Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Break is halfway over?

WHAT? That is ridiculous. But the first half was filled with wonderful Christmas fun. You can check out all the festivities on the family blog here.

So what will I do with the remainder of my break?

READ:
Now I am enjoying "Game of Thrones" (on my new Kindle Fire--thanks Mom!).

PUZZLE:
We bought a 2,000 piece puzzle and started on Christmas. It will probably not be done until next Christmas.

TRAVEL:
Next weekend Libby and I are heading to Dayton to visit one of my very best friends, Erin! It should be a really wonderful girls weekend before the LAST semester of Law School begins.



I want to start on some knitting projects too. But I think my hands need a break for a couple days.  I must say, the break has been wonderful so far. Next post will probably involve some goals for 2012. Hard to believe it is almost that time again!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas is *almost* here...

And it snuck up on my for sure.

I don't like to be rushed-hurriedly trying to get things done stresses me out. But Christmas came out of nowhere this year. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I have yet to wrap a present. But this morning I was reminded that Christmas is not about presents. Or rather it is. It is all about one very special gift.

I was reading Romans 6, and the last verse says "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (v23). God's gift to us-his Son.

Christmas is so wonderful because of all the magic surrounding it. The trees light up, the presents appear, all the anticipation and wonder. And the amazing mystery of the birth of a Savior. God's great gift to the world. I am amazed by how He came into the world-a helpless baby, born in a manger. And I am amazed at why. To save me, a sinner. To rescue me, a prodigal. But I am so very thankful for the gift of life that I have been given in Christ. And I hope His love fills all of your festivities and all of your hearts. Merry Christmas.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Exhale...

Finals are OVER. They were actually over on Tuesday, but I still haven't had a lot of time for blogging-

SURPRISE!
Oh well. Finals were exhausting. I feel like I say that every semester, but magically I forget until they come around again.

Sooo True.
But it is done. And I am one semester away from graduation. I am looking forward to celebrating that fact with my friends tomorrow at our Semi-Formal. We get dressed up. We have good food and drinks. We forget all the stress....we laugh...we have fun.  

As for the rest of break...I am knitting up a storm to get ready for Christmas. I'm hanging with the kiddos some-yesterday was Libby's Christmas Program so check the family blog soon for photos and hopefully a video! I'm back in the office too. Every year I have big plans for break, and then it whizzes by without me realizing it. So this year, I have 2 concrete projects that I want to accomplish.
THIS...

and THIS...


Both are knitted-I haven't delved into the crochet world yet. And I SUPER excited to make them! Added to the fun is that 4 or 5 of my friends have expressed an interest in learning to knit, so I will get to work on my projects while hanging out with some really awesome ladies.

I'll post photos-unless they turn out terribly...

images from here

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

In the thick of it...and some thoughts on Jacob.

I'm in the midst of finals. One has been turned in after a very long Saturday (12 hours in my dining room chair). I have two left - closed book exam Thursday and a take home due a week from today. And then I am DONE. Until next semester...
On a different note, last week Trey was preaching at church about Jacob. Now we have been in Genesis for the last several months, so Jacob has obviously been a topic before. But two weeks ago was the account of when he wrestled with God. They wrestled all night, and Jacob didn't let go. Instead he said "I will not let go unless you bless me." (Gen 32:26). And the blessing? A new name "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." (Gen 32:28).
Struggle. Jacob struggled. He refused to quit until he got the blessing. But struggle seems like a four letter word in our society. We have this notion that struggling means that we have failed instead of seeing the struggle as the process of succeeding. We don't want to struggle, we think it should be easy-so we give up. It is a word that reminds us (or maybe just me) of tiring, hard, painful events with no purpose. But that is isn't what the word means. It does involve tiring and hard and painful events, but it is for a purpose. We fight and claw and work and labor to get the blessing-for Jacob it was a new name. Maybe the blessing is different for me or for you. But if we fight and claw and refuse to let go, there is a blessing...

Easy example...If you struggle with growing out your hair (this isn't about me AT ALL), it is a fight to not go to the hairdresser, especially when you feel the mullet coming on. But you fight the urge-you remind yourself that a cute hair cut is in your future. You work through the awkward phases to get to the blessing-an awesome new do. (in my case, I want this one...

Harder example...If you struggle with school, you study and read, you make flash cards, you struggle with the material until you know it. The blessing? a better grade, a better job - maybe. Certainly an understanding of the material, that light bulb moment can be a blessing!

Hardest example...If you struggle with body image (like most women I know including myself), it may seem that the struggle is against food and motivation-the endless cycles of diets or exercise. But really I think the struggle is against the words that we say to ourselves. We have to struggle to love the bodies God has put us in, and fight with the influences and the messages that say otherwise. I know I certainly have to claw my way out of the pit of comparison. And the blessing? Contentment? A deeper faith in the God that made us? I'll let you know when I get there!


this pic says "One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful" -Freud
(Side-note, I don't ever look this cute while struggling with life,
 I usually have on man-sweatpants and stained T-shirts. :)

Whatever it is, STRUGGLE. Don't let go. I want to fight and claw and work until I get the blessing. And maybe at the end, you will see that the struggle really was beautiful because God used it to shape you.

images can be found here.