Can you tell? I'm just a tad excited to marry this man!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Love Lesson from Lombard Rd.
This weekend I let my photography-bug run wild as my Honey and I traveled to Cousin Frank's for pre-marital counseling and family time... Here are the fruits of my hard labor :) Can't wait to see my improvement at the end of this ten week photography class!
My favorite take-aways from our first session left me feeling more confident that taking this "plunge" is a gift from God. To find a companion who doesn't complete you, but instead adds to your completeness and loves your soul, not just your physical appearance and temporal beauty....wow. It's breath-taking... I'm thinking of all the ways that I can do little things that aren't expected of me so that Chris always knows how much I cherish being his wife (in THIRTY FOUR DAYS!!!)
Can you tell? I'm just a tad excited to marry this man!
Can you tell? I'm just a tad excited to marry this man!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Tragedies are commonplace....
all kind of diseases, people are slipping away...
...as for me all I can say is THANK YOU LORD for all you've done for me....
...YOU'LL be my PROTECTION every step of the way.... and I wanna say THANK YOU LORD!!! for all you've done for me....
This is the song in my heart tonight. Its a Walter Hawkins gospel tune... the verses are sitting heavy on my heart right now. I'm Grateful, so truly grateful...
Tonight I witnessed the most horrific scene of my life. I worked at the art gallery assisting a class of about 80 people as they painted a red cross. I watched some of them as they painted the cross... thought silently about some of the irony in it... the painting was called "Faith" and represented Christ's sacrifice and promise... I wondered if any of the artists pondered the meaning of their work. Long night... I was tired and so ready for Chris to come pick me up... chatted with my coworkers. ....Hopped in the car a few minutes later and got caught up on the evening with my love... I think I had a slight attitude about him showing up a few minutes late... I was riding beside him in silence, cold.... it was 14 degrees out tonight...
In the next moment, a silver Mini Cooper flew past us. I was actually relieved to say "man that car was flying..." It kind of broke our silence... The little car had to be going at least 100 mph... Too fast... so fast that I instantly knew it was going to crash into something... "Lord please, Jesus please, Chris he is going to crash..." Chris slowed down so that we wouldn't be target when he spun out of control... and the rest was like watching a movie in slow motion.... The mini sped swerving toward a median dividing the highway from an exit... I imagine the driver thought "this is my turn... or is it? do I take the exit... Oh man I'm going too fast... stay on the highway.... get it together man.."
He slammed into the concrete median at full speed, flew into the air, instantly caught on fire and landed upside down.
That coulda been me.
We pulled over and called 911. I stayed in the car and prayed. Chris ran to help... Afterward I learned that the driver lived, for a while at least... A man heroically pulled the driver out of the flaming car. Chris helped the man pull the driver to safety and remove his fiery clothes. He used my blanket to help beat the fire off of his reddened body. The man lay fully naked, not a hair left anywhere on his exposed body in 14 degree weather... alive. We, along with many other witnesses, waited for rescue crews. The flames from the fiery car bellowed into at least two lanes of the highway and sent up a monstrous ribbon of gray smoke that covered the other two lanes and filled the sky.
It was horrific.
For Chris, the strangest and most memorable thing about this accident was the cold silence... there were no screams and no cries. Aside from the crackles and pops that escaped the car as it burned, the hushed whisper of the spectators (most of whom were speechless)... there was nothing to hear. The driver's screams were silent because his lungs were on fire.
On the way home... I thought about how silly it was to be upset that Chris was late. I thought about the fact that not one of us has any control over life or death... we just have to live as if today were our last day on this earth. I thought about how undeserving I am to be here - how grateful I am for God's grace and mercy. I'm here, beside my honey, proud of him for always being a valiant first responder (this is the third time I have witnessed an accident with Chris in the short time that I have loved him. Before meeting Chris, I had never witnessed an accident. I know that ministering to those in emergency situations is his calling).
Tonight left me clinging to the joys of life.
...as for me all I can say is THANK YOU LORD for all you've done for me....
...YOU'LL be my PROTECTION every step of the way.... and I wanna say THANK YOU LORD!!! for all you've done for me....
This is the song in my heart tonight. Its a Walter Hawkins gospel tune... the verses are sitting heavy on my heart right now. I'm Grateful, so truly grateful...
Tonight I witnessed the most horrific scene of my life. I worked at the art gallery assisting a class of about 80 people as they painted a red cross. I watched some of them as they painted the cross... thought silently about some of the irony in it... the painting was called "Faith" and represented Christ's sacrifice and promise... I wondered if any of the artists pondered the meaning of their work. Long night... I was tired and so ready for Chris to come pick me up... chatted with my coworkers. ....Hopped in the car a few minutes later and got caught up on the evening with my love... I think I had a slight attitude about him showing up a few minutes late... I was riding beside him in silence, cold.... it was 14 degrees out tonight...
In the next moment, a silver Mini Cooper flew past us. I was actually relieved to say "man that car was flying..." It kind of broke our silence... The little car had to be going at least 100 mph... Too fast... so fast that I instantly knew it was going to crash into something... "Lord please, Jesus please, Chris he is going to crash..." Chris slowed down so that we wouldn't be target when he spun out of control... and the rest was like watching a movie in slow motion.... The mini sped swerving toward a median dividing the highway from an exit... I imagine the driver thought "this is my turn... or is it? do I take the exit... Oh man I'm going too fast... stay on the highway.... get it together man.."
He slammed into the concrete median at full speed, flew into the air, instantly caught on fire and landed upside down.
That coulda been me.
We pulled over and called 911. I stayed in the car and prayed. Chris ran to help... Afterward I learned that the driver lived, for a while at least... A man heroically pulled the driver out of the flaming car. Chris helped the man pull the driver to safety and remove his fiery clothes. He used my blanket to help beat the fire off of his reddened body. The man lay fully naked, not a hair left anywhere on his exposed body in 14 degree weather... alive. We, along with many other witnesses, waited for rescue crews. The flames from the fiery car bellowed into at least two lanes of the highway and sent up a monstrous ribbon of gray smoke that covered the other two lanes and filled the sky.
It was horrific.
For Chris, the strangest and most memorable thing about this accident was the cold silence... there were no screams and no cries. Aside from the crackles and pops that escaped the car as it burned, the hushed whisper of the spectators (most of whom were speechless)... there was nothing to hear. The driver's screams were silent because his lungs were on fire.
On the way home... I thought about how silly it was to be upset that Chris was late. I thought about the fact that not one of us has any control over life or death... we just have to live as if today were our last day on this earth. I thought about how undeserving I am to be here - how grateful I am for God's grace and mercy. I'm here, beside my honey, proud of him for always being a valiant first responder (this is the third time I have witnessed an accident with Chris in the short time that I have loved him. Before meeting Chris, I had never witnessed an accident. I know that ministering to those in emergency situations is his calling).
Tonight left me clinging to the joys of life.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
For the Love of Money
"Finding something [a career, a hobby, a life partner] that you truly love is a million times better than finding something that will make you rich...."
Do you believe this? I do.
"Do what you love, and the money will follow..."
Do you believe this? The jury is still out for me.
Afterall, if I love giving away food and clothes to those in need, there is a great chance that absolutely no money will follow no matter how good I become at it. But, at the end of the day, does it really matter? The difference between the first principle and the second is the central focus for the person contemplating it - is your focus true happiness or money?
Before answering, remember that you can't take any of it with you when you're gone. Would you rather look back over your life knowing that you enjoyed your career and your family, or would you rather look back knowing that inspite of not following a more desireable path, you earned incredible amounts of money and protected all of your assets from others?
Its a no-brainer for me...
Do you believe this? I do.
"Do what you love, and the money will follow..."
Do you believe this? The jury is still out for me.
Afterall, if I love giving away food and clothes to those in need, there is a great chance that absolutely no money will follow no matter how good I become at it. But, at the end of the day, does it really matter? The difference between the first principle and the second is the central focus for the person contemplating it - is your focus true happiness or money?
Before answering, remember that you can't take any of it with you when you're gone. Would you rather look back over your life knowing that you enjoyed your career and your family, or would you rather look back knowing that inspite of not following a more desireable path, you earned incredible amounts of money and protected all of your assets from others?
Its a no-brainer for me...
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