Memorial Day Weekend

Friday - Some pretty cool Spirit-filled worship! ...and some crazy boys showin' some love.
Friday, my friend Codi threw herself a birthday party at my house. We played some 007 and possibly mario cart. There was lotsa food. And of course, worship. We got the guitar, djembe, bongos and shakers out. And when that wasn't enough, we pulled out pots and pans and utensils and water jugs and anything else we could find and worshipped God. It was a good time.

Saturday - Fire and Ice... which consisted of ice cream and boom pretties (that's Nicolish for fireworks)
Saturday evening a local church held a community event called Fire and Ice. They had ice cream and shot off fireworks. When I was a little girl and watched fireworks on the fourth of July, I used to say "boom... pretty."

Sunday - Moving Eric
Sunday, my parents let me borrow one of their trucks. We got all Eric's things together and loaded them up to move him to Tempe. Lo and behold... Everything fit in one load in that truck. I think I need to do some downsizing.... yikes!

Happy Birthday!!

Yay! Today is my birthday :) But this weekend was when all the excitement was. After work Friday night Eric showed up at my door with these:

He took me out to eat at The Cheesecake Factory! mmmm :) It was delicious. We both got some pasta. I swear there was enough food between the two of us to feed a small nation. And there was cheesecake! Eric got kahlua cocoa coffee cheesecake and I got oreo cheesecake. Afterward we went to a nearby park and walked around the lake and attempted to dance under a ramada. So maybe we need dance lessons... haha.

The next day, Eric had a day of fun planned! (He is so sweet!) He picked me up and took me to the Arizona Science Center to go to the planetarium. It was pretty amazing. We learned that the dark spots on the moon were thought to be seas and were named mare... so when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a 'mare.' Ok ok don't groan at me! It was our guide's fault. He was pretty corny. Well, after we left the science center, we found a little garden next door. We walked around and took some pictures. The next stop was Tempe Town Lake for peddle boats and a picnic. But, when we got there, they weren't open in the middle of the afternoon. So we had our picnic and got sno cones instead. Later that evening my parents took us to Red Lobster and then back to their house for even more cheesecake!

Sunday afternoon some friends came over and hung out, ate and played games. We played the card game nertz (not sure if that's how you spell it but it is a favorite!). My friend Lynn made me this amazing cake that was shaped like the dress from the moulin rouge theme in my bathroom. She is so talented and rocks my face off. Here is a picture of it:

After everyone left, Eric and I headed back to Tempe Town Lake to try the peddle boats again while they were open. It was awesome at night with the lights on the bridge all lit up. It was a great end to a great weekend. Thank you Eric!! You are so amazing and thoughtful.

Temper Tantrums and Terrible Twos

My mom sent me some pictures the other day and there was a series of four pictures from when I was two. The first three were of me playing in the sandbox having a wonderful time. The fourth one showed the sandbox covered up and me screaming/crying. Apparently, it was time to clean up and go inside but I had other ideas in mind. The pictures were amusing to look at. Toddlers are often ruled by their emotions and desires. Their immediate situation is all they know. As we grow and mature we are supposed to grow out of the terrible two stage. Rather than letting our emotions control us, we are supposed to learn how to control how we respond and behave in the midst of our emotions. However there are still times that I lack self-control and discipline and feel like my behaviors are subject to my emotions. My emotions seem to take control when my thoughts are not filtered by an eternal mindset. Proverbs talks about the person who is undisciplined and who has handed his control over to his emotions and desires:

PR 25:28 "Like a city whose walls are broken down
is a man who lacks self-control."

PR 29:11 "A fool gives full vent to his anger,
but a wise man keeps himself under control."

Wisdom tells me that I need to learn to take every thought captive to obey Christ and to conduct myself in a manner worthy of his gospel. Being obedient to Christ means that I can't let my behaviors and thoughts be in bondage to my emotions. However, do not hear me say that emotions are bad. They are good and created by God but we cannot allow them to control us. The two year old who is in the midst of a tantrum is unstable, has no control and cannot hear truth. Truth becomes skewed. She is focused on herself and in her mind her desires become perceived needs. She, therefore, is consumed by what she wants. She becomes incapacitated to do anything but cry out in anguish and disappointment that her perceived needs were refused or taken away. As a two year old, we cry out for our will to be done not the will of our Father.

I don't have time to maintain these regrets...

We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way He loves us
Oh how he loves us!

So it occurs to me that the deepest revelation of our character is what we choose to dwell on in thought, what constantly occupies our mind – as well as what we can or cannot think of. If my thoughts are consumed by things other than GOD and if His word does not dwell richly in me, then it is utterly impossible for my character to reflect that of Christ's. For me to be Christlike I must sacrifice and die to the thoughts that are held captive by the enemy as well as my fleshly desires. I cannot allow myself to be consumed by these regrets, hurts, and other ungodly patterns of thought. For out of my thoughts come my actions and if I chose to operate out of brokenness I will be unable to produce good fruit. Instead, I must now learn to ENTHRALL my mind with GOD and the way He loves me and how glorious His Kingdom is if I ever want to be truly free, living life abundantly as an effective child in His Kingdom.