Trekking with Me

Good Morning! It's a lovely quiet morning, and I am soaking in every little second of being home, on a Tuesday, with no real demands, agenda, project, job or responsibilities screaming down my neck.  For now, that is... and I love it. I even slept well last night.  Which is a gift, since REST is from the Lord.  Yes, I must admit anxious nightmares have been flickering through my nights, stirring me to action, as school is about to start up again.  It's my minds way of dealing with fear of "oh no, it's just around the corner" and I will have to face the end of these lovely do-what-I-want-to-do days in a week. What a gift this summer has been! It has been a full, very productive, eventful, surprising summer!  From summer house projects, family time, reconnecting with old friends, trips all over, meeting and making new friends, to leisure mornings like today: Thank YOU Jesus for refreshing my soul! "Refreshing" is the word that my soul has repeated...

Hello To those who read my blog!  It's been a few weeks since I returned from Costa Rica.  A new season has begun and I am getting my footing.  No longer a student, I am back to work (substituting) Monday through Friday, embracing what God has for me each day. My new normal is very nice so far.  I like the freedom, flexibility, and variety I have in my schedule.   I have a new appreciation for everything, odd, and random, such as: The order we have in our society.  If you have traveled overseas, you will understand this appreciation. Groupons!  I just returned from a two-hour kayak excursion from a groupon I purchased earlier in the summer.  It was great fun which I enjoyed with my friend, Shayna.  She works with the Navigators and I like her very much. This is her chowing down on her juicy peach for lunch on the water :-) We had a very deep conversation about our favorite fruits, and I most decidedly came to the conclusion that peac...

I was recently blessed with a trip up to New England to celebrate completing my M.A.  My dear friends,  Tracy and Jamison , treated me to a trip so we could all be together again.  We had a wonderful time together and only wish we could have squeezed in a few more things.  We spent most of our time in Connecticut ("Connect - I - Cut" ~Thanks Tracy!), of which the capital is Hartford (a fact I will never forget thanks to my seventh grade social studies teacher).   Everytime we said "Hartford," I started quoting, "In Hartford hurricanes hardly ever happen..." in an ever-so-british accent.  (Name that movie!)   We also had a little surprise thrown in from sweet Tracy: one night in Newport, RI.  Everywhere we went I was in awe of the deep luscious foliage and the brilliant hues of the waters.  Add to that, sailing related paraphernalia was everywhere, my sailing soft spot was itching something fierce. Here are a few moments I captured...

In the last few months I have been reading a few Ted Dekker books, namely,  The Martyr's Song Series.   Dekker is a breathtaking, heart-pounding thrill writer, so hold on if you begin reading his stuff.  Sometimes I just had to put the book down to catch my breath!  Definitely a great read, but what I like more than the fast pace, intriguing story lines is what he does with the Unseen.  Dekker, in a very unique and powerful way, pulls back the earthly veil and reveals the Spiritual realm.  I found my vision sharpen and my heart quicken as I saw  the Spiritual, the Unseen, the "things above" through his writing.  This is making a difference in my real life.  Basically, seeing the reality of God in my daily walk. Paul says in Colossians 3:2, " Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." and in 2 Corinthians 4, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is ...

I enjoyed my mini-vacation.  The first day offered a sweet quiet morning: I almost felt guilty for it. No schedule, no time table, no tv, no internet, nothing calling me to rush to be somewhere, no phone to answer... just a few hours in an empty house, sunshine to sit in, clear skies to run under, my Bible & journal and a few books to edify my mind and heart in Him. Tozer's book, The Pursuit of Man , offered me a good hearty meal.  The first chapter held delicious morsels of truth.  One phrase in particular:  " The man who would know God must give time to Him."   This one phrase of the many rich things in the chapter, was meant for me, from Him.  Oh, how I want to experience Him .   That won't happen if I don't make time for Him.  He is here... I never want to loose that awareness.  That is what gives Life.... Him: He gives me Life in Himself.  Romans 8 -- "how will He not also, along with Him , graciously give us all thing...

It's a lovely rainy NC morning... yes, I love NC. I am housesitting for some of my favorite peeps... and though it may be a service to them, it is a blessing to me! Their little house is so cute - I have to confess I just about covet over it... seriously, I would so like to have it as my own! The yard and view and set up of the place suits me perfectly... but more than the aesthetics of the place... God's Spirit is here... the relationship and love my friends share with the Lord bring such a spillage of HIS PRESENCE here.... and I get to rest in it for 48 hours. Not that HE doesn't bless me and where I live... sometimes it is simply a re-locating for a few days that helps you hear from Him and pull closer to Him and forget the usual things that distract. So, I am enjoying a personal retreat this weekend... and God has greeted me with raindrops this morning... i love it. Thank You Lord.

Last weekend some of my good friends and I escaped to Asheville, NC! Our end destination and goal was the Biltmore Estate! We booked a hotel, loaded up the car and headed for the beautiful mountains... and what a treat we had! God richly blessed our adventure... here are a few pictures I wanted to share with you: I love this one as it was taken right at dusk and the lights in the windows were just so.... perfect. It was a bit drizzly the first day, but that certainly did not dampen our spirits! The House was magnificent... the Fall Foliage was beyond capturing... the fun priceless! This is my good friend Carey... we actually first met each other in Mali!! Yes, can you believe it... and here she is attending CIU the same time I am. What a blessing she has been to me! This is Carey, Melanie and I... God has blessed us with each other so much. These girls are GEMS! This is me... working with my camera phone... :-) Thankful for what I have! Doesn't this just look romanti...

OH boy...I was "tagged" - I was told to go to my picture file and post from the fourth file, the fourth picture. Well - I say "kind of" because i recently loaded pictures from my dad's digital camera and his camera had the wrong date in it and it filed them in the wrong place....so anyhow, this is "my fourth" of my fourth! This is last Christmas - It may have been the day after Christmas - my mom and dad and I in Genova, Italy. It was SO cold that day and we were wishing we had a few more layers on!

I can't let too many days go by without sharing a great treat God blessed me with...a trip to Florida! After being here in SC for almost six months, I was feeling like a tumble weed. God heard a very sad cry a few weeks ago for something special to perk me up. I had no idea a trip to Florida would be His answer and gift! A dear friend was in need of someone to drive her to Florida; I offered my services. It was a blessing to her - but I was the one who received the best blessing! Fall in Florida may not have all the brilliant colors of the north, but it is about the best time of year to visit! The temperature is perfect, and well, it is just great - especially when you get to visit some of the most wonderful people in the world - or at least of the ones i have met so far and stick you toes in the sand and surf of the Atlantic and not lose them to frostbite! After dropping my friend off at her destination, the open road was mine. I did a loop-de-loop through Central Flor...

Italy was an adventure! Genova is breathtaking...a challenging community clinging to the cliffs of mountains on the edge of the meditteranean sea....we spenta week there - about three days it was sun shiney and one beautiful day we walked along the edge of the world taking in the sights of rugged cliffs and the incredibly beautiful water...it was the coolest color! Deep green blues...clear as crystal....GORGEOUS! If you give me your address i will send you one of the post cards i picked up. We spent a week in Genova meeting the team working there - they are just getting settled in and each family/single took us for a day or two and showed us around the city. the public transportation in Europe is wonderful and after getting use to the technique i so enjoyed it....and it is so feasible being like $2 a day to get on and off trains, busses and subways...the history of the cathedrals and piazza's(sp?), the cobblestone streets, the archectiture and way of life there is cool. I enjoye...