How He Loves

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Our weekend was nice and relatively quiet.  Just the way I like them :)

We spent time with the in-laws and ate lots of food and played a few games.  My favorite was the game Nerts!  Have you ever played that?  It seems to be a combination of the games Solitaire and Speed.  It's crazy-fast and such fun.

Summer has just begun over at our household, and it's been a slow start.  Love it! Today, when The Husband took a break from studying (he's completely taken over the dining room--I'm going to be out-of-my-mind-excited when he's finished and has taken the durn test), we ran a few errands.

We just got the white board today; sadly, it has replaced a beautiful piece of art that used to hang there. He promises it will hang there again soon.  

*fingers crossed*

Then, we had lunch at an Italian restaurant around the corner from us.  A friend gave us a gift card to use there, and I'm always excited about free (or mostly-free) food.  

Now, normally, I would rather go to that other Italian restaurant (you know, the one with the bread sticks and the salad).  Their Fettuccine Alfredo is super tasty, and I get that dish EVERY time I get to eat there.  

But today, friends, we chose to not wait 30 minutes for a table.  Today, friends, we went to a quieter place with no wait and with AMAZING food.  Seriously.  The Husband and I kept saying how delicious our meals were.  So amazing, in fact, I took pictures of them.  (Our individual salads were delicious, too, but I didn't get shots of those because as soon as he finished praying, we dug in haha!)

This was mine--the ravioli with a tomato-cream sauce--YUM!!

This was his--the hasta la pasta

Now, don't you try to get me to give away the name of the restaurant...nope, I won't ;)

  These were our very clean plates--haha.

The Husband took this picture; he said it was very "artsy-fartsy" :) I agree.

People, this meal was oh-so-fabulous.  I have to stop talking about it; it's making my mouth water!

After filling our bellies, we slowly walked to the car, past the Italian bakery, and headed home.  A gal from church was bringing over dinner for us early, so we needed to be at the house until after she dropped by.  At one point while she was there, the cat stealthily escaped through the open door, arrgh, but was caught and hoisted up (he's fat) before he managed to get too far.  Oh, that cat. He's not the sweet, purry cat.  He's the old, giant one who is irritated by much (mostly The Husband).  He was not thrilled with being captured and let me know it.  I think he's hiding somewhere, pouting about his near-escape from his life of wet food and dry food, of fresh water, of a clean litter pan, of assorted comfortable sleeping areas, and of a cat-friend who loves to play with him.  Oh, his life is horrible, readers; doesn't he look so mistreated?    

After our food arrived and the cat was retrieved, The Husband and I went to vote.  It was a very grown-up thing to do, haha, and we felt pride in doing our civic duty (Go, Ron Paul!...ooohhh I threw it in there).  

While out, The Husband asked if I'd like to go visit Hadley, but once we got out there, we saw another service had just ended, and her plot was covered in preparation to bury yet one more wee one.  When we go out the next time, I hope her gravestone will be in place.  We still need to see about getting a permanent vase out there.  

I miss her today.

I'm in the middle of reading the book of James again.  It's my go-to book in the Bible.  I read the first chapter in bed last night before we went to sleep, and I said, "You know, this is my most favorite chapter in the entire Bible."  He said, "Really? Why's that?"  And, I replied, "Because it's the one chapter (to me) that really talks about life and the hope that's there even when things are really bad." Even if you're not a big Bible reader, I hope you'll give James 1 a chance.  I read it in the NIV version last night because I love the wording (especially verses 2-8 and verses 19-25), but I read it again tonight in The Message and really enjoyed that version, as well. If/when you read the Bible, do you have a preference? Are you a King James gal or an ESV kinda guy?

I'd like to do a post or two (or five since there's five chapters) on James soon.  God speaks to me ever so loudly when I read that book, and I need to hear Him loud and clear these days.  I'm asking Him to speak boldly to my heart so that I may speak boldly to others.  I try to pray over this blog often (not nearly as often as I should) because it's easy to fall into believing that these posts I write are solely about me and about what's going on in my life.  I know, however, that if I want my life to mean something--to make a difference--then I must pray that God is glorified in everything I say or do or write.

~That means the words that I speak to others matter. Do I guard my words and the words in my heart well, or do I say whatever I want whenever I want? 

~My work at home and at school are worth my best effort. Am I seeking praise for a job well-done from others or from my Father?

~My participation in the choir and on the praise team are about praising Him solely.  Am I focused on what and how I'm singing instead of to whom I'm singing?

~The phrases and sentences and run-ons I put on this blog should be winsome and worthy in such a way that others desire to seek Him out.  Do my words push people away from seeking a relationship with Him?

Am I pointing to me in my words and deeds, or am I pointing to the One who created me?
I want to point to Him always.
Oh, how I want to plant the seeds that He grows in the lives of others!  That's the whole point (no pun intended) to this blog.  It's why I began writing.

Each day is a brand*new*day, and today has been a good one.  And, I'm so thankful that I got to record it here.  It's a memory I'll be able to come back to in months and years to come, and hopefully, it's one more direction-sign pointing others to Christ.  A demonstration of how Christ has worked and is working in my life and in the lives of my family members in "such a time as this."  Evidence that we serve a faithful and just God who loves us far beyond what we could perceive or imagine.

He does love me, friend.
And, if you don't hear anything else from this post, hear this:  He loves you, too.