Saturday, January 30, 2010
Campbellsville
Ok. So, Mama has already said that we went to visit Campbellsville University earlier this week. It was really awesome. The people were so friendly and the campus is great! We started off the visit with a trip down to one of the Band Director's office to talk about color guard. I got a bunch of information about doing color guard with the marching band. I am going to go audition in a few weeks. I'm already super excited to be a part of that! I have started tweaking our routines from last fall to audition with. I decided to audition for both flags and rifles, even though I have never had any formal training with rifles. That should be interesting. Lol! :) Anyways, after our talk with the band director, we went back to the admissions office and had a Q&A session with Corey, the admissions counselor we were with that day. He personally handed me my acceptance letter and admissions packet, which was pretty awesome. After our talk with Corey, he took us down to the cafeteria for lunch. (They had Oreo Chocolate cake and it was awesome, btw :D ) After lunch we took a tour of the campus. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they have a... STARBUCKS!!! We went into the bookstore, theatre, the chapel, the library, the Student Activities Center, and a few other buildings. Then he took us to see the two different girls dorms. The first one was Stapp Hall. It is a traditional dorm. Two girls to a room, about 30 girls to a bathroom. I bet that gets interesting. The traditional dorms offer a true sense of community. I would be able to get to know a lot more girls. The second was the Resident Village. The Village dorms are basically apartments. Each apartment has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a kitchen area and a living room area. There are 6 girls to each apartment. The Village has a lot more space than the traditional dorms and I wouldn't have to share a bathroom with 29 other girls, just one. So I am having a really hard time trying to decide which one I would like to stay in, but I need to decide soon so I can get my housing application in. So basically, the point of this post is that I have finally decided where I want to go to college. :D I think Campbellsville just fits my personality better and that seems to be where God wants me. I'm excited!
Celebrations!
As I said in this morning's earlier post, this week has been a week of roller coaster emotions. We've dealt with disappointments, but we have so much to celebrate! To steal a line from Brittany's blog, even in the valley, GOD IS GOOD. Even if we had none of these celebrations to report, God is still good, and is always good! God is faithful! He takes care of us even when we think things are at their worst.
Last Friday evening, Brooke was voted 1st runner-up Homecoming Queen. We had a lot of fun watching Brooke and her friends participate in this time-honored tradition. The best part for me was seeing Brooke's surprised expression when they called her name. It felt good to know that she was happy to just be involved and that winning was not what was important to her.
1 year ago last Saturday was Becky's (my sister) 1 year anniversary of God allowing the doctors to rid her of her breast cancer!
On this past Wednesday, Brooke, Doug, and I went to Campbellsville University for a campus visit and appointments with an admissions counselor and Color Guard representative. It was a beautiful day! The admissions counselor was awesome. I won't tell you all the details. Brooke will need to blog about that. :) However, it was a wonderful day. God has been working in Brooke's life, and I believe this is just one more way He is working out His plan for her life. If she doesn't blog today, I'll HAVE to so that I can share all the good news! (The picture is of Brooke and Corey, the admissions counselor.)
Friday, January 29th, was my parents 45th Wedding Anniversary! I am so very thankful for the example of Christian marriage they have lived for us all my life and all our married life. Doug and I are blessed that both my parents and his parents have lived out their marriage vows as examples for us. We've planned a trip for Mama and Daddy in the coming weeks to celebrate!
Yesterday, Trena (Doug's sister)called with the news of whether her baby is a boy or a girl. It's a...well since I don't know if she has told everyone, I won't tell on here. HOWEVER, WE'RE SO EXCITED TO BE AUNT, UNCLE, AND COUSINS AGAIN! Babies are a gift from God. I'm looking forward to this new bundle of joy joining the family in early July!
Finally, SNOW...beautiful SNOW! As I've posted before, I love the snow. It is such a beautiful reminder of how God washes our dirty sins away and makes us white as snow when we respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ dying on the cross and taking on OUR sins so we didn't have to be punished for them eternally, being buried, and then rising from the grave!
Love you all,
Cindy
Last Friday evening, Brooke was voted 1st runner-up Homecoming Queen. We had a lot of fun watching Brooke and her friends participate in this time-honored tradition. The best part for me was seeing Brooke's surprised expression when they called her name. It felt good to know that she was happy to just be involved and that winning was not what was important to her.
1 year ago last Saturday was Becky's (my sister) 1 year anniversary of God allowing the doctors to rid her of her breast cancer!
On this past Wednesday, Brooke, Doug, and I went to Campbellsville University for a campus visit and appointments with an admissions counselor and Color Guard representative. It was a beautiful day! The admissions counselor was awesome. I won't tell you all the details. Brooke will need to blog about that. :) However, it was a wonderful day. God has been working in Brooke's life, and I believe this is just one more way He is working out His plan for her life. If she doesn't blog today, I'll HAVE to so that I can share all the good news! (The picture is of Brooke and Corey, the admissions counselor.)
Friday, January 29th, was my parents 45th Wedding Anniversary! I am so very thankful for the example of Christian marriage they have lived for us all my life and all our married life. Doug and I are blessed that both my parents and his parents have lived out their marriage vows as examples for us. We've planned a trip for Mama and Daddy in the coming weeks to celebrate!
Yesterday, Trena (Doug's sister)called with the news of whether her baby is a boy or a girl. It's a...well since I don't know if she has told everyone, I won't tell on here. HOWEVER, WE'RE SO EXCITED TO BE AUNT, UNCLE, AND COUSINS AGAIN! Babies are a gift from God. I'm looking forward to this new bundle of joy joining the family in early July!
Finally, SNOW...beautiful SNOW! As I've posted before, I love the snow. It is such a beautiful reminder of how God washes our dirty sins away and makes us white as snow when we respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ dying on the cross and taking on OUR sins so we didn't have to be punished for them eternally, being buried, and then rising from the grave!
Love you all,
Cindy
Disappointments
I will write two different posts this morning. It has been a week of roller coaster emotions here. I felt led to write this post, but I also want to share some other thoughts with you in a different post. Thanks for reading.
A difficult lesson to learn is that people will disappoint you. If you allow yourself to get close to people, to get to know people, to open up your heart to trust people, at some point in your life someone will disappoint you. It may be with something they say and sometimes it is with something they do. Even when you think you know a person, that person can surprise you by doing something that you think is completely out of their character. Unfortunately this can be done to us by anyone...a friend, a parent, a brother or sister, a teacher, a doctor, anyone...absolutely anyone we've allowed ourselves to get close to or to trust in our lives. And, it happens to ALL of us; none of us are immune to this type of disappointment to some degree. When this happens, it hurts! As a parent, this is one of the saddest lessons to watch your children learn. Oh, they learn it in little bits with friends along the way, but when a BIG dose of this lesson has to be swallowed it is so heartbreaking. Then, you have to remember that our hope is not in these other people...it is not in ourselves.
Our hope is in God....the ONE and ONLY...that created us and loves us. Deuteronomy 31:6 reminds us that God is always with us and He will "never leave us nor forsake us". God can and does take even what we see as our worst situations and turn them for His Good and ours. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." So, although with our human eyes and minds, we can't see beyond the hurt and pain of today and the disappointment from the actions of the other person, God sees and has already worked out how it all is part of His plan. Beyond clinging to that, we also have to cling to Abba Father--our great big Heavenly Daddy. We should run to Him for comfort and peace in the midst of the storm. We should pour out our hearts to Him. Finally, and maybe most importantly, we should pray and pray and pray for the person who disappointed us. It's possible, or even probable, that they need to either be drawn to God or God needs to continue to do a work in their lives that He had already begun. "Pray without ceasing;" 1 Thes. 5:17.
Please pray with me for Brooke who is dealing with this very type of situation this week. Actually, our entire family is dealing with it in some way. However, it is just 'closer to home' for her.
Cindy
A difficult lesson to learn is that people will disappoint you. If you allow yourself to get close to people, to get to know people, to open up your heart to trust people, at some point in your life someone will disappoint you. It may be with something they say and sometimes it is with something they do. Even when you think you know a person, that person can surprise you by doing something that you think is completely out of their character. Unfortunately this can be done to us by anyone...a friend, a parent, a brother or sister, a teacher, a doctor, anyone...absolutely anyone we've allowed ourselves to get close to or to trust in our lives. And, it happens to ALL of us; none of us are immune to this type of disappointment to some degree. When this happens, it hurts! As a parent, this is one of the saddest lessons to watch your children learn. Oh, they learn it in little bits with friends along the way, but when a BIG dose of this lesson has to be swallowed it is so heartbreaking. Then, you have to remember that our hope is not in these other people...it is not in ourselves.
Our hope is in God....the ONE and ONLY...that created us and loves us. Deuteronomy 31:6 reminds us that God is always with us and He will "never leave us nor forsake us". God can and does take even what we see as our worst situations and turn them for His Good and ours. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." So, although with our human eyes and minds, we can't see beyond the hurt and pain of today and the disappointment from the actions of the other person, God sees and has already worked out how it all is part of His plan. Beyond clinging to that, we also have to cling to Abba Father--our great big Heavenly Daddy. We should run to Him for comfort and peace in the midst of the storm. We should pour out our hearts to Him. Finally, and maybe most importantly, we should pray and pray and pray for the person who disappointed us. It's possible, or even probable, that they need to either be drawn to God or God needs to continue to do a work in their lives that He had already begun. "Pray without ceasing;" 1 Thes. 5:17.
Please pray with me for Brooke who is dealing with this very type of situation this week. Actually, our entire family is dealing with it in some way. However, it is just 'closer to home' for her.
Cindy
Saturday, January 23, 2010
God is our refuge and strength...
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
As I was watching another news story of the devastation in Haiti, I was struck by a particular interview with a mother there. The 'interview' took place on the streets right in the midst of the chaos and troubles. She said that she cried the first day after the earthquake. After that, she said it was time to stop crying. She lost her children. She has no pictures of them, nothing to hold onto that was theirs. The reporter asked, "Did you at least get to bury them?" She motioned and said something in her language which was translated to...'There was no burial. I just threw them out. There was no place or way to bury them.' I found myself overcome with grief for this mother. Then, the interview continued. This mother opened her purse to show the reporters all that she had left in this life...a receipt of a $90 money transfer from someone, a couple of other small things we would consider insignificant, and then...
HER BIBLE!
She pulled it out and began quoting Psalm 46...personalizing it to herself.
"God is MY refuge and strength!"
Lord, forgive me for complaining over small, insignificant inconveniences in my life! Thank you for the witness of all those who are praising You through their storms. Bless them for their faithfulness. How great You are, God! Amen.
Cindy
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
As I was watching another news story of the devastation in Haiti, I was struck by a particular interview with a mother there. The 'interview' took place on the streets right in the midst of the chaos and troubles. She said that she cried the first day after the earthquake. After that, she said it was time to stop crying. She lost her children. She has no pictures of them, nothing to hold onto that was theirs. The reporter asked, "Did you at least get to bury them?" She motioned and said something in her language which was translated to...'There was no burial. I just threw them out. There was no place or way to bury them.' I found myself overcome with grief for this mother. Then, the interview continued. This mother opened her purse to show the reporters all that she had left in this life...a receipt of a $90 money transfer from someone, a couple of other small things we would consider insignificant, and then...
HER BIBLE!
She pulled it out and began quoting Psalm 46...personalizing it to herself.
"God is MY refuge and strength!"
Lord, forgive me for complaining over small, insignificant inconveniences in my life! Thank you for the witness of all those who are praising You through their storms. Bless them for their faithfulness. How great You are, God! Amen.
Cindy
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Brooke's First Post! Woo hoo! :)
Hi. I haven't posted to this little blog thing yet, so after reading all of the stuff my mama has put on here, I thought I'd give it a try. I have been looking into colleges a lot recently, seeing as this is my last year of high school. I really want to go to Bellarmine University so I can stay at home instead of being really far away in a strange city with people I don't know. So when I applied for the college I applied for the full tuition scholarship because Bellarmine is not a cheap school. I did recieve a half tuition scholarship, however, I recieved a letter in the last few days saying that I did not get the full tuition scholarship so I am a little bummed out right now. But anyways, its nothing to dwell upon because God is in control. I will start looking at my second college choice (Campbellsville University) and continue to look for other scholarships and if I am supposed to go to Bellarmine, God will work that out. If not, then I will be wherever he wants me to be. I guess what I'm trying to say is please pray for me in the next few months as I try to figure out where God wants me to be.
Peace!
Brooke
Peace!
Brooke
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Fruity Spinach Salad
I decided (well my ever-tightening clothes helped me decide) to go back on Weight Watchers. This will be my second week back. In the first week, I lost 3.7 pounds. :) I was quite happy about that!
Anyway, I'm participating in a challenge to try at least 1 NEW healthy recipe a week to keep things fresh on our menu. We tried two things tonight. One was called Baked Chicken and Veggie Marinara. It was very good. The other was Fruity Spinach Salad. I've included the recipe below because it is so simple and so scrumptious! I should have taken a picture of it to show you, too. It is a pretty salad with the dark green of the spinach, the light green of the cucumbers, the orange, and the dark red of the craisins. All four of our kids liked it, and that really says something! Each of us had a different preference for the kind of dressing we liked on it, but Raspberry Pecan dressing (I get it at Kroger) is very good on it. For tonight's supper, I did not put the chicken on the salad. However, with chicken it would make a great lunch!
Here it is...enjoy! (The recipe is for an individual serving. Adjust for the amount you want to make for yourself or your family.)
Ingredients
-2 oz diced chicken breast (est 2 pts)
-1.5 cups spinach (est 0 pts)
-sliced cucumbers (est 0 pts)
-1/2 C prepackaged mandarin oranges (Est 1 pt)
-1/3 cup craisins (est 2 points)
Instructions
Spinach on the bottom. Everything else on top. Or toss it all together.
Anyway, I'm participating in a challenge to try at least 1 NEW healthy recipe a week to keep things fresh on our menu. We tried two things tonight. One was called Baked Chicken and Veggie Marinara. It was very good. The other was Fruity Spinach Salad. I've included the recipe below because it is so simple and so scrumptious! I should have taken a picture of it to show you, too. It is a pretty salad with the dark green of the spinach, the light green of the cucumbers, the orange, and the dark red of the craisins. All four of our kids liked it, and that really says something! Each of us had a different preference for the kind of dressing we liked on it, but Raspberry Pecan dressing (I get it at Kroger) is very good on it. For tonight's supper, I did not put the chicken on the salad. However, with chicken it would make a great lunch!
Here it is...enjoy! (The recipe is for an individual serving. Adjust for the amount you want to make for yourself or your family.)
Ingredients
-2 oz diced chicken breast (est 2 pts)
-1.5 cups spinach (est 0 pts)
-sliced cucumbers (est 0 pts)
-1/2 C prepackaged mandarin oranges (Est 1 pt)
-1/3 cup craisins (est 2 points)
Instructions
Spinach on the bottom. Everything else on top. Or toss it all together.
Friday, January 8, 2010
White as Snow
"Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow..." Isaiah 1:18
I love the snow! I love snow days! Two snow days in a row...well, that's a bonus!
I know some people, even teachers, don't like the snow. But I like everything about it...almost everything. (I don't like driving in it. That actually works for me though because it means I get to stay home.)
When you think about snow, it really is an amazing thing! Each tiny little snowflake is unique. Plus, those little flakes can stack and pile together to create this...
Only an all powerful, awesome God could orchestrate such a thing!
How appropriate that the prophet Isaiah would use snow to compare how white/clean we can be when Jesus washes our sins away.
The snow day also gave me the motivation to do something I had been putting off for some time...clean out my closet! It took Brooke and me most of the afternoon to finish this overwhelming task. 3 giant garbage bags later and 3 boxes later...
I felt great! Only things that fit and that I actually wear are in there now. There is nothing that doesn't belong. Then this morning, I was still in bed enjoying the quiet of the house, this verse came to my mind: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10
I was struck with how my thoughts of the snow and cleaning out my closet can all relate to how God cleans us out and renews a right way of thinking and living within us. Another translation of this verse uses the word pure for clean and the word steadfast for right. That is what I want...a heart that is pure, free from anything contaminating and a spirit that is steadfast, fixed in direction and firm in purpose.
Enjoy the snow!
Cindy
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Happy New Year!
2010 is a year that is sure to bring many exciting and somewhat anxious moments. With God's guidance and lovingkindness, it's going to be a great year!
Some things we have to look forward to this year:
Doug and I will celebrate our 22nd Wedding Anniversary. I am so very blessed to have him as my husband and best friend.
Brooke will graduate from high school and continue her education as she moves into her college years. Doug and I are looking forward to watching her continued growth in her walk with God and to seeing the wonderful things God has planned for her.
Blake and Cody will turn 16 in June. Exciting...scary...many emotions! Along with the age comes getting drivers' permits and then drivers' licenses. OH MY! Start praying for us now.
Dale will be in high school at the start of the new school year. It is hard to believe that our baby will be a freshman.
We have so much to look forward to in the coming year. My prayer is that our family will put God first in everything as we grow closer to Him and to each other during these ever-changing times.
God bless each of you! Happy New Year!
Some things we have to look forward to this year:
Doug and I will celebrate our 22nd Wedding Anniversary. I am so very blessed to have him as my husband and best friend.
Brooke will graduate from high school and continue her education as she moves into her college years. Doug and I are looking forward to watching her continued growth in her walk with God and to seeing the wonderful things God has planned for her.
Blake and Cody will turn 16 in June. Exciting...scary...many emotions! Along with the age comes getting drivers' permits and then drivers' licenses. OH MY! Start praying for us now.
Dale will be in high school at the start of the new school year. It is hard to believe that our baby will be a freshman.
We have so much to look forward to in the coming year. My prayer is that our family will put God first in everything as we grow closer to Him and to each other during these ever-changing times.
God bless each of you! Happy New Year!
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