The View from my Front Porch

It just doesn't do justice to the beauty of tonight's sunset. I really need a better view camera.

106. I just love sunsets.

I'd love sunrises, too, if I was awake and outdoors in time to see them. I'm always available for a sunset. :) And it's not just the sky that is so amazing. Something about the lighting at this time of day makes the green of plantlife so vibrant that it pops right out as if to say, "Look at me!" I have noticed that this same thing happens right before a daytime storm. I'm getting chills just thinking about it. Only God could do something so wonderful!

107.  Praising God for a career where I don't feel pressured to suppress my faith.

I was talking with a client today about how intricate and resourceful the brain is--and how unexplainable it is, even after lifetimes of study. I can never talk about nature or anatomy without talking about God, and so the conversation led into how it is impossible to look at the brain alone and not know that God truly does exist, that He is powerful and omniscient. It is too complex to have just developed without the hands of a mastermind...THE Mastermind. I didn't even know if this woman was a Christian, so I probably shouldn't have said all I said (if I wanted to be politically correct) but my higher calling and love is to share Jesus with the world, so I did anyway. She was a Christian and it blessed her soul to hear that testimony.

108. I'm so grateful God chooses to use me, even in the little things!

Someone told me tonight at church that they think I'm sweet and helpful. Well, it's not me who is sweet, but Jesus Christ in me who is working that in my heart. I've got a long way to go before I could ever consider myself "sweet." But it is very nice to know that God used me to bless her.

109. Glad for another job interview set up for next Friday.

And this one is close to home! My advisors say it's difficult to find jobs around here, and they also tell me it is best to have one lined up for graduation. Well, graduation is less than 2 months away, and I don't have one yet. Regardless, I am not going to worry about it. God has been my provider in EVERY situation and somehow I just know He's going to work it out perfectly in His timing! 

110. Comfort in sorrow and strength to overcome.

June is always a difficult month for me as I think back on where I've come from. Four years ago tomorrow marks the day I got married, and three years ago this month also marks the day my husband walked out of my life. I'm so very grateful that God never left me, even when I thought I did not want Him any longer. I'm glad He didn't give up on me! And now I am grateful that He gives me peace over the situation and a hope for a future. He has a purpose and a calling for my life! I pray I never forget what He has brought me through and what He has done for me in those difficult times.

Shakespeare at the Park

Saturday night proved quite a treat. I had heard that a local theater group was coming to my town to perform Shakespeare's play, "As You Like It," outdoors at an unbelievably low price: pay what you can.

Being the poor college kid that I am, with an extreme love for theatrical arts, I couldn't say no to this!

I didn't want to go alone, but I had my reserves about inviting others to see Shakespeare. It seems his works leave room for naughty imaginations to go wild these days. I've been to too many of his productions that had been turned, quite practically, inappropriate. Anyways, I decided to invite folks anyway and just hope it stayed true to the plot.

I was not disappointed!

We were all psyched during intermission as we waited in line to get sodas. I just noticed we have two squinty-eyed folks and two bug-eyed ones. Wow. We look like crazy cannibals with our mouths opened, baring our teeth like that. Scary. That's what happens to you when you watch Shakespeare!

During the performance, Orlando came up behind me and taped this piece of "bark" to my forehead proclaiming his love. It had words to the effect of:

"From the Eastern coast to the Western Ind,

No jewel is as precious as fair Rosalind."

'Twas a fun night, even if it was outdoors and slightly humid on a June evening. I'm glad that my friends were able to be there and share in the fun.

My favorite thing about the performance (though it was all fantastical) was the woodland men and shepard boys speaking Shakespeare's lines word for word--with a American southern accent.

"Then I shall be thy feeder and buy it with thine own gold..."

Helping Little Bubz

Yes, I call my brothers "bubz."

And yes, I did help my brother with a school project today. Wanna see?

...

...

...

...

Here's the two of us...exhausted (after putting nearly six hours into the project)!

It's a...longhouse, home of the Iroquois (a native American tribe).

Like the bamboo "corn"? Yeah, it's kind of tall in proportion to the little plastic Indians, but the bigger the better, right?

Of course, the little bubz had to add some mean settlers to fight these peaceful redskins. That's just what boys do!

I'm back home visiting for the week and am having SO MUCH fun! (Except for the weeding Mamaw's yard in the heat, but, hey, it was worth it to see her smile. I'm glad I could help her out).

Thank you, Lord for:

76. Good pizza with great, old friends

77. Quality time with my youngest brother, discovering what a truly amazing young fellow he is becoming

78. Helping me to find humor in a bitter, old man and love him all the more in spite of his shortcomings

79. Safety on my trip to the south.

80. A phone call from a speech therapy company that almost seems too good to be true.

81. The opportunity to get to know the man my mother married and realize mom's in good hands.

82. My mamaw's sweet smile...and wonderful backrubs!

83. Beautiful weather (and company!) at lunchtime on Mother's Day with other friends who didn't have their mothers nearby for the special day

84. "Stump", the first real English bulldog I've ever met. What strange creatures You have made! This one brings smiles, giggles, and light-hearted fun!

85. Air conditioning! How did people ever survive Arkansas' heat without AC?!

(This post was originally posted on Wednesday, May 11th, but for some reason it is saying it posted on May 17th).

Happy Birthday!

Today was a special day this year for me.

Today I turned 24. Double dozen.

Shopping and Panera Bread with some fun-loving friends.

Then off to school where I found my desk looking like this:

Cupcakes, balloons, banner, therapy materials, and a card lay waiting for me to find.

Everyone in the building sang happy birthday to me.

Even some who I didn't know.

Sharing cupcakes was fun, therapy was fun--with both clients,

then off to see the new ACTS, Jr. play: Summer Camp Scrapbook.

It was awesome, by the way.

Just like everything else about this day.

Including the weather, until after the performance. Now it is starting to look nasty outside.

But even that has its ups. I get to spend some time with some very good friends.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with the perfect birthday.

You knew just what I needed.

M-O-N-D-A-Y

Church.

I missed most all of Pastor John's message Sunday morning as I was one of the nursery workers and we had a full house. We had the monitor on so we could watch the service, but with so many sweet babies bouncing around, it was difficult to focus on anything else. I hear it was a wonderful message.

Our Sunday School class studied through two verses (and started a third!). We're nearing the end of Galations now. What a blessing this study has been! Sadly, Ephesians and Galations are two books that seem to be--overlooked--quite often by the faith I grew up around. If everyone could just BEGIN to grasp the beauty of the gospel and Paul's firm stance against infiltration of our own works, what a difference it could make.

What a difference it HAS made in me.

"Doing enough" is something I have always tried to accomplish, but satisfaction has never come. It can't come because I never will be able to "do enough" to earn anything from God. God has torn down some of the enemy's strongholds in my life over the course of this study--lies that crippled my faith.

Freedom.

That is what I feel in my spirit. God has freed me! He's still working through some things, but oh have my eyes been opened! Sometimes I want to just burst out with gratefulness to my peers in class, to share with them what God is doing in me and how He is using them to do so. Sometimes I want to just hug someone neck and tell them thanks for bringing out a point I'd never thought of before, to tell them that pondering it throughout the week had brought me closer to my Father, and I loved them all the more for it.

But I just don't.

I push it off on shyness, but is that it? Now here I go off on a tangent.

Family.

My brother's married. I'll have a new neice or nephew in the Fall. My mom's married. I have only talked to her once...maybe twice unless that one was a dream...since the big news. She seems...sweet, so very sweet. I don't think I've ever seen that side of my mom, but I love it! Once of my sister's is engaged to the father of her two daughters. She is so excited about planning a wedding and texts me pictures of colors all the time. It's kind of fun to see her giddy with joy! Oh, any my grandparents, well they are doing just dandy I think. Any little news I get from them is usually hand squeezed out of Mamaw. She's one of those folks that says everything's fine, but once you talk long enough and ask enough questions, you find out a tornado came through and killed all your friends, your dog died, your Aunt had a baby, and two of your high school teachers won Pulitzer's prizes for some thing or another. I may be exaggerating...a little bit...but just a little. Mamaw always brightens my day and I love talking with her, even if it is just to say, "Hi!" She says Papaw's got a colonoscopy scheduled for tomorrow. My birthday. I wonder if there's any way I could make it to Little Rock to see them before therapy. Mamaw says it wouldn't be possible. They wouldn't be free until after 4--when my days really gets started. :(

Bringing this long section to a close, I want to ask anyone who reads this to pray for one of my sisters. They all need prayer--exceuse me, WE all need prayer--but one of my sisters has left and no one is really sure where she is or what she's doing. Last I'd heard, she'd left her son behind and gone back to a guy she been with before who beat her, abused her, and stalked her--a guy I'd rather not see again. I love this sister so very VERY dearly and I just want her to stay safe. And find Jesus. Only He can fill that void she is trying so desparately to fill.

School.

Two weeks left of therapy at the college clinic. After final reports are completed (due Wednesday), things will start winding down. I'm excited about my placement in a nursing home in the summer, just one more little reminder that I only have 3 months and 22 days left until graduation.

Down Time.

I don't have much of that, or I shouldn't have with all I've got going on in order to prepare the end of the semester, but I am trying to take time out to read the newest Mysterious Benedict Society: The Prisoner's Dilemma. I've really liked this series so far, though I am a little iffy about some of the stuff in this newest book. Yeah, I know they are kids' books, but hey, I don't wanna grow up!

I've also spent some time "organizing". Here's SOME of my therapy materials (not as organized yet as I would like):

And here is my "Prayer door." I put either pictures or reminders up to represent people or situations that I pray for each day.

Thankfulness.

56. Another year.

57. Every one of those people represented in the photo above. 

58. Getting a virus on my little pink netbook. This may seem strange blessing, but a classmate's laptop cable stopped working this weekend, so I was able to bless her with the one for my useless computer until the one she ordered comes in.

59. Passionate Perspectives speakers and the practical and applicable information they share about how to bring the gospel to those who have yet to know Jesus.

60. A saying that crossed my path this week, reminding me of a dear friend: "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and will sing it back to you when you forget the words."

61. Psalm 37, and specifically the beautiful plaque with verse 4 written on it a precious "sister" gave to me for my birthday in rememberance of this Psalm.

62. Health

63. No doctor's bills yet!

64. The news of a friend's pregnancy. What a blessing she and her husband have received!

65. Friends who pray. Friends who love. Friends.

Spring Break

I said I would post later about Spring Break, so here it is...every detail, from the fun and intriguing to the exceedingly mundane:

On Saturday, I went to a Neurological Ranch for school to administer some tests on folks who've had strokes, traumatic brain injuries, or other neuro issues. The grounds of the 400+ acre ranch were breathtakingly beautiful. However, the experience made me realize I don't think I'm cut out to daily work with people who can't inhibit their thoughts.

The Ranch

On Sunday, I enjoyed visiting with some friends from church and basking in the glorious weather on their many patios. We even ate dinner outside--using bar stools as tables! That night, the moon was absolutely stunning in the sky. A kind friend happened to have a camera handy and took a few photos of it as we were both heading to our cars that evening. God's handiwork is magnificent!

While he was snapping these pretty photos (and many more), another friend and I were discussing how we were going to convince her mother to let her spend the day with me without arousing her mother's suspicion. Sneaky us had a plan up our sleeves...

...a plan to aid her father in surprising their mother with a beautiful reception on their 30th wedding anniversary. Their anniversary was the next day--Monday--and not a single plan had been made when this moon's phase was captured shortly before midnight.

With the help of other family members, friends of the family, and a sweet mother and daughter from our church, the reception fell together beautifully just in time for the couple's arrival at the church.

The same kind photographer who caught the moon took these photos. It just seems I don't have a camera on me when I need one most! He even included a video clip from the moments when the lovely bride was "surprised!" However, because I haven't received permission prior to writing this, I have left names out of this story and faces out of the photographs. It was a beautiful, fun night. Worth every second of labor, too! We all went out to the family's home afterward for more fun and fellowship--into the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

Tuesday started with another doctor's appointment to find out if a CT scan was necessary or if I could live without one for now. The meeting lasted only about 10 minutes and it was decided that the strange object in my pelvis showing up on X-Rays doesn't seem to be bothering me right now so I can survive CT Scan-free for the time being. Good news! 

The rest of the day was spent patio-furniture shopping with the family mentioned above (refer to reception story). We spent hours (quite literally) sitting around a table in the Walmart Garden Center chatting while the gentle breeze blew around us. 'Twas nice.

Wednesday wasn't near as eventful. Housework, schoolwork, a quick visit to try out the patio furniture that was chosen, and AWANA with the precious kiddos who were rowdier than usual. I wonder if the break had anything to do with it?

Thursday was not interesting at all. I ran errands all day and read/watched movies all night. I took Stella to have her bush groomed down to a manageable length. This photo was taken on my phone shortly after picking her up Thursday night:

They cut her hair quite badly. Look at the pink patch of completely bare flesh on her chest...whereas there is patches of fur at different lengths all over the rest of her little body.

Friday was grandulous. Is grandulous a word? If not, now it is. Anyway, I spent all morning trying to find someone interested in going to the Museum of Discovery with me (thankfully, the perfect person agreed to go with me this past Tuesday instead). Then I went around town with a very good friend to pick up materials for building a chicken coop at the youth ranch she works at. We bought some chickens before heading back to the ranch. It was so precious to hear those little chirps!
Stella met Glory, my friend's adorable yellow lab pup, and instantly fell in love. They are now best friends. I was too soft-hearted to tell them there will come a time (very soon!) when the can no longer play so rough together due to Glory's rapid growth and many months to go before it peaks.
The rest of the evening was spent getting to know my friend better--and loving every minute of it--as well as discovering that Stella is actually a well-behaved dog and obeys me more than I realized. My only regret from that visit is that it couldn't have been longer, much longer, as I had to get up at 4:30a.m. to head back home. Why?

Because I had to work on Saturday morning, that's why! Regardless of my exhaustion, the day was a good one. I took some of the fellas bowling and realized they bowl a lot better than I do! Well, that's not saying much because I stink at it, but still! I was impressed! It made me itch to go bowling sometime myself. I really need to do that soon. I watched a couple of movies while doing some computer work that night after work.

Sunday was a typical Sunday. I enjoyed meeting with my peers for the Sunday school class, picking back up in Galations chapter 5. You wouldn't believe how long we've been in Galations if I told you. It's a good way to study scripture, though, and I rightly enjoy the pace. We dig much deeper into the Word through this class than any other class I've ever attended. Even Old Testament Survey my freshman year of college wasn't as thought-provoking as this class and I had to write a 9-page paper for it! I learned a lot more about J. Hudson Taylor during service that afternoon and walked away with one particular scenario burned in my memory: the story of Mr. Taylor giving the $50 bill in his pocket--all the money to his name--to a poor man whose wife was dying. In that moment I realized that I don't know if I could trust God in that situation. I want to, I hope I would, but would I? I only pray that my trust in Him will grow stronger--and that I will place complete trust in Him. Perspectives class was back in full swing and the place was more crowded than usual. That's not a bad problem to have! :)

I went home and fell asleep. Thus ended Spring Break 2011...the last one I shall ever experience as a student.

The Crosswalk

I received this via email years ago from a friend back home. I didn't draw this or come up with the important message behind these photos. I'm not sure who is responsible since the references were not included in the email, but I would gladly hug their neck if I knew.

It is true. We should bear the cross that God gives us with contentment, tried and true until the end. God never gives us more than we can carry. Instead, He gives us just what we need.

My Love Letter

My Love,

Everywhere I look, I see you, feel you, hear you. When I wake up, I just can't start my day until I've heard your gentle, loving voice. No one has ever made me feel the way you do. Maybe that's because no one has ever loved me the way you do. How do you do it? You know my insecurities, my weaknesses, and my failures. You know I'm not the perfect girl. I just cannot understand how you love me so! My heart quickens as I write this. My words are so inadequate to portray the love I feel for you! You have taught me so much about redemption and unconditional love, and yet I'm still so far from comprehending it all. I struggle daily to understand you, as you wow and amaze me with each and every moment spent in your presence. You are breathtaking. You are irresistable. These words fall so short of describing you in all your glory. Your words are sweeter than all the chocolate in the world. Thank you for the roses, the beautiful, yet painful, roses and the little reminders every day that I am yours. I do not deserve you, but still you are here. Just thinking of it gives my heart a flutter. Your love story is the greatest ever told. I'm glad you have allowed me to be a part of it.

I will strive to honor, love, and cherish you with all that is in me, my sweet, sweet Jesus. Thank you for dying for me, my Holy Savior! Thank you for Your glorious, redeeming plan to save sinners like me!

I LOVE YOU, LOVE YOU, LOVE YOU!

Yours always,

Kristina

You gave your life for me. You love me like no other. You are my loving Father, and in YOU will I put my trust.

The Snow drove me to it!

If it isn't obvious, I'm just gonna tell you. I've posted a LOT over the last couple of days because...well, I've been trapped under a blanket of snow.

If my blog is obnoxious, I blame the snow. :) Here's a few pics of this wintry wonderland taken around my neighborhood.

Our mailboxes! I just thought this was kind of pretty.

This proves my entrappment. I measured that stuff on my car. It was 7.5 inches.

Very pretty tree-bush-thing. Snow can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.

Sounds kind of like something only Someone I know can do.

No joke, this icicle came crashing down and impaled my mushy yard as I was snapping a picture of my car. Only glad I wasn't underneath. That might've hurt a little.

On Thursday, I braved the solid white icy roads to drive out to a friend's house in the country for a day full of sledding and snow-"clod" fights, fellowship, and hot chocolate.

Thank you, Jesus, for precious friends!

Below are a few video clips from our snowy adventures: