Not what you'd expect...the impossible.

The grass in our yard is non-existent for the most part.  Our yard is mostly green, but it's mostly weeds.  We've done what we can to grow actual grass, but without success, so we just have the weeds.

Still, I found something fascinating as I went for a run through our neighborhood on Saturday morning.

In the middle of the street, in the unintentionally created holes in the asphalt, something green was emerging.

Away from the nutrients of the soil...
Away from the water of the sprinklers...
In the direct path of cars and truck tires...

In a place where no one on earth would recommend planting anything, there was green grass growing.

How was it possible?

It is not possible.

Not possible, that is, by human understanding and all we know of things that grow.

But I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God grew that grass in that hole just for me :-)

He might have other purposes in it as well since He is the master of efficiency and always has multiple purposes for his actions.

In one particular area in our life right now, we have been trying to plant, trying to water, trying to get advice, trying to listen, trying to wait, trying to not wait, trying to uproot, trying to settle in, trying to give sun, shade, and fertilizer...

God is not upset with all this trying.  He is not unhappy with all of our researching, investigating, communicating, listening, praying, trying, hoping, waiting...

He wants us to journey through this.

He knows this process is part of our sanctification, part of knowing Him more...

Still, in the midst of the journey, God wants us to trust that He is growing something beautiful in the most unthinkable, the most unlikely and the most impossible circumstances.

In our particular situation, He may choose to plant grass in a place we have never even considered!

Or, he may not.

Either way, I felt like God was reminding me that He is indeed working, even when we are completely oblivious to it.

And His workings usually result in absolutely incredible things that are in fact impossible for us to even imagine.

And thinking about that made me smile.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." - Ephesians 3:20-21

Today's joy: yesterday's memory

Today's joy is my memory of yesterday.

Yesterday, Jason and I got to spend a lot of time together, which was a blessing because he starts his Mon-Tues night classes this week and won't have break for the next few months.

We slept in (til 8:30!), which only happens about 3 times a year because of schedules and then our body's inability to sleep in when we actually have a chance to.

We went to church and were assigned for greeting, so we had the honor to welcome everyone into the service.  The sermon was a great reminder of trusting God even when life is confusing, which it has been recently.  

I somehow developed a negative attitude on the way home from church, and so silently made us homemade blueberry smoothies for lunch.  I think Jason only ate half of his.  Don't ask me what I was upset about - I don't even remember.  I just felt like I had to put this in here because it was also part of our day - in amongst the flowers and butterflies :-)

Jason cautiously and creatively pulled me out of my afternoon slump and we got out of the house to enjoy the beautiful spring day (there's only about 5 days of Spring in Florida and we are in the midst of them right now!).  I'm so grateful for his patience with me and his perseverance that refuses to let me get stuck in the downtimes.  No way to capture this in a picture, of course.

We rode bikes to the tennis courts in our neighborhood and played tennis for a bit! (Note: this is the first time I've played tennis in about…my whole life, except for running to get the balls when my dad used to play for fun a loooooong time ago!)

Then we drove to the lake front in our town and played bocce ball - Jason won one game, and I won one.

Then we went to get some frozen yogurt.  I got sea salt carmel pretzel.

And put health bar and pretzels in it.  Wow.  To. Die. For!

We came home and finished the night with Once Upon a Time - the one and only hour of tv we watch each week.

I have to say that when it came time to walk the dogs, I somehow also got kind-of irritable (I think partly because it was so cold outside), and so I stubbornly and pridefully walked Nala (my dog) super fast ahead of Jason and Reagan (his dog) most of the way around our block.  It took every ounce of energy inside of me, but I eventually I apologized, and we finished the walk together.  Again - it would be easy to deliberately skip over this not-so-uplifting part of our day and it's impossible to get a photograph of it, but it is part of our story and will probably be humorous to look back on one day…if it's not already :-) 

Needless to say, in the midst of today's insane busy-ness, and lots of work that came in from the weekend, I have joy today just thinking about our time together yesterday and thanking the Lord for it!

Today's joys: Picking up my husband from work.

Given that we're down to one car now (due to mine dying, sniff sniff), I get the opportunity to drop Jason off at work and pick him up 2-3 times/week.

After an exceptionally long work day yesterday, all I could think of was how excited I was to go and pick jason up at work.  I drive about 45 minutes down from my workplace at Wycliffe Bible Translators to St. Cloud Elementary school to pick him up.

While it's not always convenient having one car between us, we are learning to adjust, and yesterday, my joy for the day was definitely picking him up from work!

I get to do it again today!

#todaysjoy

Today's Joy: Flowers in the wasteland

A friend of mine gave me these two plants a couple of months ago.  They were green, but no flowers yet.

She knew I wanted to try to learn more about plants, but also knew that I had yet to be successful keeping anything alive for any significant amount of time..

She said, "They don't need much water.  They are actually hard to kill."

I said, "Perfect!  Thank you!"

I did well caring for them for the first couple weeks.  I actually watered them every now and then.

However, for the past 1-2 months (?), I don't think I watered them. AT ALL.

Not a drop.

Not only that, but they've been sitting on my porch and contrary to popular belief, Florida DOES get cold in the "winter."  And we've had several VERY COLD days and nights (yes, in the 30's-40's).

Yesterday, I came out on the porch and looked over towards the plants, expecting to see maybe green or perhaps even brown as I started to accept the likely result of not water flowers: death.

Instead, I saw this incredible sight.

TWO vibrant flower blossoms!

I don't know when they arrived, or how - especially since they had gone without water for so long.

But it reminded me of something.

It reminded me of streams in the desert.

Of the verse in the Bible verse that references streams in the desert…or...rivers in the wasteland.

Here it is...

But forget all that -- it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.

For I am about to do something new!  See, I have already begun!

Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.

I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and owls too, for giving them water in the desert.

Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed.

I have made Israel for myself, and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

(Isaiah 43:18-21)

Hmm.  "So that my chosen people can be refreshed."  I love that!

Initially I read this as a one-time act that God does -- He will create rivers in the wasteland.  Boom.  Done.

But as I reflected more, I think every single day, God refreshes us with His Spirit.

He does something new with us and for us every single moment of every day.

We may not be aware, but it is happening.

Back to my blooming flower in the midst of the potted desert.
This flower is like a river in a wasteland.

Like the impossibility of a river to appear in a wasteland, it seemed impossible for a flower to bloom without water.

In the same way, any time that I think it is impossible for my sin to be redeemed, or my words to be "unsaid," or my actions to be taken back…I doubt God's ability to restore and create something new.

God can create rivers in wastelands.
He can remove the sin and guilt that I carry.
And He can do it every day.

God brings refreshing water to the dry corners of my soul.
Water that gives life.
Life that brings blossoms.
Blossoms that bring joy.
Joy that is shared with others.

Today's joy: God's Word and today's sunset

After a pretty stressful day, I'm thankful for God's Word, the assurance of His presence, and sunsets that He created just for me :)

His Word and His closing of this day are my specific joys for Monday, March 2.

"Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

(Romans 8:31, 35, 37-39 NLT)

Today's Joys: Menu Board Project

BEFORE: How can I create a menu board from this stuff?

Over the weekend, I invested some time in creating a Menu Board.

I got the inspiration from this blog, and numerous others like it on Pinterest.

After 1 year of marriage (aka: a year of cooking, since before I was married I didn't cook much at all), I kind-of hit a wall with my cooking.

To be perfectly honest, I have never enjoyed cooking.  In spite of my mother's numerous attempts to teach me when I was young, I have always avoided learning to cook.

While I'm glad I can cook for Jason and me, I still do not love to do it.
However, it's not as hard as it used to be.

Soon after we got married, I set up a binder for my recipes -- labeling them chicken, beef, vegetables, etc.  I printed out recipes, so I could write notes to myself about how I may have adjusted the recipe.

However, for some reason, I've stopped using the binder, and have gotten back into making the same 3-4 recipes over and over again.

Surely there must be more to life than basic chicken, rice and summer squash!?

The main problem has been when it is time to cook, I hunt down a recipe online and randomly fumble through making something.

This last-minute figuring out is not my style.

I like to plan.

Ahem, I love to plan.

Perhaps there is a fun way to involve planning with my meal preparation.

Yes.  There is.

Enter: The Menu Board.

I saw this idea and thought, "This is the answer to my cooking dilemma!"

I looked at a few ideas, then headed to Wal-Mart to see what I could find to create the board.

I got some fabric, clothes pins, multi-colored card stock paper, Gem-Tac glue, and a magnetic wipe-off board (it came with magnets that I later glued to the back of the clothes pins).

AFTER: THE COMPLETED MENU BOARD!

I covered the board with the fabric.
I glued pieces of paper to the clothes pins and then wrote the days of the week on them.

I then scrounged around at home for what I could use for little boxes.  I used a crayola crayons box for the top, and the cover of a note cards box for the bottom.  I covered those with the left-over fabric.

I then started creating the recipe cards.  These cards will continue to increase as I find new recipes to try.  For now, I've got my basics plus a few extras already printed.  That'll be good for a while.

This whole project has brought me joy just in creating it.

While I don't do it very often, I really do enjoy creating things.

I like the process, the planning, the executing, and most of all, the finished product.

But I think for me, I get the most satisfaction if the thing I have created actually has a purpose.

For example, I have created a few other things: an earing holder and a necklace holder - both of which I still use today.  If there is a purpose or function for it then I get more joy out of making it.

The Menu board will continue to bring me joy because it:
- has the ingredients listed (no looking up stuff in my phone at the last minute)
- has the recipe listed on the back (
- gives a visual display of the week's meals (planning points!)
- even has a box for next week's meals (yay, planning again!)
- is colorful (our kitchen is mostly browns/tans, so I wanted something neutral, but with a little bit of color - the pastels work well
- the colored card stock does correspond to the type of food (blue = fish, pink= beef, purple = chicken, green = vegetables, tan = rice, left-overs)
- is organized (ahhh, sigh of joy)
- allows room for flexibility (there are tabs for eating out, or left-overs)
- has a shopping list space built in

So, there is my joy for today...and for the future.
Who knows, maybe it will help spread joy into the actual task of cooking one day!?

P.S. If you think my menu board is insane, check out this one I found... Not even I could comprehend organization to this extent!!  

Today's Joys: Lydia

I usually try to do my grocery shopping for the week early Monday morning, before anyone else is awake.  I thrive on being the only one, well, one of the only ones in the store.  The cart moves quickly, and my mind simply functions better without the crowds of the late afternoon.

But my joy for today is not grocery shopping before the sun comes up.

This morning, as I was leaving the grocery store, I saw my friend Lydia and her three young boys.

Lydia is the wife of a couple that are friends of Jason's.  So when Jason and I got married, I inherited their friendship too.

Even though we don't get to spend a lot of time together, and honestly are still just getting to know each other, I appreciate that Lydia and I often can quickly go to those meaningful conversations about deeper issues in life.

Lydia has a similar story as mine as far as horses and missions and marriage.  And she holds similar values - eating healthy, finding bargains, figuring out our wife roles, and living life outside as much as possible.

Today, Lydia had her three boys out with her.  The baby was in the car seat, and the toddler was sitting in the front with the curliest hair ever.  They actually took up most of the space in the cart.  The the oldest boy was towing along beside the cart, eager to show his mom a bag of oranges he found.

Lydia gave me a hug when we recognized each other, and she told me about all the comings and goings their family has in store for them in the next few weeks.  House stuff, family stuff, work stuff, all at once. It's a LOT!  And on top of that, she has 3 young boys!  And she is making dinner for someone in her church tonight!  And she never stopped smiling the whole time we were talking.

She hugged me when we said goodbye.

As the boys waved, she said, "It was so good to see you, really... so good!" making me feel like somehow just by being alive, I had made her day better!

Yes.  Lydia deserves a "Today's Joy" blog post.

She is an example to me of someone who moves through life with joy.

In the midst of a whirlwind transition, she smiles and she gives to others.

In addition to all she has going on, Lydia unintentionally but most overwhelmingly brought me joy today.

Today's Joys: my husband!

Without any hesitation, my first official "Today's Joy's" post will surely be about my husband, Jason.

The other day, I was talking with Jason at dinner.  I shared my frustration about a work presentation I had given that day.  The presentation had gone well overall, but I felt like I could have done better.

Jason listened for a while, told me he was proud of me and then said,

"Well, honey, the truth is, even the All-star baseball players don't hit a home run every time

they get up to the plate."

That was enough to make me smile, but then he went on to praise himself in a semi-sarcastic tone, while I just smiled louder: "Honey, that was a good quote I just thought of…we should write that down… I didn't even get that from anywhere, I came up with that myself…right on the spot… that was pretty good, huh?"

Needless to say, I wasn't frustrated about my presentation anymore, but instead, I was smiling and full of joy brought on by my husband.  I love him!

Here are a few more reasons why Jason brings me immense amounts of joy:
- makes me smile when no one else can.
- has a way of relieving tension in the room
- moves towards me in an argument, not away from me.
- works hard to provide for our family
- laughs at himself and humbly learns from his mistakes
- is grateful for the blessings in our life
- trusts the Lord with the future
- sets an example for me in his own study of God's Word and reading it with me
- prioritizes our involvement in church/Bible studies
- prays with me every day before he leaves for work
- shares his dreams with me, and his fears and frustrations
- is insanely patient with me!
- helps clean the up the kitchen and the house, and makes dinner sometimes too!
- researches the best value for purchases, and finds ways to save money and budget wisely

Note: The intro to this series of "Today's Joys" posts can be found here.

My greatest earthly blessing and joy: my husband, Jason.
Thanksgiving week. 2014: Naples, Florida

Today's Joys: Intro

As one of my goals for 2015, I am starting a "Today's Joys" series of blog posts.  I hope to briefly share something that brings me joy every week.  I'm thinking this will be on Monday, since that's an overwhelming day as it's the start of the work week and it would be good to start with something joyful.

This first blog post in the series is more or less the intro and rational behind this idea.

I decided to write about this because I know I need to be intentional about finding the joy in life.

There are seasons which we all go where everyday just feels just like every other day, and there doesn't seem to be anything in particular to be joyful about.  The mundane, the ordinary.

The unloading the dishwasher again.  The repetition of meal-making.  And, I mean, can there really be joy in doing laundry?

Then there are seasons when certain days are actually wonderful, but we still aren't living fully in them.  We can easily see that our lives are incredibly blessed.

But there is a negativity and self-loathing that casts a grey spell over every spec of life.
It doesn't just discourage us, but also depresses everyone we come into contact with.

What makes it worse is that we honestly can't find a single thing to truly complain about, or that would warrant a downcast attitude.  So why then, at times, does it feel like the weight of the world is upon us?

There could be many reasons, but one thing I know for sure.

Life is a battle.

And if you aren't armed, you will lose every time.

If you are in Christ, your know that after death, you will be reunited with Him one day.

But we are not just called to die.

We are called to live.

And if we are not armed for life, we will lose.
It may be just a moment that is lost.
Or an hour, or a day, or a year or more.

I have lost a few moments recently.
Actually, I may have even lost a few days.

Moments and days I can't have back.

So.
I want to arm myself.

I want to be intentional about finding joy in the everyday moments of life.

The name for this set of blog posts actually came from a comment my mommy said to me a few months ago.  I was talking to her about taking pictures.  I love taking pictures.  I love doing things with pictures - photo books, calendars, new picture frames in the house... But I usually end up taking many more pictures than I ever have time to do anything with.

I was sharing with her how I was excited to take pictures of the wildlife in our small town, but I was frustrated because I knew I wasn't going to do anything with them.  I went on to talk about all the pictures I had, and how I don't always get to do something with them and how sad it is.

She said, "Well, maybe the purpose of the pictures you are taking right now are for today's joys."

2015 Goals

In November, Jason and I celebrated 1 year of marriage and decided to set some goals for our second year of marriage.

We came up with one big family goal (which is for Jason to finish his Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership and Administration) as well as some smaller goals for each of us individually, as well as together.

I'm hoping that when there are distractions (whether positive or negative), we can remember our goals, and do what we need to do to keep them a priority.

In addition to the goals Jason and I made together, I realized that I unconsciously have come up with several other goals for myself.  In reality, I probably now have too many.

The first three actually are related to my blog, so I'l start with those.

*1 - #weeklypost: to write a blog post every Tuesday - I started this a couple weeks ago, and so far have accomplished my goal! Yay!

*2 - #todaysjoys: I'm making it a goal to briefly write about something that brings me joy every week.  I'm going to shoot for this post to be on Mondays since that's an overwhelming day as it's the start of the work week and it would be good to begin it with something joyful.  The first "Today's Joy's" post will be this Monday, Jan 5th!

*3 -  #wordlesswednesday: I recently saw this on another friend's blog.  I'm thinking it shouldn't be a difficult goal to reach.  This weekly blog post is a simple picture or a few pictures posted on Wednesdays.  No words.  Just let the pictures speak for themselves.

*4 - #bibleinayear: On October 14th, I committed to reading through the Bible in a year, for the second time in my life. I'll confess, it started off really well, but has dwindled with the busy-ness of life and holidays.  I'm planning to get back into a routine of morning reading in this new year!

Top: All the Harry Potter books
Bottom: Nala's amazement and uncertainty that I can actually read
all of these massive books this year!

*5 - #harrypotter: Somehow I found myself with the whole set of Harry Potter books for a steal of a deal and am committing to read them this year.  This is a HUGE feat for me - who honestly does not read much at all. This goal is in honor of my sister Natalie - since she mostly convinced me to get the books in the first place.

*6 - #spanish: I still have the desire to learn Spanish... although I have NOT made any significant improvement in this area.  I may need to set a more realistic outcome for this one.  Perhaps deciding on a few key phrases I want to learn, rather than total fluency.... so yeah, still refining the details of this goal.

*7 - #organizing: I will be home in Delaware for 2 days prior to a work trip to Liberty in February.  In addition to spending time with family, my goal for that time is to help my mom clean out 1 room in their house - that will probably be the old schoolroom where the four Wilson kids learned everything we know... well... almost everything :-)  If it's not that room, it'll be a section of the basement!

*8 - #walkwithmyneighbor: I started walking with my neighbor, who is from Trinidad, a couple of months ago.  We usually will walk 1-2 times/week.  I hope to continue walking with her this year!

*9 - #photography: I am still researching if Photoshop or Lightroom would be  a good investment for me personally.  I absolutely love taking pictures, and love doing things with them, but have never invested in a solid photo editing software.  I was planning to dive into Photoshop, but the more reviews I read on both Photoshop and Lightroom have left me conflicted, so I haven't taken the plunge either way yet.  Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated!

*10 - #yummyhealthyfood: I'm putting this on this list for two reasons.  My list felt incomplete with 9 items, instead of 10, so I had to add one more.  And the second reason is because Jason and I are trying to find more healthy ways to eat.  We've cut back a lot of sugar and carbs in the past few months - still have a long way to go.  I'm hoping that we can continue on this path this year and find some EASY and DELICIOUS ways to make meals for dinner as well as DESSERTS!