Sahrie

So sorry...

I'm so sorry to those of you who check this blog. I've kind of abandoned it lately. Quite honestly, my life is like a speeding race car. I've also become a FACEBOOK junkie. Yes, I have joined the bandwagon. It's like the best of My Space (so I hear - never used that one) and Friendster all in one. It's one place where I can keep up with my friends, my college kids, and my family! Anyway...

This is what's been going on for the past four months...

My daughter's imagination has evolved. She loves listening to the Nutcracker, so she asked us to draw her a picture of one. She said, "Draw a nut, then a cracker."

For the first time in a long time, all my siblings were together.

The first Christmas Eve in our house

Enjoying five snowstorms this winter

My favorite Bible Conference - Moody's Founder's Week

Enjoying my favorite city

my new toy

Hubby got this for our 7th wedding anniversary last week. We don't usually give each other gifts, so I was surprised he got me one. When I realized he bought me a gift I said, "What did you get me? An iPod?" I had no idea he really did buy me one! Hahaha.. oops.

Anyway, I love my new toy. It gives me the extra motivation to work out every morning. It's a bit too small for my taste, but I'm sure I'll get over it. I feel like I'm going to break it when I'm handling it, but it definitely is cute to look at. I told my husband it's short and round just like me. =) I like the stopwatch feature, but I wish the watch would continue counting while I browsed through the music. I also like that the clock is the screensaver. I thought the screen would be too small to watch any videos on it, but it's actually not that bad. The video is super clear. What I like most is being able to see the album covers of each artist. Before my new iPod, I had the first generation iPod, which now looks ancient next to my new one. Hubby originally bought me a silver one, but I exchanged it for a black one. I have yet to play around with the games and other features, but I'm enjoying getting to know my new toy.

I am determined...

to look like this:

Just kidding.

Last week I started walking/running at the park district after dropping off the kids at school. I was feeling good. I had my heart rate monitor on, Justin Timberlake playing on my iPod, and I had a great view of downtown because of all the windows along the track. I had such a good time walking and wondered why I never did this before... until all the regular senior citizen walkers started walking on the track. I was doing my own thing trying to break a sweat and then it happened.

One by one they started passing me up! One guy who had to be at least 60 years old was the first to do it. The next guy weighed at least 250 lbs. and didn't look like he was struggling at all. Then came lola who looked older than my 86 yr old lola. At this point I just kept telling myself that I'm just starting so I'll be able to catch up to them. The official cloud of shame came over me when an older man who was very hunchbacked and limping passed me up!

Every single person running the track passed me up! Man, talk about humbling! I'm still determined to walk/run everyday. I'm just not sure I'll be going to the park district every day. I'm trying to think of less humiliating alternatives such as walking around the neighborhood or using the treadmill in my bedroom! Hehehehee...

God bless all the lolos and lolas who can out run a mom in her 20's. I hope to be like them when I'm their age.

I'm back

I feel like school started, I blinked, and 2 months have passed.

Anyway, things have been pretty busy in our house. Both kids are in school, one is in soccer, the other one in ballet/tap, and both are in Awana. I'm pretty busy at church these days, probably over-committed. But I'm really enjoying this reason of life. I enjoy getting the kids ready for school, helping them out with homework, preparing for my Bible studies, and the fact that it's fall right now. Since I don't have a lot of free time these days, I've been weighing everything I do very carefully to make sure I know what my intentions are for doing things. It takes a lot of effort to live this way, but have found it's worth it. 

For some reason, the topic of death has been a reoccurring theme in the things I've watched or read. I don't know if I'm just more sensitive to the topic or what, but I'm grateful for it. I've been able to reassess my life and try to put things back into perspective. I was able to re-prioritize things because all of a sudden I'm afraid of regret. I'm so glad I did that because so many things were in the wrong places.

ANYWAY, what's a post without pictures right?  Here are some things that's been going on in our life lately:

At 2am on Sat morning we decided we were going Michigan for Labor Day weekend

We went apple picking while we were there. We went to our favorite apple orchard. I think I've been going there since I was 8 years old. They have the best cherry waffles, too. Too bad the apples were small. It was a bad apple reason due to drought and heat.

We went to a pumpkin farm close to our house and rode on camels for the first time

After two long years, our new worship center at church finally opened

College group started up again. You can see some pictures from our opening night here. (I'm all the way on the right)

We're bringing the kids to see the Little Einsteins & Handy Manny tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to post.

Until then...

GUIDANCE

My good friend Patty shared this with me today.

Dancing With God
When I meditated on the word Guidance
I kept seeing 'dance' at the end of the word.
I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw 'G: I thought of God, followed by 'u' and 'i'.
'God, 'u' and 'i' dance' God, you, and I dance.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.