Abby Turned Two & The Prospect that Graduate School May End. Oh My.

On September 17, Abby turned two years old. As of October 17, I will have had this critter for two years myself! She has been the best decision I've made. I'm so happy to take care of her, even if she is a rotten mess.

Otherwise, I've been focused on finishing this last semester of classes. It's almost over (2 months..). COMPS are in early November and after that, it's a downhill slide into externships for January-May, culminating in graduation--if I can see that far ahead! I'm so excited to be looking forward to a job!

the sun's out today

Katie's movin' in to my house! So happy.

Recently, at Brook Hills, Dr. David Platt has been preaching a sermon series on the book of Ruth--a http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/love-story long awaited series for me. So, this series has me reflecting in and thinking about two different venues of my life: triumph from tragedy and adoption. The first of which was actually made as a point on the worship guide by David. "In his sovereign design, God ordains sorrowful tragedy to set the stage for surprising triumph." It could not be said more clearly! In the past year, David also preached a series on relationships. One of these services was specific to marriage, one to divorce. http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/attachment/ It became clear that the Biblical design of marriage is often the most far from the understanding of those who are in it. Ephesians 5:22 details this picture. Without radical abandonment to what society claims is most important, one does not assert the land of promise, or Bethlehem, as the most desired. To live without radical abandonment to the idolatry of the world is to negate the importance of God's land and to live in the world of compromise. Thankfully, the Lord pursues us and we have the option of turning away from worldly idolatry and accepting him as the ultimate provider. Additionally, David made the point that in the book of Ruth, Boaz's concern for the poor shows us God's concern for the poor. When we spend our lives for the poor, we will be blessed. This leads me to the calling of adoption. It is to be determined where I will adopt from, but it is absolutely certain that He has placed an unfailing desire to help children in my heart. So, all of this to say: isn't it awesome to know what we have in the Lord?!

Recently, I have been lucky to have a wonderful group of friends form around me. It is clear that the hand of God caused our eleven (or so) lives to merge right now. This new small group, Tas Philas, has been the biggest blessing in all our lives. I enjoy sharing the joys and burdens of the other girls in this group on a weekly basis as we find the triumph that God designed us to receive. In reference to our name, see the parable of the woman who looses her last coin in the book of Luke. Luke 15:8-10 reads: 8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Abby and I are so fortunate to have things going so well for us. There's essentially one semester left in my master's program before I start "working." It's about time! We'll see where that takes Abby and I. There are some connections here, though, that I'd just about be unwilling to break...

Hope you're feeling as blessed as I am these days!

Finally summer--for these few weeks!

Summer. is. here. Amen. : )

Until June 9th, it is officially beach and pool time. Early May brought the return of mine and Amanda's annual beach trip to the gulf. It was fantastic. The weather couldn't have been better! It wasn't at all crowded, so we hardly had a wait--even at LuLu's (certainly a giant inspiration for the trip each year..). The only complication during the entire trip occurred on the way back up the interstate. The road was blocked entirely, so we had to re-route ourselves on a few back roads to find 31 and get back to 65, a little further north--which we did...after an hour's detour! Well, thanks to GPS and a handy map, we made it fine. Upon getting back onto the interstate, we noticed the pizza hut that we always stop to eat in. Conveniently, we had no missed this exit due to our detour. So, we had pizza hut. Not as good as LuLu's, Bahama Bob's, or anything else we dined on at the beach, but it was pretty okay. This year's trip was awesome and a few days longer than last year's. Next year, we're thinking of stepping it up even more--to a cruise! Woohoo!

Now, it's preparation for summer term and doing my regular amount of long-term planning in the spare time. Abby's well-entertained by having me home more than usual, but she'll have to adjust come the 9th. We are lucky to have Renee (and her puppy, Hippo) with us for several weeks of the summer and are loving her company! It's been fun to cook together and Abby loves having extra people/critters to play with.

This week: Special prayers for Mana (Amanda) who is abroad in Guatemala on a mission trip. I pray that she is blessed by the people she meets and that they, too, are blessed by the message she shares with them. And, that is that our Lord, Jesus Christ, is the Way, the Light, and the Truth. It is through only Him that we have salvation and we strive to live our lives in His image. Love you, Mana!

"Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you." ~Isaiah 55:4-5

April, already? or The end of spring semester clinic can only mean exam time and beach time! or Note to Self

Indeed, it is April. Already. In fact, it is nearing May by now. Clinic concluded in the Speech and Hearing Center at Montevallo last week (thank everything). This was a wonderful!! semester of clinic, but these few weeks of "down time" (yeah, right!) before exams are sooo needed. Time to tie up the loose ends of the treatment reports and take home tests and move into exam week. It went by so fast. Supposedly, this semester is the hardest of them all in my program. I would not say it has been such a struggle. It was a little harder to manage the coursework, but no major difficulties (this statement is to be either retracted or confirmed following the coming week's aphasia and ABI finals...)! Really, I am pleased with it overall. It was such a great experience to go off campus for clinic this semester (to Inverness Elementary School) and do some group therapy for phonological awareness. Loved it. Loved it. Could not stress how much I love being in the school environment more than that! Always knew in the back of my mind that I'd end up working in a school! Still hopeful to do some off-campus clinic next fall in an outpatient clinic setting, but have begun looking into the reality of a school system job. Can't believe I will start applying for those next winter. Yikes. Hope I feel ready for it by then! Definitely looking into opportunities out of state (Hello, Georgia), as well as here in Shelby County. If Abby and I have the opportunity to stay here, I will keep us here. Love our house and the area. If a job across the state line presents itself, I'd be just as excited to take that chance. Have I made it clear how grateful I am to be able to move freely and independently at this point in my life? If not, let this be that statement. Yesss.

Exam week (May 3-7) will conclude at 6pm on the 7th with the termination of the ABI final, which I fully intend on whooping. At 6pm, I will be free and Amanda and I will venture directly to the beach! It'll be time for our annual Gulf Shores trip. Hello, LuLu's!! Can't wait to lounge for a few days. Upon returning, I will be having a very large cleanin' out of this house! Who knows what is in this house! When I moved in, I stacked a lot of boxes of clothes and books (mainly old college texts and such) into a spare walk-in closet. The time has come for those items, among others, to be dispersed out into the world. It's gonna be a huge tossin' out! I'm also aiming to do some more painting in the house. Maybe gonna do some neutrals upstairs and in the hallway. Who knows, I could get crazy like I did one weekend last summer and paint another room green...(this is in reference to my dining room...). The green has grown on me, but I still think about painting over that mess!

The following comes from a message by Pastor John Piper, referenced in several recent sermons at my own church (The Church at Brook Hills) by our senior pastor, Dr. David Platt. Hearing Pastor David preach on this verse from Galatians has made a difference in how I see myself contributing to this world, or rather, I should say consuming from this world when I should be doing the opposite. Stay in the mindset of glorifying the Lord and devote yourself to acting from that mindset, not transient, frivolous selfish desires. I'm going to put a long quote on here for you (the two of your that regularly read this generally worthless blog!).

Galatians 6:14
"But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

"You don't have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by a few great things. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on for centuries and into eternity, you don't have to have a high IQ or EQ; you don't have to have to have good looks or riches; you don't have to come from a fine family or a fine school. You have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things, and be set on fire by them.

But I know that not everybody in this crowd wants your life to make a difference. There are hundreds of you - you don't care whether you make a lasting difference for something great, you just want people to like you. If people would just like you, you'd be satisfied. Of if you could just have good job with a good wife and a couple good kids and a nice car and long weekends and a few good friends, a fun retirement, and quick and easy death and no hell - if you could have that (minus God) - you'd be satisfied. THAT is a tragedy in the making.

Three weeks ago we got word at our church that Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards had both been killed in Cameroon. Ruby was over 80. Single all her life, she poured it out for one great thing: To make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor, pushing 80 years old, and serving at Ruby's side in Cameroon. The brakes failed, the car went over the cliff, and they were both killed instantly. And I asked my people: was that a tragedy? Two lives, driven by one great vision, spent in unheralded service to the perishing poor for the glory of Jesus Christ—two decades after almost all their American counterparts have retired to throw their lives away on trifles in Florida or New Mexico. No. That is not a tragedy. That is a glory.

I tell you what a tragedy is. I'll read to you from Reader's Digest (Feb. 2000, p. 98) what a tragedy is: "Bob and Penny... took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells." The American Dream: come to the end of your life - your one and only life - and let the last great work before you give an account to your Creator, be "I collected shells. See my shells." THAT is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. And I get forty minutes to plead with you: don't buy it. "

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/1483_Boasting_Only_in_the_Cross/

"hey, girl come with me" or birthday party and the beach

had a birthday. it was the most lovely birthday ever, i think. dinner with the girls at leonardo's was wonderful. saw the family the weekend before and it snowed, which made for a very pretty visit to huntsville. abby enjoyed the snow. i am so blessed to have the family and friends that i do!

went to the beach. it was awesome! amazing how warm it was in south florida. i really enjoyed being there. many events to report... it was probably the best time rachel and i have had together since the last trip we went on.

now that spring break is over, the semester is on the downhill slide. thankfully, it should be manageable from here out! the big project is completed, so it's just tests and clinic from here out. nice to have some extra time to enjoy the good weather (okay, not today...it has rained constantly...) and get ready for the summer. looks like another beach trip is in order for the gulf in early may.

Tax Note: the IRS knows when you falsify a claim [e.g., claiming dependents that you don't have]..

Missions.

"We must go

Live to feed the hungry

Stand beside the broken

We must go..."

~Bethany Dillion, "God of Justice (We Must Go)"~

Spring Break, Please Come Quickly..

Photo of a perfect day: Hiking in the Sipsey Wilderness with Ben last Friday...far, far from graduate school. Need more of this kind of day!

Thoughts:

Psalm 62:1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. 2 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

Granola is yummy; Kitchen sink; 74 degrees; Big weekend ahead; Thank you, Gym; Honest-to-goodness

Kashi granola. It is in your best interest to try this stuff. Apple Orchard is the best tasting granola ever. Is it okay to be addicted to granola?!

Kitchen sink has leak. I haven't had to do too many repairs to this house. Wasn't sure what to do about this when I noticed it this afternoon while putting groceries away. I had to figure it out for myself, so I turned off the valves under the sink to cut off the water and stop the leak. Then, I called for help!

Great day to be outside. It was really a perfect day. Though I realize that perfect weather and January usually don't mix, this was an exception. It was 74 and sunny. Loved it. Had Abby out all afternoon. We blew leaves out of the backyard and cleaned out the tool shed. The yard is nice and cleaned up and is ready for the crape myrtles I will be planting along the back fence in late February. Can't wait to get those planted. The yard is so pretty during the warmer months; I hate that it looks so desolate right now, aside from potted plants and brown grass.

Weekend: Family coming to stay at my house! Although this house is kinda big for just Abby and I, when I have several visitors at a time, I really appreciate all the extra space. The plan is to celebrate Dad's birthday with a trip to the new Bass Pro Shops store and Chinese food. I will be grillin' out on the patio Saturday night. Steak sounds so good right now.

Thank you, work-out place. I am getting ready for a very fun spring break. It feels so good to go to the gym every day, though my legs are still sore from easing into the elliptical machine. I am loving my kick into high gear with the work out routine. As a result, the toned version of me is coming! Watching The Biggest Loser has been really good and encouraging..it has also convinced me that I would like to have a personal trainer!

Honest-to-goodness, I can only say that I love where I am in life. There are so many good things going on and it only seems to get better! How wonderful!

* Going to church on Sunday nights at Brook Hills has been so refreshing.
* Graduate school is kicking back into high gear as clinic starts next week. It is going by so fast and I cannot believe that next year this time I will actually be applying for jobs as an SLP. That is just crazy. I've had thoughts of moving to Georgia. Planning to remain open to any place on the map.
*West Palm Beach! 7 weeks away!
* I am really enjoying my house and taking care of Abby. The thing I am most happy for is my level of independence. I don't know why I ever would have wanted to rely on someone else. I should have changed that 7 years ago! Oh, thank you, Lord for your mysterious ways of working things out. I only want to follow your path.

An Update...Freezing Weather and Sore Abs...Would You Like Some Healthy Cereal?

This week is the official return back to grad. school. Hope this semester flies by because it'll be one closer to graduation! The holidays were absolutely perfect, especially the part about being out of school for four weeks. It is supposed to be very cold tonight through Saturday or something like that...I got too discouraged to actually focus on the weather forcast. I hate the freezing weather, as do my flower beds that make my house look pretty. Ice is not conducive to walking Abby twice a day--at all. In addition to the discomforts of the cold and classes, my abs and legs are super sore from my going-to-the-gym-daily streak. To remedy the soreness, I just keep going and working out. I think it will work, in time. Ha. I guess the reason my house has stairs is to remind me that I have aching thighs. Perfect. Oh, and if you start eating Kashi, know that I think it has something addictive in it. I cannot quit nibbling on their granola cereal. Delish.