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Bella

Bella

“If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”
-Jose in the movie Bella

Anna, Mom, some friends and I went to go see Bella on Monday night. It’s a good movie, a very good movie. It is a movie about despair about hope, about joy, love, about life. It is about grace. It is a movie that you should definitely consider seeing.

What plans have you made? Has God laughed?

“..you say, ‘Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, … yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. … You ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.'”
-James 4:13-15

What plans have I made? Have I considered that the result of “my” plans is ultimately in the Lord’s hands? The movie gave me things to ponder, to think about. For example, the idea that a tragedy doesn’t have to end as a tragedy, but can become a source of beauty. It can become bella.

A Bit Of Time Together (away from home)

A Bit Of Time Together (away from home)

Lake Tahoe Vacation

Daniel, Anna, Leitha (a friend), and I went up to Lake Tahoe on Friday. We met the rest of the family at a friend’s cabin, and spent two very wonderful days with them. It was a short break from the normal routine of work, school, ministry, work, school, ………………
I only wish it had been longer!

"the happiest place on earth"

"the happiest place on earth"

Daniel, Anna, and I – along with some of the people in our college group at church – went to Disneyland on Friday. It is billed as the happiest place on earth. I came to the conclusion that even if Disneyland is not the happiest place, it is one of the happiest places!

We left our house at 4:30 AM! It made for a long, but very fun, day.

my lovely sister



* some of the images pictured above were taken on the camera of Miss Sandy Shabram.

Sisters

Sisters

“best-est” friends

There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
-Proverbs 18:24

Mmhmm. (a.k.a. “sister”)

A Wedding

A Wedding

Today was a big day.
A wonderful day, full of joy, and yet bittersweet.
Eric married my neighbor Deann.

Her mom, Eric’s parents, two other very dedicated and loving relatives and I, decorated the hall and yard this morning. We arrived at 7 am, and were finished by 10:30 (no, we weren’t experienced, just frantic).

Gayle (the bride’s mom) was a little stressed, but enjoying every minute. Gayle loves stress, thrives on it. Deann, on the other hand, does not! But it was okay. She made it until 5:30, when her dad walked his daughter down the aisle and gave her away.

The afternoon was hot, but it made the bride and groom even more radiant. The officiating minister challenged Eric and Deann to put Christ at the center of their marriage. He challenged them to love sacrificially, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her. They promised to be true to each other until death. God, grant that this may be so! May God bless them with a knowledge of His love, His love for them and for each other.

“A man should leave his father and mother, and be forever united to his wife. The two shall become one – no longer two, but one! And no man may divorce what God has joined together.”
– Matthew 19:5-6 (Living Translation)

A Party For Julia – and Grandpa’s birthday

A Party For Julia – and Grandpa’s birthday


Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!

Today was Grandpa’s birthday! He turned 81, a very young 81.

Julia had a birthday party this afternoon, and Grandpa and Grandma came over as well.

There is a verse in Proverbs somewhere says that something to the effect that “children glory in their fathers”.
I was thinking about this verse in respect to Grandpa. His children and grandchildren do “glory” in him. He has lived a life of that we desire to emulate, and he continues to do so.
Grandpa taught his sons to be men of God, and now we, his grandchildren, can “glory” in our fathers. None of them are perfect, nor will they ever be, but they serve a mighty God and desire to bring Him glory and praise.
God has indeed blessed our family.

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!

Pier 39

Pier 39

Welcome to the Pier (Anna took this one)


Mrs. Spruance (Jill), Anna and I spent a few hours wandering around Pier 39 this afternoon (can you believe I have lived in California all my life and never been here? Must have been … deprived or something). We ate sourdough bread, drank coffee, talked, watched the guys dancing on the street corner, took lots of pictures and had a wonderful time.

President’s Day Weekend

President’s Day Weekend

Pictures, for all of you who have been suspecting that “something” was going on ……….

John came to visit! He flew in to CA (from IN – did you know that it is cold back there? who’d have thought … ) middle of Friday, and Dad and he finally arrived here at about 10:30pm (due to some delays with Dad’s flight schedule), just in time for a very late dinner.
It was wonderful to see John again, after about 8 months …….. a lot can happen in 8 months (yes, Abby, I know that that was an understatement).

Saturday was a quiet, fun, sun filled day. It started with a belated Valentine breakfast (waffles) and there was much giving and receiving of gifts. (no pics)
John gave me a great big, white teddy bear and a very large red mug with hearts on it. The mug holds about 16 oz of coffee … enough to get me through the morning!

After a while we decided to take a walk, original, I know. It was really more along the lines of “adventuring” ………
We hiked up the hill behind the house, got a bit sunburned, saw a glimpse of the Sierra Nevada through the haze, Ben ended up with blisters on his feet (he called them …….. oh, I can’t remember what he called them ………… but it was really funny), and we all had a great time. (once again, no pics)


Grandpa and Grandma came over for dinner, and Grandma let me know that she thinks John is a “very fine young man”. Well, so do I.

We ended the day by watching Facing the Giants, a movie that Daniel got for Christmas. (no pics)

Sunday started with church (of course). On our way home it started to rain. We spent the afternoon walking around Grant’s Grove (about an hour’s drive away), looking at giant Sequoias, playing in the snow and rain and goofing off.

We ended up wet and tired, and enjoyed a glorious sunset on the way down the mountain.

John is now on his way home, back to freezing Indiana. He is already missed – Ben is a bit forlorn that he no longer has anyone to show his new frog to. :-) However, Ben is not the only one who misses him …….. I do too!

Mom made a web-album of some of the pictures from this weekend:

Enjoy!

Three Sisters

Three Sisters

~ ~ ~


The three of us spent a few hours together in our room this afternoon – and messed around with a camera!

I realized over again how precious it is to spend time with Anna and Julia, my sisters. Anna is truly my best friend, and Julia is climbing up the list. There is nothing in the world that can compare to the relationship sisters share.

Anna and I were busy studying all afternoon, and Julia walked in and out periodically. “Studying” probably isn’t really the right term, we actually just used it as an excuse to spend a few hours together (something we don’t get to do too often, as our school schedules are completely opposite)! I think Julia felt a bit left out – she would run in when she heard us laugh, wondering “what’s so funny? What are you doing? What are you two talking about?”. I love having her as a sister, but after ten – nearly eleven – years it is still an effort to include her in our spontaneous times of sistership. She wants to be part of everything, but there are some things Anna and I share that Julia cannot. And she feels it.
Nothing should be getting in the way of her feeling our love, nothing. It is imperative that we seek out her heart, together and individually. She is tender and priceless, and we must make time for her and include her.
After all, sisterhood is a gift from God. It is an incredible relationship that teaches us how to relate to other girls, other women, and the rest of the world. We can share things with each other that we can’t share with anyone else simply because they don’t share our history, they were not there to see us as we grew up (Anna knows more about me than anyone else, even Dad and Mom. There are a few things they know that she doesn’t, but she knows more). Friends have not seen us in our small failures and triumphs, all they see are the big things or the ones we allow them to see. Of all the people on earth, sisters know us for who we are, not for who they think we are.
Of course, sisters are also available to help us get out of trouble (and into it!). . . . :-D