thoughts on a wednesday...

I'm making a second attempt at reading through the entire Bible. Sad that this is only my second time going through it begining to end in my 24 years of knowing our Savior personally, but happy that He has brought me to this point of knowing him more than I did at age 5, 10 or even 28!

So, today I was reading in Deuteronomy, chapter 4, and came across this verse (v.20)..."But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today."

I couldn't help but stop and think for a minute about my life, my family's lives, my friend's lives, and so many more. He has taken us from whatever circumstances we've faced in the past and helped us to recover, grow, mature, gain understanding...all because we are His possession and it brings Him glory to do so. What a great God we know and serve! How fabulous that He cares so deeply for us not to leave us there in our "iron pit" but will take and bring us out!

Thank you, God, for taking and bringing me out of the "iron pit", the person that I once was, the place where I felt most alone, the circumstance where I turned my back. Thank you for loving me so much that you sent your One and Only Son to pay the price of my sin. Thank you that no matter how dark it may seem to get that you are always God at the end of the day.

Catching up with a very dear friend...

So, I'm not only catching up on time with a dear friend but also catching up on my blogging. It's been quite awhile now, a month, since our time with Kris and Natalie and their beautiful kids Taylor and Joselyn. They came and stayed with us a weekend while they were in Lincoln visiting supporters. We had a great time hanging out with their kiddos while Kris and Natalie enjoyed a Husker game in real life. We watched in on t.v. and I tried explaining to Taylor that that's where his mom and dad were. He looked and me and asked if Taylor was there too? :) It's a little difficult explaining live t.v. to a 3 year old I guess...or maybe it was the teacher.

Anyway, Natalie and I stayed up way too late both nights talking about anything and everything. I haven't been that encouraged spiritually by a friend in so long. It was, and always has been, amazing to hear her wisdom, insight, and passionate love for her Lord and family pour out in our talks. We have so much in common and were able to pick up right where we left off 3 years ago when our ways parted. I'm very excited to see them again when we spend the night with them on our way home from vacation in Denver/Vail.

What an amazing gift the Cheeks are to Boulder and to us!

You can check out what they're doing in Boulder here.