Makes Me Wonder...

So, as all of you know, I'm an adoption blog addict. Yep. That's me. Can't keep myself away from reading about these families as they grow through adoption. Watching them carry out the most beautiful form of love and grace to a child in need. Seeing the first moment they meet their child. Hearing their stories. I LOVE it, take it all in. And it makes me wonder... what does God have in store?? Does He have a moment planned out like this for me:

Will I get to see my husband reach to hold our daughter for the first time??? Will I even get married? lol

I sure hope so. But God's will is hidden from our eyes, forcing us to trust Him, that what He has in store for us is perfect. And, it makes me focus on this chapter of my life as well. I have to finish this before I can move onto the next one! So as I dream and wait I'm trying to embrace the season He has put me in even though my heart longs to be somewhere else! I know that He has lessons for me here and now!!

"For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

These are a few of my favorite things....

I hope that all of you are humming that song to yourself now! :)

I felt like being fun and random this morning and took this picture:

Some of my favorite things...

1.Hot chocolate

2. my phone (and all of the wonderful people I communicate to with it!!)

3. my car (hence the pic of the keys)

4. Diet Dr. Pepper (the best pop in the world),

5. painting my nails (that I just cut super short. my piano teacher will be so proud!)

6.peanut M&M's (my greatest weakness lol i can resist most anything but not these!)

So that's my silliness for the day....

What are your favorite things??

Baby Adoption Shower!!!

The shower was a success!! It was lots of fun and fellowship. I had put together a couple of special gifts for her and it was fun to finally be able to give them to her!! :)

A New Day

I'm sitting here with a steaming hot chocolate at my desk watching the rays of sunlight stream through the trees. It's so beautiful. It makes me thankful that God's incredible beauty is so evident through all of creation- in the trees and flowers, reflected in the enchanting eyes of a child, wrapped up in the loving arms of a friend's hug, glimmering in a smile. I rejoice in my God who is worthy of praise!!

It has been so long since I have blogged. I guess you could say I took a little sabbatical. And I decided to come back this morning (when I should be doing schoolwork...)! :)

So I'm not really sure where to start! It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I've been very busy with school, as well as working some extra shifts for people at the office. Tonight we're having a baby shower for the Juvinalls, since they're going to get Iona pretty soon! I'm very excited for tonight, and I think that it will be very special. I will definitely post pictures and details when it's over! :)

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God has been so incredibly good (as always) to me and I see His kindness reflected every day. He has been so faithful to show me hope the past few weeks. For the most part, I think I've adjusted to the new plan for school. The changes have allowed me to re-evaluate my priorities, and just my life in general. The question I've been asking myself is, "How then should I live?" This is a question that Franciss A. Schaeffer asked when he wrote his book, "How then Should We Live?" which I have not read. I think that it is probably too intelligent for my brain! lol. Anyway, this question has been weighing heavily on my heart and I've really been trying to seek out the Lord's will on this. The ache in my heart for the orphans is overwhelming. So, knowing there are 143 million orphans in this world, how am I to live?? How can these next years best be spent to aid these precious children?

My mom and I had a really good conversation last weekend about the future and I was filled with excitement and anticipation for everything that God has in store for me. I'm humbled by the grace that He shows. That He offers me a new day, a chance to try again, to grow, and to seek Him more fully. The beauty that is revealed when I seek Him just overwhelming. The grace and mercy I find is indescribable.

You, oh Lord, are worthy of praise. Thank you for showing me hope and love, great Father!

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to Him, sing praise to Him;

tell of all His wonderful acts.

Glory in His holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and his strength,

seek His face always.

Remember the wonders he has done,

his miracles, and the judgements he pronounced.

O descendants of Israel his servant,

O descendants of Jacob his chosen one.

He is the Lord our God;

his judgements are in all the earth.

He remembers His covenant forever,

the word he commanded for a thousand generations.

1 Chronicles 16:7-15

Wow

Noah showed me this video today. All I said at the end was, "Wow." It's no wonder girls have anorexia and bolemia. Or just the fact that we think that we aren't beautiful. If air brushed models are the standard, then yeah, we don't reach that. Our self-esteem is low because we compare ourselves to them and we don't look to God for affirmation of beauty! Anyway, just something I've been challenging myself on and thinking about.

NYC Video/Slideshow!!

I put together a video of my NYC pics from this past summer (i know, i'm about 5 months late.. but better now than never!). Thought everyone would like to see it. Any of you NYCers reading this feel free to post a comment about whatever comes to mind after seeing the pics! :)

(pause my music in the bottom right hand column so you can hear the video music!)

Fun Saturday

It was a great Saturday!!! This morning was my annual pedicure with Corinne (we always go in october for our birthdays). It was very relaxing and fun!! :) Definitely a treat.

Then we headed to the mall to eat lunch and do some shopping. We really didn't buy anything. I used a Bath and Body Works coupon and got my favorite lotion free. :)

I babysat this afternoon until 8 tonight. It was my first time babysitting for this family. They have a little baby girl who's almost 1. It was fun. :) She was a cuddler. I was reminded of the little cuties I held in Guatemala. They would nestle up and just lay their head on your shoulder. So sweet.

This evening I got back from babysitting and took Caleb with me to go get ice cream. We'd tried 3-4 times this week to get some because I've been craving it all week but it hadn't worked out. So I finally got my DQ! :)

I Love My Guys!!

OK. So if these pictures don't make you laugh I don't know what will.


Once my birthday was over Dad and Noah had some fun inhaling the helium from my balloons. The second half of Dad's is great so keep watching even if the beginning isn't that great. The end of Noah's is amazing so watch that one for a good laugh too!!

5 Random Tidbits from my day

1. I am trying to master the intro to this song by Mark Schultz called "Legend of McBride." I tried to find it on YouTube so y'all could listen but didn't have any luck. Anyway, it has this REALLY cool piano intro that I've been tackling. It's been fun.

2. I'm SOO super excited for all of the AWAA families who passed court this last week!! Congratulations!! Your children are BEAUTIFUL! I kept getting distracted from my schoolwork today looking at the pictures and dreaming of what my sweet babies will look like someday.

3. My friend Alexa and I did our school together this afternoon at Panera. It was fun having someone to talk to (besides a dog that doesn't respond or even glance at me when spoken to) while doing my work! :)

4. My camara isn't working and I'm not very happy about it.

5. This weekend is JAM-PACKED!!! :) It's going to be fun though. Hopefully I'll have pictures... if I can get my camara to work!

I'm sorry for such a boring post. I really felt like blogging but had nothing to blog about! Sorry for wasting 8 minutes of your life reading about mine!

Have a great weekend!

Blessings!
Molly

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for..



1. LIFE! Life is such a gift. It is precious. It's a journey like no other. It's a road of joys and trials.

2. HOPE!!! God just blows me away with the hope that He shows me each and everyday. I think that the fact that He does show hope is only another example of His goodness, kindness, and faithfulness!!!

"We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May your unfailing love rest us upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you."

Psalm 33:20-22

3. I am so thankful for each and every person who has "poured" in to my life. You have shown me encouragement and love each in your own unique ways.

4. FALL!!! :) I love fall. Chloe and i went on a long walk this morning and I just marveled at the beautiful trees, leaves, and the crisp, cool air. It was so beautiful. I had my mP3 and i was quietly singing the worship songs as we walked. I'm sure I looked like such a nerd walking with a big smile on my face, mouthing the words, dragging a 90 pound dog with me. Oh well. It's worth it.

5. Parents!! I am SOO thankful for my parents. A big shout-out to my mom and dad. You guys are awesome!!

Have a lovely Thursday!! Take a moment and ponder what you're thankful for today. We've been so blessed.

Guess What????

I'M BACK!! :)

Finally, after almost an entire week, I'm ready to blog again. I've had 5 of the hardest, most stretching, challenging days that I can ever remember. So I come back here to write not about my victories, for I have none except that which God gives me. Any strength I have is through Him. Any love I have is through Him. Any hope I have is through Him. Hallelujah. But I write because I want to give Him the glory (oh, and because I missed blogging!).

Last Wednesday, my parents and I sat down for a talk who's outcome I was NOT expecting!! Due to complications with scholarship deadlines, potential graduation dates, and so on, we made the very tough decision for me to graduate next year instead of this year. Yeah, so I'm now a junior in high school! Thus began the next loop in this rollercoaster I'm on. For now, I think that I'm riding on flat ground.. but I thought that last time as well.

The Lord began a great work in me that morning and it's still going. I don't ever remember being so convicted, encouraged, and disappointed all at the same time. I go from thinking, "Yes, Lord, this is your plan for me. You've showed me so many good things that will come from this. Thank you!" and then an hour later I'll be in tears pleading with Him to please show me why this had to happen.

I'd sat down about 15 times to try and blog about this experience but my emotions were so raw I just couldn't bring myself to write anything. I truly had to "grieve" the loss of my dream of graduating early. It seems so dumb but that's what i was working for. Each day when I got up to do school I was working towards college. Of course, I still am, just not like before.

But, if only for my benefit, I do want to share a few ways that God's glory has been shown through the past 5 days:

1. God has been preparing me for this season all along. He had me do a devotional this summer about joy. And oh boy am I leaning on that right now!! This week has tested my ability to find joy to the fullest!! I was reminded of how my joy must be found not in my circumstances, but with Christ!

2. God has shown me, specifically yesterday and today, where i had built my idols. When He rocked my world (that's what it felt like) and we completely changed plans for next year, those idols were stripped away. When those idols were stripped away, I started turning to other things in my life, only to find myself panicking because none of those were secure. I've had to just read the Scriptures and know that God still loves me despite all of these things He's convicted me of and the shaky, fearful, insecure, saddened person I was after Wednesday. I've had to believe that His plan is PERFECT.

3. God has used music this week in a mighty, incredible way. On Wednesday I made a CD with all of my favorite encouraging songs that I have listened to in the car ever since. Now, when I have a "moment" when I feel the discouragement, frustration, or disappointment seep in He brings one of those songs to mind!!

There's so much more I could say but I'm too tired. I can't believe how freeing it has been to write in somewhere other than my journal (although that has been incredibly healing as well). So thanks for reading. I'm glad to be back in the blogosphere!!

I'm sure I'll be writing more soon about life in general and the fresh perspective I have on how I want to live life in light of this huge change! The Lord definitely redeems every situation. It's been such a tough week but I keep seeing sunshine poke through the storm clouds!!

"For I know the plans i have for you,' says the lord, 'plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Straight from Heaven

The Lord's timing for showing me this song could not have been better. I have played it probably 20 times (NOT JOKING) in the past 24 hours. It is totally my heart right now. I love God's timing. He literally met me in my need, in my tears, and blessed me with, what I feel, is a "tangible" object of His love. When hope feels far away, He gives gifts like this. He sees our tears and mourns with us because He is our Father!! He doesn't like to see His children hurting. He sees our victories and triumphs, our laughter, and smiles. Our God is the reason I'm here today. The reason I can find joy in disappointing or hard circumstances. The reason I have hope.

Wanted to post the lyrics and the youtube video so y'all could hear it. Go down to the music and pause it so you can hear the video.




Verse 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be empited again
The seed I've recieved I will sow

The Journey

This road so full of twists and turns.
Full of joy and heartache,
with rich lessons to learn.

There's bright sunshine and rain,
high mountains, low valleys,
Despite heavy hearts
we press on for the eternal finale!

So when my life's a rollercoaster,
with no road signs to follow,
I keep trusting in Him,
and find hope for tomorrow.

I'll keep climbing the mountain,
grabbing His hand,
turn my face to the sunshine,
My faith is all He demands.

I find strength for the journey,
and patience to wait
To wait on God's timing
Not a moment too late.

I trust in His goodness,
overcome by His grace.
He is writing a story
that will fall into place.

~Molly 10/08/08

17 Kids and Counting

There's this new show on TLC featuring the Duggar family, a strong Christian family with 17 children (and one on the way!!) :) Anyway, it is my new favorite show. I am so excited to see a family declaring a strong Christian marriage and family on TV. They openly talk about Christ and prayer. This week's episode was about purity and courting. Their oldest son, Josh, is 20 and the show showed his proposal and the first few weeks of engagement. I LOVED it. I loved seeing their commitment to purity. I loved seeing their love played out in such a Godly manner. I was impressed by Josh's strong leadership and initiative in their relationship. Our culture has lost so much of the endearing chivalry and concept of men pursuing the women. I was encouraged to see these two families who have fought to teach their children these things and i was encouraged to see the young adults carrying them out. I hold these values very near and dear to my heart and I'm SO glad to see strong young adults standing up for what the Bible calls us to do. I was excited and it made me happy to watch that cute couple!!! hehe! :) Someday, ladies, our princes will come!! Keep trusting in Him!!! :) For now, let us rest in the fact that there is always One who will call us beautiful. He not only thinks we're beautiful on the outside but also on the inside. He holds our hearts with both hands, cradling them and healing the wounds. Our precious Jesus is our first love, and He knows us better than any man ever will.

Sweet Renewal

Yesterday morning was not heading in a good direction. Several things had come up to make me feel stressed, I was seriously afraid I was going to fail my chemistry test, and I had pridefully skipped my devotional, telling myself I didn't need it. Ha! The Lord would show me otherwise. Halfway through my morning the Lord prompted me to go upstairs and spend some time in the Word. He was totally tugging at my heart and He showed i really needed my time with Him. I'd been given some C.S. Lewis stuff to read so I settled down in my chair to dig into that. The topic was on giving our WHOLE selves to Him. Not part of myself but ALL of it. My hopes, fears, dreams, insecurities, and desires. ALL of it. I lost it. I sat and wept. The Lord was pushing me again to surrender all. And I was just completely overwhelmed with thankfulness to our God for holding my heart so tenderly, for loving me, for His grace and mercy, for forgiving me AGAIN and AGAIN, for adopting me as His own daughter, for creating a plan for my life, for providing such an incredible family and church family with friends who care about me. And I also could sense the peace of the Spirit wash over me. The college trip raised alot of questions about what's realistic for the next 4 years. The whole weekend I was just praying that the Lord would keep my mind open to wherever He wants me, and that He would make the path clear, that He would give me courage to do whatever He has for me next year, and that I would be able to fight the fear and doubt that keeps creeping into my heart. God just blows me away sometimes with His faithfulness. Praise God!!

"The Lord is my light and my salvation-
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life-
of whom shall I be afraid?

When evil men advance agaisnt me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.

One thing of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that i may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon the rock.

Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
i will sing and make music to the Lord.

Hear my voice when I call, O Lord;
be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, "Seek his face!!!"
Your face, O Lord, I will seek.

Psalm 27

Fall

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. It has been the PERFECT weather out the past couple days and i have loved it. I love the crisp cool feeling when I walk outside. I love the crunch of leaves beneath my feet. I love wearing jeans and sweatshirts. I love sitting by bonfires. Just sitting and looking at the fire. I love the anticipated preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love getting out the hot chocolate. All of these things are the beautiful aspects of fall. God created such a beautiful world. I'm so thankful that despite the depravity of this world we can still appreciate nature and His beautiful creation.