I will sing to the Lord all my life, I will sing praises to my God

"He wraps Himself in light

As with a garment,

He spreads out the heavens

And walks on the wings of the wind.

He sends forth the springs

from the valleys

The flow between moutains.

The birds of the air dwell

by the waters,

Lifting their voices in song-

Singing glory, glory!

Glory to the Lamb!

All praises and honor forever.

He made the moon for its season,

The sun knows it setting.

He looks at the Earth and it trembles,

He touches the mountains

and they smoke,

I will sing to the Lord all my life,

I will sing praises to my God - 

As long as I live,

Praises to the Lord, oh my soul.

Singing glory, hallelujah!

Glory to our God!

All praises and honor forever."

Creation Song by Fernando Ortega 

Southern California

Photos from our trip down to Southern California in February...

Sewing Projects

 Here are some recent sewing projects I have done for friends...

Taggie for Sharon's newest grandson

Owl blanket and taggie for the Karltorp's soon to be little one. 

Blanket and taggie for the Winn Baby 

Taggie for Donna's Friend

Another taggie for Donna's friend

Laurel

Today marks six years since Laurel has been gone and I still can't believe that she is gone. 

Laurel in GA taking photos

Laurel and I were the oddest roommate/friends ever. We were literally complete opposites!

 It still makes me laugh to remember about how we ended up as roommates...

Laurel was waiting for a room to open up, since she had not decided to come to Taylor until the last minute (oh Laurel!) and I had called Taylor for a roommate reassignment. While on the phone with the counselor from Taylor they were telling me all about the different girls I could be roommates with and they were all super sporty. Now I have nothing against sporty girls but I am soo not sporty. Then suddenly they starting telling me about this girl who lives in Chicago and is an art major. It was the first girl they talked about that did not include working out as her favorite hobby! I instantly said I'll take her! Who knew that I would end up with the most amazing roommate and friend all because of my dislike for sports and working out! 

Freshman Year 

Today I have been thinking about Laurel a lot. Remembering all of the fun times we had together for the three short years we were roommates. It makes me laugh to remember things like her talking on the phone every night  to Nate using her headset as she walked around the room and whipped out some amazing art project the night before it was due. Or the way that she would wait to cash her work checks until she had like five checks and then she would have a ridiculous amount of money in our dorm room! Or her binder of ideas, (she was a pinner before pinterest)! Or how neither one of us could go to sleep until the other one was at the very least in the suite if not in the room, Or how she was always reading magazine articles and trying out  all of the healthy and beauty ideas, (including an acid face peel that left her scabby for like a week)!  

After she finally cashed her checks

Today, in addition to all of the amazing memories, (of which they're too many to write about), I have also been consumed with lots of questions. (Not about why she is gone, the Lord and I have already been through those questions.)  But rather questions like...

What would Laurel be like today? 

Would she be married to Nate? Where would they be living? 

What kind of art would she be doing? Where would she have traveled to take pictures?

 Would she be a mom? What would her kids look like?

 Would we still be as close as we were in College? How would our friendship have changed and evolved as our lives changed?

What would she say about me living in CA? Or being married to Mark? 

Today I may have a lot of questions but One thing I know  today and always is that those questions will never be able to take away from all my amazing  memories of Laurel. I will forever be grateful to the Lord for allowing me to have the 3 years I had with her. And I look forward to the day that I will once again see her in Heaven.  

Roommate Love

We hid this puppy in our room!

Black and White

So I was doing some editing on my photos the other night and I decided to see what some of them would look like in black and white. 

Answer..... I LOVE IT!  

Here are a few examples!

 Yosemite Falls

Light Pole across the street

 My Lola Love

 Lake Tahoe

Rose at FILOLI

Chick and Hen at FILOLI

I also fell in love with antiquing photos as well, maybe I will post some of those soon too! 

Pastor's Wives

Today I was blessed to drive to Modesto with my senior pastor's wife and attend a Calvary Chapel pastor's wives luncheon. The fellowship was wonderful and the message really spoke to me on a personal level.

 Ever since I started dating my now husband, Mark, I have struggled to figure out what exactly my role is as the associate pastor's wife. Over the course of our relationship the Lord has used so many different people, messages,  and scripture to speak to me on this matter. I have also been blessed with an amazing Senior Pastor's Wife who gives me an amazing example to follow of putting her husband and family as her primary ministry.

 The title of today's message, "What a Pastor's Wife is not".

Here is what a pastor's wife is not...

A theologian - she should not be expected to know every answer to all Bible questions

A Bible teacher - unless God has specifically gifted her in that area

A counselor -unless God has specifically gifted her in that area

An administrator for the entire church - unless God has specifically gifted her in that area, and she is a paid member of the church staff

A leader: of children's ministry, worship, activities, etc.. - again unless it is her personal calling and gift

An information booth - she reads the bulletin and church announcements just like you do

Here is what a pastor's wife is....

A woman married to the pastor!!!!

She also should be....

Someone passionately in love with the Lord with all her soul, heart, and mind

Someone who recognizes her need for spiritual growth and makes steps to grow and change

Someone who strives to please God in all things not men

Someone who loves, encourages and supports her husband 100%

So to be the best pastor's wife... all I need to do is to simply, be who I am in the Lord and not who I think I should be or who I think others think I should be! 






My husband also shared this great article from Mars Hill Church with me today, on the same topic:

Loving the Pastor's Wife

Sewing Projects

Over the last year I have discovered the joy of picking out fabrics and sewing on my sewing machine which I have had since college and am just now figuring out how to use! 

Specifically I have have been making baby blankets for all of my friends and family that are expecting a little bundle of joy. I have had so much fun going to the fabric store and picking out just the right fabrics for the expectant mothers. Most of the time I try to pick a fabric to coordinate with the nursery theme but occasionally I will find a fabric that just seems to perfect to pass on. I use snuggle flannel in a fun pattern for the front and ultra cuddle fleece on the back in a solid color. On my latest blanket I attempted to use binding on the edge to finish the blanket off. (I must admit it was a pain at times but it looks so nice!) 

Here is a picture of the blanket I just finished for my cousin's new baby, Jack!

Since it is now summer time and I have a little more free time I also decided to try and make something new that I saw on a fellow bloggers site, called the ribbon snuggly. It was super easy to make and lots of fun as well! The one pictured below I made to coordinate with the blanket for baby Jack! 

I am thinking my next sewing project is going to be curtains for the office/guest room and some for the laundry room as well! If they turn out nice I will post pictures when done!