32

Sunday was my 32nd birthday, and I celebrated with Mickey Mouse. Lol. I'll always be a kid at heart.

But on a more reflective and meaningful note, I've compiled a list of top joys and journeys of this past year of life. Most of you won't weather the entire list, but it's been a wonderful exercise for me to compile and post it, reflecting on and boasting in God's great goodness and blessings--even in the midst of life's stresses and challenges. I am loving my thirties!! God is faithful...

In no particular order, here are 32 of "my favorite things" from this last year:

1. Returning to the stage after a seven-year absence! (see #2-4!) Yay theater!!
2. "Noah and the Ark"
3. "It's a Wonderful Life"
3. "Snow White"
4. "The Visit"
5. Returning to the classroom last August.
6. Discovering I actually love 8th graders! (I'd always sworn it was the one grade I'd never teach.)
7. Taking my annual trip to visit best friends in Washington, D.C.
8. Moving back to Redlands (I love this quaint little town! You can't go anywhere without seeing someone you know. Just like Mayberry.)
9. Continuing my voice lessons with Guy Babusek in Orange County. Guy is fabulous!
10. Renewing some old friendships and making some new ones (Dustin Ceithamer, Sarah Beth Mollner, Tai Wazdetsky, Erin Allen, Tim Mahoney, Sarah Ayotte.....). These dear ones have greatly encouraged me in the Lord, made me laugh my head off, taught me oodles, and inspired me to keep growing and living my life to the fullest!
11. Living with two amazing roommates, Sarah Day and Merea Price--two girls who have patiently loved me, encouraged me, forgiven me, and taught me so much by their lives of faith.
12. Breaking free from some major spiritual strongholds!
13. Talking to, learning from, enjoying, and adoring my mom in huge ways.
14. Hanging out with my not-so-li'l siblings: Katy (14), Christopher (12), Nathan (10).
15. Road trips, outings, and heart-to-heart talks with big siblings: Jonathan, David and Heather (due with Lil Langley in August!).
16. Laughing with and learning from my dear dad. He is still such a provider and protector for me.
17. Trips into L.A. and Hollywood.
18. Memorizing chunks of Scripture to music.
19. Celebrating my Papa's life at an amazing coronation service last June.
20. Receiving grace upon grace and forgiveness upon forgiveness from too many people to list here.
21. Karen Race's visits here... and my surprise visit there for her 30th birthday.
22. Attending too many theater shows and productions to count. Makes me so happy!
23. Hosting dinners and brunches and lunches in my home(s). Such a joy!
24. Angels baseball. Gators football. Enough said.
25. Running 2 miles on a fairly regular basis. (This is a big deal. Be impressed.)
26. Getting a pixie haircut. Scary, crazy, risky. Bows and flowers are lifesavers.
27. Shopping at Trader Joe's where several employees are now my friends.
28. Disneyland trips.
29. Cleansing for two weeks. (This included giving up coffee and living to tell about it.)
30. Loving my church family and seeing God do awesome things in our midst! (A shout-out to my amazing small group!!)
31. Missing best friends who are faithfully serving Jesus around the world.
32. Enjoying my Lord in new and precious and rich and deep ways. He has filled my heart with a greater contentment and hope than ever before. Knowing, loving, and serving Him is such an adventure!

A roommate, a marriage, and a mission field

Our dorm rooms were across the hall from each other during my first year of college, but for all practical purposes, we were roommates. Some called us inseparable.

Nina was sunshine and laughter (still is), and we packed in more memories in those days than seems humanly possible now. Staying up all night helped the cause.

Nina met the man of her dreams at our college (San Diego Christian), and my initial dislike for him quickly turned to admiration and respect. Brooks and Nina were perfect for each other (still are), and shortly after God blessed them with little Beau, He sent them to minister to a remote tribe in the heart of Papua New Guinea.

You can read of their amazing adventure on their blog (link to the left). And pray as this precious tribal people hears the gospel for the very first time.

I wish bestest friends wouldn't move away. But eternity will show how necessary it was that they did.

The Importance of Gender

This last week was Spring Break... and a much-needed visit with best friends in Washington, D.C. One of the highlights of this annual trip is attending Karen and Carlynne's church, Capitol Hill Baptist, where Mark Dever pastors. His sermon on Sunday was phenomenal--a must-hear! =)

Click on the link and enjoy!

http://chbcaudio.org/

God is for you.

"When you understand foreknowledge (to the small degree that is possible), when you grasp election, when you appreciate call, when you benefit from justification, when you anticipate glorification, you realize that God is overwhelmingly, obviously for you. Nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ!

"He is for you. He has convincingly demonstrated that. The basis for understanding whether or not God is for us is not subjective. Our emotional state is irrelevant. The objective, eternal fact of the matter is that God is for us.

"If you need proof that God is for you, look no further than the Cross. [God] forsook his own Son so that we might know him as Father and never be forsaken ourselves. What further demonstration do we need? That bloody form hung there on the Cross to make this eternal proclamation: 'I AM FOR YOU!'"

-C.J. Mahaney (on Romans 8:31-32, in "This Great Salvation: Unmerited favor, unmatched joy")

My nephew is so beautiful!!

C. H. Spurgeon once said...

A vigorous temper is not altogether an evil. Men who are easy as an old shoe are generally of little worth.

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.

Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.

Dearest Savior

You hem me in behind, before,
When I unravel at the seams;
You know my inmost secret thoughts,
My hidden fears and dreams.
You pray for me with words and groans
I cannot comprehend.
And when I fall flat on my face,
You pick me up… again.

Your kindness leads me to repent
From sin and be restored.
You promise to renew my strength
As I wait upon You, Lord.
You show Your mercy day by day,
Give grace for every hour.
Your judgments, they are true and sure.
Your name is my strong tower.

Your greatness is immeasurable,
O Glory beyond compare!
Yet You call me Your “beloved,
Daughter, sister, heir.”
You are my Shepherd, Savior, Shield,
My Righteousness and Truth.
My Joy, my Hope, my Great Reward,
My Prince of Peace, my Groom.

O Sovereign Lord, in whom I find
My deepest longings filled,
Grant to me a tender heart,
A steadfast mind, a broken will.
Turn my gaze toward the cross
And fix my eyes on Christ,
The Author and Perfecter of
Everlasting life.

Photo(s) of the Week

My best friend's darling little Claire Elaine... Living it up in her new home overseas!

Certain burning questions

"To ascertain where you really are with the Lord, recall what saddened you the past month. Was it the realization that you do not love Jesus enough? That you did not seek his face in prayer often enough? That you did not care for his people enough? Or did you get depressed over a lack of respect, criticism from an authority figure, your finances, a lack of friends, fears about the future, or your bulging waistline?

"Conversely, what gladdened you the past month? Reflection on your election to the Christian community? The joy of saying slowly, “Abba, Father”? The afternoon you stole away for two hours with only the gospel as your companion? A small victory over selfishness? Or were the sources of your joy a new car, a great date, great sex, a raise, or a loss of four inches from your hips?"

-Brennan Manning in The Importance of Being Foolish (which, by the way, is a phenomenal read!)

Beauty's Beckoning

Have I played the harlot, the whore?
Lavishing myself on passersby?
Flirting, beckoning, for fleeting affirmations,
Bowing down to images that lie?

How I long to be a beauty
First and foremost (only) for Your eyes.
And then to use that beauty, pure and sincere,
To point to You—the Way, the Truth, the Life.

Help me to become less as You become greater still…
Lord, change my heart.

Photo of the Week

My brother is a survivor

To my single friends...

“The thing has come from the Lord.” Genesis 24:50

“The thing” was a match made in heaven. Rebekah was chosen to be Isaac’s wife—by God Himself (“who has not forsaken His steadfast love and His faithfulness,” 24:27) and the help of a father and family servant.

Single friends, no matter how long it takes and how hard it may seem at times, let us not force a match that is not “from the Lord.” Let’s learn to faithfully serve the people around us, even watering their camels if need be, and wait for the man God brings our way if He so desires.

And if He withholds, it is only out of His great goodness and eternal purposes. “He does not willingly afflict the children of man,” so if He allows us to suffer long, we can be sure there are fabulous purposes at stake—that we will someday understand and love!

Waiting with you…
Colleen

Convicting.

A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another's. --Jean Paul Richter

Photo of the Week

A smiling evil queen, an intimidating dwarf, and a laughing beauty... Perfect.