double-edged sword

I am fully aware I have been a blogging loser lately.

Oh well.

This past weekend Dr. Ralph Neighbour came to speak at a leadership event at our church, & also preached on Sunday. It was a great weekend; he has so much wisdom. I could just sit & listen to his stories of God moving all day long. He wrote The Arrival Kit, a great mentoring study we do at our church, as well as Christ's Basic Bodies which I told you about here (& lots more books). He is a sweet, yet bold, 80-year-old man that we were so blessed to have with us for three days. It was also a great time of worship & ministry to each other. I am amazed at the people in the Body of believers our church represents, & so thankful for them.

Josh & I are going to read through the Bible together, both of us reading a couple of chapters a day separately then talking about them. I'm also reading through all the commentary in my study Bible as we go along, which takes some time but I love the extra information. I'm excited to see what the Lord does through it; we had a lot to talk about yesterday & it was just over creation - I mean, we've read that passage so many times - but I love how the Word has something new to offer every time I read it!

I'm trying a frittata for the first time tonight - I'll post it on the new recipe blog if it's any good!

Whole new recipe blog!

I'm so excited; me & 8 of my friends are now contributing to a recipe blog! I can't wait to try lots of new recipes that I know they love.

Check it out!! Tried & True Recipe Share!

Scripture memory

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him & rejoice with joy that is inexpressible & filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:8-9

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, & may your whole spirit & soul & body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, & being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:13

Somebody had to do it

Josh & I love going to Spurs games! Josh was a fan long before we moved here, & I enjoy watching basketball, & because they are our only pro team (opposed to Houston & Dallas) the whole city loves the Spurs - it's pretty hard not to.

Last week my parents came down & took us to dinner then to the opening game of the season against the Hornets. We creamed 'em. Then our friends Matt & Whitney (shout out to my blog-reading friend!) invited us to a game on Halloween so of COURSE we said yes. Matt got the tickets from his company & they were AWESOME seats.

I'm sure if you watch sports news, you have heard about this story, I'd just like to say I was there. :-) So during the game, Whitney goes, "hey, there's a bird in here" & we talked about how that was sad. Then it flew closer & I said, "I don't think that's a bird... that's a bat!" then of course we got grossed out. So Mr. Bat flies down to the court & is flying around with the players, who started ducking & moving out of the way of the bat so they stopped the game. I have to say, it is really funny to see huge guys scared. Mr. Bat flew off & the game resumed. Then he came back & stopped the game again. At this point, the Coyote comes out in a Batman costume with a net, & one of the refs is given a towel to try to catch Mr. Bat. That wasn't working out. So as Mr. Bat is flying by Manu Ginobili, Manu reaches out & SMACKS the bat down on the ground, then doesn't hesitate to reach down & pick up the bat & walk it off the court! Everyone jumped to their feet & went crazy, cheering & chanting, "Manu, Manu!" Then a trainer ran on the court to give him a squirt of hand sanitizer. Josh, who wears Manu's number on his Spurs shirt, said, "THAT'S how they do it in Argentina!!"

I read in the paper the next day (the article was really funny) that one of the Kings players said, "Somebody had to do it, & it wasn't gonna be me."

Anyways it was a good time. Oh ya, we beat the Kings too. :-)

Now I must go de-seed some jalapenos... Josh is grilling tonight & we always grill some cream-cheese filled jalapenos. Yumm!

Marriage Memo: Five Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Was Married

by Dave Boehi (from the Family Life Marriage emails I get)

#1: Marriage is not all about you. It's not about your happiness and self-fulfillment. It's not about getting your needs met. It's about going through life together and serving God together and serving each other. It's about establishing a family. It's about committing your lives to each other even though you may be very different in 10, 20, or 40 years from the people you are now.

#2: You are about to learn a painful lesson--you are both very selfish people. This may be difficult to comprehend during the happy and hazy days of courtship, but it's true, and it shocks many couples during their first years of marriage. It's important to know this revelation of selfishness is coming, because then you can make adjustments for it, and you will be a lot better off.

#3: The person you love the most is also the person who can hurt you the deepest. That's the risk and pain of marriage. And the beauty of marriage is working through your hurt and pain and resolving your conflicts and solving your problems.

#4: You can't make it work on your own. It's obvious that marriage is difficult--just look at how many couples today end in divorce. This is why it's so critical to center your lives and your marriage on the God who created marriage. To make your marriage last for a lifetime, you need to rely on God for the power and love and strength and wisdom and endurance you need.\

#5: Never stop enjoying each other. Always remember that marriage is an incredible gift to be enjoyed. Ecclesiastes 9:9 says, "Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun."

Enjoy the little things of life with your spouse: the food you enjoy together at home or in restaurants ... the movies you like ... the little inside jokes nobody else understands except for you ... the times you make each other laugh ... the games you play together.

And focus on making memories together: Plan special dates and weekend getaways. Make sure you reserve time for each other after you have kids.

When you are old, you won't look back and remember how great it was to buy that new furniture or watch that great show on television. You're going to remember what you did together and saw together and created together. (Emphasis mine.)

Why I love Williams-Sonoma

I llooovvee Williams-Sonoma.

Target is my favorite store, because of all it offers (including Starbucks!) & its availability. I go there about once a week, whether I need to or not. The clothing stores I love are financially out of reach (Anthropologie, Banana Republic, White House Black Market) unless I am at the outlet or in front of their clearance rack, but I always wander through them to appreciate what they make. But my favorite specialty store... Williams-Sonoma for sure.

I love to cook you know, so what could be more fun than looking at crazy cooking gadgets & pans you can't afford but dream of using & cookbooks & sauces & fun things like lemon peel twists? Oh I'm tempted to hop in my car right now & go enjoy it all.

I've only ever bought one thing there (altho I have an apron & pot holder I got as a gift, pink & green of course) - their Balsalmic Vinegar. YUMMM.

I tell Josh often, one day when our kids graduate high school, I'm going to go work at Williams-Sonoma. I would LOVE that.

Anyways, a couple of weeks ago Josh & I were in there, & Nespresso, a company that sells their espresso machines at WS, had a representative in the store demonstrating the machines - therefore making yummy cappuccinos & espressos! So we got some delicious drinks & drooled over the machines that made cappuccinos & espressos close to how they make them in Italy (which makes sense since it is a European machine). SO, last weekend when I was in Austin, I (forcefully?) suggested my mom, my sister & I go by to check the machines out (slash... get a cappuccino).

It was samples galore when we walked in! Free coffee drinks, pumpkin spice cake, snickerdoodle cake with cream cheese frosting, & apple cider! Yes I had one of each. & I walked out with three free booklets - Thanksgiving recipes, Thanksgiving tips, & olive oil facts.

Williams-Sonoma + fall samples = HAPPY me. I LOVE that store!

"The saying is trustworthy & deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor & glory forever & ever. Amen."
1 Tim. 1:15-17

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, & thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings & all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful & quiet life, godly & dignified in every way. This is good, & it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved & to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, & there is one mediator between God & men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time."
1 Tim. 2:1-6