walking next to you...

i just asked jessie that question about these keys i found on the counter... i took a closer look...they are toys:) but someone did forget them because they are not mine or jessie's:)

i don't know if you can see it but it is a little bug and someone left it on the counter and it startled jessie a bit...and we laughed! i wish it was a clearer photo but it was the best we could do.

happy monday.

just made my night. he is my brother and he sent me this photo:

his battery appears to be almost dead but it is the shirt that really matters:) last week i was put on the spot to tell a joke and if you know me you know i love jokes, but mostly to listen to them and laugh...not tell them. all i could come up with was the knock knock banana orange joke. i told people they had to laugh at the joke, i think they were laughing at me instead:) i bought the shirt:)

sometimes i just love to look at photos of fun things. they make me smile and today these photos are fitting, i promise:)

who wouldn't want to travel by way of...boatfort?

the people that live in there must be happy all the time, and if they are not, they probably get over it quickly:)

is there a better way to have tea? perhaps... but maybe not:)

i think this might be a coming project.
he/she is the cutest. this should even make YOU smile:)

happy and restful sunday.

cheers.

ps- aura lives in tennessee now, it is official.

this week has been so stretching for me. on so many levels. physically being one. just to name a few, i can hardly talk. my eyes burn. sleepy is my new middle name. my ears are making me crazy...this means i have been a bit dizzy here and there:) BUT this is not me complaining. just stating the obvious as bec would say:)

robyn, she is my best friend. today she drove out to visit me and we did something that i loved so much...and i am almost certain she loved it just as much. i really needed to see her today so i was so happy she came. we drove up to forest falls. that is a place that i have loved since i was a little gal and still do. first, we stopped by the ranger's station because it turns out you have to have a pass for all the places up there. i suppose i should have already known but i didn't. they have this great deal where you can get two passes for thirty five dollars so of course i did:) we went to thurman flats first. there is a staircase there that i have always wanted to go down so we did. we walked as far down as we could holding our cups of coffee and we were both so in love with what we found! we walked over logs and stepped on stones in streams and it was just lovely. we stopped at a spot where there were two flowing streams, perhaps even three and it was shady and off to the right, there was a VERY large stone just jetting from the ground. i like the mountains because they are so big and i always think about the mustard seed when i am there. always. you know, the faith of a mustard seed moving mountains. mountains are so crazy majestic. i was telling Robyn on our way back up the staircase that no matter where i am in life, i will always want to be able to go there.

i think sometimes we forget that we have such goodness just minutes away. well, i don't:) i go up there a bit. just by myself, it is so good. the mountains, the cold running water, the sounds...sometimes i feel like there are a million different sounds happening all at one time and it makes me just crazy, but i love it. before we went up further, we stopped at this little market. there was a very nice lady inside. we grabbed two bottles of water, she grabbed a granola bar...i grabbed the twix:) not exactly the breakfast of champions but so what, it was SO good.

we went up to the falls and spent a bit of time walking and talking. i was really feeling the sun so we found a nice shaded picnic table and planted ourselves for a while. robyn, she is something else. she is so inspired and inspiring and today was brilliant. we enjoyed nature so much and our friendship so much. and talked about God. music. and so many other things. i told her about the things i have been dealing with in my heart and she didn't judge or create answers, she only listened and encouraged. she is my best friend.

after the activity, we stopped by a little place i love. el mex. if you haven't been, you should. we had food, drink, and good conversation. and i looked at the mona lisa bunny arms quite a bit. we sat in the perfect location where i had the perfect view of her. the art in there is the best. the combination of community photos, mona lisa, and just other fun photos, license plates and sombreros, is perfect. perfect:)

i am so grateful.

tonight is the last night i get to spend with the junior high students. it was good.

over and out, out, out.

aura just left. literally just in the past five minutes or so we prayed together as a family and she, joe, laura, and amy got into the cars and are now beginning the great journey to tennessee. on my way home from the conference tonight i cried a little. the past week of her packing has been so crummy and i haven't even been able to talk to her really about the move. (sorry aura, when you read this. but i can't wait to hear about your new place. we can skype and you can show me:) BUT i am so unbelievably proud of her. she is such an amazing person and i love her so deeply and am so proud of her and what she is doing.

she is moving to tennessee to begin a new journey and they are so lucky to get her. aura is one of the most inspiring, loving, gentle, beautiful, and good person i know....and absolutely not because she is my sister. i know there are people out there who love family because they are family. my family isn't like that...we actually enjoy each other:) and aura thank goodness, isn't just my sister, she is my friend.

she is going to do so good in tennessee. i know it. but i sure will miss her.

i was getting ready to take my socks off just now. they are not mine. i had to borrow them from kim to not get my cowboy boots yuck. well, i looked down and saw:

i smiled so big. good night:)

kim, if you read this, i will wash and return soon:)

it was good. last night i wrote just a bit about my evening because i just could not resist. it was unexpected, i really didn't know how it would go....but truly it was brilliant and i was so grateful to be a part of it. tonight was just a bit more...it was just so special. if you know me, you know i have a weakness for junior high kiddos. i couldn't begin to explain why, how does anyone? i mean, people always ask how junior high kids and well, they are just so good. they are in such a weird place and so moldable and they really like when adults invest time into them and i like to. and it is nice to.

this week, i get to be a part of something much bigger than me. something that doesn't revolve around me and my life and what is happening and i love that. it is about getting to celebrate the goodness of coming together to think about our Creator and to worship him and to receive from Him. i love leaving me at the door. 125 junior high students seems like potential for really amazing disaster...it isn't:) i have so much to learn from them. they are crazy and they like to move and dance and be free and so many other things!

they don't carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. they don't feel like they need to have the answers to all of life's questions. they are just awkward and confused at times but that is so ok:) i love it. one day at a time seems really important to them, i am learning it:) i found myself thinking back on my own junior high days and there was pain BUT looking back, i can see how it stretched me even then and to think that it would be any different now would be nonsense.

wisdom is the topic of the week and oh how i want it. i think we all do, well at least i hope. and we have to seek it. we have to choose it. i am glad we have the opportunity to. i want to. james 1:5 is the key for the week but i read it just a bit tonight and there are some things around it that are just so good.

i lack. i am learning. i am being stretched. i don't necessarily like it but i know it is right so i am grateful. i could keep going on about it but it would take so long. i may another evening. it was just good, tonight. i walked outside after we got out and it was a bit brisk, just enough that i got a bit of a chill:) when i turned my mouse on, that's my car:), a song came on. it is a good one and as i was driving with my window down i listened, very closely.

i keep attempting to write all of these posts and i have tons on hold. they are all unfinished but it is ok:) tonight, i just want to write so little just to say i had an amazing night. it was filled with about 125 junior high kids, some really excellent adults including one great speaker, and a really wonderful band. i am so grateful. topic for the week- wisdom. we all need some. james 1:5. this is just simply supposed to be me sharing because i was so filled and joyful and grateful. it has been so long and i am so grateful!

over and out.

it is an important event in one's life. something that really stands out. something that means something. it has been a long time since my last post, i know. i was not too certain where to begin. i didn't know what to write, what was expected. this isn't the post i thought i was going to write but here it is. i will post again in the days to come about some things in life and how the Lord is using them to mold me but that is not for tonight. and please don't judge that i am choosing not to write about those things tonight. tonight i just want to focus on a sweet thing that i experienced yesterday and how i was so moved as a result and how my little heart was filled with so much hope. prepare yourselves to be disappointed if you are expecting something huge because it may not be for you but for myself, it was large, really grand.

the Lord has been growing my heart in many ways over the past few months. in ways unimaginable and even more so painful. i don't know if i will ever understand why i learn things the way i do but i know part of it has to do with my not so good listening skills. the Lord is working in me. and i am grateful. grateful that His love is so large that He constantly is wanting to give love to me and to teach me. and so many other things.

yesterday He gave me an unimaginable gift. i had schedule a doctor appointment and new that blood work was in my future. if you know me, you KNOW that needles are horrible to me. when i was 9 years old i had a traumatic experience with a needle and blood work and from that time it literally created an almost paralyzing fear of needles and doctor's offices/hospitals/clinics for me. my arms would tense up every time i would simply drive by one. i feel sick and faint and just horrible. just talking about it gives me anxiety. i have always known it was a head thing but was unable...perhaps unwilling to come to terms with it.

well, i went in and after being checked for all the basic things, the doctor told me they would do the blood work that day. i was shocked, i think i even sighed a bit. my heart was filled with horror and i sat there in the room by myself waiting. that is the worst part. they make you wait ten minutes before they actually do it. so you can just about pass out from the anxiety. i prayed that the Lord would just be there with me. that He would just smother me with His goodness. i know it sounds strange but i had to, if you knew what it was for me to get blood work, you would understand. well, the nurse came in and she was sweet and pregnant. as she was prepping, her little bean kicked. she began to tell me about her, she is a she, samantha. and i saw what she was doing and felt the tight rubber thing around my arm but i couldn't really focus on it because she had just captured my attention. i even felt the needle but it wasn't horrible, uncomfortable yes, but not horrible. she just kept talking and i was so with her and all of a sudden she told me to place my finger on a cotton ball. she had finished!

i was out of my mind crazy about it! when she had finished, i told her that i had just experienced one of the most significant moments of my life and i thanked her for being a part of it. she was so sweet and grateful. i was so grateful. i have wanted to concur this beast for eleven years now and have just been crippled completely by it. i don't expect you to understand it completely but it has been my nightmare for so long and yesterday, i did it. i felt like i could climb a mountain after, perhaps two. after the nurse walked out. i smiled and giggled for a second and loudly whispered, "thank you Father."

i know that this might not be your cup of tea and that is ok but see the Lord move in even the little things is powerful and moving. and it was a big thing for me. it was a sweet gift to my soul. and i just so basked and continue to do so in the goodness the Lord sent to me. i couldn't wait to call home to tell my mom that i had gotten it done, i think she was so proud of me:) i went home and she, joni, and myself celebrated with james and the giant peach. he concurred something so big too. yesterday was filled with so many unforgettable events. so many. from the moment i opened my eyes to the moment i fell asleep. my joy is deepening and i am grateful.

thank you. just thank you for reading.

good night to you. i am coming back.

love,

roxi

ps...tonight i attended a small group from church, it is new and it was really good and i am so grateful and so excited for how the Lord is going to use it in my life and hopefully how He can use me too.