31 July 2014

always more to be thankful for.


  • finding fun spots/arranging our things in cabin 6318
  • the lovely smell of coffee
  • riding along beautiful highways


  • driving vehicle 436 and/or 438
  • picnics on the beach
  • fun time at the pebble beach


  • nick's truth for all the members of our family
  • 8:30, 9:30, 10:30 - wake up times for the 3 cash kids one morning
  • found a manicure/pedicure place
  • amy's insistence of making use (and sponsoring the activity) of previously mentioned establishment


  • recycled paper stationary from the copy room
  • list of people returning to the ship...so many we're looking forward to seeing
  • amy's willingness to make the effort to come visit us
  • wintergreen altoids (i forgot how much i like them!)


  • repeat of last year's "children's party" presented by Astican
  • listening to weezer with nick
  • the fellowship that nick got to share with so many this past weekend in indiana
  • nick and suzanne are officially mr. & mrs. veltjens




25 July 2014

sorry to keep you waiting...


sorry for the friday installment of the thankful thursday list...yesterday was interesting as we were leaving the hotel and heading to the ship -- decided a day late would be ok. 
  • bogo free owl cards
  • jumping on/across beds in the hotel room
  • found my new thankful journal at a random shop in edinburgh
  • drawing and coloring owls with emma for an entire flight
  • airport memories (especially being in heathrow and remembering our gateway's time there)
  • seeing amy!
  • mirrors that distort everything (and the laughter because of them)(how's that for a selfie?!)
  • Ans' willingness to pick us up from the airport
  • spending the day with Ally & Amy
  • swimming in the pool after a long, hot day
  • cotton candy as big as my head
  • the bus came!
  • having a good book to read
  • candy kiosk purchases
  • sunscreen
  • movie-like evening at "holiday world"
  • filled up thankful journal (#1 - #3565)
  • fresh journal
  • knowing that amy is taking pictures...so my camera is taking a vacation
  • bubbles in the park


  • back home on the ship
  • how God sends just what we need 
  • welcome back notes from the lovely amy jones
  • getting things settled and arranged in cabin 6318
  • TIME with amy


21 July 2014

where i've been...where i am.

not even sure where to start...not even sure if it's worth trying to sort it out in my head and make it come out of my fingers...but i suppose i'll try. 

wanted to share my favorite part of our holiday....and i wanted to try and share how my heart has been the past few weeks.  here goes. 

My favorite part of our holiday (as far as places go): 

The Dell of Abernethy.  magical. lovely. special. memorable. unique. beautiful. charming. 

Driving up and being welcomed....having brownies and fresh flowers waiting for us on the table. Knowing that we could go knock on the "wee red door" if we needed anything - anything at all. 

This place kind of made me want to move to the Scottish countryside and invite people to pay to stay on our property.  I could make brownies to welcome them (give the guests half, keep the other half). 


















where i am/where i've been in every other sense of the word:

simultaneously exhausted and refreshed...struggling and resting....enjoying and frustrated.

i kind of feel that the enemy has been trying to steal my joy every step of this journey - and at times i let him.  at times i do believe i even stole my own joy. shot myself in the foot so to speak. 

i battled big time in every place...

austria: fear, discouragement
sweden: unsettled with self, tired
scotland: frustrated, awkward, anxious

of course he wouldn't want me to enjoy this amazing time away from the ship. of course he would want to bring every weapon up out of his pack to try and distract me.  of course he would drum up ridiculous lies to try and thwart the refreshment the Lord had for me. of course he would try and get me at odds with my best friend and frustrated with the 3 gifts that have been given to me in my children.  of course he's not going to make it easy for me to enjoy the amazing gifts the Lord had for me during this time...

even now - he's whispering about his victory....about how i was an easy target and he didn't even have to try.  BUT he hasn't won.  sucka. he's so deceived.  

yes, there have been tough moments for me...quite tough.  it's hard to share those - you don't really post pictures of miscommunication and aggravation and sadness....i love to be real and i don't mind admitting my struggles and shortcomings - i welcome vulnerability and rawness - but those things usually show up in personal conversations and emails - not public venues like facebook or blogs.  

yes, there have been tears and sighs and crying out in desperation....there's been selfishness and yuck and sincere sadness...

BUT there has been laughter and joy and fun and memories made!  i have hundreds of pictures that prove that these past few weeks have been from the Lord and have been full of great moments and memories made with Him and with those i had the pleasure of being with.  i have pages of notes and thoughts and jottings that talk of the goodness and faithfulness of God even in the midst of my not so wonderful moments. i have dozens of thankful list entries that are directly related to the gift of this holiday.  

i have memories of goodness that far outweigh the memories of the not so good. for that i am thankful. 

austria: beautiful, restful, incredible
sweden: loved, hosted, blessed
scotland: wonderful, refreshing, lovely

choosing to remember the good and not focus on the bad....maybe some would call it naive or unrealistic or even a form of deception....but i'm looking at it as wisdom, victory and Love.  a realistic view with a grateful heart...


17 July 2014

abundance.

  • The way worship music can change the atmosphere
  • Rainy day + cup of coffee + sunporch = delightful
  • "moments equations" (the above line is one)
  • beautiful trees
  • having candles at dinner
  • refreshing air
  • imagination (interacting with emma’s…and watching Christy interact with her)
  • special moments with my best friend
  •  finding my initials in random places (like above a castle's window)
  • KJ being on the advance team (purpose, calling, willingness)
  • Walking with nick through the woods…and along the river….and through life
  • The butcher cut up the chicken for me
  •  the moon over Scotland
  • the way most bookstores smell
  •  learning something new (or having something that's pretty obvious explained)(i've never really thought about the fact that arrows would have different tips for different purposes)
  •  bag full of treasures (right now the treasures include carrots, cheese, chocolate, pinecones, trading cards, pens, cherry coke,….)
  • lovely path to run on (and walk to the store on)
  •  nice little walk to the store
  •  these 2.  
  • ice buckets 
  • getting to see martha and meet alex!

  • playing "rory's story cubes" game with everybody last night
  •  that i don't have a baby monkey hanging off of me like this. 
  • orange infused water 
  • cinnamon roll cake (x2)
  • 3+ hours at an incredible park (and incredible kids to spend it with)
  • the bunny population of Scotland. it makes one little boy extremely happy (i resisted the urge to put "hoppy") 
  • knowing that God will be faithful to the Hicks Family 
  • solitary trek into city centre this morning
  • cotton candy skies/sunsets

10 July 2014

just a taste...


  • terrific 2 days in stockholm & amazing few days at the summer house
  • all caught up on blog/pictures (was)
  • borjesson's TREMENDOUS generosity
  • walk in the swedish countryside
  • watching kids enjoy the outdoors
  • swedish fika!
  • eating outside
  • seeing/hearing eli laugh so much with alex
  • knowing much much nick enjoys getting to chop wood


  • eating fruit straight from the vine
  • trainride from stockholm to kumla
  • nature sounds so ideal it could be recorded for a sound machine
  • chance to wash clothes
  • icecream & strawberries
  • peaceful children (otherwise traveling might be terrible)
  • kindness after kindness from the borjesson's
  • remembered to mail the postcard before leaving sweden
  • sweet reunions
  • not even a moment of hesitation when she saw yaya and grandaddy



  • colorful meal
  • soft triangle bread + cream cheese + slice of cheese + salted meat
  • when someone asks me a good question
  • speaking Truth and Life into a friend's heart
  • pizza picnic on the sidewalk



  • TIME with yaya and grandaddy
  • being with sam & christy
  • scotland + rend collective + rain = just the right run
  • climbing to arthur's seat with nick, eli and caroline


  • late night walk with nick
  • falling asleep quickly
  • things are going so well for ethan chandra
  • how much nick laughs when sam's around


  • news of jacob sivak's birth
  • a friend who knows how much i love pens & shares a treasure with me
  • emma & christy's chess game


  • long walk with christy
  • church bells
  • watching world cup games
  • eli's awesome bunny footie pjs


  • yaya's commitment to "if there's a will, there's a way"
  • krispy kreme doughnuts
  • clever signage
  • trading cards on the train
  • beautiful countryside
  • more than ideal place to stay