takers

i'd like to publicly recognize laura brittian and lauren cowling for embracing our einstein's offer this past thursday. i do believe it was well worth it and created a great start for our day :)

farewell g-chat.

i am officially sad because i can no longer g-chat at work.
who decided this? HR? IT?
how the heck would HR or IT even know that i am on?

i figure these boundaries are in place for everyone at the lovely CPS office,
but...

i want my g-chat back.

forevermore, i will look at "we're experiencing techinal difficulties that may prevent chats from being sent" .... how depressing.

1.3.2009

Abbs, I don't mean to turn our blog into a wedding blog..haha. sorry. but i really liked these pics. I think it would be really cute if Scott and his groomsmen wore all stars to the reception, since Scott loves his Converse's so much. And I will be wearing red shoes, of course, but I liked the bottom picture :) Larsen, will you take one of us like this?

shalom: peace. nothing broken. nothing missing.

The Gospel has the answer. There is still an echo inside me of shalom and perfect music makes me want to live out that shalom. The Gospel points to the way things Ought to be.  :::Matt Larsen:::

Blessings and Woes

blessed are the poor in spirit, 

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted....

...blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

But woe to you who are rich,

for you have already received your comfort.

Woe to you who are well fed now,

for you will go hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will mourn and weep.

I am so encouraged by these 2 passages in Matthew and Luke. matt chandler explained it so well to me. i am currently, in my rotten place, blessed because i am empty, mourning, hungry and seeking him. now he can fill me. had i been full, and rich, and happy, he would have no room, or rather, i would not have a heart that seeks him, and a desire to be restored.

i am thankful for suffering and thankful for where i am tonight, for the first time in weeks. i see where i am, and where i have the capability of being with Christ. of being comforted, of being filled, of laughter and joy. thank you, jesus.

GOTTA - LOVE - EVERYTHING

there's something about einstein's everything bagel, toasted, with a huge slab of cream cheese (not lite). don't forget the side of strawberry jelly.

the anitas (me, zog, brit, woods and linds) have a commitment to eat this bagel ... weekly, if not bi-weekly. it's a joyous activity - early mornings, where we are all giddy, happy, without a care in the world. i think the presence of each other, early in the morning, without time constraints of a busy day, and the idea of eating a bagel makes us giddy - so we pile into the car, listening to zog and woods sing glorious harmony to both appropriate and inappropriate melodies. it's an outing, although only a mile a way, that i find my favorite.

it's really hard when it's over.
a second is incredibly tempting
and we often find the happy medium,
by halfing the second.

if i asked larin schiller, i'm sure she'd be disgusted that we eat bagels from einstein's because honestly, her jewish bagels probably knock einstein's out of the water... but we've had soooo many of these everything bagels, that our taste buds have subscribed to this very bagel, as the best out there. isn't comparison the thief of joy?

go try one.
if you come with us, we'll treat you.

Melanie Simpson Frazier

Melanie is a friend I've had for a decade

Someone whose a constant in coming to my aid

Scrappy's, Pacesetters, chips and the lake

College, the nest, wedding and double dates

I'm so excited for the rest to come

Crazy memories, there are sure to be some

Summer holidays, parties and January third

Vacations and children, now that is absurd

I can't thank her enough for her encouragement and love

She'll always be my best friend, that I am sure of!

I have recently been inspired (thank you Kimmy!) by some wonderful wedding blogs and have put a little compiliation of my own together.  :)  I am having so much fun working with concepts and colors to design a beautiful night for January 3rd! I have another little diddy I am working on that I might post later...

may we knock...(oswald chamber's)

"Seek, and ye shall find." Luke 11:9

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss." If you ask for things from life instead of from God, you ask amiss, i.e., you ask from a desire for self-realization. The more you realize yourself the less will you seek God.

"Seek, and ye shall find." Get to work, narrow your interests to this one. Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you only given a languid cry to Him after a twinge of moral neuralgia? Seek, concentrate, and you will find.

"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." Are you thirsty, or smugly indifferent - so satisfied with your experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a gateway, not an end. Beware of building your faith on experience, the metallic note will come in at once, the censorious note.

You can never give another person that which you have found, but you can make him homesick for what you have.

"Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." "Draw nigh to God." Knock - the door is closed, and you suffer from palpitation as you knock.

"Cleanse your hands" - knock a bit louder, you begin to find you are dirty.

"Purify your heart" - this is more personal still, you are desperately in earnest now - you will do anything.

"Be afflicted" - have you ever been afflicted before God at the state of your inner life? There is no strand of self-pity left, but a heartbreaking affliction of amazement to find you are the kind of person that you are.

"Humble yourself" - it is a humbling business to knock at God's door - you have to knock with the crucified thief.

"To him that knocketh, it shall be opened."

make we knock & bang down the door for Jesus in our lives....
to push back the darkness, & more specifically.....
to push back the darkness & pain of Woods' family losing Mark....
please remind me to fight.

(oswald chamber's ::: my utmost for his highest)

- - - the terrible three - - -

i received three terrible phone calls within the past month.

first, from matt larsen. i was at work, behind my desk in the early afternoon. he told me lauren and davi were at baylor hospital down town.... trying to keep the lil girl in.

second, from lauren woods. i was at home at home, about to leave for larsen's on a friday morning. she told me her father had taken his life.

third & today, from terese, my sister. i was with linds visiting larsen in rockwall. she told me she was bleeding through her pants at Ikea in frisco & was rushing to the hospital. she is 33 1/2 weeks prego.

the second doesn't compare with the other two, but no phone call of their nature are calming. . . and i deal with high-stress, emergency calls every day regarding children & possible "abuse" - - - and i am physically, mentally, and emotionally capable of handling those phone calls. those phone calls are the one's i am thankfully "soul-fully disconnected" to. i can handle (respond logically) to those.

but these i cannot.
so please. . . .no more bad phone calls.
just good ones.




may HIS peace be with us,