Wisdom's Words: Faith

The life of faith involves the miracle of seeing above your circumstances.  It means we grasp the unseen that has been promised, that we orient our lives in the time at hand, on the yet to come.  (Jonathan Parnell)

Wisdom's Words: Serving Christ

"In the very place where God has put us, whatever its limitations, whatever kind of work it may be, we may indeed serve the Lord Christ."  (Elisabeth Elliot)

A Sister Outing

In honor of Kathy's graduation (and simply because we like spending time together), Kathy and I planned a special outing this past Monday.  We had been wanting to visit the Indiana State Museum to see if it would be a fun place to take our nieces and nephew, so we decided to spend the day downtown touring this site as well as enjoying a few other activities.

God gave us a gorgeous day!  With sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-sixties, our trek across city blocks was so pleasant.    After a very long and harsh winter, I loved being outside again, feeling the sun on my face and breathing in the smell of spring.  So refreshing!

Our first destination for the day was the state museum.

We spent a little over three hours touring the museum, and it was a lot of fun!  Since the crowds were small and there weren't a whole lot of kids around, we could test out the kid-friendly exhibits without feeling as if we were too old. :)  Here are a few pictures from our time there:

Reading about her favorite animal:  the squirrel!

The USS Indianapolis.  Dad read about the story behind this ship several months ago.

We tried to get a picture of the IU nursing uniform for our dear nursing student back home.

I loved the detailed stitching on this chair!

Here are famous buildings across the United States made with limestone from Indiana:  The Empire State Building, Lincoln Memorial, Proctor & Gamble, Chicago Tribune, Indiana Statehouse, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.

After visiting all the exhibits, we started the hunt for a place to eat lunch.  Dad had recommended several restaurants to us the day before, so we set off to find some of them.  After a half-hour of walking and deliberating, we finally settled on Patachou.  I had been there before and thought Kathy would enjoy it as well.  It was a delightful lunch, and Dad even took a brief break from work and walked over from the bank to visit with us.

Our afternoon activity was a walk around the canal with a friend.  We met her at 3:30 and hiked around the canal two times until 5:30.  As I mentioned earlier, it was a beautiful day for this!  Oh the loveliness of spring!!!

As we walked back to the Hyatt lobby, I knew I couldn't wait until dinnertime to re-hydrate, so it was unanimous to hit Starbucks and enjoy some refreshment together before we parted ways.

Kathy and I then drove to one last location to meet with a friend and her fiancé to go over their wedding plans.  What a wonderful way to end a very special day!

Wisdom's Words: Waiting

"He makes us wait.  He keeps us on purpose in the dark.  He makes us walk when we want to run, sit still when we want to walk, for He has things to do in our souls that we are not interested in...Let us remember, however, that the Shepherd Himself sometimes makes us lie down.  Some of the 'delays' are His choice for us, so we must not always chide ourselves when the pace is not what we thought it should be.  We must learn to move according to the timetable of the Timeless One, and be at peace."
(Elisabeth Elliot)

A Milestone

Yesterday was a significant day as it marked the end of Kathy's college days.  Yes, she's finished!  After a little more than four-and-a-half years, she finally completed her degree!  We are all so grateful for God's faithful provision along the way as she's pursued these studies and for enabling her to finish well.  What a milestone worth celebrating!

Upon submitting her last assignment, Kathy took a picture of her desk and surrounding "study lounge":

Besides having my sister back, I hopefully get to reclaim our room soon!   Computers, books, papers, binders, tea pots, and snack bowls...it all hasn't been my most favorite way to decorate our bedroom. :)

We are rejoicing in what God has done and look forward to seeing where He will further lead Kathy in the weeks and months ahead.

Capitol Call Women's Ministry

On Monday March 10, I had the great privilege of being involved in the very first Capitol Call Women's Day at the Indiana Statehouse!  The focus of this new ministry is imparting to women in the church the vision of praying for their leaders.  Our leader, Pam Russell, developed this vision while we were in Washington, DC together last November, so it was exciting to actually see it come to reality!

Being that this was our first one, we hand-selected a small group of women from Pam's church for our trial run.  We talked about the Scriptural mandate that women have in praying for their leaders, went on a Statehouse tour to learn how our government works, heard testimonies from several legislators on how much they value knowing that people are praying for them, gathered together in the Statehouse chapel room to pray together, and briefly observed the House and Senate in session.  It was a full morning and afternoon!

Here is our group picture:

I am excited to see how the Lord will expand this ministry in the months and years ahead!  We are planning to host at least three more Women's Statehouse Days this year, so if you know of a group of ladies from your church who be interested in participating and learning more about this ministry, please let me know.  We would love to host you for the day!

Wisdom's Words: Darkness

The soul that has to wade through deep waters has always to do it alone; for no human sympathy reaches to full knowledge or, or share in, even the best loved one's grief.  We have companions in joy;  sorrow we have to face by ourselves...Unless we have Jesus with us in the darkness, we have no one.

-Alexander Maclaren