Have you looked up?

I took the time to go for a walk today, and after I shook off some of my self-absorbed thoughts, I happened to look up. I thought to myself, "Wow, that's blue." Not just any blue, but a brilliant, clear sky blue, that one can only truly appreciate after a day full of darkness, storms, and destruction.

As I gazed up, I thought to myself, isn't it awesome that no matter what kind of day we're having, God is always there? Whether we're selfish or giving, hopeless or hopeful, overjoyed or dismayed, it doesn't matter, because our GOD, our Lord and Savior never leaves us. He created us, He loves us, and He will always provide for us.

Josh and I have been so blessed this year, and we were blessed yesterday by not suffering any damage from the storms. I know God was protecting us because no matter when it seemed like an awful storm was headed our way, it seemed to change direction ever so slightly so as to avoid us. I realize that God does not always save us from the storms, but He always guides us through them.

God has been working on me so much through my graduate school process. God and I have had many talks about my need to be in control of my life, and His need for me to let Him take control. And what I've found is that if I follow Him, even when I don't know what will happen next, He rewards me greater than I could have ever imagined.

I've had a bit of a mantra for myself over the past few semesters. It's Jaci Velasquez's song, "Lay It Down", and I thought I would share the lyrics with you. She sings it so beautifully, and the words have not ceased speaking to me. When I start focusing on making my plans for the future, and trying to figure out what I'll be doing once I graduate, I remember to turn to this song, and place everything back in God's hands.

I've been lookin' till my eyes are tired of lookin'
Listenin' till my ears are numb from listenin'
Prayin' till my knees are sore from kneelin' on the bedroom floor
I know that you know that my heart is achin'
I'm running out of tears and my will is breakin'
I don't think that I can carry the burden of it anymore
All of my hopes and my dreams and my best laid plans,
Are slowly slippin' through my folded hands

Chorus:
So I'm gonna lay it down
I'm gonna learn to trust You now
What else can I do?
Cause everything I am depends on You
And if the sun don't come back up
I know Your love will be enough
I'm gonna let it be, I'm gonna let it go,
I'm gonna lay it down.

Verse:
I've been walkin' through this world like I'm barely livin'
Buried in the doubt of this hole I've been diggin'
But You're pullin' me out
I'm finally breathin' in the open air
This room may be dark but I'm finally seein'
There's a new ray of hope, and now I'm believin'
That the past is past, and the future's beginning to look brighter now
Oh, cause all of my hopes and my dreams and my best laid plans
Are safe and secure when I place them in Your hands

Chorus:
So I'm gonna lay it down
I'm gonna learn to trust You now
Oh what else can I do,
Cause everthing I am depends on You
And if the sun don't come back up
I know Your love will be enough
I'm gonna let it be, I'm gonna let it go,
I'm gonna lay it down
I'm gonna lay it down
I'm gonna lay it down.

And, on one last note, after looking at the disaster that has struck our area, and as I pray for those who are having to rebuild their lives, I again look around me, and I see something.

It's kind of sad looking, isn't it? A lily with no flowers. All the petals that weren't strong enough to hold on through the storms left a sad reminder of what once was.

BUT, how beautiful is that which remains? How much more can we appreciate the beauty that is, when we draw our eyes away from the ashes from which they came?
"To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory" (Isaiah 61:3, NLT).

The Waiting Game

Cute, isn't he? I stumbled across something strange and funny several months ago called "Giant Microbes" which are plush stuffed animals of various viruses, bacteria, cells, and other sickness inducers (such as dust mites). They can be used for educational purposes and sometimes funny get well gifts (They can also be purchased from Amazon.com). Meet my friend above, who did not visit me in his cute plush form, but in his every day form of streptococcus, i.e. Strep Throat.

Needless to say, I had quite a miserable Easter weekend. I went from a mild sore throat and low grade fever Friday, to a 102 fever and horrible sore throat on Saturday. I went to a walk-in with my self diagnosis of strep, and they confirmed it. My antibiotics have been working, albeit slowly. Today is the first day I am starting to really feel like myself. I'm happy to actually be swallowing without wincing. The sinus infection that tagged along for the ride is slowly clearing up as well. Thank you Lord that it happened this weekend and not next when I have two Praxis exams. Also, I had a 4-day weekend to recuperate as well. :) Waiting to get better is no fun at all though.

Here's some creepy information about strep. I was mortified to find out that it can live on dry surfaces for MONTHS. Only 5-10% of adults actually catch it, and I wonder how many of those adults are educators? Washing hands frequently and disinfecting surfaces are a must with this nasty little bacteria. And, it's important to treat it because it can cause complications that can damage both your heart and kidneys through rheumatic fever.

In other news, when I haven't been whiny, feverish, and worthless, I have helped Josh out in the yard.

He has planted grass seed in areas that need it.

We both worked on chopping down some unnecessary pine saplings. Some were removed to allow for proper growth of other trees, and some were removed because they decided to grow where their branches would whack into our cars as we passed them. I found irony in that we cut them down on Earth Day. I'm actually very pro-conservation and and a bit of a tree hugger. lol. :)

Here's an eventual project for us. We're waiting until I have a job, and then we will buy gutters for our house. It will allow us to then landscape our front bed which right now makes the front of our house look kind of trashy.

I planted some carrot seeds and red onion bulbs in the garden. I've noticed that waiting on seeds to grow is kind of like waiting for water to boil. I can't watch them too closely or it seems like they take too long.

The carrots and the onions are the only thing in the beautiful garden that my husband has created. I wish I could take a little credit but between hurting my back trying to dig some of it out and then coming down with strep later in the week, I wasn't much help at all. My contribution will come through the seedlings I grew, that I'll plant, and then that I'll probably water for most of the summer. It's ready and waiting! The cages will hold bell pepper plants, and the fence posts will have a screen tied to them so that my cucumbers can grow up it. :)

Around the garden there is more grass seed planted. It will hopefully look much greener in a few weeks.

My husband also mowed. If you compare this picture to one in a previous post, you might notice where some of the pine saplings are missing halfway down the driveway.

Last, but not least, here's me with my husband's family on Easter. Baby Christianna looked beautiful in her Easter outfit!

Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful Monday. I'm going back to cleaning and homework. I'm trying to disinfect now that I'm not contagious. :)

To brighten your day...

The yard is looking greener.And the flowers are blooming.
The new life around us helps to remind us of how Jesus gave His life for us.
Hallelujah, He rose again on the 3rd day!
Praying that you and your family have an enjoyable and reflective Easter weekend.

Monday

Here's the picture from the back of the house that I forgot to post last time. The four calla lilies are edging three of the azalea bushes. We'll fill in some of the lower areas with some annuals once my seedlings take off. It's only been a few days, but so far all of our transplants seem to be doing great.Today has been a usual Monday, with me dragging a bit after a too short weekend. I realized today that I have about three weeks of evening classes left. I'll get a break for a little over a week before leaping into a May session with evening classes every night for a month. I won't get a break from internship until the end of May, except for a few days around Easter (which I am looking very much forward to).

I took time to rest some this afternoon. Now I'm working on homework. I took an outside break to water all of our new things lightly (It's supposed to rain tonight) and also to stake some of our lilies out front; they haven't quite wanted to stay upright. I'm not sure if it's because they aren't firmly rooted yet, or if they just don't like the wind. We might move them to a less windy area this fall depending on how this works.

I'm going to go eat dinner now. I've baked some sweet potatoes and red skinned potatoes, and I'm going to enjoy a sweet potato with some salad. I'll probably eat some meat too. Josh grabbed a quick sandwich & salad once home before going out to start trenching in the garden. I hope everyone has a great week. Just guessing, I'll probably not be able to post again until the weekend.

Sunny Saturday

My day has been filled with gardening, seed planting, bead sorting, laundry, and homework. I thought I'd take a break to share some of our outside endeavors with you.

My husband gave in to my begging, and we have 4 new beautiful calla lilies in the garden.
Our front he planted his Asiatic lilies plus some snapdragons and marigolds in the newest corner bed.

The backyard is still a work in progress. Josh is tilling, there is topsoil everywhere, and the big brown area you see is where the veggies garden will be this year. The calla lilies and some new white azalea bushes are off to the right corner where you can't see them right now. I'll put pictures of those later. I won't bore you right now either with the 4 mini greenhouses filled with all the flower seedling I started today. 250 should be about enough, right? lol

Here are some snapdragons and marigolds in the other front bed as well. It will also host watermelon, cantaloupe, and tomatoes later this season.

Here's a shot of that corner bed.

In other news, I met with friends the other night at a local pizza place (Lupi's). Sitting beside me is Jenny, across from her is Priscilla, and beside her is Patton. We all graduated high school with each other...9 years ago. Time does fly. I see Priscilla about every 6 months because she is often in other countries. Right now, she is "home" for a few months from Japan. I see Jenny every 2 months or so when we have time to grab a bite to eat. I hadn't seen Patton for probably 8-9 years. We had a great time.

Jenny and Priscilla were both some of my very best friends in high school. In fact, they were both originally going to be in mine & Josh's wedding, but they both had extenuating circumstances.

Overall, I've had a productive day, and I look forward to church tomorrow, lunch with my family, and a visit to Lee for a production of My Fair Lady. Off to do more homework. Sigh.

Spring is in the air.

I'll take time for a quick post before I slip into a weekend full of homework, homework, homework, gardening, homework, homework, job applications, housework, homework, jewelry making, and maybe, just maybe, some rest. I'm trying to put in the necessary time I need to work on some end of school year projects. I have a wonderful all encompassing assignment for my internship, called the Teacher Work Sample, that needs my attention. The end is in sight! I graduate in July, and I only have classes during the May & July sessions after this. June will be a much needed break. I will only have to worry about a graduate portfolio during that time

.

When I haven't been hitting the books, I've been trying to help my hubby hit the dirt outside. We've revamped the "front" bed of our cabin. It's technically the right side of the house, but it is the first side you see from the road. Those 20-60 pound rocks that you see lining the bed were toted up the ridge in front of the house by my husband and yours truly. It is by far some of the hardest work I've ever done, but it is satisfying to have ready to use materials on the property. :)

This bed, the one that we did last year, and a newly expanded plot in the background will host the many seedling of vegetables and flowers that I have flanking every windowsill in our house. Come on, last frost! I'm ready.

In addition to working on the new bed (filled with fresh topsoil if you hadn't guessed), we also added a new bed that is on a corner that you see driving up to the house. It has some decorative grass in there, and once it is warmer it will boast some Asiatic Lillis and some flowers I will grow from seed.

Besides the gardening, I have also had some time to spend with family, and just because she's so darn cute, here's the ever growing Christianna, who will be 5 months old this month.

And because I love them so stinkin' much, here are my babies, Athena and Homer, in case you have forgotten. The are loving the beautiful spring weather. They are not loving that we have begun shut them out of the bedroom at night. Our allergies have cried, "Enough!" Strange, isn't it, that not rolling over to a face full of kitty fur is actually helping me out? lol.

I've spent about enough time on here for now, unfortunately. I will try to post again in the near future, if the time becomes available. After all, a girl's gotta take a break every now and then.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! We dressed up as our favorite storybook characters. It was a fun day with crafts, games, and yummy treats. I'd write more, but I'm busy doing housework! :)