Delectable Thought

"Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is better than self-counsel." Proverbs 27:9 HCSB I once heard a very wise and godly friend of mine talk about being a life-giving person. She explained the significance and importance of giving life to others with words of encouragement, challenge, and kindness and NOT draining life through whining, complaining, a critical spirit and bitterness. This lesson has stuck with me and I've hoped to be a life -giver not a life drainer, yet it is a struggle. I've even thought of how this applies within my own home with my husband and children. May I be a life-giver and not a life-drainer! This past week I was blessed with a visit from three dear friends who are life-givers. They are undramatic, yet fun and adventurous. They are faithful and true, always ready with a kind, encouraging and challenging word. They are the type of friends with whom words are not necessary always. Their short visit was...

Many things are happening in FoCo. The weather has changed here. Gone are the days of bright sun and warm temperatures. Now the mornings are cold, the afternoons are warm and the evenings are cool. The leaves are changing colors rapidly and the sun is setting sooner. The prairie is still one of my favorite places to run. You just can't beat the sunrises and the sunsets. It is one of the more peaceful places here in FoCo. Recently, James asked to buy a birthday gift for a classmate and we picked out Hatch-a-mals. They are the neatest toys and always a surprise. They are all the rage at my house now. Bible Study Fellowship started and already I feel the conviction of studying Romans. I was struck by Paul's opening lines to the Romans, people whom he's never met at the time he's writing them a letter. He says that he does not cease to mention them in his prayers or to ask God that he might get to visit them.  It took Paul several years to get to Rome...

Seventy days. A little over two months. That's how long we've been here, yet it feels like a lifetime ago that we packed up and left. In all of our planning to move here, I always knew there was something deeper, something bigger that God was teaching me. I knew we were about to "jump off" the cliff of security and I didn't really know what it'd be like after we let go of all that brought us comfort, security, safety, and joy. It's easy to think that God will replicate in your new place the life you had in your old place. That you'll, over time, build new relationships to replace the old, and find your way again as the new life becomes as familiar and comfortable as the old life. But so it seems as if God is doing something new, not just in our hearts, but in our family. We've had so many firsts since moving here. It's hard for me to keep up with all of them. Two months here have taught me so much more than I learned in the last tw...

As a way to offer a glimpse into our lives here, I've decided to share some portraits of the people we've met and some of the new friendships we're forming. Hopefully, as you read, you can begin to see a clearer picture into our new life. The Hello The sun is shining and she is standing. Alone. The thin fabric of her dress lifting slightly as the breeze whispers around her thin frame.  Near her are two small girls in white dresses with purple flowers. Their dark hair pulled back in matching pigtails. Their olive skin in stark contrast to the great sea of paleness. There are no buses here. Just people, neighbors next door, two doors, or three streets apart, all converging in this place. Every morning. And every afternoon. Groups form as groups always do. Neighbors who've been so for decades. Strangers, now friends, who've collided over this similar space that is the elementary school, brought together by proximity and the shared experience of raising their c...

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;    or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.  Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?    In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." Job 12:7-10 When I stand in the midst of such glory and beauty that is the Rocky Mountains, I wonder what must creation have looked like in the very beginning in all of its perfection? I dare say it would cause me to fall on my knees in awe and wonder. We worshipped with a body of believers in Arvada, Colorado this Sunday and then traveled to Estes Park and RMNP for the rest of the day. Our goal was to encounter elk and hopefully hear them bugling in the "wild".  As we made our way into Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), we saw these pockets of color. The Aspen trees are already changing color....

Life has a way of marching on, doesn't it? Since the boys began school, life has picked up a bit for us. Last weekend, we helped out with a multi-ministry tailgate before the very first CSU football game in their brand new stadium. We met a lot of new people, connected with other campus ministries and watched as the thousands of people filed into the stadium to watch Colorado State play Oregon State. Though many things are vastly different here, corn hole is as much a part of tailgating here as it is at home.  One thought runs through my head when we are on campus. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. It feels overwhelming at times when I see the number of students on campus, but I know that God has brought us here and is stirring in the hearts of others to come here, too.  I know that Fall is approaching, but it's been hard for me to really differentiate between Fall and Summer here because the climate is so mild. The weather really is incredible. The ...