Oh Holy Night

With Christmas drawing nearer, I cannot help but get the same feeling of anticipation and joy that I felt as a child, anxious to awake to stockings on the mantle and presents under the tree. Now, however, I feel most excited for other aspects of the lovely Christmas season. I can't wait to see the faces of my sweet family members, to sip hot cocoa or yummy lattes with the snow outside, to watch Christmas movies, bake cookies, and of course to celebrate God's wonderful gift of His son.

For the last several years, the Christmas Eve service at my "home" church has been one of the things I have come to love most about the holiday. I love gathering with my family and friends to remember why Christmas is so truly important. I love hearing the miraculous Christmas story over and over again. I love singing "Silent Night" by candlelight in a full sanctuary. But one of the most blessed parts of the Christmas Eve service to me is hearing the gorgeous melody and words of "Oh Holy Night." Someone sings this song at my church almost every Christmas, and it always brings tears to my eyes. I love the passion behind this song and how it reminds me that nothing is more divine than the night that Jesus came into this world. When I hear the lyrics echoing in my ears--"Fall on your knees. Oh hear the angel voices. Oh night divine! Oh night when Christ was born!-- I get chills thinking of the unfathomable gift I have in Jesus.

As the days to Christmas become less and as I enjoy the merriment and charm of this joyful season, I think about my favorite Christmas carol, "Oh Holy Night," and I am so thankful that I have the most wonderful reason to celebrate at this time of year. "Christ is the Lord! Oh praise His name forever. His power and glory evermore proclaim! His power and glory evermore proclaim!"

Thankful for Thanksgiving

This Thursday was the first Thanksgiving that Ryan and I were able to celebrate together, and coincidentally it was also our first real holiday as husband and wife! Although we didn't host a large gathering or dinner, we had fun making pies, jell-o salad, and flaky rolls together. We were blessed enough to receive a dinner invitation from another Coast Guard couple. It was nice to have a traditional turkey-stuffing-mashed potato dinner with two other people who are also far away from their families. We enjoyed a delicious meal at their home and had fun talking and playing games. God is so good to give us a day to remember just how blessed we are.

God is also particularly good for giving me a husband who not only tolerates my perfectionism, but also is there to help calm me down when I lose perspective. Even though I didn't have the huge responsibility of making an entire meal for guests, I was still nervous to make pies for this occasion. I have made Thanksgiving pies in the past, but my mom has always been there in the kitchen, giving me tips about how to pinch the edges of the crust so they look pretty in the plate or how to tell exactly when each pie is done. When I experienced problems with the first pie, I started to freak out of course and started crying about how terrible I was at baking... blah, blah blah. My very patient and loving husband simply gave me a tight hug, told me everything would work out, and went to the grocery store to get more ingredients to replace the ones I had messed up before. With his help, I calmed down, enjoyed the pie-making process, and we were able to make two very delicious and nice-looking desserts.

I hope all of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving and that you were able to reflect on all that God has done in each of your lives. He truly is so good. How often I forget it with all of the superficial distractions around me. That is why I am very thankful for Thanksgiving... a day to remind me of how much He deserves my praise.

Some pictures from Colorado!

As promised, here are some pictures from my visit to Colorado over Halloween. Though it was snowing heavily the day that I arrived, most of the snow had melted within the next two days and the sun was shining enough for me to take a scenic walk with my sweet mom and dad. Enjoy the view of the lovely mountains, even though it's not quite as pretty in pictures as it was in person.

Look at those mountains! I miss them!

Snow!!!

With Violet, my parents' little doggie :-)

Adorable parents

Happy to be "home"

With my cute daddy

Beautiful mama

I could not have enjoyed my trip more! It was just what I needed seeing my two wonderful parents and breathing the fresh Colorado air. Now Ryan and I just can't wait to go back together for Christmas!

"Pray Hard and Plan Big"

The pastor's sermon at church today was one of the most convicting and inspiring messages I have heard in a while. It's funny how I can often glance at the title of a message and think, "This probably won't really apply to me." I should know by now that God usually teaches me the most when I least expect to learn.

This morning, our pastor spoke about the passage from 2 Kings 4:1-7. These verses tell the story of a widow whose sons were to be taken as slaves in order to pay her family debt. In her desperation and fear, the woman cried out the God and went to Elisha to receive advice for her situation. After telling the prophet that she had nothing in her home but a bit of oil, Elisha told the widow, "Go around and ask all of your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few."

When the woman and her sons had gathered jars from the surrounding homes, God miraculously blessed them by allowing the small amount of oil to overflow, filling every one of the jars until there were none left to fill. At this very moment, the oil stopped flowing.

I loved hearing this story this morning because it revealed to me how I too need to pray hard and plan big in my own life. As the pastor said, I need to take my problems and desires to God, recognize the resources that he has given to me (even if it seems like my little bit of "oil" won't be enough), and then trust that God will provide blessings. So many times, I don't shoot for the dreams that God has placed in my heart, or I don't stretch myself into the areas that he calls me toward because I worry about failing. But I have to ask myself, what would I do for God if I knew I couldn't fail? Because failure isn't trying and coming short of my own expectations. Failure is when I never try to meet God's expectations and plans for my life.

Hearing the story of the widow also showed me that God's blessing to her directly correlated to the number of jars she gathered. He would have allowed the oil to fill even more jars if she and her sons had retrieved more to begin with. I need to learn from the message of this story and Elisha's advice to the woman: "Don't ask for just a few." I want to make big plans with the absolute faith and trust that God will provide for me and bless me while I am in his perfect will.

Colorado Weekend Recap

I got back Monday night (well, really Tuesday morning at 12:30 am) from Colorado, and it was so hard to come back to reality... especially since I had to work at 7:00 Tuesday morning. But I felt so happy to be able to fall asleep next to my adorable husband again. He even welcomed me with a beautiful bouquet of fall-colored flowers. He's amazing!

My visit with my parents was incredible. I had such a great time catching up with them, spending time next to the fireplace with the snow falling outside, passing out candy to cute trick-or-treaters, going on a walk with the beautiful countryside views once the snow melted, and making pumpkin pie. I loved getting to hug both my mom and my dad every day and be reminded of how much they mean to me.

The trip definitely made me more aware of just how much I miss Colorado and of course my family. Ryan and I are so excited for our visit together at Christmas time! When I first had to return to Florida, I felt so sad and discouraged about leaving my family and the home I loved for most of my life. Of course, I was ready to see Ryan again, but a huge part of me just wanted to fly him out to Colorado instead of going back to Florida myself. Thankfully, God really comforted me during my first couple of days back in the routine of work and chores and other responsibilities. As I completed my Bible study for the week, He reminded me that He has placed me here for a reason. Ryan and I may not love Florida or see it as our true home, but we are so blessed in our marriage and our life together, and we know that God has a plan for us wherever he chooses to take us. Being away from Colorado and our families isn't the easiest thing sometimes, but we can have faith and assurance in the fact that we are in His perfectly capable and loving hands.

Hope everyone has been doing well. I will post pictures from my trip soon!

Colorado, Here I Come!

Last weekend, while my mom and sister were visiting us in Florida, I got a phone call from my lonesome daddy, who was unable to get the time off work to join the rest of the family on the mini vacation. He said that he didn't know if he could wait until Christmas to see me and before I knew it, he was telling me that he wanted to fly me out to Colorado for a weekend! I could hardly believe it! Would I really get to see him before December? As it happened, Ryan was assigned a duty session over Halloween, so my dad decided to buy me a plane ticket home for that weekend. Therefore, I will be on my way to lovely but cold Colorado in three days! I can't wait to see my daddy and also my mommy again. It will be wonderful to be in my childhood home for the first time in a while. My parents keep warning me about the freezing weather I have to look forward to, but I am actually looking forward to breaking out a couple of my sweaters, sipping some hot cocoa, and enjoying chili and cornbread with my wonderful family. It's a shame that Ryan can't come along this time, but he's looking forward to the freedom of eating all the junk food he wants and having some guy time.

Another thing I'm excitedly anticipating for this coming weekend is being able to celebrate Halloween in my old house and neighborhood. It's always so fun to open the door and here the "Trick or Treats" of cute little ghosts, goblins, princesses, and power rangers. I will be thrilled to enjoy the evening at home by the fireplace, maybe watching a scary movie with my parents and passing out candy to the little kids of the neighborhood. Just thinking about it brings back fun memories of trick-or-treating with my little sister throughout the years of our childhood-- and well, our teenage years too. You're never to old to trick-or treat :-).

I will also get to spend some time with my grandpa when I'm in Colorado. It will be so nice to feel his tight hugs and talk with him about life. He's the sweetest man, and I can't wait to see him!

Now, all I have to do is make it through the next three days of work, and then it's off to home sweet Colorado! I'm only sad that I have to leave my sweet husband and cute puppy behind!

The Weekend Is Over, But Not the Excitement

It is now Monday, and the excitement of my amazing weekend with my mommy and sister has officially come to an end. I am so thankful for the time that I was able to spend with them. It gave me such joy to wake up to their faces every morning, as I looked forward to the fun day would share. Here's a little overview of my marvelous days with my family.

My mom arrived on Wednesday night, and we all went to dinner at a yummy sea food restaurant right by the water. It was the perfect night to sit out on the pretty waterside patio and eat fresh and flavorful fish (well, steak in Ryan's case :-)). We had a wonderful time getting to hug each other and catch up on the last few months apart.

My sister didn't get into town until late Thursday night, so my mom and I spent the day shopping. We found adorable fall decorations for the apartment, and I even got to use some of the Pottery Barn gift card from our wedding. My mom has such a good eye for home decor, and she thinks about where everything will fit in a space, so it was such a huge help to have her with me.

After picking my sister Jordan up from the airport, we proceeded to chatter the entire way home and late into the night. It was a blast to have girl talk over a bowl of buttery popcorn and to see each other's facial expressions for the first time in a while. We awoke the next day to get ready for another day of shopping. This time, we focused on clothes. I didn't find everything that I expected to find at Forever 21, but I was still able to use my gift cards to buy several adorable shirts and a couple of fun necklaces. My sister and I had fun advising each other about our outfits when we emerged from the dressing rooms and weighed our fashion options. At the end of the day, we were all very pleased with our new apparel :-).

Incredibly, it was a bit too cold to lay out at the beach, but we still drove along Indian Shores and Clearwater beach to show my mom and sister the beautiful ocean scenery. We also stopped to walk around the Clearwater beach area, and later we ate some good ol' fashioned barbecue ribs at Cody's Roadhouse. Our final night together ended with a scary movie at the Imax theater and some Starbucks coffee in downtown St. Pete.

I was so sad to see my mom and sister step past the ticket counters at the airport on Sunday. It was a blessing to see them again, but it also reminded me of why I miss them so much. The memories from their visit make me miss them even more now that they're gone again.

But the weekend unfolded with two more surprises to make me keep smiling. First, my dad broke the news that he wanted to buy me a plane ticket to Colorado for the weekend of Halloween! He just couldn't stand the fact that he was stuck at home while my mom and sister got to see me. Next, we got a new puppy! It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment occurrence. I had been whining about wanting a dog for some time, and Ryan suddenly decided that we should get one. So we went puppy shopping on Sunday after my family left. And we found an adorable miniature Australian Shepherd. He is chocolate brown with rust colored specks around his face, white paws and a white nose. Ryan named him Rusty because of the rusty hue to the fir around his face and legs.

My life, as always, is so full of blessings. Let's just hope that Rusty continues to get more comfortable with his new home and that we can potty train him QUICKLY :-).