Celebrating Old Things in New Ways

The 4th of July is one of the greatest moments of summer. My family always used to have big party on the 4th. Mom would finally turn on the air conditioning the day of the 4th and my sister and I would hang decorations. All of our friends would bring their most festive summer dish while Dad would fire up the grill. We would spend the afternoon in our backyard swimming pool or lighting off firecrakers. Once darkness would fall, we would all gather in the front driveway and light up the sky with our cheap firework display.

This was the first 4th of July that Andy and I didn't spend back home. Although there was a part of us that missed the small town celebration, we looked forward to participating in one of Houston's many entertainment options. Although there were many choices, we decided to head to the Miller Outdoor Theatre to listen to the Houston Symphony. Great Choice!

My absolute favorite thing about going to the Miller Outdoor Theatre is that everybody has little picnics on their blankets. What is better then sitting on a blanket, eating great food, and listening to music?

The patriotic kissy couple.(I thought they were cute)

Yes, this kid was awesome! Only a little kid can pick his nose and still look cute.

I just want you all to notice how many different cultures are represented in this photo. It is one of the great things about Houston. Just in the people sitting right next to us we had four different cultures. To our right was a family from Africa, in front of us was a group of Middle Eastern boys, sitting to our left was a Hispanic family, and behind us was an Asian family. Incredible!

Can you tell they are related?

They are in the exact same position

It was a great concert and a great evening!

Poor Addi girl! By this point we had been at the park for 4hours and she was super tired. We were going to leave without seeing the fireworks, but caught a little of the show on the way to the car.

Welcome to My Battle....Yes, I am Luke Skywalker!

Yes, it seems that I have watched Star Wars one too many times because this is what keeps running through my head. The paralles are incredible to the battle that is waging on in my own heart. Oh, how easy it would be to "give into the dark side" There would be a type of freedom in giving into hate. To divulge myself in the ugly bitterness and selfishness that is daily knocking at my door. Don't I deserve, for once in my life, to hate somebody? I have always been a keeper of the peace. I have never had bad feelings for someone beyond a general dislike, but oh how hate is teetering on the brim of my mind.

These past couple weeks I feel like I have been really good about dealing with this. My attitude and perspective have been fairly positive. Today is not one of those days. I am tired of being strong.....my thoughts betray me. I am so angry that my perfect life has been turned upside down; that my family has been torn apart! This is an easier battle when you are hurt by someone you love (at least for me), but when the attack also comes from an outside source the battle becomes considerably more difficult. I keep picturing a little army man with a certain persons face taped on it, sitting on the table and I (in my maturity) walk up to it and flick it in the head..... sending it flying out of my life. Or in with sticking to the Star Wars them to "strike him down" If I could actually do this in real life, it would have been done weeks ago. Yes, giving into hate would be good....for a second.

To quote my wonderful pastor down here in Houston, "It would be like eating chocolate covered dog food" It would taste sweet for a moment, but in the end it would leave me wanting and unsatisfied. What would I really gain from giving into hate? Bitterness, anger, and ultimately extreme unhappiness. So the battle wages on.... I daily have to fight to keep hatred out of my heart. Without Christ ruling in my life, there is no way I could ever win. It is ONLY with a heavenly perspective that I can move towards forgiveness. The road is long and bumpy and I have only just begun (and I mean I have maybe moved my big toe), but I am moving. Refusing the allure of something that looks as sweet as chocolate, but holds a nasty surprise inside. I do this only because I REFUSE to live my life chained and tied down. I want to be free in the beauty of forgiveness .

"Never. I will never give into the darkside"

I know many of you will understand what I am refering to here, but for those of you who don't....just know that my family is going through a really difficult time. I don't feel like now is the time to share the details out of respect for everyone involved. This is my way of communicating my feelings without going into the nitty gritty.

A message that hits home

Gods timing is really incredible! Life has been really tough recently, but every Sunday, for the past three weeks, the messages at church have been on exactly what I need to hear..... at that very moment. Think of it! God knew exactly what I would be going through and moved the pastor to preach on the very topic. WOW! I thought I would share these sermons with you all because I know many are in the same boat with me. The first one is from my sisters pastor in Wichita and the others are from my incredible pastor in Houston. So, if you have a moment, let God speak to your heart.

New Spring Cold War: My Secret Life
http://www.newspring.org/m/43/378/

Houston's First Babtist
Sketch of A Broken Man (Just thouoght that I would explain that this was the Sunday night service so fewer people and very casual)
http://houstonsfirst.org/JosephComplicatedLifeFaithfulGod-PartThree

The Process of Forgiveness
http://houstonsfirst.org/JosephComplicatedLifeFaithfulGod-PartFour

There's Just Something About SuMmEr!

I don't know what it is about summer days that can make a person feel so alive? I think that there is just some sort of freedom to it. I remember as a child spending hours and hours playing outside with the neighbor kids. We would let ourselves get lost in our imagination......wherever it would take us. We would play our little hearts out until we would hear Mom yelling from the back porch. Em and I would be sweaty and hot from our day's adventure; feet covered with dirt and knees scuffed up. Yes, those where the days! These are my top favorite things about summer (picking these wasn't easy):

Cherry Limeades
There is something just so honestly refreshing about a bottle of cherry limeade on a hot summer day ...... what else is there to say?

Fireflies

When my sister and I were little we used to catch fireflies in my grandparents back yard. We would put them in jars with a little grass and poke holes in the lid. We always released them the next night.

spinklers

Pure Bliss! Something so simple

can provide hours of entertainment and joy. There were so many different games you could play while under the sprinker. What could be better then being soaking wet with your feet covered in grass?

Camp

I started attending Maranatha Bible when I was in 8th grade with my best friend Heather. Later my sister and many other friends came to join us. Camp became the staple of summer! It was always a time to grow closer to God (and check out the boys...of course). Once we were too old to be a camper we volunteered as cabin leaders. Life was good!

and last but not least.......

Flashligt tag

The BEST game EVER invented! We lived out in the country in a small little neighborhood and on summer nights we would all meet up in our front yard to play flashlight tag. LOVED IT! Some of the best memories of my life. If you have never played, you are missing out on some serious fun!

I can not wait for Addi to experience summer the way it is meant to be experienced! I am sure her summer's will hold as much joy, excitement, and adventure as mine did. Soon enough, I will be the mom standing on the back porch calling in my children after a hard day of playing. I will wash the dirt off their feet, patch up their knees and tuck them in to bed for a good night's sleep.

meet herbie !

That's right! I FINALLY convinced Andy to buy me a puppy!

He is our new puppy that we adopted from the Houston SPCA!

Mr. Herbie is a Labrador retriever/golden retriever mix. He is 3 months old. CUTE!

Mitty's only strategy is to keep the upper ground. Both of our cats have responded really well.

We are planning on buying a house in the fall so our strategy is to house train him in the apartment. This insures that my new home won't have pee and poop all over it. In the 24hours he has been with us he has peeped in the apartment 4times and pooped 3times. So much fun!

A love like HIS

Humans are so fickle! We give love so freely (sometimes a little too freely). God created us to love one another and we can do it really well... when we want to. Unfortunately, it doesn't take much for us to yank our love back either. In a moment of anger or frustration, we quickly decide that our love isn't quite worth giving anymore.
I have recently been experiencing a situation where nobody would blame me if I decided that I no longer wanted to love a certain person in my life. It would be SO easy to say, "sorry, you have deeply hurt me and I can no longer love you". In our human minds, this would be completely justified, but my human love was replaced a long time ago.
You see, there is guy in my life who loves unconditionally... no matter what! How many times have I spat in his face, stomped on his toes, and defiled his very name? Everyday. Although this hurts him, he loves me WAY to much to let this get in the way of HIS love. In fact, this very man DIED for me....THAT'S RIGHT! A long time ago, as a little girl, I asked him to put a love like that inside of me and the exciting thing is HE DID! Am I saying that my love is perfect all the time? No! Unfortunately my human nature takes over and there are many days where my love is extremely selfish.
But here is the deal: Today I am choosing to let His love reign in me. There is NO way that I am going to let bitterness get in the way. I am not going to snatch my love back just because I am hurting. You know why? ...Who am I to do this? GOD has loved me contiguously despite ALL of my sin against him. He calls ME to love like he does. So you know what?? I will love! No matter how much I hurt because it's not about ME! So, let me challenge you to do the same. Let's take Christ's example and love at a level that is beyond our human nature. Man, just think how Incredible your life would be!

I am broken. Mourning for the things that were lost, for the things that once were. Everything I know and am familiar with has been ripped out of my hands. What am I supposed to do with these pieces that was once my security? This ground is uncharted and ruthless terrain. I find myself stumbling and lost in this wilderness.The pack on my back is heavy and weighs me down. Each item inside is too precious for me to let go of. For a moment my compass falters and spins out of control. But due North was never lost. The arrow still points to the cross. So I begin to run.... straight towards the only thing that is still stable and secure. I keep my eyes fixated on the cross because I know that I soon as I take my eyes off of it, I will fall. A storm crashes all around me and there are moments where it is too blinding to see, but the compass is still pointing me in the right direction. Finally I reach the foot of the cross all I can do is collapse with the burdens that I carry. Slowly, I begin to unpack my baggage and it is painful. Each item that I carried in my bag were priceless items to me and letting go of them is more than I can handle. But he is there.... and he wraps his arms around me. As I grip each item, he gently whispers, "lay it down, it is no longer yours to bear" I watch as my fingers slowy peel off....one by one. Eventually my bag is empty as my pride, identity, security, and strength lay in a heap on the ground. All that I was is now is now laying at the foot of the cross, like discarded garbage. I feel myself collapsing, but his arms are still wrapped secuerly around me. All I can do is fall into the comfort of his sweet sweet arms. Peace.


The journey must go on, but I am outfitted with a new pack and within it, all that was lost has been restored. Only this time they are different. They are easy to carry and place no burden on me. A new identity tag hangs from the handle. One that reads, "Jesus".


As I step out onto the path to continue my journey, I know that I will face some dark caves, but I also know that there will be many sweet valleys. As long as my compass is in my hand, I know that I can never get lost because it ALWAYS points straight to the cross.