Tenwek on my Mind

I will be in Tenwek in 6 months. And I am, as always, already excited.
We are getting geared up, almost have our team set and my mind goes through spurts of racing with all the details I need to remember and things that have to get worked on between now and then.
I love being reminded as I look back through pictures how God provides for this trip...there is always some supply or key person or crazy situation that seems impossible to fill. Yet every time God has been faithful to provide. It helps take away some of the worry I can step into easily.
And our attempt at a non-profit is making some progress. Hearts of East Africa is officially an incorporation in Tennessee and we are hopefully submitting paperwork soon to be a non-profit. We are deciding on a logo. So hopefully this time next year or before we will be official. 
Here are a few photos and a verse I found last week when the worry about this years' trip was creeping in.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing   Isaiah 40:26

New Book

We are starting our girls group back up-yay! And we are starting into a new book.
It's called The Gifts of Imperfection. I have only made it through the preface and intro but so far I am liking what she is writing.
I won't try to summarize but will just give you this quote as the gist of what I have read so far:
  Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.
My story, what has occurred in my life, has all been laid out to the detail by someone who loves me more than I can comprehend. Hearing his love, receiving his love and believing his love is where I am now and may always be, but as I learn more of his love it becomes easier to own my story and trust in his sovereignty in my life.
 

Onr Year Ago..

I was wandering the streets of Italy with two of my favorites.

Next summer hopefully we will be doing it again. But until then I will enjoy looking through my photos and reminiscing about all the fun we had and all the beauty we saw.

Out of the Wreck

This has been one of those weeks of seeing my own judgmental-ness and yuck. Part way through the week one of our pastors and friends tweeted (yes, thank you social media) this:
Comparison is the thief of joy (Roosevelt).
How much time today will you spend comparing yourself to something for your peace of mind?
In the midst of my judgemental-ness I was comparing myself to others in order to feel better about me. Gross. But I do this a lot. And I was thankful for the reminder that called me into repentance and invited me into experiencing true joy.
Then yesterday morning I read the Utmost for His Highest for the day.  It too reminded me that  no matter what, God is near and will give me what I need for each day.

Wedding Weekend

It's again wedding season for me. In 2 months I could attend 4 weddings, but will only be making it to 3.
Last weekend was my cousin, John D.'s, wedding. Here are a few shots from the fun (all taken by the excellent Dawson Nesbitt, photographer at large or Alice Nesbitt, masterpiece-maker)

Represented cousins and siblings of the groom (in the middle)

Mother of the Groom-Aunt Susan

A lot of this happened, at least for Laura, Mom, Uncle Ed and myself

The newlyweds

My Grandmother's sister came..she was the matriarch of the event on both sides

Ladies at the Rehearsal Dinner

Vegan CC Cookies...Yumm

Man, another post with a Mom reference. Guess it was just Mother's Day so it is okay.
I came home from our family wedding and since I can't eat dairy was thus deprived of wedding cake on Saturday. So I made myself some chocolate chip cookies that I can eat on Sunday to make up for my deprivation. Mom wanted the recipe, thus the mom reference and now the blog post.
Danielle sent me this recipe from this blog which I love because it is about 2 sisters, one who lives in Philly and one who lives in Nashville. Anyway, one of the girls is trying the Vegan thing out which works to my benefit. I have made this recipe subbing the banana with an egg because I still taste the banana no matter how ripe I get it.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Earth Balance or other butter substiture
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
1 medium ripe banana (I would recommend that it be barely ripe so the banana is hardly noticeable) (or 1 egg)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (Trader Joe's has good ones)
How To Make:
Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Cream together the white and brown sugar and the Earth Balance until fluffy.
Add in the banana, milk and vanilla and mix well.
Combine the dry ingredients and stir them into the creamed mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Bake for 10 minutes, until bottoms are golden and tops are light brown
Remove from pan and cool completely to chewy-crispy deliciousness.
(Makes 2 dozen cookies.)

Personality

My Mom sent this to me awhile back.

I was reminded again this weekend of my introverted tendencies while at our family wedding. We have a mixed bag of some extreme extreme extroverts and extreme introverts and some who fall in the middle of the spectrum. When there are a lot of occasions for mingling I remember quickly how introverted I am. It is easy for me to compare myself to others who are more extroverted and feel like I don't stack up. But then I remember that my introverted tendencies are who I am created to be, among other things.

Sunday Quotes

Since I have been reading 1,000 Gifts, the idea of thanksgiving and praise have been on the forefront of my mind, so it is interesting that we are going through Ephesians at church in light of incorporating praise into our lives.  So quote and verse from today's sermon.

Is the practice of praise a part of my life?

In light of living with the Holy Spirit, we are given his fruits to enjoy...these fruits are "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." (Gal 5:22) Do I believe that I have been given this inheritance?

Journal

Today I finished my journal. It was a big one with beautiful unlined pages ready to be filled. They were filled over the course of a little over a year, a year that has had it's ups and downs of life, a year that has been filled with tears and joy, a year that has been filled with God's promises to provide.
I journal because I don't have the attention span to pray in my head and because for me writing opens me up to a lot of things that are going on beneath the surface. I have grown to love it over the years too because I can revisit times, revisit passages or quotes that were important in a moment or a season and I can go back and see how God is working. A friend posted this quote by C.S. Lewis on Instagram yesterday:
 "Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back everything is different."
I found it very fitting for the end of a journal day.

Sunday Quotes

"Pride is my stubborn refusal to let God be God"

“Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”  Romans 9:20

Arthritis Awareness Month

May is Arthritis Awareness month, so be aware! There are over 100 types of arthritis out there. So even though yours truly has Rheumatoid Arthritis, there are so many other people with different variations suffering. This Show us Your Hands project (www.showusyourhands.org), whose photo is above, is a project that collected 1000 pictures of people's hands who have an inflammatory arthritis. I think it is pretty neat, though the up close photos of some of these hands are a little scary. Though I guess reality of life with a condition can be scary too but not something to be hidden. I like that they are boldly showing everyone what reality is.
Thanks to all in my life who have become aware of what life with RA looks like!

Planting Time

Finally got the seeds planted in the vegetable garden last week. Trying a few new things this year...soybeans and snap peas. Plus Mark planted garlic and eggplant which are new.
I already have a few green sprouts starting to emerge.

Here are the potatoes...I planted them in March

Soil is ready...bring on the seeds

Bean seeds...so pretty!

It is always a fun adventure in the 'ole garden as I am sure it will be again this year.