More Life Lately

I've been so original with my post titles lately.  And so generous with my commentary.  Sigh.  I wish I had more time to write, but if I waited around till I did, I'd never blog at all these days.  So I convince myself to let go of perfectionist ideals and write at least a bit to remember life right now.

Coffee with friends -

We went to the same church when we were little, then moved away or changed churches, and now we're...well, much older. :)  The three of us hadn't been together since I was probably around 10.

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Sarah's birthday -

See the sriracha mug?  Yup.  The girl is a srirachaholic.

Showing Brian (who was at work) the cake.

Yeah...that pretty much sums things up.

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WI trip -

My guest room.  It was practically a suite!

The first three days I was there, it was overcast and drizzly, but the last day the sun finally showed its face.

The trip was supposed to help me make a decision between our two Bible schools, but it actually made it feel a lot harder.  I really, really liked the people I met at the WI campus.  But there was a lot to like about the opportunity in MI, too...

And because I overthink like it's my job and agonize over decisions as trivial as what kitchen towels to buy, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed when I got back last week.

Thankfully, I think there's a light at the end of the tunnel and things will hopefully be settled within a day or two.

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Malachi -

He thought it was funny to wear Auntie's scarf.

Shopping trip with Mommy and Auntie. :)

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A Fall stroll -

The trees have been positively blazing this year - or maybe it just seems especially glorious to me since I haven't seen Fall in three years.

Either way, I had been catching my breath every time I drove past the trees just around the corner, so my camera and I went for a walk last Saturday.

Ah, bougainvilleas.  They remind me of when I was in West Africa.  They were one of the few bits of nature in the cityscape, and I loved them.

Leaves.  They're like nature's confetti, sprinkled down everywhere in celebration.

My thought for the week: Seasons.  Seasons of the year, seasons in our lives...both given to us by God.  I want to accept the changing seasons of my life as gifts from His hand.  I want to release my need to control the same way the trees gently release their leaves when the November winds blow, scattering loveliness around our feet.

It isn't easy.  But...I'm learning. :)

Life

Just some snapshots of life lately.

Malachi -

He looks like an old man smoking a pipe.  Hee, hee!

Butternut squash soup mustache!

A bad case of bed head.

Buddha's reincarnation seeking enlightenment.

See those teeth?

For some reason, he has a great fascination with baby lotion bottles.  Give him one for each hand and he will be endlessly entertained.

Little stinker face.  This picture makes me laugh every time I see it.

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A trip to the farm -

For Malachi's birthday, his mommy and I took him to our local historic farm.

There weren't as many animals as there normally are.  I guess it was the wrong time of year.  However, it was fun to get out of the house, and he was quite impressed with the chickens.  He watched them contentedly for probably nearly 10 minutes.

The goats scared him a bit, at least once they started "baa-ing".

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Saturday's missions conference -

I lost count of the hours spent in preparation.  (The last day, Mom ended up helping me some too, because everything was just taking so much longer that I expected.)

Yes.  I now have real-life photo albums of West Africa.

And here's my table at the conference.

I would guess we probably had around twenty different tables set up, in addition to the morning session and several workshops.

Our theme: "Come and see what God has done, His awesome deeds for mankind!" (Psalm 66:5)

Daniel and David were my across-the-path neighbors, representing Ireland Outreach and the Galilee program respectively.

I was really happy with how the day went.  I came away encouraged (though exhausted), and I trust others were too.

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My thought for the week - my encouragement to myself and to you:  Live each moment.  Take it as it comes from the Lord's hands, without trying to hold on to the last minute or rush into the next.

There's a lot more on my mind about that...and other stuff the Lord has been teaching me.  Someday I'll try to share more about it here.