Fresh-ca

How did I make it through most of my life barely knowing Fresca existed? It's so refreshing... AND calorie-free?! No DIET Fresca? Somehow that makes it even more wonderful.

Book Review: The Scribe by Francine Rivers

The plot: This book is a fictional (but based on what we know in the Bible) story about Silas, who accompanied Paul & Peter in their travels & documented their letters. Francine Rivers takes what is mentioned about him in the book of Acts & creates a story with a fictional background, his interactions with Paul, Peter, Luke, & other biblical figures, how he viewed events that actually happened, etc.

What we talked about in book club: We talked about several of the issues that were brought up by the book, such as how the books of the Bible ended up in the Bible verses what someone (such as Silas) could have written (so, words inspired by the Holy Spirit vs. man's words), celibacy vs. marriage, how Francine depicted Peter & Paul vs. what we thought of them based on what we know from the Bible, etc. Of course, as Francine's books often do, the book caused us to go to the Word to see what was true & what was fictional.

Recommendation: I really liked this book. It made me realize that someone who is just mentioned a few times in the Bible could have really made a difference in spreading the gospel, & that God can use ME even in my little life. Of course I love the books that are based on God's Word because it makes me want to know the Word even more, & it brings to life people that had just been names before. She has four other books that are written about men in the Bible that I want to read as well.

Scripture Memory

I am meeting with a friend now once a week for scripture memory accountability. We both have the desire to know the Word, & be able to reference scripture precisely. I'm excited about meditating on His Word & knowing it in my heart & mind! These are the two scriptures we are memorizing for this week:

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock & my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation & my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God." Psalm 62:5-7

"But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine.'" Isaiah 43:1

Aren't those verses so good?

Claire & Russell are coming to spend the weekend with us! I am so excited. The guys are going to cook us a lovely candlelight dinner tomorrow night while we go see Confessions of a Shopaholic :-) then we're going out for desserts, all dressed up. Oh & we are planning on a delicious, calorie-laden breakfast tomorrow morning (but not too early of course!). They are precious friends of ours & I am so thankful to get to spend time with them this weekend!

I pray you have a blessed & restful weekend!

i love cows!

I just love San Antonio.

During almost all of February, the AT&T Center sends the Spurs on the road so it can host the San Antonio Rodeo. The Rodeo is so much fun! I mean I'm not a huge fan of mean men wrestling poor baby cows to the ground by twisting their necks (if you have never seen this event, don't freak out, it's not as bad as I'm making it sound)... but besides that it is fun! Two years in a row now, we have gone on Christian night. Last year we saw Toby Mac & Jeremy Camp, & last night we saw Switchfoot. They were great, of course... I think I have seen them four times now!

Josh & I were sitting there, talking about how it is a tradition now to go to the rodeo every year (because with me, if you do it twice, it's tradition), & that we were also planning on going to see a Broadway play (Wicked) for the second year in a row so that means we have to do that every year from now on as well. We also love going to Spurs games (if I could figure out a way to get cheap tickets we'd go a lot!). & I was thinking of all these super fun things... & that I just love living here. It's such a great city. It's small from the day-to-day, I never drive more than ten or fifteen minutes anywhere on the average day, but there are so many opportunities to do fun things when we want to! After growing up in Roswell & Midland, I am totally loving living in this city!

Oh & yes it is true... I love cows! I would love a pet cow if we ended up on land one day. They're so cute!

i'm seeing green

So, yesterday after church we & the McKennas went over to the Smiths for lunch, & they had this guacamole dip that I had never had before. It did not taste like your average guacamole... it was different (prob because it didn't actually have real avocados in it... but whatever). But it was GOOD. Way good.

I just got back from the grocery store. It wasn't there!!!

Tomorrow I'm so going to their HEB to find this guacamole. I can't stop thinking about it. I want it. I must have it.

we have been converted

to digital.

Yes, we finally got our converter box after receiving our second coupon (we didn't realize they expired until about 6 days after our first one did). We previously had 5 channels, 3 of them pretty clear, one okay, & one where you were really listening to the show more than watching it, it was so snowy. The converter definitely made every channel clear, altho now the bad signal shows up in picture & sound skips, like on a bad DVD, so sometimes you miss what someone says, but oh well. You get what you pay for, right? But I'm most excited that we now get JCTV! Why you ask? Oh, because they play Christian Rock videos! My favorite music, that I can't hear on the radio except my most amazing station in Dallas (www.krvk.com), now I can hear it on TV! Whoo! I haven't figured out the hours they play yet. But what a fun discovery!

Josh & I are watching Notting Hill tonight - yay! I love hanging out at home with my husband & my cat & my dog!

i heart francine rivers

I am reading "The Scribe" by Francine Rivers, about Silas of the New Testament (it's fictional but based on the Bible), & I read a couple of things yesterday I liked a lot:

"How many times had I seen the Good News greeted with anger & scorn? Most people don't want to hear the truth, let alone embrace it. To accept Christ's gift means admitting that everything on which we based our lives before has gained us nothing. It means surrendering to a power greater than ourselves. Few want to surrender to anything but their lusts. We cling to our vanity & go on striving to find our own way when there is only one way."

Then, Silas, Paul & Luke see a rabbi (a leader of the synagogue, they did not like what Paul et al. had to teach) get knocked down & beaten, so they take care of him, while telling him about Jesus....

"Sosthenes tried not to listen at first. He wept & covered his ears. But gradually he did listen. 'It was not your words that convinced me,' he told us. 'It was your love. I was your enemy, Paul, & you & Silas lifted me up.'"

So powerful...

Sage is currently freaking out at a squirrel in the front yard. Making squeaky noises & bouncing around the room. It's pretty funny. :-)

Josh got me "You've Got Mail," "Notting Hill," & "While You Were Sleeping" for my birthday (I asked for the first two, & he bought the latter because it was $5 :-) ) & I'm pretty excited to watch them!

Today is my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy!

I just ate a snack of Gouda cheese & a 100-calorie pack of Oreo snack cakes.

Yes this post has been very random. Now I'm going to end with a scripture that reminded me Monday where my hope lies...

"Lord, don't hold back your tender mercies from me. My only hope is in your unfailing love & faithfulness." Psalm 40:11