Pet Pictures

Growing up, our family had cats, not dogs. As a child, our cats were the frequent subject of photo shoots, dress-up, and cuddling. Our oldest cat, Sam, especially. While he despised most everyone else, I could get away with just about anything with Sam. I once dressed him up, wrapped him in a blanket, and took him for a little walk in one of my doll strollers. Believe it or not, he loved me and would come galloping to my bedroom if I just looked at him and started heading in that direction.

As I grew up, he mellowed out a little towards the rest of my family, and he and I grew a little less dependent on one another. This year he had lots of health problems, and at 16 years old, it wasn’t too surprising. I’ve known this day was coming for some time, and that’s partly why, in college, I didn’t make much of an effort to keep my title as his favorite person. Besides, as my parents graduated to “Empty-Nesters”, I think they needed his affection and silly obstinate yet faithful companionship.

After a long bout of sickness, we had to put Sam down. But before we did, I pestered him for a few last pictures. He was mostly uncooperative (so like Sam), but I managed to sneak up to him for a couple good ones.

Here he is sleeping. I remember when I was younger we weren’t allowed to sleep with our doors open, because the cats would come in and we would play with them. Once in a while I would sneak Sam in and he would sleep with me all night, curling his head up under my chin, purring.

You were a good cat and great friend, precious Sam, aka Devil Cat, aka Sam-meow-el, aka Sammy Claws.

It’s been a difficult year for me this year. Between losing my grandpa, uncertainty during the long wait for the house, work stress, other struggles, and now Sam… I’m ready for a vacation. But it has also been one of the best years ever. Tyler and I have been so blessed. He got his job last July, I got promoted, we bought a house, and we have both grown so much through everything, both as individuals in our relationship with the Lord and in our marriage. I am so, so thankful for him. We are incredibly blessed.

And let’s not forget about our upcoming blessing…

 So sweet! They look like little bear cubs. They are a week and a half old now and still don’t have their eyes open yet. I got to play with our cousins’ grown-up dogs this weekend too and they’re so much fun. I just can’t wait till we get ours! I’m not sure which one we’ll pick yet, but their people said to come back in four weeks when they’re little puff balls that have started to develop their own personalities. Four weeks can’t come soon enough! I’m in love already!

*sigh*

Well, I had better be going. There’s still much to be done before we get our new addition!

Late

Late? Who, me?

You must not know me very well.

Because I always arrive promptly at the time I am expected.

Ok, ok, you got me. I am often expected to be “late.” Not that it runs in my blood or my gender or anything. Because I can think of several family members (*cough* annoying family members) and females (*cough* obnoxious females) who prefer to arrive 17 minutes early to everything. Although the stigma does tend to run towards the late-side for both groups of people.

Just sayin’.

Anyway… my deepest apologies for being late at concluding my December blogging break. I had a very happy hiatus and although part of me wants to continue my break, another part of me has already penned a dozen blog posts in my head.

Well, not actually penned per se.

But here I am… blogging… with nothing substantial written as of yet.

*clearing throat*

So… let me give you a little (ha!) update of my life so that we can move onto more interesting topics in future days:

Christmas was great… we spent lots of time with family. I found myself reflecting a lot on the “Good News” of Christ’s arrival and how significant that had to be for the first to hear this message. We did receive our own good news about the house, although not as much news as we were hoping for: the bank is done with the Broker’s Price Opinion (like an appraisal) and they are working on assigning the short sale a negotiator.

Cue cheesy Priceline jingle.

We were extremely spoiled by our families. Tyler got a bunch of tools and house knick-knacks and I got a new winter coat, some clothes, jewelry, paints/canvases, etc. He got me a giftcard to get a pedicure from a really nice salon/spa around here — so excited to use it! And with our Christmas money (I know, I told you — spoiled!) we bought a steamer so that I will Never, EVER, EVERRR have to iron again.

Not that I was planning on it anyway.

But now we don’t have to go around looking like Shar Pei dogs with opposable thumbs.

Because, really, our thumbs are the only way you could distinguish us from those dogs.

I really make myself out to sound like a horrible housekeeper.

Which I am sometimes.

But sometimes I wonder if people can read the sarcasm and exaggeration in my writing.

If not, it’s not like they would recognize me if they saw me out on the street anyway, because they would be looking for a hairy 6 foot 4 female Shar Pei with opposable thumbs.

I digress…

So… New Year’s was good. We spent some time with our friends who for reasons that can be found later in this post will be referred to only as N and J. I tried some of J’s coffee-beer and it reinforced my belief that God gave me the palate of a 6 year old.

Maybe not even a 6 year old. Maybe more like a 6 month old. Give me milk and cereal, and I am set for life.

Which reminds me (not the coffee-beer, but the spending time with N and J) — I am a horrible compliment receiver!!! Ughhh! I don’t know what my problem is, but anytime someone gives me a compliment, I get all hot and nervous and I don’t know how to answer, but I try to act nonchalant so they won’t keep complimenting me, and I end up making them feel bad! Let me give you an example:

N: Hey, Cheyenne, did you get your hair cut?

Me: Oh, yeah…

N: When did you get it cut?

Me: Oh… I dunno, like 4 weeks ago.

N: Oh, huh, I didn’t even notice it then.

Me: That’s ok, I wear it in a ponytail a lot.

N: It looks darker, did you color it?

Me: Uh… no. Maybe it looks darker because it’s greasy. If I put my hair up while it’s still wet, it makes it look greasy, even if I take it down later.

!!!!

I know… poor guy…! N, if you are reading this I AM SO SORRY!!!

He’s probably never going to try to say anything nice to me again for fear that I’m going to make him feel like a jerk.

*sigh*

On Sunday morning I headed down to Ohio again to see Anna and her family. She and her husband and her baby live in Florida, but they come up to Ohio once or twice a year to see her parents and sisters.

And me of course too.

We had splendid time! I love her family so much… they are such amazing, God-fearing people and I admire every one of them. I soaked it all in… they have such strong theological convictions. The kind of theological convictions that really matter, that make you think and wonder at the greatness and goodness of God.

And then there’s that 11 mo old baby of theirs! Words really can’t describe the joy he brings to everyone in view of his silly little faces and funny little sounds.

Oh, yeah, and then there’s Anna herself too. She’s pretty cool. I mean if you like the super-mommy, celebrity-blogger, humble, caring, faith-filled, funny friend type.  We had a great time together. I was so thankful to the Lord for making our time feel like it was longer than it really was. I felt so refreshed by her presence.

But I’m missing her now. Her and Sarah, my college “buddies” who supported me through thick and thin, serious and silly. I hate to do this to you guys… getting serious when I started out so silly. But “there’s a time for everything.”

And if you’re a woman, there are many times for everything, every day.

Sorry, again, I joke, but I really do mean to bring this to an abrupt change of mood.

On my way home from Ohio last night I got a phone call from my mom. My heart picked up a little because I had talked to her earlier already. My grandpa is in the hospital, she had told me then. So a call-back made me worry.

“Just so you know, some snow is headed your direction, so please drive carefully.”

Good. Snow I can handle.

15 minutes later, she called me back. They were calling all of the family in to say “good-bye.” Part of me wanted to go too. But I thought back to last week when I saw him for Christmas… my dad wheeled him into the bright parlor in the corner of the nursing home. It’s a yellow room with a couch and some chairs and lots of windows. It was a sunny day. Not at all Christmas-y as far as the weather went. But the sunlight was refreshing and Grandpa’s face lit up when he saw it pouring in. Between the sunshine and having his family there, he seemed happier than I had seen him in a long time. The bone cancer had been wearing him thin — literally too — for more than a year now.

We had him open his gifts and we talked to him and laughed with him a little too. After about 30 minutes, he started to crash. He seemed to have a headache and could hardly stay awake. We wheeled him back to his room and the nurses helped him back into bed. Once he was settled, we went to say our “goodbyes” so that he could rest.

I knew it this time. You don’t want to dramatize things by saying “last this” and “last that.” But my intuition was strong… this was it. I hugged his frail body and kissed him. He was crying and saying he loved me. I squeezed his hand — those big, strong hands — and choked out my last “I love you too.”

There is little time in our culture for dying. Little time for grieving too. We grieve after death, when often the hardest time is watching our loved ones suffering, yet not being able to comfort them in it.

When I got the call, I felt relief, remorse, and grief all at once.

Relief that he was no longer in pain. That he was with our Father.

Remorse that I could not have spent more time with him; that he could not be constantly attended to by his family; that as a culture, grief and rememberance are allowed for the dead, but not the dying. Fear that someday this will be my death too.

Grief because he’s gone… Sure, we will be reunited someday in eternity. But on this earth, I will never have any of my grandparents again. Never get to hold his strong hand while he prays before our meal. Never get to have him over to our house or see him hold our baby in his arms. Never have him tell me about “back then” or show me ancient treasures he’s acquired from the farm.

Last night, I just wanted to be home. To melt into my husbands arms, with the limpness of life I felt. And there he was for me too. Waiting for me. Knowing that’s really all that can soothe the grief of loss.

Grandpa met the Lord around 1:00 this morning. I had prayed last night that God would call him home once the rest of my family said their goodbye’s. And He did.

It’s an interesting way to start the new year. I read Anna’s first post of the year, and she talked about having a “word” that characterizes how you want to grow in the new year, versus setting numerous self-centered resolutions for improvement. After reading one of my devotional books and reflecting on the people in my life that have influence on me and the influence I have on other people, I decided that is my word – “influence.”

Someone can influence my opinion of a situation or a person with their words and their attitude. I can do the same. We don’t realize just how much we influence each other every day. The more time we spend with the person, the more potential for mutual influence. And although I am thankful for the influence of my husband, my family, my church, and my friends, I want my greatest Influence to be Jesus. Which comes from spending more time with Him –  reading the Word, praying, and meditating on His ways.

I also hope to be a positive influence on those around me. To not talk badly about people or belittle their gifts or question their decisions and ways of doing things. To not make them feel like jerks for saying nice things too me!

So that maybe when my “time” comes — and who knows when that could be — I can be at peace, knowing that I wasted none of the potential for influence God surrounded me with and that I also influenced people for Jesus.

Dayenu Thanksgiving

Back in April I wrote a post about a segment from a book I was reading at the time called The Year of Living Like Jesus by Ed Dobson. Today, with it being Thanksgiving, I wanted to revisit this concept of Dayenu.

Dayenu is one of the traditional Jewish Passover prayers. It describes the great acts that God did in freeing Israel from their Egyptian captivity, and at the end of each verse exclaims Dayenu (p. 97), which means, “That alone would have been enough; for that alone are we grateful.” It conveys thankfulness, contentment, and faith… knowing that God is good and what He has already provided is more than enough for us.

What a beautiful and all-encompassing word that expresses true thankfulness. So often we focus on asking things of God, but showing little thought and gratitude for what He has already done for us. We say, “Thank you for this food, and please give me _____.” God wants us to make requests known to Him and he delights in fulfilling them. But He is so loving, so gracious, and so generous that he is worthy of far more than just our requests. We could never truly express the abundant and authentic gratitude worthy for him. But I think Dayenu is the closest we can come, even in its simplicity.   

You sacrificed Your life to redeem me from the death I deserved because of my sin.

Dayenu.

You chose to adopt me into Your family, in spite of my unworthiness.

 Dayenu.

You have given me a wonderful, loving family that has nurtured me and helped anchor me as I have grown and matured.

Dayenu.

You have provided me with health and home.

Dayenu.

You have given me friends who have encouraged me and laughed with me and loved me and challenged me to love You more.

Dayenu.

You have shown me deeper love than I could have imagined through Tyler — which is still only a fraction of the love You have for me.

 Dayenu.

You answered our prayers by providing Tyler with a teaching job earlier this year.

Dayenu.

You have been my comfort in times of grief, my strength in times of desperation, my contentment in times of waiting, my love in times of loneliness, my joy in times of disappointment, and my companion in times of celebration.

Dayenu.

Dayenu is a concept that infuses so much richness to life. It is not just about what we are thankful for, but really learning how to be thankful for those things. It is meaningful on such a day as today and at Passover… but would truly change our lives if we lived it out daily.

All of these blessings alone were enough, Lord, and for these alone am I truly grateful.  Dayenu.

DiScoMboBuLAted

As you can probably tell, I haven’t really felt up to blogging lately.

I know my comment que will now be flooded with desperate requests for me to keep blogging, but don’t worry, I haven’t given up on my blog just yet.

It’s just that the shock of the house stuff really set me in a weird mood… disappointed and lethargic.

And work last week was suddenly SWAMPED! We were so slammed, I was constantly scrambling to do 17 different things at once while carrying on 6.5 conversations at the same time.

Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating a little.

But only a little.

I was SO drained by the weekend that I just felt like collapsing.

Then on Sunday we went to church and then to meet my parents so that we could ride with them to my brother’s college so that we could go celebrate his engagement and watch his fiance’s mad volleyball skills in the school’s last conference game of the season. Whew!

Yes, my lil’ bro is engaged, friends!!! *sniff* He’s just growin’ up so fast, he is!

I mock-sniff, but I actually was quite emotional about it all… I just can’t believe it! And hearing him tell the story of his engagement??!! Wow… and seeing the looks on both of their faces? I’m so happy for them!

I think maybe I am emotional partly because I feel so far removed from their lives. They live 2 and a half hours away so I really hardly see Casey, much less Amanda (his fiance). I love my bro so much, but really hardly know him as an adult and that makes me sad.

Ok, adult-ish.

Anyway, I’ll wrap up the sappy stuff here for you. But I will tell you, given permission, the proposal story would make for some really great blogging material. He’s a romantic, that boy. I trained him well.

Anyway, all of this is to say that if my blog posts seemed discombobulated before, they would have been 23 times worse had I blogged anytime in the past week.

So… a couple more quick updates for you:

On the house: Nothing.

Actually, my attitude has (gradually) changed… who am I to question God, What do you mean you want to save us $16,000???

Really, Cheyenne? You’re complaining to God about THAT?! God has been so good to us and is blessing us greater still by providing for us in ways we didn’t even ask! 

On work: We have still been busier-ish, but it’s slowed down a little this week. I dreaded going into work a couple mornings, but this morning God woke me up 10 minutes early (4:30 am) and I read from my Jesus Calling book and then read the verses that went with it. I read Deut. 33:25, “As your days, so shall be your strength.” Amen. That was exactly what I needed. When we look ahead at the day and take inventory of the strength needed compared to the strength we feel, it just doesn’t match up. But God knows just how much strength we need and provides it as we need it.

I feel like I had something else to tell you about, but I just can’t think of it now… maybe it will come back to me so that I can write another post sometime before Christmas.

Indian(apolis) Summer Day

I appreciate your concern for my creative capacities which were on the fritz yesterday. And although I am still not quite feeling up to snuff (where did that saying even come from anyway???), I shall give you a long-overdue update concerning our brief trip to Indiana to visit my brother-in-law Drew.

Remember that weekend a few weeks ago where it was like 80 degrees in the great Midwest? Well, we happened upon the perfect weekend to visit the grand state of Indiana. We went down with Tyler’s parents. Packed it all up in his dad’s truck. Which actually has a more spacious cab than the interior of my good ol’ green Yoda (Toyota).

What did we do you ask?

*crickets chirpping*

Umm…. man, what did we do? That was so long ago, I can hardly remember! I really need to get better at updating this thing immediately following their occurrence.

Oh yes! We went to Indianapolis with Drew and his girlfriend Hannah (who if you will remember killed all my bunnies the last time we played games with them. But I have forgiven her for it, and we have reconciled).   

Indianapolis is a pretty cool city. We walked through the mall which is 4 stories!!! We ended up eating lunch at the food court, which is a really cool place because every restaurant has a person standing in front of it with samples. Had I been smart, I would have invested in a disguise from one of those kiosks at the mall so that I could just make 2 laps around the food court and bypass the need to order a meal from anyone of them. I’m sure they wouldn’t have thought it peculiar to serve samples to two ravenously hungry 6 foot tall women within a 10 minute period.

But alas, I settled on Chick-fil-a, hypnotized by the weaved pattern and the greasy smell of their waffle fries. Mmm’mm’mm.

We continued our adventure by walking over to the Circle Centre Monument (or so I think it is called). Here we discovered that we could actually go to the top of the monument and look out over the city. Undeterred by heartburn and full stomachs, we opted to climb the 277 stairs to the pinnacle point of the city rather than pay $2 to ride the elevator.

What a climb it was. Heaving as we pulled ourselves to the overlook platform, we pulled out our cameras to document our last gasping breaths of life before descending.

Ok, “last gasping breaths of life” in the little outlook tower.

And then we descended. Which was actually more terrifying to me than any other part of our exploit. The stairs were steep and the stairway was narrow and dark. Slight panicky feelings started to nag me as I thought about my clumsy body lunging head first down a flight, only to be stuck in the middle of this huge dark solid tower.

*shudder*

I’m not usually chlostrophobic, but I did get a little anxious in there.

But then… there was LIGHT!!! The light of DAY! And I was exstatic and spaghetti-like in my celebration of my return to earth!!!

Meaning my muscles were funny-feeling and with what little energy I had left I breathed a sigh of relief.

Next, on to the ZOO!!!

Except that… the zoo only ended up being open for another hour and a half, but still cost like $14/person!

Um, no… no way I would pay $14 to see some animals for an hour and a half. C’mon, haven’t you ever been to a zoo before??? You have to stand at the lion’s lair for an hour and half just to see one of them move!

So instead we had a nice long walk by the river and enjoyed the sunshine on this Indian Summer day.

And then we ate burgers at Cheeseburger paradise. And then we went to the hotel and all got beat by Tyler in Settler’s of Catan (Not to be confused with Settlers of Canaan). And then we said good bye to Drew and Hannah and returned to our Drew-less homes. *sniff*

*clears throat* By the way, did I ever tell you about that game? How Tyler convinced me to buy it for him on the day we got engaged as an “engagement gift.” And then weeks later when we pulled it out to play it at a family gathering, we confused by the pieces, because they looked different than we had remembered. And then we pulled out the directions and realized we had purchased the “Settlers of Canaan” instead of the “Settlers of Catan.”

Yep, we had a good laugh. But now we have both versions.

Alright, creative juices depleted again, as demonstrated by the overuse of the phrase “And then…”

Over and out.

Second Annual Mother-Daughter Shopping Expedition

H-h-h-helloo out th-th-there.

Please forgive my chattering teeth as well as any future spelling errors which I will attribute to shivers.

It’s a bit nippy in our apartment right now. 64 degrees. But I just can’t bring myself to switch the thermostat to heat. It looks beautiful outside. If I didn’t know any better, I would guess 70 degrees. But I know better than to fall for Fall’s seductive powers. I know to at least bring a jacket when I give into her beckoning calls.

Meanwhile inside, I am sitting here anxious and waiting, wasting time on my computer that could be spent cleaning. Or blogging. Well, at least I am accomplishing something right now.

“Why anxious?” you say? Well, remember how I told you about that “pinball” interview I had at work? Well, I still haven’t heard anything. And waiting makes me anxious. And last time we talked, remember how I said we have two houses we want to look at with our parents? Well, that’s not until Thursday — a whole 2 days away still! And waiting makes me anxious. Oh, sorry, I guess I just said that. Now I’m repeating myself repeating myself.

Please excuse my quirky humor this morning. I just can’t s-s-seem to th-th-th-think straight in our apartment’s arctic climate.

Anyway…

How about an entertaining story to distract us all from the anxiety of pressing news and decisions that we can do nothing about at present?

Oh, good I was hoping so.

So this weekend my mom and I went on our second annual shopping trip. And by trip, I literally mean trip. Oh, well, wait, not “trip” like a drug reference, I promise no drugs were involved (though at times, things did get pretty trippy). I really, truly meant “trip” as in “overnight expedition.”

We started our journey at Pier 1 and I found some really cool float frames for really cheap. In preparation for our trip, I had researched every possible store we would want to stop at and scoured the internet for coupons. Saved me 30% at Pier 1. Cha-chinggg!

Then we went to the outlet mall and scored some serious deals. Surely you know by now that my absolute favorite store in the whole wide world is Maurice’s, right? Well, with my coupons, I managed to get everything for about half price! Sure, I may have purchased a super cute vest that my husband finds more hideous than last year’s fashion scarf. But that didn’t surprise me too much. I tend to not be much of a trend-wearer myself, so the occasional trendy item tends to be a turn-off to him. But I think deep down he likes to see me take occasional risks. As long as they’re occasional. Which I have no problems with.

The other store that made my jaw drop at the register was the Hanes outlet. Approaching the counter, I had in hand 1 of the most expensive sports bras, 2 pairs of running shorts, and a moisture-wicking shirt for Tyler. And would you guess what it cost me??? $51!!! What??!!! Yeah, that was my reaction too. Execpt with fist pumps and hollering and gradual de-escalation as I realized what a spectacle I was making of myself.

Ok, ok, so I didn’t actually physically act that out. But inside I was doing some major celebrating and would have acted it out if it would have been socially acceptable.  

I suppose you are wondering where the “entertaining story” bit comes in. Well… let me just tell you…

After the outlet mall, we hit up a fancy-schmancy 2 story mall in Novi, then programmed my Austrailian-speaking GPS, Richard, to take us to the mall near our hotel which had a Cinnabon. You see, I negotiated an awesome price on our hotel via priceline, but unfortunately it did not come with a free continental breakfast. The only Cinnabon near where we live is at the airport, so when I discovered this Cinnabon so close to the hotel, I knew it was destiny that brought us together. And, seriously, think about it… Cinnnabon vs. expensive continental breakfast… is this even a fair contest?

We made it to the Cinnabon with ease, then programmed Richard to direct us to our hotel. By this time it was 9:30 pm and we were starving. As we pulled out of the mall parking lot, I saw a Chili’s and started drooling at the thought of their fajita pita and french fries. Oh man, if I ever needed a fajita pita, it was right then. But we really wanted to get to our hotel so we could get settled and relax during out dinner, so we took note of the Chili’s and drove on. Richard took us right off of the main drag, then 4 grueling miles of traffic to turn right again for a mile and then left for another mile or so. At each restaurant we passed, we took note, thinking “this will be more convenient from the hotel.” But by the time we were on that last mile, all civilization seemed to be reduced to dark residential neighborhood. We were scratching our heads when in the middle of a stretch of houses Richard confidently announced, “You have reached your destination.”

Uhh…. I don’t know what hotels look like in Austrailia, Richard, but this isn’t it.

So we pulled into a gas station and called the hotel. The only thing we can figure out is that he took us down West Maple instead of East Maple, because we had to go quite a ways down that street to finally arrive at our hotel.

Thank goodness!!!

At the check-in desk, the lady handed us a paper with a bunch of recommended restaurants that were close to the hotel. And can you guess what was at the top of the list?

Yep, Chili’s!

I was so excited, I felt another celebratory spasm coming on. But I think my blood sugar was just too low for it to manifest, because all I could do was drop back into the passenger side seat with a dazed look of happiness on my face. The directions were nice and clear: turn right off of the street the hotel was on and another right onto the street Chili’s was on. It was a quick drive.

Now, I realize at this point my directions may have seemed a bit superfluous. But do you realize how many times we turned right?  Quite a lot, actually. And everyone knows that 3 rights take you right back to where you started.

And that is where we found ourselves. Right back where we started at the Chili’s that had first activated my salivatory glands. Why on earth Richard had taken us the long way around, I do not know. But he came dangerously close to getting strangled with his own cord, let me tell ya.

And it my steak fajita pita was bliss… pure bliss.

The rest of our trip went fairly smoothly. Other than the fact that we reserved the hotel by another 3 story mall (different from the one the Cinnabon was in) that ended up not opening until noon the next day. In an effort to return home at a decent hour, we chose to bypass this mall. Which meant we drove all the way to Troy (and all the way around Troy) for a Cinnabon! Mmmm… they were so good though. Maybe it was worth it.

Yeah, it was definitely worth it.

And Mom and I had a blast. We laughed and ate and walked and talked. Thank goodness the men in our lives are so gracious as to allow us to leave them to fend for themselves for a weekend (although Tyler did get all crazy and run 7 miles. And decide he wanted to start cutting his own hair – which actually turned out pretty good).

So probably the more accurate perspective would be, “Thank goodness the men in our lives trusted us enough to let us out for a weekend.”

So thankful for such a great time with my mom.

And I have to also add that my hubby looked pretty good today wearing the sweater and pants I bought him.

Success!

My Testimony

Like many Sundays at church, this Sunday I found myself sitting in the pew and reflecting on all that God has done for me. The sermon was about how God is still at work today, transforming people’s lives and performing miracles for which science has no explanation.  Throughout ages, there have been people who believe in God, yet do not see that He is still at work today. They believe in heaven, but have no relationship with the One who made a way for them to go to heaven.

The sermon was not to undermine the power of the Bible, but to compel people to share their stories of how God has transformed their lives here and now, in the 21^st century. To be a living testimony that God still cares and is actively transforming lives.

My testimony – my most significant experience with God – all started when my uncle, a bachelor and an alcoholic, visited my family during Christmas over 10 years ago.  At the time I had started reading the Left Behind books and decided to give him the first book for Christmas. I was anxious about the gift, because I knew my uncle was not a Christian. But an avid reader, he finished the book before his trip was through.  I had no idea that God would use my gift to light a spark in Him that would eventually draw my uncle into a relationship with Jesus.

Fast forward several years… my uncle was sober and facing a life threatening diagnosis: lung cancer.  My parents offered for him to move in with us so that he could be with family and receive the support he needed as he underwent treatment.  It was a difficult time for all of us, but he pulled through it and went into remission. During that time, I saw him grow and understand his faith at an exponential rate. My relationship with him became deeper than that of a mere uncle as well. I liketo call him my grand-brother, because he really was more like a much-older brother to me.

My junior year of college – a short 4 years ago – the cancer came back. Our family spent 5-6 days a week going to and from the hospital (a good 40 minute drive) for his twice-a-day treatments. We were exhausted, and I could only imagine how much more exhausted he was. Friends and extended family brought meals or offered to drive. Our whole church family responded with such compassion, and we were all so moved by such self-less love. God truly used those people as His “hands and feet”, helping and providing for us in our deepest need.

 At the beginning of my second semester that year, it was tormentous to leave home. Although I longed for the distraction that friends and classes would bring, I feared what might happen while I was away. His prognosis was bad. He was not going to pull through. Emotionally exhausted, I found strength  and encouragement from my friends and their prayers and reminders that God was in control. Fairly newly formed friendships, I struggled against burdening them with such heavy loads. But God knew I would need them, and they were more than willing to be there for me.

In February of 2007, my uncle passed away. And although he had no offspring, he still left a legacy. A man once hardened by the despair of war and worldliness, he left this world known for his generosity, tender heart, knowledge of the Bible, and good-humor.

This may sound like it is more of my uncle’s testimony than my own. But my testimony is because of his. During the months following his death, I struggled with deeper grief and greater joy than I have ever experienced in my life. Deep grief, because I missed him and found the permanence of his loss to this world so difficult to bear. Deep joy because I began to really understand what it means to “trust Christ as your Savior.” My uncle trusted Christ to redeem him from his sin and to welcome him into His presence when he died. It is one thing to pray “Lord, I trust you as my Savior,” and quite another to depend on your absolute need to trust him as your Savior in the face of death.

I have not faced death the way my uncle has. But I was there holding his hand when he passed away, and I can tell you that my faith was first shaken and then solidified. Every hymn and worship song came to mean so much more to me.

“Great is Thy faithfulness…” even through trials.

“Every blessing You pour out, I turn back to praise; When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say ‘Blessed be Your name’…”

“Mercy there was great and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty – at Calvary!”

“Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; He to rescue me from danger, interposed his prescious blood.”

And the song that to me captures every important point of the gospel and moves me to tears of gratefulness to my God for the hope and life and strength I have in Him:

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
’til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

From what I can tell, most of the people reading this are probably Christians as well. So what about you? What is God doing in your life or what has He done that has challenged you to trust Him more or caused you to better understand His deep love for you?

Wherever we are in our faith, I pray we will all continually come to a deeper understanding of what it really means to trust in Christ as our Savior.

A Photo Tour of Traverse City

Man, I have been so busy blogging lately. Posting about our 2nd anniversary, about the Detroit Tigers game we went to, more of my superb marital advice, and my recent attempt at making shredded chicken enchiladas that turned out to be burritos.

Oh, you don’t remember those posts?

Huh…

Maybe that’s because I didn’t actually write them!!! I have “written” a half dozen posts in my head since my last actual post. But I have not found the time to actually sit down and type any of them out. So instead I have had a steady stream of mental blogging during which I appear to be in some kind of catatonic state, staring off into space and moving my lips ever so slightly while I talk to myself.

Anyways… so now for a real post! That will mostly consist of a pictoral-narrative of our recent camping trip with my family (my brother included! I haven’t seen him in 3 months and the last trip we all took together was probably 5 years ago).

It was an amazing trip. We had a campfire and made smores and played uchre and ate ice cream. We also shopped in the cute downtown strip, went on a bike ride, and drove out to the peninsula to go wine tasting and spend some time on the beach by the lighthouse. It was perfect weather and the water was BEAUTIFUL. And most of all, it was just a wonderful time spent with my family. We haven’t all been together like that… well, ever before really, at least not with Tyler as a part of our family.

I also recently read the user manual for our camera and have been dabbling a bit in photography. Dabbling a verrry little bit. So here is a sample of my photos from the weekend, a miniscule representation of how beautiful it was in Traverse City.

Ok, so this is not actually Traverse City. This is a picture of my mom’s flowers that I took before we left. I was trying to play around with macro-shots (up-close).

This is another picture from my mom’s garden. I was trying to play around with the focus again. It could have been a cool picture, but my focus was all off. I was kind of struggling with the camera because I was partly in the bushes and couldn’t really see in the view finder. That’s my excuse anyways.

This is Traverse City. See that water? Isn’t is gorgeous!

At the vineyard where we did the wine tasting (I’ve never done this before. I would love alcohol if it didn’t have any alcohol in it! As it turned out, the kind I liked was the least alcoholic! I have the palate of a 7 year old I think. Which isn’t a bad thing I guess). I’d like to call this photo “There’s One in Every Bunch.”

No need for applause.

The lighthouse at the end of the peninsula.

My brother. Isn’t he cool? I love the aspect of this photo with the lighthouse in the background.

 

And, my amazing parents. We had so much fun. I am so thankful to God for such a great family.

And that, my friends, was our trip! Tune in again… uh… sometime soon hopefully for more!

Wish Upon A Star

Tonight is going to be a great night for wishing.

Santa only gives you 3 wishes. Same for the magic genie, and he’s even harder to get ahold of. Tonight will trump Santa big-time.

Tonight is the Perseid meteor shower (<—Click here to read more). I have never seen any of the other meteor showers that occur throughout the year, but I’ve seen the Leonids several times, and it is spectacular when you get a good dark sky and have a little caffeine to keep you awake. The peak hours are from midnight to just before dawn. But if you don’t mind laying around outside in the dark for a while, you will definitely see some before midnight too. Just be prepared to bundle up, it tends to get cold and wet.  

One year, my brother and I decided to sleep outside during the meteor shower. We grabbed our sleeping bags and slept on reclining pool chairs. Several times I woke up from the cold and just stared into the sky for a couple minutes. During those early morning hours, I was amazed by the huge fireballs that grazed through the sky, forming long streaks that lasted up to 5 seconds — which is pretty long for a “shooting star”! 

And no, I was not dreaming, I promise. Thanks a lot.

Honestly, folks, it’s amazing. And tonight is supposed to be optimal for meteor viewing.

When I consider Your heavens,

The work of your hands,

What is man that You are mindful of him?

The son of man that You care for him?

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8:3-4,9

You will never read this passage the same. The splendor with which our Creator has clothed His creation is beyond breathtaking.  No man-made beauty can compare to His natural wonders. Our God loves to delight us with His art. As if creating us and loving us and forgiving us wasn’t enough, He also longs to give us joy and fill us with wonder.