confessions of a mountain lover

"All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to His blood...

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were an offering far too small,

Love so amazing, so Divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all."

Isaac Watts

I don't think I could ever get tired of the mountains. They are absolutely stunning and take my breath away every time. *awestruck wonder* It was love at first sight for a 15-year old girl, and years later I am still not over it. My confession: if I had to leave Oklahoma, I would want to live in Colorado...near the Rockies.

Just look at this little guy!! How adorable! He had a bunch of friends out with him, but they all went scurrying underground when we came along.

Dear God, thank You for the mountains. I love them. You are pretty much amazing. Even if I owned a majestic mountain range or two, it would be an present far too small for You.

P.S. Do You have mountains in heaven?

Ellerslie

Last weekend, I got to go to a conference with my sister. It was the Set Apart Girl Conference at the Ellerslie campus in Windsor, Colorado. I had been praying that God would renew my heart and mind because I knew I needed it. Desperately.

The conference was a kick in the pants. And a tremendous blessing and encouragement. I was reminded of my position in Christ and the truths that I had grown up with and walked in before. Somehow, somewhere along the way on this dusty journey I had slipped. My jeans were torn and my knees got a little skinned up. I needed the reminders. I found renewal and refreshment at the feet of my King.

I am so grateful that Eric and Leslie Ludy spent the weekend pouring into us and discipling us. It was life-changing, life-giving for me. I have a fresh perspective, I was transformed, I found healing; God is so faithful.

Here are a few pictures of God's beautiful country!

This is the Ellerslie campus, with the Rockies in the background.



We got to watch a couple girls get baptized in the lake.

I have more pictures to post, so I hope I get a chance to put them on here this week!

adversity

There is a special piece of paper in my Bible that has been there for several years. It stays in Psalm 73, one of my favorite Psalms to read when I find myself in perplexing circumstances with no apparent answers. I am guilty of unbelief, discontent, and bitterness. But I don't want to stay there.

"If we have faith in God, adversity is our friend and our ally. If we are guilty of unbelief, adversity is our enemy. Reality is not determined by our circumstances. Reality is determined by our perception of our circumstances. If we have faith in God, we can see our circumstances from His perception and be encouraged. If we do not have faith, we only see our circumstances from our limited perception and we will be discouraged. Each day and each moment of each day we have an opportunity to choose what perception we will have about our circumstances. Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. His desire is to help us see our circumstances from God's perception. We must open the door and commune with Jesus to gain God's perception. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ provides eternal life. But it also provides a view of life from God's perspective that can lift us up during the most difficult

seasons of life."

Pastor Jerry Wells

Western Hills Church

in my dreams

This is what I wish my hair looked like...not as big as mine and more tame...

Or this, 'cause hey, while I'm dreaming, I might as well dream big...I have always loved Carrie Underwood's hair!!!

sigh. I do like my own hair. Really. Some days it's just a little harder to feel that affection. ;)

Operation Tame-the-Mane

I haven't cut my hair for, well, obviously a few months. I love long hair, but my hair is super hard to take care of and barely looks halfway decent (and the Oklahoma 90% humidity doesn't help anything either). So I decided to chop it all off. Get a summer 'do. Seven inches later...

I only straightened it the first day. The shorter cut didn't really "tame" the mane. So I decided to stop fighting it and just go natural. Crazy hair. Here is what I look really look like (prepare yourself):

What do you think? Better? Or should I have kept the length? It does feel better in this heat and humidity, but I don't know if it improved the look lol. My hair is huge. I could totally do 80's hair if it ever comes back in! I was born for it. (I am not saying I like it...you just can't stop destiny.)

unk-unks

I learned a very sophisticated term from my 900 page corporate finance textbook: unk-unks. I will put that in layman terms for you non-finance people: unknown unknowns. It was used in the context of project analysis, specifically sensitivity analysis. But I have applied it to my own life. I am facing many unk-unks. I don't like them. Not one bit. (This could be a great Dr. Seuss book, dontcha think??)

I started working on my degree last year because I felt the time was finally right. I definitely prayed about it a lot and believed that was what God wanted me to do. So I dove in and worked/studied my little heart out, trying to figure out how to balance full time job, school, and life in general. I gave it my best shot, but that's not quite good enough. I am struggling. Overwhelmed. And my body is shutting down. Apparently you can only burn the candle at both ends for so long...

So I made the oh-so-difficult decision to quit school. Put it back on the shelf again. I'm not sure how many dreams you have to die to before you find the one(s) God intends for you to live out, but I am saying goodbye to yet another one. I have no idea where Jesus will take me from here, all I can see is the step I'm on.

That's a scary place for me to be because there are huge unk-unks lurking around every dark corner, waiting to jump out and grab me. I do not like them, Sam-I-am, I do not like...oh never mind. Unk-unks don't rhyme with that.

This is my prayer while I am surrounded by those terrible unk-unk monsters.

Lest this post bring feelings of depression to you and more unnecessary feelings of depression to me, I will skillfully change the topic: picture time!!

Asparagus is supposed to be a good-mood-food. Since I like asparagus anyway, I knew it couldn't hurt anything, so I've bought a couple pounds of it. I can't tell yet that it has boosted my mood....the jury's still out.

I got flowers at work!

POPS!!!! And Dublin Dr. Pepper. Need I say more?

struggle

This quote jumped out and grabbed me today. I am not saying I agree with Danny Dreyer's philosophies, I don't really know much about him, but I saw this quote and really liked it.

“Struggle is the food from which change is made, and the best time to make the most of a struggle is when it's right in front of your face.

Now, I know that might sound a bit simplistic. But, too often we're led to believe that struggling is a bad thing, or that we struggle because we're doing something wrong.

 
I disagree. I look at struggle as an opportunity to grow. True struggle happens when you can sense what is not working for you and you're willing to take the appropriate action to correct the situation. Those who accomplish change are willing to engage the struggle.”

~Danny Dreyer


I wanted to share some photos with you but I can't get anything to upload so I guess I will have to try again later. That's all for now. Goodbye.