trust

from Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning

Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God.  Fear of the unknown path stretching ahead of us destroys childlike trust in the Father's active goodness and unrestricted love . . . faith is less a matter of believing in the existence of God than a practical trust in his loving care under WHATEVER pressure (emphasis mine).  The stakes here are enormous, for I have not said in my heart, "God exists," until I have said, "I trust you."

from Her Brain by Mrs. Teten

Here is where I am struggling, wrestling and slowly calming down to rest in the hand of God, trusting in His plans for me.  Trust,  I am learning to trust God in this season of life more than I ever have before.  And I am thankful for it.

cutesy

remedy without me

John made it to Knoxville!  He is staying there a day or so to spend time with David, Pamela and the Hamilton folk.

Spending a morning at David's coffee shop, Remedy was a must for John.  He sent me pics to make me jealous!

He sent a pic of his Aztec sipping chocolate that he was sampling to make me jealous.

I say come back to me, and bring that chocolate with you!

blackberry vs. iPhone

 john's iPhone

 lanny's blackberry.

I think Lanny won.

new car!

I know people get new cars all the time . . . buy . . . sell . . . trade . . . upgrade . . . downgrade.  But this is a new thing for us.  Our current car has been diagnosed with cancer of the engine.  So we are buying my uncle's beautiful and tenderly cared for Honda!

John is currently driving it to Florida with my uncle.  And I asked him to send me pics along the way from the newest addition to our family, the iPhone.

This is my uncle, Lanny.  He is a planner of all planners, and here he is mapping out their course.  A side-effect of the iPhone on blogger is bad resolution, hence the small picture.

speaking of a great car and a handsome man, look who it is!  My husband!

hope

World Help in Haiti
Many hands lighten the load . . . Haitian Proverb

what fun!

This weekend John and I were at our annual Spring Conference.  It is a weekend that we invite our students from all over Florida (and now Valdosta too) to come and find opportunity to grow.  This year's theme was, How to Change the World, and we discussed following Christ and making disciples of all nations.

John directed in for the second year in a row.  It was fun getting to see him in action . . . following his vision for the weekend . . . designing shirts (featuring the design above). . . following up on every detail . . . amazing.

It really was one of my favorite conferences.  The people who came really made it for me.  I got to spend time with women I have known for years, some I have only known for a new months but am walking closely with them, and I met women I cannot wait to get to know better.  Also, having Valdosta State join us in our region has been a great blessing.

I just had so much fun . . . here is a link to the step show that was my highlight of my weekend, compliments to the Valdosta men.

missing China

Last night I was trying to remember the smells of China . . . and what did the food taste like? I already forget. Must mean we have to go back to remind ourselves.

I do not forget what the people were like. I remember their names and their faces. Hopefully we get to see them again.

simple old-fashioned fun

About a month ago John and I visited our local Salvation Army thrift store. This one in particular we have found some hidden gems in the past. John found a barely used Sigur Ros CD. Which he was astounded by because they are an icelandic band that we were positive no one in Gainesville listened to.

But on this trip they were having a 50% off sale on select items. We walked out with a sweet mug, some vintage-cottage-style fabric that I will use for something cute, Scattergories game for 25 cents AND a puzzle for 25 cents.

We walked out realizing that the game probably has missing items, and the puzzle missing pieces. And nothing is worse than pouring over a puzzle for hours only to find out you can never complete it.

The game came in handy over Christmas break as we packed it away and played to our hearts content with the fam in Colorado.

As for the puzzle, we pulled it out this weekend to give it a go. AND to our amazement . . . we had all the pieces. The previous owners even went to great lengths to put all the edge pieces in a baggie. How nice of them. So, you can have hours of fun for only 25 cents. Beautiful.

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

While checking my email I was informed that today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, January 11th.

Nothing has gripped my heart more in the past couple of years like learning about modern day slavery. 27.1 million people are estimated to be in slavery today.

There are so many types of slavery and all types of people in bondage. And all need to be rescued and rehabilitated. But my heart aches especially for the little girls and women who are sold, forced or tricked into being prostitutes, sex slaves.

It is easier to believe that this is happening in faraway places, and some devastating cases can be found all around the world. However, it is harder to believe it happens here, down the street or across town, but it does.

I have read Not for Sale and am currently reading Terrify No More both are accounts of people who have begun massive rescue efforts around the globe. I don't want to simply feel sorry, cry a little and return the book to the library, that wont set girls my age and younger free. I want to help, I want to give money, I want to pray, I want to send qualified and skilled people to help, I want to help.

So if you feel inclined to know what is happening in Cambodia as well as next door then take a look at:

International Justice Mission

Not for Sale Campaign

2010!

Hello New Year! Hello another year of watching God love me and my friends and family in wonderful ways. 2009 was not what I expected, so I am expecting the unexpected for this year.

John and I loved, loved, loved time out in Colorado. What we do not love is returning to similar weather in Florida. It is SO cold, for Florida anyway. I am talking mittens, puffy jacket, painful winds. Yuck.

I celebrated the big 25 this month. I heard that at 25 your brain in fully developed . . . which means I have arrived. So many good ideas must be coming my way with my brain this size. Also, 25 is the peak of fertility I hear too. So that means either look out I am about to get preggo or it means it is all downhill from here as my fertility wanes.

Some dreams have already seen their fruition this year. Like my post-Christmas-decor-deal shopping. Yesterday I told Michaels who was boss when I got $122 worth of Christmas decor, ornaments, gifts, and crocheting yarn for $32. Yup, i am living it up in my 25th year.

In other news, John and I are moving to Jacksonville in the summer! We have prayerfully decided to open up a Navigators ministry at the University of North Florida. Jacksonville is an hour and a half from Gainesville, on the eastern shores of Florida. We get to maintain relationships with students, friends, and coworkers whom we LOVE while beginning new ones.

We are also prayerfully considering buying a home. Which is scary enough I want to write out another rent check just thinking about it. Yet it is exciting, having a space that is yours to do whatever you want with it, including fixing the dishwasher on your own dime and time. Cannot wait.

Well we are pretty pictureless this time of year. Which is too bad since we just spent so much time in the beauty of Colorado. But soon, so soon, we should have something fun to look at. Until then,

Melissa

what i am clinging to . . .

the 5th and 6th verse of Psalm 16.

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
You hold my lot.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

How thankful I have been as I have thought through these words. That they are not mere words, but they give me life because they are true, and can be true in my life if I let them.
The Lord is whom I have chosen, He is my portion. He holds my today and tomorrow. And no matter the day or cirumstance, I am in a pleasant place and have an assured beautiful inheritance. It is good to be a daughter of the King. Thank You my King.

tetens and one maschhoff

sweet maria!

at the park with Noey

Our home away from home away from home

Glen Eyrie is the home of The Navigators headquarters in Colorado Springs. It was built in the 1870s by the founder of Colorado Springs, William Jackson Palmer. He fell in love with the beauty of this particular spot along the rockies. The Navigators purchased the property where General Palmer built his home, a castle, in 1953. It is used to hold conferences, train staff and be a retreat center. This is often where we have gone for meetings and training throughout the years. It is a wonderful place to come back to!

The castle, General Palmer's house-turned-castle.
We took a drive to see the vista!
Beautiful Colorado.

The Reason for the Season

Is not John and I, this is just the order they uploaded in . . .
The reason is that my parents have been married 30 years!

And John and I came out and surprised them! My sis joined in the fun later too! We had such a good time with the fam!!! We shopped, ate at our favorites fort collins spots, took a drive up in the mountains to look at the fall colors and watched the Gators win!

Thanks Mom and Dad for being so great and for deciding to spend forever together 30 years ago!

Colorado Times

John and I have been on the road for the past couple of weeks, getting to see friends and family. It has been so wonderful. I would love to post some pics of getting to see our fam! these are just a few, more to come.

Vivs . . . Vivian is such a cutie. She is talking so much. My favorite is her animal sound for a rooster "doodle doo" And she favored the word "okay" or "otay" while we were there. Couldn't get enough of her
We got to meet our newest niece Freesia!! A cute little button that was content to let us hold her awake or not. We loved every minute of it. Way to go Jens and Kristi, we love you and your babes.
Upon just waking up in John's arms!
And you bet it snowed here. In September . . . the day before the first day of fall and it was snowing!!!! We had to catch it on film or digits.

my handyman's handywork

Well, with the inspiration of our favorite coffee house (thanks Davey), the expertise and equipment of our favorite Military Navigator (thanks Roy), many layers of paint and a few extra holes in the wall (dang it)....we have handcrafted our first Teten family heirloom. Now just pray that it won't come crashing down on our table!

I like to ride my bicycle