This week's verse

Philippians 4:6
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Yesterday's Bible Study was fantastic. I need to go back and restudy before I can write about it though. Also, because we had a beach Saturday we missed Ron's sermon which Jennifer(thank you by the way) said went right along with the study. I'm about half-way through that. I can't wait to put it all together. I am starting to feel encouraged and hopeful instead of just desperate!

What color is it?

Continuing saga of my home repairs...

This weekend, I bought new mirrors for our upstairs bathroom--as of yet untouched. It is pink...tile, walls, cabinets, ceiling, countertop. Only the tub and toilet escaped. These particular mirrors are going to be great, but you can't easily take them down again after mounting. So, I decided to paint. I used the paint I had bought before for our bedroom, but changed my mind about. It is NOT even CLOSE to the color I thought it was. My intent was to get a silvery gray with brown undertones. It's not. I'm not really sure what color it is. Gray-lavender-blue-pink-mauve? Is that a color? Because there is still so much pink in the room, that might be casting color that isn't really there. This pic is more purple than reality, but now I have to do the white to know for sure. ARGH. Of course, I am blogging about it instead of actually painting because I don't like painting ceilings or trim. OK, here I go.

In all things....God.

Last fall I started laying claim to verses. When I face adversity my mind starts to whir at a million miles an hour, so quiet time with God quickly became strategic planning sessions. I start with the intention of laying everything before Him and all of a sudden I'm off on my own process. As these trials became more frequent I found that I needed a better way to focus on the Lord. I decided to pick a verse with a promise that seemed to apply to where I was at right then and just read it, recite it, mantra-fy it.

I am in another valley right now and yesterday was an especially difficult day. Because I was at my computer I decided to Google "verses that remind of God's faithfullness." I came across this blog--not a Bible commentary site, not anything but a woman like you or me in a tough spot needing a reminder of God's faithfulness. Hmmmm.

Romans 8:28 was the verse she was clinging to and it made perfect sense for me as well. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Immediately I started feeling that peace that God is faithful to provide. Things may work out, they may not, but He is working through them...despite them....for my good. I can handle that. Later in the same chapter is another favorite--v. 38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When I was in the high school group at my home church there was this girl Liz who taught us a tune to go with those two verses (which are NASB, by the way). I've never heard it anywhere else, so I don't know if she wrote it or if it was recorded somewhere, but I love it. Because of the music I can focus on the words--nothing, NOTHING in ALL creation can separate us from God's love. Thank you Lord!

The Big City

Fantastic Weekend! The drive up was quick. We hit a fantastic place called Uptown Billiards on Friday night. They have an amazing “happy hour” menu—5 courses of perfect food for $10…for $20 you get a different wine served with each course. The service was amazing. Put it on your must-visit list for next time you go to Portland.

The rest of the weekend was just as great. It was amazing shopping, more really good food, and wonderful company. I was so glad to have some girl time with my friend—I can’t imagine having gone with anyone else. We made Sunday as relaxing as possible and even stopped off in Eugene to visit my parents and be able to break the drive up over two days.

I’ve never lived in Portland…and I don’t think I would want to. Traffic, high prices and crowds make it a much more pleasant place to visit than to live. However, I wish I lived closer.