Home & Husband

My sweet husband is finally home! He has been in Colorado at Young Life camp. I absolutely hate being a "single-wife" and staying all alone while he is gone. However, I am so proud of him and what he is doing. I so wish I could have gone, but with this being the busiest time of the year for weddings, that was just not possible.

Got to brag on my husband a bit....
He is a phenomenal and gifted speaker and relates to youth of all ages. I got to go and watch him speak to some high school students at church, and could not stop smiling. He has a gift. He has a passion. And he is totally using it for the glory of God.

Colby, I love you so much and am so proud of you. I respect you and want to honor you as your wife. You constantly make me smile. You go out of your way to be thoughtful towards me. You are the most selfless man I know. You have your eyes on Jesus and people can tell there is something different about you. You challenge me, encourage me and lead me. I love you with all of my heart!

A little thing called JOY....

First....I am a horrible "blogger." Probably the worst. My consistency is not there. My grammar is definitely lacking. In the midst of this "online journal" I hope those that come to read it can sense someone just being real, living life and journaling some random things. May these "random things" be used by God of something you needed to hear on that day....

With all that being said...I have been dwelling on one verse lately.

"The JOY of the Lord is your strength."

-Nehemiah 8:10

For some of us, this may be a verse we have heard hundreds of times before. We may have it memorized. We know songs that have it included in the lyrics. But has it hit the core of your being?

I am writing to those who are burnt out, hurt, lonely, tired, weary, ready to give up, longing for more, confused, etc. I am writing to myself.

To be rejuvenated, to be refreshed and revived, we need JOY. True joy. Lasting joy. Real joy.

Joy that comes only from the Lord.

Joy that comes from being obedient.

Joy that comes from doing what you know you are supposed to be doing.

Joy that comes from being real and disposing of the masks.

Joy that comes from doing what you absolutely love to do.

Joy that comes from resting in the Lord and taking time off.

Joy that comes from caring more for others than yourself.

Joy is something that I believe you have to choose to have. I want to be joyful no matter what. I do not want how I am feeling sway if I have joy or not.

Let's choose this day to have joy!

Just a little update...

It has been a while since I have posted anything. I have had nothing very specific to blog about. So today, I am just going to start typing and see where things lead.

Well, today Colby left for Jamiaca for 9 days! Ahhh... I hate being a single wife. He is going with the church where he is a youth pastor at. They are taking a group of high school students to Jamaica for a mission trip. This is his first time out of the country and his first time to go on a mission trip! I can not wait to hear about his experience!

Thankfully, me sweet, wonderful incredible friend Sara lives with us and so I am not totally alone. We have opened up one of our guest rooms for her for the summer. We have loved having her with us. She is one of the sweetest girls you will ever meet! Here is Sara:

Today has been such a wonderful day off. Sara and I went to Lake Hefner and ran 3 miles and walked 1.5 miles. It was so beautiful outside! We had dinner together, took our two dogs on a walk around the neighborhood and now we are watching Father of the Bride and painting our nails a beautiful pink color! I love having girls night!

We need to go to bed soon, because we have to be up at 5:30am. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we do Boot Camp at our gym. It is a hard-core work-out regimen. It is so fun! It does require some early mornings, but it is totally worth it.

Moving right along, let's talk about the Lord. This particular verse has been staying with me constantly:

"Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you at the proper time."
-1 Peter 5:6

There are several parts of this verse that I think about constantly.
"Humble yourselves." This means, "life is not about me." I need to do what John talks about "He must increase, and I must decrease (John 3:30). Every day, I must decrease. Die to self. Focus on the Lord. Look at His face in my life. Look at Him throughout my entire day and how He is working. Know that He is in control and not me. Know that life is about glorifying His name and not my own name. One of my greatest faults is how it is so easy to be prideful. I am constantly having to break down that stronghold and acknowledge the True One.
"The mighty hand of God." Do I really believe that the hand of God is mighty? Even when things get hard? This verse reminds me that God can do anything. ANYTHING. He is the mighty, holy sovereign one. He is the one that created the universe. He is the one that causes certain things to happen on his timing. He has the hand that can move mountains. I must have the faith to truly believe that He has the mighty hand. My hands can do nothing unless God puts His in mine.
I am constantly praying a phrase that Moses said in Exodus, "Show me your glory!" God, show up in my life. Show me your realness and show me your glory. May I acknowledge you at all times. May I be aware of Your presence around me. May I decrease. May You Increase. Amen.

This will change your life...

Louie Giglio - Laminin

Seniors...Soon to be Freshman

This past year, I have been a part of leading a group of high school girls. Some are freshman. Some are sophomores. Some are juniors. And some are seniors. We have girls in public schools, private schools, and home-schooled. My incredible, best friend Becca helps me lead this group. We absolutely CHERISH these girls!! They mean the world to us. We have had the most incredible time getting to know them, opening up, sharing struggles and experiencing God's faithfulness.

Three of our beautiful girls are seniors and they are all graduating within days. We are so proud of them and excited for their future. We planned a "Celebration Night" last night and I took them to get great pizza and delicious dessert. We went to The Wedge (incredible pizza place on Western) and then we went to Coco Flow for dessert (right down the street). We were so sad that Becca could not be there, she was out of town. (We missed you Becca!)

Here are a few pictures from the night:

The three senior girls at The Wedge: Jill, Bethany and Megan! They are GORGEOUS!

Me with The Girls at Coco Flow. Why is it that I am 5-6 years older than them and they look WAY older than me! When will I look my age?? Just a side note...

I absolutely love giving gifts. I receive joy in making things and giving things. I got all the girls embroidered towels with their names on them. I also made a frame for them to hang all of their earrings on. They received a cute little basket full of goodies like colorful pens, cute stationary, cool designed post-its, etc. Here are two of the girls with their new towels!

To Jill and Megan,
I am so proud of you. I can not tell you enough I excited I am for you for all that is in your future. Summer break. Rushing for your sorority. Registering for classes. Starting Freshman year. Bethany, you have so much to look forward to with Courts Mountain and the wonderful "unknown." I love you girls! I am here for you all while you are in college! CONGRATULATIONS!

New Hair

Do you color your hair? Do you color hair according to the season? You know, you go lighter in the summer and darker in the winter. I have always done that. Around March I usually put some highlights in my hair and around October I usually put some low-lights in my hair. Well, this year was completely the opposite. In the winter I put a lot of blonde in my hair for who knows what reason. Then when March/April came around, I was ready for a change. So....I went darker...

I have always had extremely dark eye brows and really light blonde hair. It makes no sense to me. I decided to try a color that comes close to my eye brows (which is totally not natural). Oh well. What do you think? Go back blonde? Or leave it dark?

Before

After

Birthdays, High School Girls and Sprinklers

Yesterday was a very busy day! We had so much fun through it all though! Colby and I woke up and went to church. I volunteer in the babies every third Sunday, which happened to be yesterday. After holding babies all morning, I finalized some last minute details as I was planning a surprise for my sweet hubby!! His parents, grandparents and one of his sisters drove down from Kansas to celebrate his birthday that was on the 11th. We spent the afternoon with them! They are so sweet and we were so thankful for them to make that drive and see us! We wish we could of had more time with them! It flew by!

Colby, his mom, grandma and grandpa all sitting and talking

Me with Colby's gorgeous sister, Kelsey!

Little Lucy....My brother, sister-in-law and all their kids stopped by to say hi to his family.

His family sadly had to leave and get back to Kansas, and I had my weekly high school girl's group! Can I please say: I LOVE THESE GIRLS!!!! I look forward to my time with them every week. They are so sweet, encouraging and thoughtful. Here is a picture of some of us...there were a few missing...

After the group ended, my brother and sister-in-law dropped off all four of their kids and we had them sleepover at our house! We love our neices and nephew! We were all playing outside and I went inside for one second when sweet uncle Colby thought it would be fun to run through the sprinklers....with their clothes on. He had to run inside and grab the camera since they were having a blast! After a couple of rounds through the sprinklers, they took of their shirts and ran through in just their pants. It was bath time after that for sure! They were so wet and dirty! But really cute too!!

That is all for our Sunday! Hope your Sunday was fun and relaxing!