Don’t have much time to write but of course had to say hello to all you lovely people! I love hearing how you are spreading the word about the orphans and taking an interest in their plight. From the bottom of my heart thank you! Thank you for loving these children. Thank you for helping them to have a hope and a future. They may be little but as Dr. Seuss would say, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
Yay for an UPDATE: $35,829.45 😀
I’ve been in a waiting stage since the “end” of the project. It hasn’t been easy but it has been good for me. Actively waiting yes, but still waiting. And this may sound silly but I don’t know what I am waiting for exactly. Then I read this quote by Ann Voskamp, “Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise- a time to pray wrapped up in a ribbon of patience- because is the Lord ever late?” That spoke straight to my heart. I don’t want to miss the gift of waiting. There is so much beauty in just being fully present where I am right now and taking it all in. I’d love to hear your thoughts on “waiting” in the comments. What did you do when you were at a crossroads in your life?
Dear wonderful readers,
Today marks a very significant day in American history. It has been a decade since the attack on our country and the World Trade Centers crashing to the ground. As I spend time with loved ones today I am reminded of the courage some people had that day to lay down their lives for others. I am grateful to them and their families as well as for the men and women who daily serve our country. I am blessed…
Today’s quotes are on courage…
Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. ~ Billy Graham
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon
Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die. ~G.K. Chesterton
Dear amazing readers,
Today is the wedding!!! I’m really excited to be able to witness the joining of my sweet cousin to a wonderful man. (Plus I love that marriage is a reflection of Christ and the Church.) I’m off to help with hair and pre wedding prep and then tonight we are going to dance till we drop. 😀 Hope you are having a great weekend!
Sorry but I just can’t help myself… today’s quote is from the movie Princess Bride… “Mawage. Mawage is what bwings us togever today. Wuv, true wuv that bwessed awangement, that dweam within a dweam.”
-Priest
UPDATE: $35,699.45 😀 Woo Hoo!!! Push it over the 700??
Dear wonderful readers,
Today is the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Going to be busy and fun!
So here are the quotes for the day on the topic of Joy:
Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift. ~Albert Einstein
I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy. ~C. S. Lewis
Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
xxx
Note about this dress: I think I need a different hem length…
Check out this UPDATE: $35,599.45 😀 Can we push it over to 600? 🙂
I’m off to Minnesota! Going to be flying all day… While I don’t particularly enjoy being strapped into a seat for hours I do love the anticipation of getting to my destination. I’m excited to be going with my mom to my cousin’s wedding and seeing family I haven’t seen for over a year. So since I’m gone this week posting is going to be a tad bit different. I hope you like it! 🙂 Question for today: What is the farthest trip you have ever made and where to? As always let me know in the comments. 🙂
P.S. Outfits are going to be VERY simple this week…Going to be showing you some dresses from my “collection”. 😉 Oh yeah and it was windy when I took this pic…
UPDATE: $35,299.45 😀 Who wants to push it over to 300?
Can you believe I have been blogging for 130 days straight? I can’t. Actually I can because I’m a tad bit tired. 🙂 Today I am off to the beach with my best friends (also known as my mum and dad). I’m looking forward to squishing my toes in sand and getting chills from the cold water. Looking out into the seeming endless expanse of water and watching the waves come methodically up on the beach always gives me a sense of how small I am. And it’s a wonderful feeling. This type of small is healthy because I get a tiny glimmer of how big my God is. This infinite God holds me and loves me. Living in the knowledge of that gives me such peace.
P.S. My ten year old self wore this shirt…when we were in Greece 13 years ago I begged my dad to get this for me. He did and I have worn it many times since then. I love it. I know it’s a bit childish but hey it makes me smile. 🙂
UPDATE: $35,264.45 going up a tiny bit. 🙂
I’m going on a trip but this…well this needed to happen first. I walked into my basement with an armful of dirty laundry and started sorting it into dark and light little mountains yesterday. I tossed in the first load and left to do other things. Later when I came down to see how it was going I could tell something wasn’t right with the washer. It was making a disgruntled sound. Yes, it decided to quit on me. So I started to hand wash my clothes and it was right then surrounded by a pile of messy rumpled clothes with my arms sunk deep into the sink that I saw. I saw how we are people with messy lives and we try to wash ourselves but we just get disgruntled and pretty soon the spinning cycle we are in just has to stop. I ponder this and pick up my green dress and let the water soak deep and I watch as the water turns the shade of the dress. And I realize we’re a people who are green with envy. We covet each others status, looks, wealth, health, personality, family, friends, and the list goes on. A part of the reason we are discontent is because we compare. Clear, cold water gushes from the spout and I hold my dress under the stream of liquid so pure. The water runs through it and makes it clean. Gradually I gently but firmly wring out the dress. It is then that I realize again how in my life Jesus is the One who has washed me. I couldn’t do it on my own. It takes him to get out the dye, the sin that I must die to. At times in our lives we feel squeezed but it is the Lord refining us. Yet just as I reshape my dress and let it be warmed by the sun so God reforms our lives and teaches us about the loving warmth of his Son. It is in the warmth of his love that we realize we have everything we could ever need or want. There are times that are difficult for us but in God’s hands we become clean. The dirt is washed away and fresh abundant life is right there for us. I look at my dress. It’s better than ever and I go into the house smiling because my soul has been washed and I can rejoice in the knowledge that I am clean.
(Picture taken on my mom’s iphone)
I went shopping for pants. Jeans in particular. That means it was an event. If you are a girl you get this. If you are a guy listen up because you should understand this too. So I grabbed several pairs of pants to try on and went to the dressing room. Let me just stop right here and say WHAT IS WITH THOSE ROOMS?!?!? I mean seriously. You’d think they are trying to make you leave without buying anything. For reals. The lighting always makes you look like death warmed over and lets not even get started with the mirrors! O.K. back to the pants. Yah know if you have to dance to get into your jeans well…they are probably a little to tight. Just maybe??? Then there are the ones you put on and think look all cute until you…turn around. Let’s just say that as a general rule sagging should never be a term used while shopping. If you hear it run away from that pair. So after maybe the 98th pair of jeans you finally slip into a pair that fits just right. You hear yourself give a sigh of relief and then you look at the price tag…and.have.a.heart.attack. Thud. Now what? My thought is “I’m going to have to sell a kidney to buy this pair of jeans!!!” So I walk out of the dressing room and hand over the rejects (she about falls over from the stack. yes it is that big). So that is why it’s epic. And why I left without ANYTHING. The only thing worse to shop for is a bathing suit… Guys this is why we spend so much time shopping. 🙂 Have compassion please. 😉 Maybe I should just go back to wearing my dress… 😉
P.S. On a totally different topic…I am feeling that this next $15K is going to be challenging to raise. You with me on getting this goal met?? O.K. Thanks you wonderful people!
“It’s a small world.” Ever heard that line before? Usually it is in the context of talking about how one person knows that person and so on and so forth. Honestly though most of the time I don’t feel like it is that small. I mean “my” sweet orphans feel far away. I love them but I have never had the opportunity to connect with them. Yet this blog has showed me differently. Here’s the crazy, cool story: I “met” an incredible girl via this blog (actually I have “met” a lot of incredible people through this blog…). We emailed back and forth. We became good friends. She lives in Australia. That’s one third of the story. Another third of the story is that I have friends from here who have been on an EPIC sailing trip from America down to..wait for it…Australia for the last six months. A few days ago I found out that they docked in Brisbane. Annnnddd that’s where my Aussie friend comes in for the other third of this story. I Facebooked her and told her they were in the same city as she is!!! They ended up being 15 minutes away from each other… She is part of a film production team so naturally she wanted to interview them. In something like 48 hours from the time I told her about it she had met them. Between all of us we have been sending messages back and forth like crazy. I like to think of it as popcorn mail. 😉 As soon as you write to one person another email or message pops up. It is so funny how friends from here could meet a good friend of mine who I have never technically met all because of one Facebook wall post! I guess it is a small world after all… I’d LOVE to hear about any “small world” stories you might have. Leave em’ in the comments if you get a chance! 🙂
