stay calm and go camping

In the case that you haven't kept up with my wedding planning venture, I've been a wee busy lately.
The past few months have been quite the roller coaster, having a full mental plate while having a hand in planning three different weddings has made for one pretty tired, petite person; with everything going on right now, I can sense that a good, salty cry is in order (along with a hot bath and a glass of wine!), if only I could spare the time... I feel as if my to-do list is continually growing and I'm continually scurrying around trying to get things done; no sooner is one item completed than another unfinished item appears. It goes without saying that I'm tired. and discouraged. Quite a few things are weighing heavy on my mind and I have a long to-do list to boot. As much as I love and appreciate things to be in ship shape and Bristol fashion, I just don't have the energy or strength to do them. Tired and discouraged, I tell you.

The above has pretty much been my current petition before the Lord recently; I suppose that starting off the morning with this mindset can be dangerous. While I have been bringing these things and more before my Faithful Father, I am keenly aware of my finite state; there are so many things that I don't know, but after all, it's His will that shall come to pass and all for His glory. Our God is so kind to bring such comfort and peace with His sovereignty; it is cliche but maintaining the focus on Him and His will truly does do the soul good. While I may be swirling in a sea of confusion and discouragements, I can lean on His everlasting arms, knowing that His purposes will come to pass and for His glory; that whatever events or things that come to pass in my life, I can rest in the fact that the Lord has been preparing me for just that situation, I truly have all that I need in Him (here's a great reminder of this). There's also a merciful peace in looking back at God's past mercies, how He's provided for my every need, how He has brought His will to pass. What can I truly dread or fear (or be stressed out about or lose sleep over or...) when trusting in His sovereignty and goodness?

So, my family and I will be heading out tomorrow to go camping. Not as a result of my looming to-do list, it just so happens that while I'm struggling to get things done, we're going on a family camping trip! Nothing could be more timely, truly. While it's not relaxing to pack and prepare for the trip (more lists!!), I can imagine the rest that will be there once we set up camp, very timely indeed. Yes, ladies and gents, I'll be taking a knitting project (honestly, how can one not knit in chilly weather??) and my journal (I have a certain ideal about writing while on a camping trip, it just seems fitting somehow). After more scurrying around tomorrow, packing up the car, and finalizing a few things at home, we'll be off for the Central Texas hillcountry until Sunday. Quite fitting indeed.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

               (Psalm 91:1-2 ESV)

(it's an old one but here is my favorite rendition of this wonderful hymn, enjoy :)

Psalm 51:3

"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me."

-Psalm 51:3 ESV

I recently began reading through an excellent book called Whiter Than Snow: Meditations On Sin And Mercy by Paul David Tripp. As I read this morning, I was struck by how much one of the chapters reminded me of the unconverted Brandon Kent in Filmodus Operandi. The chapter spoke of how sin lives in a costume, which is why it's so hard to recognize in ourselves.

"But I've realized that that was because the false Christianity he described in the email was the only Christianity I had experienced. I was conforming to what people expected of me, and everything that I might have called "Christian" in my life was geared towards self."

-Brandon Kent, Filmodus Operandi

What Brandon says in the film shows me how we're all too skilled at looking at our own wrong and seeing good. We're all so much better at seeing the sin, weakness, and failure of others than we are our own. A huge part of sin is its deception. Evil simply doesn't present itself as evil; it causes us not to hear or see ourselves with accuracy.

Yet, we also see that viewing ourselves accurately is the product of God's grace in our lives. It is only in the mirror of God's Word and with the help of the Holy Spirit that we are able to truly see ourselves. Only by God's grace in regeneration may we see ourselves clearly, so that we would not buy into the delusion of our own righteousness, and so that with a humble sense of need we would seek the resources of grace that can only be found in Him.

David experienced this same thing in Psalm 51 and Brandon experienced it in the film. We see through this psalm a contrite heart, a sad confession, an acknowledgement of David's own sin, and the holiness of God. Though it pains me every time to read about David's broken state and to watch Brandon's sad state of self-righteousness, the end of the psalm and the end of the film cause me to joy in Christ's work in me to open this sinner's blind eyes.

At the end of the chapter, Mr. Tripp poses two self-examination questions. "Do you pray for open eyes to see yourself more clearly? Is your confidence in Christ so firm that you are unafraid to pray that God would free you from your own patterns of self-swindling that keep you blind and inhibit your growth?"

In Christ, 

~Micaela Marques

P.S. You can read the original post here, and you can watch Filmodus Operandi here. 

of Loving the Little Years

Everyone also to whom God has given 

wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, 

and to accept his lot and rejoice 

in his toil—this is the gift of God. 

For he will not much remember 

the days of his life 

because God keeps him occupied with 

joy in his heart.

Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

It was a bright, sunny day when I was working in the schoolroom of the N family, most everyone was either outside or reading in the sunroom and Sampson was probably chewing on something in the living room, and as I was browsing through the bookshelf I came across the wee volume of Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic. Though I'm not a mother and have no brood of my own, I had heard many wonderful things about this book and thought I'd recruit it to be a part of my "bathroom reading", so I started. Just a few pages here and there throughout the day and very soon I was finished.

I loved it.

In my experience, there are many "encouraging" books and resources on mothering small children  that don't really encourage at all, mostly just expound on the struggles and lack of "me time" that women with small children have, it's very rare that I come across something that cheerfully shows the joys and trials of motherhood. There are many things I loved about this book, but probably what I appreciated the most was Rachel's insight and the wisdom she shared on raising little ones. It also made me reflect on the wonderful examples of this in my life and reminded me how grateful I am to have women who continually show me the good, bad, and true joy that can come with stickies, littles, children. 

It's a short, delightful read and I highly encourage you, whether you have little ones or not, to read it! 

Also, in my quick research of Rachel's writings I came across this post from Desiring God.org ; in it Rachel shares her thoughts on motherhood as a missionfield, these are excellent and thought-provoking.

"Lay yourself down. Sacrifice yourself here, now. Cheerfully wipe the nose for the fiftieth time today. Make dinner again for the people who don’t like the green beans. Laugh when your plans are thwarted by a vomiting child. Lay yourself down for the people here with you, the people who annoy you, the people who get in your way, the people who take up so much of your time that you can’t read anymore. Rejoice in them. Sacrifice for them. Gain that which you cannot lose in them.

Offered with thankfulness, your work at home is only the beginning. Your laundry pile, selflessly tackled daily, will be used in the hands of God to clothe many. Do not think that your work does not matter. In God’s hands, it will be broken, and broken, and broken again, until all who have need of it have eaten and are satisfied. And even then, there will be leftovers."

Mary Poppins Writes {Day 2}

And she knits too.

It's one of my new favorite patterns and will probably be in my "go-to" stack of one-skein patterns to knit for others; I whipped it out in a few days and it's completely cotton!

{Sleeping Handsome}

Today we checked off our big item shopping list (Costco/H-E-B); I was further convinced of the ease of having an iphone--shopping lists! Nicole has one for each store--it's so organized!

After checking off our lists we had a lovely lunch at the Apodaca's house; Nicole made the best quesadillas for the adults, filled with yummy taco meat, cheese, and lots of spinach (see? they're the best); the stickies had homemade pizza and water keifer.

After eating and romping around at the Apodaca's, we came home and wanted to collapse onto our pillows; as you can see from the above picture, only one of "us" did; Preggers drifted in and out of sleep on the sofa but I wasn't able to upload that picture for some reason...

{See the wonderful benefits of carrots?}

Carrots! They're a wonderful mental stimulant for the sleepy mind!

We each had one while we did our afternoon work; poor Sophie struggled through math but Preggers was very good about pulling her through (Despite gravity gaining hold of her eyelids).

I had the fun job (seriously, preschool work is so easy peasy, lemon squeezy) of helping Mia with her work, cut and paste, baby, cut and paste.

Between giving coloring instructions (color by number) I was finishing up a sweater dress for the bun in the oven, more on that later. :)

{ Ah, yes, I remember these days...}

{Chocolate Almond milk mustache--the best.}

After a wholesome goodness dinner, we gobbled up some ice cream with mini peanut butter chocolate things, and the Stickies--which really were sticky by now--were whisked to the bathtub and scrubbed away.

Tomorrow is pilates in the morning (oh, yes, a wonderful session with our Uncle/Pilates trainer) which I'm really looking forward to, as well as some heavy duty organizing! We have a list and hope to knock some items off.

On a more serious note, I've been finding great encouragement in this passage and this article; I highly encourage you to read both and let me know what your thoughts are!

Thoughts on Heavy Troubles

When the black clouds gather most, the light is the more brightly revealed to us.

It is a blessed thing that when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of the Spirit. One reason is, because trials make more room for consolation.

Great hearts can only be made by great troubles.

The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have,

because he will be more fitted to receive it.

There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains;

no prayer half so hearty as that which come up from the depths of the soul,

through deep trials and afflictions.

Hence they bring us to God and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness.

Come, troubled believer, fret not over your heavy troubles,

for they are the heralds of weighty mercies.

~Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening pg. 86

Faith

{National Geographic}

So, you've heard about the Frye's new addition to their family here and on my art blog, well, Wednesday they arrived home and today I got to see her.

It was so unreal.

This little bundle of joy that has been prayed for, longed, and loved little girl was in my house! I've only ever seen her in pictures on their blog, so it was so precious to see and hold her in person. I think what struck me the most afterwards was the beautiful picture of God's faithfulness and the perfect picture of a believer's adoption.

God gave Alice to the Frye's and what is so sweet to me is that from before time, it was His plan that they have her. Already, there are so many connections being made between physical and spiritual adoption floating around in my mind.

Alice knew nothing other than that orphanage, we knew nothing other than our state of sin.

Alice didn't know to desire anything else, if someone offered us eternal life with the Father, we wouldn't and couldn't know the precious value of that.

Alice have everything to gain and nothing to give in her adoption, everything we do before being saved by God was nothing more than filthy rags and we contributed nothing to our conversion.

Alice is being loved unconditionally and abundantly right at this moment by her family,

how much more does God love us?

I could go on, but I pray that you see the picture,

I mean the big picture of God's saving and amazing grace.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in him.”

The LORD is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the LORD.

It is good for a man that he bear

the yoke in his youth.

Lamentations 3:22-27

You can read the beginning of their journey (well, the beginning of the blog at any rate), and see His faithful, guiding hand in every bit of it; from infamous garage sales to special hiding places, God has shown Himself a faithful and loving Father.

Here is one of my favorite quotes, it was written after a long day in the middle of a busy process! But I find that it is in the frazzled, broken moments that show His sovereignty the brightest in a way that we cannot avoid.

So, as I felt trampled upon today, I remembered that the Lord has called us to this. He will equip us to do what He is requiring of us.

His will is the hiding place. His will is the safest place.

As we go through this storm, His will is the shelter. We can rest.

When I remembered that today, I felt the tension go.

I know that this, too, will be worked out.

This I know for sure.

Oh, to be 18...

Eighteen things I'm thankful for:

1. God's amazing grace
2. My family
3. Books
4. My church
   
5. Music
6. Lessons learned
7. The Neals
8. Cold weather
9. Friends
10. The Hoods
11. Chocolate
12. Photos
13. Sweet memories
14. True knowledge
15. Paul Washer
    
16. My violin teacher
17. Dark chocolate ice cream
18. Healthy eating and living

In Christ,
~Micaela

Simple Joys

{SouleMama}

So, this past month I've been thinking about each "small" thing that the Lord is showing me, and I've started to record them in a small, special journal, entirely devoted to specific instances of His sweet faithfulness (I'd highly suggest this, it's so encouraging and precious to look back at His blessings and evidences of His work!). I have started to keep a regular journal again as well--hopefully I'll be more consistent with that! Mrs. Mitzi has kept quite a few these past years and she has said that it is so encouraging and refreshing to read about past struggles and prayers, not only to see how God has sanctified but also to remind what she needs to watch for now.

For myself, it's a bit shameful to read through past journals and diaries--honestly, I don't read them unless I am going through a major spring cleaning phase (in which case, I convince myself that I really ought to keep them).

I'm so grateful that I've started now, especially with this new season (with the Hoods) just beginning! I'm excited about the different ways the Lord will use for us to minister to each other and those around us.

So far, this season with the Hoods has magnified three things:

The good, the bad, and the joys of Life.

The Good

We are so blessed. God has been showing me all of the many sweet blessings in our life. We are able to live in a comfortable size home for both of our families. Our family is at an age and season where we can be quite flexible with our schedules (No nap times, feeding times, or diaper rashes for the Marques'). Many hands make light work and there are many opportunities to practice teaching an everyday chore (I haven't thought about what it means to really sweep the floor in a while!). Also, it is so much easier to do things when you have enthusiastic and grateful people watching!

The Bad

Pre-Hood Season we had a pretty "lazy day" schedule; as in, if I didn't get something specific done in the morning, I could easily push it out to the afternoon with no problem. Now I have a definite push to be more diligent with my time; sure I could spend all day studying, but really, there are so many other things and projects that ought to be done, that I need to use the time I have and use it well. There are lots of things that can be done in the day, there only needs to be time scheduled for each item :)

The joys of Life

I love being able to do fun things with the older Hood girls (Naomi can't join us just yet). It has been such a blessing to learn to include them in serving both families as well as spending time reading on the sofa. I love all of the things Abbey says and ways that she helps her siblings. I love the insight and questions Mia and Abbey bring to our family worship time. I love when Nate hugs us goodbye when we go for errands. I love the way Naomi runs around in her diaper (!!!).

These first few weeks have been encouraging and a blessing, and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead.

p.s. The skeins of yarn mostly represent the many projects and plans that are blooming in my mind--lots of knitting and crafty stuff to be done! They also represent the relaxing hobby that I can take with me everywhere; I know I'm being useful and industrious-even when I'm at a stoplight or incredibly long line-I think that is what relaxes me (in addition to the fact that I LOVE to knit).

Thoughts on Wool and Hard TImes

A bit ago, I announced a new project on my art blog (please visit there if you haven't in order for the rest of this post to make more sense!)

Let me share that knitting for these patients has been especially sweet for me. For the past year I have been searching around for an organization that will accept knitted donations. Mostly I was looking for something that I could identify with and feel somewhat attached to.

So, I was very excited and happy when a sweet friend told me about this project. It fit very well with my search requirements and gave me plenty of time to be preparing.

This has also brought some thoughts and seemingly endless strands of questions.

Mostly about the future owner of the knitted hat, wondering who the person is and what they are feeling; are they saved? Are they alone or do they have family? Is this their first treatment with chemo or just one in a long line of treatments? What is their prognosis like? What's their favorite color? But not to worry, I don't over analyze or contemplate about these questions!

These are a few of the things I have been thinking about as I knit.

It really is different creating something for a complete stranger. For one thing, I don't really bother too much about sizing or the shape of the head--which gives me more rooms to think about the texture and feel of the hat. I'm sure you didn't know that all of this went into knitting, well, now you know.

I also have an opportunity to write a wee note of encouragment for the receiver of my humble creations; this was another thing that attracted me to this project. It's brought on a great deal of prayer on what to say and how to say it. I have a burden to encourage them and give them some sort of hope, knowing that ultimately the greatest thing for them is to find their peace and strength in Him. This made me to think of the experiences of the writer of Lamentations, which caused him to say:

"I am the man who has seen affliction

under the rod of his wrath;

he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light...

He has made my flesh and skin waste away;

He has broken my bones.

He has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation,

He has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago..."

And through all of this, the writer continues to remark (which sums up what I would like to encourage them with):

"My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.

But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning,

great is Your faithfulness.

'The Lord is my portion', says my soul,

'therefore, I will hope in Him'."

Lamentations 3

In addition to the note of encouragment, I have a personal opportunity to pray for them.

This is something that, as a Believer, I am always able to do. I may not be able to physically comfort someone or say words of hope and peace, but I can always pray.

There have been many times where I wish that I could do something or be somewhere when it's just not possible, however, I do have the ability to keep the person and situation in prayer.

Because of that, I find a great comfort to know,

"For He delivers the needy when he calls,

the poor and him who has no helper.

He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.

From oppression and violence He redeems their life,

and precious is their blood in His sight."

Psalm 72

I am reminded of how much more the Lord loves and cares for His people, and how much more abundant is His ability to provide and keep them.

The Taste and Hope of Joy

When I Don't Desire God,by John Piper, has been on my reading list for a while now. I must admit that I go through his books pretty slowly; it takes me a while to really digest what it is he is saying, and I always find it very rewarding and thought-provoking.

I just have to remind myself of the benefits as I snail through!

Here are a few gems that I have found as I read the chapter on, "Fighting for Joy Like a Justified Sinner". This is a wonderful read, and I hope you enjoy the following bits as I have.

Christ himself connected joy and the cross in his own soul.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us, "For the joy set before him [he] endured the cross."

So in his own heart the unshakable hope of joy with the Father sustained him through his final suffering. He prayed the night before he died,

"Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory

that I had with you before the world existed" (John 17:5)

~John Piper, When I Don't Desire God

I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse,

for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, "The same yesterday, today, and forever." Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed. I was loosed from my afflictions and irons;

my temptations also fled away; so that from that time those dreadful scriptures of God [about the unforgivable sin] left off to trouble me;

now went I also home rejoicing for the grace and love of God.

~John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

Think on These....

Finally, Brothers,

whatever is true,

whatever is honorable,

whatever is just,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is commendable,

if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise,

think about these things.

Philippians 4

I hope this encourages you as much as it has me this week.

Since I've been studying for some recent exams, I've come across so many dreadful, pointless plays, novels, and poems! Usually, when I'm reading fiction, I'm pretty picky about what I choose. Good thing too, with all of the Allen Ginsbergs and Alice Walkers on the shelves.

At the end of the day the passage above has been very helpful for me, to focus on what it is that I ought to be thinking.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Dear Dad and Mom,

I think by now your evening is just beginning; I hope you have time to stroll about the cobblestoned streets before you have your dinner.

We miss you here is the U.S.

Talk to you soon!

Love,

Elena

Thoughts from an Invalid

Well, as I'm writing this most everyone in the house is somewhere along the process of sleep. I don't think tonight will hold that much for me; I don't think there has been a time in my life that I am this congested. Ah well.

Also, as I am writing this post, a few thoughts keep marinating in my head and I think it's time some of them came out :)

First, I was reminded all day what wonderful blessings our God pours out. I made me think of how undeserving I am. And ,at the same time, so very thankful that He provides just the right encouragment, kind word, thoughtful expression, and love...just when we need it, and in my case, just when I thought I had it all.

I'm so grateful for each persons prayers and wonderful acts of love. It really is overwhelming.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Dear Dr. Taylor,

Do you think we could make an exception to the "No Blowing Your Nose" rule? Because I really think that I would feel much better if I just grabbed a few tissue boxes and let it all out.

Thank you for doing such wonderful work on my mouth and for being so witty and funny.

Love,

Elena

Picture Credit

Seventeen things I'm thankful for...

1. The amazing, saving grace of God

2. My family

3. My church

4. The Webb family

5. The Neal family

6. Friends who encourage and exhort

7. My dad, who has faithfully trained us in the fear and admonition of the Lord. If only I could express in words how thankful I am for my dad!

8. Music (especially my violin)

9. Cold days... well, as cold as it gets in Houston.

10. Learning about natural medicine

11. Books

12. the Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

13. A three month movie/TV fast (more about that later)

14. The joy and blessing of children

15. Trials

16. The many blessings of hospitality

17. A kind friend who reminds me to blog :).

In Christ,

Micaela

A Few thoughts On: Consolation

A few nights ago during family worship, we read Psalm 94, and this small section stood out to me:

"If the Lord had not been my help,

my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.

When I thought, 'my foot slips,'

your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

When the cares of my heart are many,

your consolations cheer my soul."

And as I thought more about it, I realized how often I don't practice this.

Generally, when I feel anxious or nervous about something, I tend to read a magazine, garden, or really do anything to get my mind off of that certain thing.

Right now it is taking the driving test to get my license. But it could be anything.

Actually, I get pretty nervous when taking any test.

You can put me in front of the whole world and I won't feel anything but excitement.

Tell me to socialize with a stranger and I'm off learning their life story.

But ask me to go to the creepy DPS office, and I feel the butterflies the minute I walk outside.

This past week, my parents and I have been driving down to the office nearly everyday to try and get my license, and nearly everyday the line is ten people out the door. Obviously I'm not that worried about getting it done :) Each time we drive there I have to mentally calm myself down and concentrate on the yummy LaraBar I put in my purse as an incentive for passing.

Is that silly?

However, after reading that section, particularly:

When the cares of my heart are many,

your consolations cheer my soul.

Instead of trying to forget or push something to the back of my mind, I ought to be going to the Lord in prayer.

And not only for the "weighty" matters, but also the seemingly trivial ones...like getting taking a driving test.

Now I can't say that I practice this all of the time now, but thankfully the Lord is always sanctifying me. My prayer now is that He would bring me into different testing circumstances so that I might be able to be consoled by Him. Which really is so much better than reading a book or trying to forget.

"There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still."

~Corrie Ten Boom

Thoughts on Growing Older

I am usually a person that embraces change; I love going someplace new, meeting new people, without holding very much back :) I think this is mostly to do with my Dad; when choosing between something, most often times he will go with the one that he has never done, and he highly encourages us to do the same.
And most of the time we love it. just yesterday we were out shopping and had to choose between La Madeline, Chipotle, or a Mediterranean grill that we had never heard of before, and needless to say we went with the medi grill. Caro was not too happy about our choice, she is highly picky about what she chooses to put in her mouth; but there was yummy, warm pita bread involved so she consented.
And we loved it.
It wasn't like what we had eaten here in Houston before and everything tasted to authentic and delicious. Dad wasn't able to eat with us that time but we plan to take him there again in the near future.

Another time when I was seven or eight I still had training wheels on my bike. I knew how to ride without them; I had gone around on friends two-wheeled bikes perfectly fine.
Honestly, I liked my training wheels, not entirely for the security that they brought
but because I was convinced that I could go faster with them.
You see there was this "really big" hill in my neighborhood; Mica and I would spend entire afternoons going up and down, and up and down again, almost never coming in until it was dark. And it was my firm belief that I could never have as much fun on just two wheels. So I held on to training wheels as long as I could until my best friend took off hers; then something had to be done.
So came the day when I told my Dad to take off the beloved wheels, and Mica and I started up the "hill" together (Yes, we walked our bike up then rode down--it was a pretty big hill, especially when your seven).

I let Mica go down hill first, then I went down and found out

that I loved it--go figure.

I don't remember going any faster, but it certainly wasn't any slower than before; and I could take turns sharper and do all sorts of figure eights in the street (things you really couldn't do with training wheels).
The point was that I didn't want to go back to training wheels again; they were fun while they lasted but now I enjoyed riding without them.

I could go on about the countless times in which we did something different or changed something about our life. Moving to Germany and to California brought its own challenges and discoveries (Like always order your water "without gas" when you want tap water, mineral water tastes very different.) But in each place we have gone, whether a new beach, country by train, or even a new eatery, we have always tried our best to take in as much as we can while we are there.

Naturally, I've learned, that change comes with it's own difficulties and pains.
Moving to Germany was hard because we knew very little about the country previously, knew next to no German, and didn't have a car, phone, or much internet while we were there.

California presented many of the same challenges, but in a way that only Southern California can do.

And I don't know how many scrapes, scars, and bruises I got from taking my training wheels off.

I've been thinking about all of this lately because I see so many areas in my life that will soon bring change. And when I say "soon" I mean, "in the next five or ten years" soon.

For example, there is a sweet family that I enjoy babysitting for. And this past week they were considering asking me or Mica to stay the night and watch their children the next morning. Mom said, "Well, Elena can't because she has her nanny job in the morning, but Mica would love to go over..."
And that got me to thinking that, Lord willing, when I marry, how that will all change.
At first I felt so very sad.
That is one of the aspects that I love most about staying at home; I love being able to leave at a moments notice for whatever reason. There have been times where we had something else planned as a family, but an emergency with a friend arose and I was able to go and watch their children. And in those few moments, I thought about how all of that would change when I have a husband and a home. I brought these concerns to my parents when we were talking later that evening. That's when they brought it to my attention that yes things would change, but that doesn't mean certain things would just stop.
And that is the beauty of it.

Sure, I probably won't spend weekends at other peoples houses when the parents go out of town, people would bring their children to me if they want. And my Mom pointed out that these ladies would probably stop being her friends, but will probably become my own friends on a different level.

I love everything that I am doing now for my family and for different families that we know.
And yes, things would be different but thankfully, in this case, things wouldn't change.
I'll still have friends and family, only that I will have different desires and priorities.


Oh, and in case you were wondering, I am wonderfully accomplished on my bike and I enjoy many off road rides, especially different ones.

Picture Credit: "High Dive" by Norman Rockwell, AllPosters.com

19 Thankful Thoughts from Elena

This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving prints, and I can't even remember the name of the artist. Ah well, thank you, Unknown Artist :)

19. Peonies,

Yes, peonies :)

There is just something about this delicate, beautiful flower

that makes each room brighter.

A vase of tulips, as cheerful as they are, just wouldn't have the same effect.

18. The healing and soothing lavender

I discovered my great love of it last week when 1/4 c. of boiling oil

jumped out of the french fry pan.

Now, my hand looks almost as good as new :)

17. Good Books

It's been said in very many wonderful quotes that a man is

moulded by the books he reads (And if you happen to know of a good quote pertaining this, please comment!)

I firmly believe this is true. What a person chooses to read has a tremendous amount of influence over that persons thoughts and ideas, yes, even in the midst of films and entertainment.

Which is why I am thankful for the wonderful amount of inspiring authors, who articulated themselves and their thoughts very well.

Speaking of inspiring authors...

16. Corrie and Betsie Ten Boom

1900 to 1948 is one of my very favorite time periods in history,

particularly during World War's I and II.

And even I must admit that this can be one of the most depressing periods to read.

So, I was very happy to read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom; it is dreadful and sobering to read her story, and it puts things into a different perspective. But amidst all of her sorrow and pain, each of her cries of anguish is followed by a praise of God's sovereignty.

Reading her and Betsie's story made this dreadful time

period have a sense of hope and peace in Him.

(Number 15 comes from on of my favorite parts in the book)

15. That there are no "If's" in God's kingdom

Through different things that have happened in the past few months, I have come to hold this truth very dear: God is sovereign.

There are no questions or gray areas when it comes to His hand in our lives.

Everything has a purpose, no matter how difficult or stormy the time of your life may seem.

He knows and is in control.

14. It's A Wonderful Life

This time of the year would be lacking without some good old Christmas movies.

Every year we make time to watch this one, whether we are sewing or ironing, it's so fun to watch the wonderful James Stewart in this classic Capra film.

13. Music

Particularly Bach's cello concerto's, Frank Sinatra, Soundtrack music, John Mayer, Mozart's symphonies, Martha Wainwright, music from Sovereign Grace Ministries, and Ella Fitzgerald.

12. Scones

With or without a hot cup of tea, scones are yummy.

11. John Piper

He is another one of my new favorite authors and I have really enjoyed each of the books I've read, including: Desiring God, A Hunger For God, The Dangerous Duty of Delight,

and Future Grace.

He has one consistent and powerful message.

10. His tender Mercies that are new every morning

9. Turkey and Cranberry Sauce

8.Cooler Weather

So, I have never been a fan of hot weather; most often I would rather be too cold than too hot. And I think growing up in central and western Texas has a lot to do with my opinion.

7. Valleys of the Shadow

6. Godly Examples

Like the Beach family

5. Warm biscuits with butter and honey

4. The Church
And this isn't limited to Grace Family Baptist but to the Body of Christ as a whole. It has been so neat to me to witness and be apart of the instant bonding you have with complete strangers, and all because you are both believers.

There is a sweet warmth and familiarity that comes with meeting other believers.

3. Supportive family

Including but not limited to the sweet Apodaca Family

2. The Webbs

1. Mom and Dad