Happy Admins' Day!

Happy Administrative Assistants' Day!

Today got off to a crazy start (my train was cancelled, drove to light rail, no parking, drove BACK to the train just in time to be smothered in far too much humanity), so I completely forgot that I'd heard it was Admin's Day on the radio. I mean completely forgot.

I got to work and was greeted by this sweetness:

It totally didn't register.  "Ohh...that was nice...super nice...and really random!"

Fast forward a few hours and I'm elbow-deep in receipts... (this picture only captures a piece of the puzzle).

And my boss walks up and plops this on my desk.  I look up (and still it doesn't register) and respond, "THANK YOU! What is this for?"  He grins, thumps me on the shoulder and replies "Admin's Day!"  Aaaand cue the Aha! moment!

And just in case you needed further proof that my office is awesome... Well, just see below!  We have a weekly happy hour, "Beer Share" where an employee shares some sort of cool thing they're passionate about. This week is Product Runway.  

These two entries were posted on the office Intranet today: 

“It’s a Walk-Off!”
Did you miss your chance to buy a ticket to Product Runway?  Are you pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking? And plan on finding out what that is?  Here is your chance…

We have two tickets to give away! Oops did I say a giveaway… Well that's not exactly true. We want to see you work it for the ticket.  Got the guts to show us your talent in life? 
Come see which LMN'ers have the strut for a ticket to the event.  Thinking you're the one?  Then strut your stuff in a full 80's neon outfit for a Zoolander style walk off.
P.S. Those making partial effort need not compete.

Second, an LMN walk-off battle for Product Runway Tickets, come dressed to impress: Rules. 1. Neon 2. Personal Flare 3. Show us your Runway Realness at BeerShare   Participation may vary…. Only the best will win.

They have cute babies, we have a cute puppy

Gideon Lonnie

Big brother loves Gideon! 

Caleb Lorne

 Like daddy, like son! 

 Ahh, photoshoots with toddlers! 

We'll take what we can get! 

"Now this is Moo"

And this is what you do with him! 

Uncle Isaac is going to be a great daddy one day! 

Cute rolls and dimples! 

Tired baby! 

It's Lindy June! 

Lindy Loo Who, we love you!!! 

Here I come, world! 

And here's OUR boy: 

He loves to run, run, run!

It's impossible to NOT love this face!

Seeing the Connections: The Bible in a New Light

The problem with blogging is that I only seem to have great ideas when I'm away from the computer, living life. That's not actually the problem with blogging so much as the joy of living.  I guess it's more a problem that I never bother to record these great thoughts in the moment, to be more fully fleshed out later. So today I'm resolving to write a post, though I'm tempted to make a mental note and write it later (riiight).

Today I sat down somewhat discouraged at the amount of Scripture I needed to read to catch up.  I've had a very busy week and never seemed to be able to quite finish my chapters for the day.  This means I was 3.5 days behind on reading... It's discouraging when looked at as an assignment, and that's how i saw it.  God is good, though, and when we are faithful, He blesses us.  Sometimes these blessings are immediate!  I dug in and lo and behold, I had an Aha! moment.

I was part way through my reading of Matthew when I got to a section of scripture that was obviously a quote.  I was in Matthew 11:10 if you're curious.  It says "This is he of whom it is written" -- okay, that's a pretty clear indication of a quote.  Jesus is referring to John the Baptist.  I looked to the footnotes and there was no Scripture reference.  "Huh!"  Well, this time I decided not to give up so easily. I looked to the column of tiny print that's set in toward the center binding of most Bibles.  I found verse 10 and saw the note "10: Mark 1:2; Cited from Mal. 3:1". I flipped to Malachi 3:1 and there it was!  I decided to write in the NT reference alongside the Scripture in Malachi.

I've always known that there are hundreds, maybe thousands of prophecies in the Old Testament that come to fruition in the pages of the New Testament.  Known, but rarely seen.  Some I've learned about in church sermons or Bible studies, but I've rarely taken it upon myself to seek further examples.  Today the Scriptures came alive for me!  This is truly the living, breathing, timeless, timely Word of God!

There in the Old Testament pages, in a part of my Bible where the pages are pristine from lack of study, I found a reference to John the Baptist!  I read the surrounding section of Malachi with an interest it's honestly never commanded before.  Here was a piece of insight that will help me understand the often confusing and dense prophecies in the Old Testament!

I returned to my New Testament reading and found further examples of cross-referencing. I realize now that in my frustration with the lack of footnotes and the pitifully incomplete concordance at the back of my Bible, I've been missing out on a key resource!  Inset on each page is the truest help in understanding Scripture: reference to other Scripture!

I'm excited to continue my study of the Word and have decided that when I can, I'm going to rewrite those tiny little letters into the margins of corresponding Scripture.  For me this is a visual reminder of the connectedness of all Scripture!  It shows again the proof that this Book could only be ordained and breathed by God.  What human, let alone dozens of humans, could ever have written such a perfectly cross-referenced, cohesive, self-evidencing work over so many centuries?!

So today I found myself unexpectedly and joyously encouraged in the Word.  I challenge you to seek out the center column next time you sit down to the Word.  I know you'll be encouraged.  Why wait? Go try it out now if you haven't ever before!

Simple things that bring great joy

There are many simple things in my life that bring great joy.  There were a few things today that just made my soul light.  Here's a little glimpse into our day:

We started our morning today snuggled under the covers, listening to the rain beat down on the roof. It's so lovely to listen to the storm outside, feeling safe, secure, and perfectly content indoors.  We have a vaulted ceiling in the living room, so we can really hear the rain when the bedroom door is open or if we come out to the couch.

During breakfast we sat and read our Bibles together.  I have to brag on my husband because he has really taken spiritual leadership to heart.  He sets such a wonderful example to me with his consistent faithfulness to studying and meditating on Scripture.  Today we sat and ate breakfast together, then spent some quality time reading and discussing what we'd read.  It's a treat for me to be able to look up from the verses we're both reading and ask questions and hear him share his wisdom.  I've grown so much in my faith and my understanding of Scripture since we've been married!

Later we went to church, followed by a wonderful visit with family.  Now we're back, snug in our house, my husband helping me with a craft project (re-upholstering a chair cushion) that had me stuck and almost in tears.  He very gently led me away and quietly took over.  It's almost done (we ran out of tacks) and it looks amazing and I'm able to relax and let him help me.  

Soon it will be time to put on jammies and snuggle up with hot tea and cocoa and watch a movie my sister lent us, while listening to the steady and uncharacteristically heavy rains fall outside.  We might even have one last fire for the season. 

I love our home and building it and nesting in it with my wonderfully loving husband and crazy pup.  

Speaking of Charlie, he's not so subtly requesting my assistance in procuring his ball which has rolled under the chair.  Guess I should be going.  Happy Sunday! 

Oh, Anne!

I have days, like today, when all I want to do is curl up and watch Anne of Green Gables (hint for my birthday: I'd LOVE the DVDs).  Today's one of those days. I want to lose myself in the beauty of Anne's imagination, love, and sweetness. Her world is always dramatic and full, up or down, it's refreshing and joyful. How I long to have lived in a world where Anne was real and we were chums.  What a life that would have been!

But instead I live in reality, where I have nightmares all night, oversleep, ignore the whining dog, have to clean up poop from said whining dog (he was trying to warn me...), rush out of the door, get to work where I'm inundated with little tasks, it's gray outside, and quite frankly, I'm in a bit of a funk.

I've been listening to Anne's Theme over and over on my ipod as I'm sitting here eating my lunch. It takes me back to that most Anne-like moment of imagination coming true: I was dressed in all white on my Papa's arm, walking far too quickly up the aisle, smiling til my cheeks hurt, and focused on one man, my very own, real life Gilbert Blythe!  Oh, I DID feel as if I were in a fairy tale that day.

So while my life is not a storybook, it does have its moments, and at the end I'm grateful for each (mis)adventure, and ever more thankful that I get to go through them with my Jesus and my loving husband who points me to Jesus each and every day.

A Practical Display of God's Providence

Back story: Last week I told Isaac that my car was making a really strange sound when I made a hard left (like turning into a parking space). He couldn't replicate the noise and we forgot about it...

Friday my car started to make a slight thumping noise but it was intermittent and we weren't worried. We heard it but attributed it to the rutted road we were on. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday it grew steadily more pronounced and Isaac did a visual check of our titles: they were all fully inflated in spite of sounding like one was flat.  We decided to trade cars on Monday so he could take it in. 

We stopped for gas just before jumping on the freeway to head to Tacoma from West Seattle. Again he looked at the front tire and all seemed well.  He decided (for reasons we now know were solely providential) to reach down and touch a lug nut. It was LOOSE as in loose to the touch!!! He grabbed the lug wrench and gave each nut a solid three turns before they were tight.  We shudder to think what would have happened if God had not intervened and we had gotten on I-5! The tire would not have stayed on much longer in the state it was.

Thank you Lord for showing yourself in a very real way on such a beautiful Easter! You truly reminded us you are alive and active in our lives!

HE IS RISEN!