Micah's Thirteen

On this last day of July, I stumbled across this beautiful piece by Morgan Harper Nichols who nails it every time with her gift of art and words.  Think about where you were this time last year. What has changed? What has stayed the same? How did you grow? What are you most thankful for? What are you least grateful for?  Taking time to look back is so important every once in a while so that we can take the lessons we have learned to help guide our steps in the future.  

Micah- this is one of my favorite passages and I love this reflection about it.  May it be some good words for you on this day that the Lord has made..... and Happy Friday!  "When I wake up in the morning- regardless of the temperature, whether the sun is shining or the rain is pouring- I go outside. I speak aloud to the predawn darkness or the tail end of the moon just kissing the edge of the horizon or the 9 a.m. bright sun of a sleep-in Saturday morning. I say, “This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I say it out loud because I’m groggy. I say it out loud because I’m speaking it and hearing it.  And I don’t just say it once.   As the cobwebs and sleepy confusion start lifting from my brain, I keep saying that phrase, accenting different syllables, placing varying degrees of importance on different words.  “ This  is the day that the Lord has made.”  This-  the one I’m in right now. Not yesterday. As much as I want...

Back in January , my friend Abby in North Carolina sent me   an article from the Washington Post  about a Little Free Art Gallery on Queen Anne. That week, I was meeting a couple of SPU freshmen from my fall class to connect, and I convinced them each to walk up the hill to check it out with me.  Upon finding it for the first time, my student and I happened upon the artist herself being interviewed for a local news show. They wanted to get our impression seeing it for the first time, and so we got to be part of the news clip! When I had my second meeting with another student just an hour later, we walked up the hill again as I was so entranced and wanted to share it with her.  When we got there, the art had changed inside the little art gallery and was totally different. See photo below from this January visit:  Apparently, the artist and curator who created the Little Free Art Gallery in front of her house said that she has seen more than 100 pieces of free art...

  The 28th (or as close as we can get some months to that date) is always a favorite for me as that means that I get to see you! I loved making the fancy Fruit Pizza Cookies, seeing more about your progress in Genshin, getting to listen to music from "In the Heights," witnessing your incredible ability to memorize lyrics, hearing about your performance in the play, tasting the cookie dough and the cookies together, and loving the time together!  Happy 28th, Micah! 

Today is our 25th wedding anniversary, and some of the sweetest things to come home to from our anniversary trip were the decorations Anna had put up around the house for us.  It made me smile as I have put banners up for years to celebrate Anna, and now she was doing it for us. What goes around comes around....  May the love you show to others come full circle and bless you, Micah.... ❤

I had some trouble going to sleep last night and then woke up early as I had some things I was worried about, so I hopped on my bike and went for a ride to try to clear my head this morning. This verse below came to mind when I was on my bike ride, and over the course of the hour, my legs carried me over 520, around the Medina neighborhood, and back again as my worries were shaped into prayers during the ride. I needed to move my body to release some of my stress and have some space to process, and it was really good to allow God to settle me down. 4-5  Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! 6-7  Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know i...

We had a special lunch with Fredrick and his girlfriend Taylor Emmaus and I brought out a few Christmas decorations for the table for Christmas in July. Because- why not?   Micah, may you have some good times this summer that may seem a little wacky to others but that do spark a little joy and make life more fun.  Because- why not? :)