It’s official–I’m going to Oklahoma in October! I have tons of family there, so my parents and I are meeting there in mid-October. My grandparents, who have been traveling around the U.S. and Canada in their RV will be meeting us there as well. It’s going to be so awesome to see where my Great-Grandparents met, went to school, married, etc. 🙂 Plus, this will be state #24 for me!
Woo hoo!
PS–I bought this today...I couldn’t resist!
What an amazing weekend! Ananda and I left early Friday afternoon for Visalia, where we spent the weekend with our friends Leslie and Stuart Anderson. Our friend Tyler drove down on Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday morning, as well. It was so fun–just like our days in college!
They got me hooked on “The Office” and we watched most of seasons 1 and 2 (all but 2-3 episodes of season 2!!) and I can’t wait for the premiere on Thursday!
Leslie and Stuart have a beautiful home and they were such incredible hosts this weekend. They cooked amazing meals for us and made us feel right at home. It was so awesome!
Saturday we took a picnic lunch and headed up to Sequoia National Park/Kings Canyon National Park, because Ananda (being from South Dakota) had never seen the Sequoias. It was amazing–and it was chilly! The trees are all located between 5000-7000 feet, so the weather was perfect.
It was a great weekend–see pictures below. Now it’s back to the “real world” and back to being an adult again. 🙂 I love my friends!!
Lesa, Leslie and Ananda
Tyler, Lesa, Leslie, Ananda, Stuart 
Stuart and Tyler, with our chips at 7000 feet…
Bottom picture: The General Sherman Tree–the largest living tree in the world!
Wow–today was incredible.
I received my first promotion (after only being there officially since April!) and a substantial pay raise! WOO HOO! God is SOOO good. I know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and He confirms that daily!
I had a great lunch with Mike, and it was so good to have him healthy and able to have lunch (we’ve postponed this numerous times). 🙂 He’s doing well, though they still have no idea what’s going on. I was so blessed to have him as a boss for 3-4 months–and it’s so great to have a great friendship with him now. He is such a great rolemodel, and he really believes in me, which is appreciated and needed 🙂
AND, today they came and switched my huge computer monitor for an awesome new flat screen! 🙂
I had my first workout today, as I joined “Curves” yesterday. I’m on my way to accomplishing my goal of losing a lot of weight this year (more importantly, 2 sizes).
The only bad thing about today was that I found out that my long lasting “interest” just started dating someone. No, he doesn’t know of my affection, and that’s just fine with me. 🙂 It’s not like he’s married, so there’s still hope 🙂
God is great!!
Click on the title above to read about another amazing thing Google is doing!
Whether Tony Blair really said this or not, it’s very true! 🙂
“In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England’s Prime Minister Tony Blair’s words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America, he said:
“A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in… and how many want out.”
[This is what I posted in 2004 on this day…worth posting again…]
I’m sure that most people are posting about what today represents…
So I don’t want to repeat all that has been said.
The thing that I remember the most about that day was probably my devotional reading.
I read “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers, and was blown away by the relevancy of the devotional. It is always so amazing to me how God puts things exactly where they are needed…it happens SO often with what I read, as I’m sure it does with you all as well.
The last line of this devotional is so incredibly true and relevant…and I wanted to share it with you all.
May we never forget what happened on that September day…
September 11
Missionary Weapons
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet —John 13:14
Ministering in Everyday Opportunities.
Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings—it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.
The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.
Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.
Do you find yourself responding by saying, “Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field”? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield–you will be killed while trying to do it. We have to go the “second mile” with God (see Matthew 5:41 ). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, “Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life.”
But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.
–Oswald Chambers
Even So, Joy 