Yesterday

A note to take to heart as 2008 fades away and 2009 looms ahead...from the venerable Oswald Chambers:

You shall not go out with haste, . . . for the Lord will go before you, and
the God of Israel will be your rear guard —Isaiah 52:12

Security from Yesterday. ". . . God requires an account of what is past" (Ecclesiastes 3:15 ). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.

Security for Tomorrow. ". . . the Lord will go before you . . . ." This is a gracious revelation— that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our "rear guard." And God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.

Security for Today. "You shall not go out with haste . . . ." As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the
past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.

Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.

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Stuff Christians Like

My friend just passed on this website to me and, yes, I laughed till I cried.

http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/

Check it out and tell me what you think.

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We're having a baby boy!

Yippie! Sander and I are so excited and will now probably post much more on our blog. We weren't quite ready to post the news till now, and how could we blog without letting the news out? The baby looks healthy and the sonogram was so exciting. He was kicking, yawning, and refusing to move for the technician. Just what I expected from our offspring. = )

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House work and a wedding

Sander and I have been busy the last few weeks priming and painting the house. It has just been a rough couple of weeks as I started my job, classes, and we were working each night to meet a deadline for the painters and floor contractors. We had some problems a long the way with our painter (for the oil based trim), but God fought the battle for us. The trim isn't perfect, but it turned out better than we could have hoped for.

Sander's job was to roll...

I edged...and edged...

The floors are being refinished today and we should be able to move in starting Wednesday. I'll get some updated pictures then!

This last weekend we had a nice break from working on the house. We went to Lake Conroe for Jon and Britanie's wedding. It was great to see such an amazing couple join together...and the wedding was gorgeous! It was on an old river boat that cruised around Lake Conroe as we ate, danced, and celebrated their nuptials. The weather couldn't have been nicer and the ceremony was a great chance to remember the vows Sander and I made almost 3 years ago.

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We own a house!!

The deal is down - we are now officially property owners!! There wasn't a sold sign in the yard, which was a real dissapointment, but we took our official picture anyway. Tomorrow the work begins and the reality of what we just signed away hits.

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Recovering the couch

I decided to recover the awesome, yet olllld couch we have. First, saving money is always great, but the best part is I can pick exact fabric I want! Sander loves it too by the way...surprising but great! (Its from Ikea of course)

It is taking me WAY longer than I thought it would and the first cushion ended up smaller than the original. The feather form still fits, but it is more compressed and not as comfy. I'll tweak the others and maybe the small cushion will just blend in. Hopefully...

Old and New

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Last May 13

I was going through some old Picasa photos and realized that were were on the Isle of Skye one year ago today. It is shocking to realize how beautiful the day was, as Skye is NOT known for its good weather. *sigh* It really does feel as if we never really went...

In memory of one of the most fabulous days in Scotland, I've posted a few of my favorite pictures:

View from the B&B

Group shot outside the B&B

On the road leaving the B&B

Highland Coo

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Textiles, House, and Isaac

Last Friday the Fashion Design program at HCC had their big end of the year fashion show and awards ceremony. Sander and I went even though I was only showing a jacket in the show. I had thought they were only giving away a "best-in-show" award, but they added a lot more this year. As they began I was talking to my friend next to me and then we both heard our names. We went up but we had no idea why they had called us to the stage since we had been talking and not listening to the award ceremony. It turned out we each received a $500 Textiles scholarship from the Kingwood Quilt Guild! We were so surprised! Our Textile teacher nominated us for this award and it was a huge honor. It was a fabulous surprise and a way the Lord is obviously looking out us knowing what we need before we need it...as Sander and I were to find out this week.



As I mentioned below, we have an offer on a house. We found out this week what the seller was going to offer for repairs. They barely offered a 1/4 of what we requested. It was discouraging and something we had to think seriously about. But, we saw the scholarship and in several other random places ways the Lord had provided the money despite the reluctance of the sellers. It is easy to get greedy and want the extra money from BOTH places, especially as the list of repairs seems to grow each day. But we had to get to the point Thursday where we firmly knew the Lord had led us to this house and that if the seller wasn't going to provide, that was ok. All money belongs to the Lord anyway - and if we really need it, He will provide it. God has in the past and He will in the future.

It has just been a tiring week with major life decisions, Sander's work going insane, finals at school, Victoria visiting and planning her Europe trip, and baby/house sitting for a friend since Wednesday. Each hour has been fine, but taken as a whole, I am just tired. In some ways I am glad I'm not at the apartment this week though as it has kept my mind off all we have to do with fixing up our 1956 house. Since I'm not home I don't have to think about packing, etc. PLUS we haven't had to deal with people in the pool at 3am like we have every weekend since January - yippie!

Isaac has been a blast to babysit! He is such a good natured kid and does the funnest things. He has been fabulous and a great sport putting up with Sander and I instead of having his parents here. He even hung out with me Wednesday as I went to a party/final at school. He ate and entertained us all at the party with hardly any fussing. We have played at home, gone to a farmer's market, gone to parks, played at Sander's field day, and he has ate, Ate. ATE! = )

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Gracious Uncertainty

In the past few days I've begun to read My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers each day. Tuesday's was so inspiring to me, I have been thinking about it ever since. I don't know if I will ever get to the place of being completely gracious about the uncertainty of life - but I pray that I will. It seems SO freeing...probably because it is just the way God designed it to be! I am so grateful though that God has blessed me with ears to hear and eyes to see...at least in part - I have so far to go, but I am grateful and appreciative for all the grace shown to me in all my failings so far!

Hope this encourages you too:

April 29, 2008
Gracious Uncertainty


. . . it has not yet been revealed what
we shall be . . . —1 John 3:2

Our natural inclination is to be so precise— trying
always to forecast accurately what will happen next— that we look upon
uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal,
but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual
life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down
roots. Our common sense says, "Well, what if I were in that circumstance?" We
cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never
been.

Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life—
gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God
means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may
bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an
expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we
are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He
has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we
become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within
us dies. That is not believing God — it is only believing our belief about Him.
Jesus said, ". . . unless you . . . become as little children . . ." (Matthew 18:3 ).

The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not
uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our
certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness,
become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are
complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is
full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, ". . .
believe also in Me" (John 14:1 ), not, "Believe certain
things about Me". Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and
graciously uncertain how He will come in— but you can be certain that He will
come. Remain faithful to Him.

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Kitchen Table

Here is the table I was talking about from Craig's list. I am going to use the fabric in the 2nd picture to make seat covers for the chairs and curtains for the kitchen window.

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Adventure

Today Matt Lauer is in Istanbul with the Today Show- I want to go back! He is going to 5 countries in 5 days. He was in Argentina, Amsterdam, Laos, now Turkey and Istanbul. It has been fun to watch, but seeing a place I have been was the best. I would love to go back and highly recommend Turkey, Istanbul, and the Agean coast to anyone thinking of an overseas trip.

After watching I got a little sad, thinking Sander and I are done with our adventure days. But, when I think about it, life is an adventure right now. We are settling into Houston and have accepted it as our permanent home for the foreseeable future, which includes making major life decisions. We've even decided to buy a house!

We have a contract in on a house, which if all goes well, means it will be ours May 15th - Yikes! It really feels surreal, but it has been an incredible growing experience for Sander and I together.

The house was built in 1956, so it has a few issues to be worked out, but it has original wood floors, lots of trees, and a big yard. The immediate neighborhood is really nice too, but the surrounding area needs some work. It is in an area of Houston that is revitalizing, but it is just hitting this neighborhood. Hopefully the schools will improve in time for our future (hopefully) children.

Sander is excited about re-doing the yard and the wiring - I'm thrilled to decorate! My after-school project will be recovering our 11ft couch with fabric from Ikea, my new best friend. That and Craig's list which as already given me an AWESOME formica table and chairs for $65!

I have to fit in all the re-decorating before the first of June because I'll be starting my new job at Thimble Fingers, a sewing school in West Memorial. It is a really creative place which provides studio time for kids and adults to come and work on individualized sewing/design projects. I am thrilled to start and get involved with this amazing business plan. As it progresses I will update here with lessons learned and if my enthusiasm continues after working 8 hours a day with little ones. = )

Today I am working on my final sketches for my fashion illustration class. I've been amazed at how much I have learned and my ability to sketch a female model free-hand AND clothe her. This last year has taught me so much - bring on the house so I can have room to put these new skills to work!

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Israel

I just got back from an amazing trip to Israel. We had some equipment being built near Haifa, and I was given the opportunity to go do the inspection. It was really and truly a gift from God, and while it was an incredible experience, it's also incredibly difficult to describe what it felt like...so I'm not really going to try here. I'd be glad to go into it all in person or on the phone or something.

So I got there on Sunday afternoon and headed straight to Jerusalem, where I stayed for three days. My hotel was on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus did a lot of His teaching. My room looked out to the courtyard of the chapel built where He ascended into Heaven.

I took the first three days to do some sightseeing, and the company I was visiting even arranged for a private tour guide - very cool. I spent the first day just going around Jerusalem - there's probably more history packed into the Old City than in the whole of America. The second day, we went out to the Dead Sea region and saw the Dead Sea, the caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and Mosada, the cliff-fortress-city that was the last stand in the Jewish Wars against Rome. The third day, we headed back out the Dead Sea and drove up the side of the Jordan River to the Sea of Galilee. We saw among other things the place where John the Baptist baptized Jesus, the various villages where Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John came from, the town of Capernaum which Jesus used as a hub for His Galilean ministry, and the site where He fed the 5000.

Then it was off to Haifa (a city on the slope of Mount Carmel, where Elijah took on the prophets of Ba'al) and to real work. There, I spent two days in spirited negotiations making sure everything we designed and paid for was built correctly. The second evening, I took the train back to Tel Aviv and stayed on the Mediterranean coast, then caught a plane back to Houston the next morning.

It was an awesome trip, and one I'll never forget. Pictures are up on our picture site, which you can access from the link at the top. They'll say way more than I could ever write here.

Sander

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Toll Tag

http://www.txtag.org/

I just got my toll tag at the above address! It works throughout Texas AND I don't have to pay any extra charges like I do in Houston. Whoo hoo! Get yours today!

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