"so lucky to be in love with my best friend
so lucky to have been where we have been
so lucky to be coming home again"
nick and i just had one of THE sweetest weekends of our married life...more than that, one of the sweetest weekends of my entire life!! we were given a marriage retreat at winshape on berry college's mountain campus....what a gift!!! God is so good to us. i knew i was looking forward to it - i have been since we were told about it close to a year ago. i just didn't realize that i was getting my IDEAL weekend in so many ways - the weekend i would dream up if someone said "what would your perfect weekend look like?" it would look like getting to be with nick...in a beautiful outdoors setting...getting to hike/exercise...getting to sleep in a comfy bed with the air turned really low...getting to take walks and sit in swings...getting to just BE with the one i love so much without much distraction...
if you're ever given a winshape marriage retreat, don't think twice about it...go. or if you want to save up for/spend your money on something worthwhile - this would be an excellent choice...or if you need an idea of what to ask for as a gift for your birthday or christmas - or if you need an idea of something to give as a gift (to your spouse or another couple!) - chose a winshape marriage retreat. if your marriage is wonderful, go. if your marriage is in trouble, go. if your marriage is somewhere in the middle, go. if you're about to get married, go - they've got a retreat for couples who are engaged...i've heard it's awesome!! i can't recommend winshape marriage retreats enough.
i am in awe at the way we were loved and blessed and served this weekend....from greeters in the parking lot who took our luggage to our room...to having peaceful music playing in our room when we walked in...to knowing that we were prayed for long before we even arrived...to the limitless coke (and dr. pepper!) and popcorn...to the fanastic meals (i even ate and enjoyed vegetables!)...to the hike to the reservoir...to the absence of tv, internet, phones (for the most part)....to the sweet worship around the bonfire....to the teaching...to the beautiful amazing setting...to the fun time on the ropes course...to the excellence that surrounded us all weekend (the thoughfulness of the "chic-fil-a industry" amazes me)...it was all so special and enjoyable.
but my favorite part - my most favorite thing - was getting to spend so much time with nick. he is my best friend. my favorite person to be around. you could have taken away everything else and just given me time with nick and i would have been more than satisfied. i am beyond thankful for him and for our marriage....why in the world did God choose to bless me in this way? He is so wonderful....so amazing....and He has given me someone who is so wonderful and so amazing.
i am so thankful to be in love with my best friend....so thankful to have been where we have been....and i am so thankful to be back home again...but, honestly, i'm trying to convince myself that i'm so thankful to be back home again -- at the moment, i'd rather be in a place that i don't have to clean...where i don't have to fix meals...where there's not much of anything to do except have conversations with my best friend and enjoy God's creation....but, really, i AM blessed to be back home...i am blessed that the same man that i enjoyed up on mountain campus is the same one i share a bed with here in columbus....so thankful that a weekend like this isn't the only time i feel connected, loved and appreciated.
(one of my other most favorite parts was discovering that eating chocolate chips with a chic-fil-a mint is a delightful combination!!)
(one other random note: not sure why but the "post time" for all of my posts are incorrect...this one says it's is 5:34 am. it's definitely not 5:34am. it's 8:37am. oh well.)
27 September 2010
22 September 2010
i told you there were more quotes to come....
and now the most recent (and final) edition of quotes & notes from "the normal christian life." another book i just finished reading (it only took me about 4 months)....it was altogether different from anne of green gables but also on the "recommended reading list."
"...the basis of all service is this: that you pour out all you have, your very self unto Him; and if that should be all He allows you to do, that is enough. it is not first of all a question of whether "the poor have been helped or not." that will follow but the first question is: has the Lord been satisfied?"
"the Lord's first concern is with our position at His feet and our annointing of His head."
"whatever we have as an 'alabaster box': the most precious thing, the thing dearest to us - we give that all up to the Lord...often enough the giving to him will be in tirelss service, but he reserves to himself the right to suspend the service for a time, in order to discover to us whether it is that, or himself, that holds us."
"...in divine service the principle of waste is the principle of power."
"take your eyes off that other man! look at your Lord, and ask yourself again what it is that He values most highly."
"Lord, i do not mind about that. if only i can please thee, it is enough."
"what the Lord looks for in us is a life laid at His feet."
i want the impression i leave to be the impression of God Himself.
"...the basis of all service is this: that you pour out all you have, your very self unto Him; and if that should be all He allows you to do, that is enough. it is not first of all a question of whether "the poor have been helped or not." that will follow but the first question is: has the Lord been satisfied?"
"the Lord's first concern is with our position at His feet and our annointing of His head."
"whatever we have as an 'alabaster box': the most precious thing, the thing dearest to us - we give that all up to the Lord...often enough the giving to him will be in tirelss service, but he reserves to himself the right to suspend the service for a time, in order to discover to us whether it is that, or himself, that holds us."
"...in divine service the principle of waste is the principle of power."
"take your eyes off that other man! look at your Lord, and ask yourself again what it is that He values most highly."
"Lord, i do not mind about that. if only i can please thee, it is enough."
"what the Lord looks for in us is a life laid at His feet."
i want the impression i leave to be the impression of God Himself.
Anne of Green Gables Quotes
in honor of my precious friend Carey who left for France yesterday, i'm sharing my favorite "Anne of Green Gables" quotes. i just finished the book....it was delightful. i highly recommend it.
"all things great are wound up with all things little."
"i make so many mistakes. but then think of all the mistakes i don't make, although i might...."
"...i assure you, marilla, thta i feel like praying tonite and i'm going to think out a special brand-new prayer in honour of the occasion."
"we can have things perfect in this imperfect world."
"i don't see the use of meeting trouble halfway, do you, marilla? i think it would be better just to enjoy mr. allan while we have him."
"i don't know....i don't want to talk as much, " she said..."it's nice to think dear pretty thoughts and keep them in one's heart, like treasures. i don't like to have them laughed at or wondered over."
"as mrs. lynde says 'if you can't be cheerful, be as cheerful as you can.'"
"all things great are wound up with all things little."
"i make so many mistakes. but then think of all the mistakes i don't make, although i might...."
"...i assure you, marilla, thta i feel like praying tonite and i'm going to think out a special brand-new prayer in honour of the occasion."
"we can have things perfect in this imperfect world."
"i don't see the use of meeting trouble halfway, do you, marilla? i think it would be better just to enjoy mr. allan while we have him."
"i don't know....i don't want to talk as much, " she said..."it's nice to think dear pretty thoughts and keep them in one's heart, like treasures. i don't like to have them laughed at or wondered over."
"as mrs. lynde says 'if you can't be cheerful, be as cheerful as you can.'"
maybe this blog should be called "dianna likes quotes"
2 favorite kid quotes as of late:
me: "so...do you remember the 3 gifts the wisemen brought when they met jesus?" (some may wonder why we were talking about the Christmas story in september....)
eli: "myrrh....and gold...and......chocolate."
caroline: "do you know why i was eating so many gummi worms?"
me: "no. why?"
caroline: "because they were so yummy."
favorite parenting line as of late (a response for tattling...and life in general):
"think about what you're doing right rather than what they are doing wrong." (thanks, hollie)
favorite thing God has said to me as of late:
"the treasure - what's inside the jar of clay - is far more important than the jar itself."
more quotes to come...
me: "so...do you remember the 3 gifts the wisemen brought when they met jesus?" (some may wonder why we were talking about the Christmas story in september....)
eli: "myrrh....and gold...and......chocolate."
caroline: "do you know why i was eating so many gummi worms?"
me: "no. why?"
caroline: "because they were so yummy."
favorite parenting line as of late (a response for tattling...and life in general):
"think about what you're doing right rather than what they are doing wrong." (thanks, hollie)
favorite thing God has said to me as of late:
"the treasure - what's inside the jar of clay - is far more important than the jar itself."
more quotes to come...
15 September 2010
learning so much in exodus
in Exodus 3 Moses asked “what makes you think I could ever go to pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
God’s response: “I will be with you.” He doesn’t tell moses all his strengths or the plan for getting him through what He’s calling him to. THE REASON moses can do it is because God is with him.
these verses meant too much to me not to share them….
Exodus 13:17-18 “it so happened that after pharaoh released the people (the Israelites), God didn’t lead them by the road through the land of the philistines, which was the shortest route, for God thought, ‘if the people encounter war, they’ll change their minds and go back to Egypt.’ So God led the people on the wilderness road, looping around to the Red Sea…”
first off, i never realized there was a second “a” in pharaoh….i think i thought it was just pharoh. would have gotten that wrong in a spelling bee…just like i got “supreme” wrong in 4th grade. surpreme is not a word. irrelevant.
second off, i’m so thankful that God sees the big picture. there are times when the “shortest route” looks easiest/best….but then we end up on the “wilderness road, looping around” and it doesn’t feel best – in fact it feels the opposite of best. it feels hard and tiresome and burdensome…desert like. i’m so thankful that we can trust that it is IS best even if it doesn’t feel best. God knows the army that would be waiting if we went the shortest route….He knows which path is going to draw us closest to Him.
i’m learning more and more that it’s really not about where we end up…it’s about walking with Him every step of the way.
God’s response: “I will be with you.” He doesn’t tell moses all his strengths or the plan for getting him through what He’s calling him to. THE REASON moses can do it is because God is with him.
these verses meant too much to me not to share them….
Exodus 13:17-18 “it so happened that after pharaoh released the people (the Israelites), God didn’t lead them by the road through the land of the philistines, which was the shortest route, for God thought, ‘if the people encounter war, they’ll change their minds and go back to Egypt.’ So God led the people on the wilderness road, looping around to the Red Sea…”
first off, i never realized there was a second “a” in pharaoh….i think i thought it was just pharoh. would have gotten that wrong in a spelling bee…just like i got “supreme” wrong in 4th grade. surpreme is not a word. irrelevant.
second off, i’m so thankful that God sees the big picture. there are times when the “shortest route” looks easiest/best….but then we end up on the “wilderness road, looping around” and it doesn’t feel best – in fact it feels the opposite of best. it feels hard and tiresome and burdensome…desert like. i’m so thankful that we can trust that it is IS best even if it doesn’t feel best. God knows the army that would be waiting if we went the shortest route….He knows which path is going to draw us closest to Him.
i’m learning more and more that it’s really not about where we end up…it’s about walking with Him every step of the way.
08 September 2010
semi-pointless ponderings
just wanted to give one of my favorite people something to read on her thursday morning.
i have lots in my head and tons in my heart....but it's too much to try and put into words. maybe later. can't help but think of a quote from john eldridge's "walking with God"
"when it comes to crises or events that really upset us, this i have learned: you can have God or you can have understanding. sometimes you can have both. but if you insist on understanding, it often doesn't come...He doesn't explain everything. but He always offers us Himself."
on a totally different note, i read another significant quote earlier that i really like. "No one tells you that wealth numbs you to life and consumerism callouses your soul to the sacred." i don't want to be numb to life or calloused to the sacred. there ya go.
thanks for caring enough to read my blog.
i have lots in my head and tons in my heart....but it's too much to try and put into words. maybe later. can't help but think of a quote from john eldridge's "walking with God"
"when it comes to crises or events that really upset us, this i have learned: you can have God or you can have understanding. sometimes you can have both. but if you insist on understanding, it often doesn't come...He doesn't explain everything. but He always offers us Himself."
on a totally different note, i read another significant quote earlier that i really like. "No one tells you that wealth numbs you to life and consumerism callouses your soul to the sacred." i don't want to be numb to life or calloused to the sacred. there ya go.
thanks for caring enough to read my blog.
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