Monday, July 11, 2016

What Life Looks Like


Sometimes ministry looks like this -


Filling in at the front desk.  (The idea made me a bit nervous - I know that's silly - but it was relatively painless, and I'll be doing it again soon.  The more I do it, the less scary it should seem.  Right?)


Deep cleaning in the guest house.


Sorting through and organizing guest house kitchen stuff.


While sorting and cleaning I found this (left by previous guests)...


...and this (a very old recipe book stuffed in one of the drawers).  Among other things.

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My summer reading stack.  How many can I get through before the semester starts??


"I'm so homely nobody will ever want to marry me - unless it might be a foreign missionary.  I suppose a foreign missionary mightn't be very particular."

That made me laugh way too hard for so many reasons.  Also?  I think Anne Shirley just might be my favorite fictional character ever, although the book itself can't actually knock Evangelists in Chains from its place of my favorite fiction book.

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Around the school -


Improvements on the third floor!  The ladies lounge is being turned into a dorm so we have enough room for all the students coming this fall (Yay that "having enough room" is something we have to think about this semester!).


And another recent improvement - we have something entirely new at school.  A ditorium.  (Actually the "u" just randomly fell down one day, but how unimaginative does that sound?)

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When someone goes on a trip and your "pay" for watering their garden is some of the harvest...how could you complain?  Incidentally, I had forgotten just how incredible garden fresh peas were.


I miss spring's tulips, but I discovered this house not too far from school with a whole bunch of sweet peas cascading over the fence.  Just dreamy.  (Dreamy is a word I rarely use, but a fence of sweet peas seems to merit it.)


This is the view from my window now.  Only a few short months ago, this place was white and bare branches and gray skies.  Now the trees are so full I can't even see the houses across the street.  Oh, and when a breeze blows through?  It sounds simply delightful with all those leaves.

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In the office -


The guest house has new sheets!  They were delivered in like umpteen boxes last week.  If you only knew the hours of deliberation I spent on exactly what kind I should get (because I'm stupidly and hopelessly over-analytical), you'd understand how momentous the delivery was.


Also last week...my office looked like this.  My friend and sometimes-office-mate Raylea was getting married, and I was helping out with the reception.  My office happened to be the most convenient place to temporarily store the snacks.  And décor.  And serving dishes.  And...


And also all those new sheets in boxes. :)


I was cutting up burlap sacks for the reception décor, and guess what kept falling out of the bags?  Little unroasted coffee beans.  Funny.


My office plants are growing so happily.  Sigh.

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The kitchen was a happenin' place the other weekend -


Creamy homemade yogurt.

I checked around, and the best price for Greek whole-fat yogurt was $3.50/quart.  I bought a gallon of whole milk for $1.99 (which gave me about 2.5 quarts of yogurt once it was strained).  You do the math.


I think my bread bowl may not be big enough for this recipe...


There was also a big pot of beans made, veggies chopped, and other food things.  It was a very productive Saturday, if I do say so myself!

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My little home -


Sometimes I light candles just because they're pretty.


Fabric is my one weakness.  Fabric on sale is even better.  You're wondering what this will be for?  Just you wait and see!


My tulip frames are hanging up now.  At last.


And I have a couple new frames up in the living room now too.  One is missing a picture, and the other will eventually have some words printed on it.  But at least they're up on the wall, right?

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Friday's wedding -


The wedding and reception were outdoors in a woodsy-garden place not too far from the school.


Ten minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, it started pouring!  I mean, people got absolutely drenched.  I was inside working on reception stuff, so I escaped drowning getting uncomfortably wet.  Everyone took refuge in the garden house and about half an hour later, the ceremony was able to start.


Raylea and Connor


The reception workspace - it was a bit chaotic with so little table space and so many coolers, platters, and containers to work with!


The reception spread.  A bunch of ladies - some here on staff, some from Raylea's family - all pitched in and brought stuff, and everything was delicious!


Isn't she a lovely bride?


I tell you, this place was gorgeous.  So green, so lush, so...words fail me.  And at night, with all those lights strung up?  Magical.


I got to bring home some of the flowers from the centerpieces.  That made me happy.

- - -

There aren't any pictures from the Fourth which I spent with some super cool friends, or from the extensive grocery shopping trip I made with another friend, or the multi-church sing time in the park last night...

Or lots of other little everyday moments.

But that's okay.

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