Liz's Letters

I love spring! March is one of my very favorite months of the year. The grass and trees turn green. Some of my favorite flowers are blooming - the daffodils, especially! And my husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary. It's not a coincidence that we got married on the first day of Spring - I picked that date exactly on purpose. This year, we celebrated year number 28. My how time flies. Our celebration was simple and sweet. We enjoyed a late lunch after a good work out at the gym. We lingered, talked. Then we came home to spend time with our son, who had just returned from a mission trip, and his girlfriend. We played scrabble and watched a movie in our family room. I dozed on the couch. Yep, 28 years. Comfortable, like a worn pair of jeans. Loved. The warm weather has lured me outdoors. Some of my work outs are jogs and bike rides in my neighborhood instead of the indoor gym. Training for the triathlon is motivating me to practice my running on real pavement...

Last night I experienced such a treat! I saw Jennifer Knapp in concert. For some of you, that doesn't mean a whole lot, but for me (and many of her fans) it means a whole lot! Jennifer is one of my favorite singer / songwriters - E.V.E.R. When I first heard her in 1999, I fell in love with her voice and her folky style. Adding to that, her songwriting talent simply blew me away. Her lyrics: honest and raw, touched me (and many, many others) in places that I could not describe in words. She somehow managed to sing what was in my heart. And then she disappeared. For seven years. I checked every now and then (on the internet, of course) to see if she might be around somewhere, and there was nothing. Silence. And I was sad. Last fall, little signs that she was resurfacing were found. And then, she announced the news of her new record, Letting Go, which releases May 11. And she started to tour. Oh, but to contain my excitement was not possible. I told everyone I know, whether they...

Every few weeks we loaded the car two hours it took never seeming too far but taking too long The sun was ahead the mornings we left my heart would fill up expectant and eager love was ahead Half way was marked easy by bridge made of glass the sky became bigger the closer we got to Highway 60 Houses were spaced I knew we were close in the distance I spotted my Grandparent's house inviting body and soul Tires crunch on the gravel the car comes to a stop the garden awaits directly in front He meets us as always all wrinkled and tall his eyes always sparkled Inside to the kitchen where lunch was prepared fresh bread soft and squishy bologna and chips on Highway 60 The garden was bigger than I'd ever seen with tomatoes, potatoes, peas and green beans the birds sang more loudly than they did at home the porch was my playhouse the couch was my throne my own little world feeling safe and warm along Highway 60 I loved playing there until it was time to load back in the car make the tri...

For those of you who are following (but not subscribing to The Village Church updates), my pastor, Matt Chandler had his follow up MRI today. Here is the link to his video with MRI results and treatment plan. God is good. MRI/Treatment Plan: Video Update from Matt Chandler

Sunday, March 14 Fred and I were able to get away for an entire afternoon and play with "our new toy". With the worship service over and no children at home we felt free as birds. So we headed to Krum, Texas. This is where we hanger our Piper Cub airplane. Many people (even in Texas) have not heard of Krum, so I included a photo. We stopped for a bite of lunch at the local Mexican restaurant and watched the folks at the church across the street leave their services and walk right across the street for lunch. After our delicious meal, we drove another few miles up the road to the hanger. Yep, this is it. And the runway? There it is... Yes, it is grass! It is not necessary to have pavement to take of and land in a small airplane! Here is my hubby, opening the doors to the hanger, revealing one beautiful yellow wing. This is the traditional color of this particular aircraft. If you want to read more about this wonderful little plane, here is the Wikipedia link. Piper J-3 Cub...

So, another week and I remembered to take photos! Hooray! In fact, I have so many from today, that I will do a separate post for them. :) But, here is what my week looked like - by photograph. I try and buy flowers for my house at least twice a month. This week, I purchased some green roses. Yep, green. I forgot what the florist called them, and in the past, I would have thought they were horribly ugly. Something about them struck me this week and I bought them. Maybe because my kitchen is apple green (as you can see in the background), or maybe because I was not in the mood for contrast...I am not sure, but there they are. They are still alive today and it has been an entire week! Rebecca has been saving her money since January to purchase the new Final Fantasy game for Play Station 3. Too bad she didn't own a PS3. Now she does, thanks to several babysitting jobs, a new real job and a loan from her loving mother. This is her posture the day that she picked up the game...the re...

I love this blog: TheResurgence A couple of weeks ago, I saw this post on there and chuckled. Just Shut Up Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent. - Proverbs 11:12 After chuckling for a few minutes, I began to think about remaining silent and being a (wo)man of silence. I really like to talk and there used to be a time that I was not so aware of when I was"belittling my neighbor". God has gotten a hold of me in this area, but sometimes I am still tempted...expecially at work. There are days that drama and talking "bad" about others in the office seem to go on and on and on. During these seasons in my office, I do a lot of praying. We are in that season now so last week, I printed and displayed this post on the wall above my desk. Boy, have I ever needed it. It has helped...me. But I do wish I could post it on everyone else's desk! Just sayin'... For a little fun, how about a Friday Fill-in? So...here we go! 1. ...

For many years now, I have been blessed by the little radio spots by Howard Butts Jr. of Laity Lodge entitled, The High Calling of Our Daily Work, especially since going back to work (outside of home) when my youngest daughter started school. I had been a stay at home mom for seventeen years raising two boys and one girl, though tough at times, my daily work and God were meshed together somewhat naturally. I instinctively knew I needed God to help me be a wife and a mother and I relied on Him to show me what to do. When my daughter started school, I took a part time job with a local bank. After 17 years at home, this was culture shock! Even though I had worked in the bank environment before, learning to work with (and care about) people who did not rely on the Lord was eye-opening and challenging. I found that many people didn’t know Him nor did they even care to find out about Him. The way that conflict and even joy was handled, differed from person to person, and I wasn’t quite...

If you read my post entitled " I Have Not Perished ", you know that my purse was stolen and I have had a couple of weeks that included a good amount of stress! BUT.... there have been some absolutely wonderful things going on too! I managed to get photos of some of them, which makes me happy! Luckily, I have no photos of the broken window that was on my car, no pictures of my new coach purse that was stolen along with all that was in it. All that I have to look at is a file titled, "Theft February 15, 2010" These photographs; however, will remind of the the real things that mattered during the last couple of weeks. Our daughter started her first job this week! She is hostessing at a local Mexican restaurant. This is a picture of she and her co-worker (and long time friend). My husband, my son, his girlfriend, and me dropped by for dinner on her first night at work. She was the best hostess I have ever had seat me! After eating a wonderful meal, the four of us went t...