Snow!

As I'm writing this, my blinds are drawn, and I'm watching big, fat snowflakes float to the ground. Time to make hot chocolate! Saints' Super Bowl win, snow, Mardi Gras parades, and crawfish all in one week?! I love winter!

Unchanging and Relentless

I'm so glad that even when my circumstances seem out of control, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) and that even when I don't feel like running hard after God, He is sprinting after me.

Black and Gold Super Bowl!!!

If you still needed reassurance that miracles still happen, you got your proof tonight! The Saints won the Super Bowl!!! Wow! Geaux Saints! Who dat?!

What a great time to be in Louisiana. In the six and a half years I've lived in this glorious state, I've witnessed LSU's two football national championships, one basketball Final Four, and one baseball national championship...and to top it all off, a Lombardi trophy for the Saints! Pretty amazing stuff.

Congrats to Sean Payton, Drew Brees, and the Saints...it's just another example of how excellent leadership on and off the field is what truly makes champions at heart.

And seriously, wasn't that image of Drew Brees and his baby just tear-jerking? Awww.

Oh, and one more thing...check out my fleur de lis cookies! The icing's pretty sloppy, but I was nervous for the game!

More pain in Haiti

Another earthquake struck the already-overwhelmed Haiti this morning. Please be in prayer for the people of Haiti and relief workers from all over the world trying desperately to regain some sort of order and save as many lives as possible. If you're able, please think about giving to any of the may relief funds. My fund of choice is Compassion International's Disaster Relief Fund. To donate, click here: https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/disasterrelief.htm?referer=105910.

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I got lost in Lost...big time

Hello again, fair reader. If it seems like a while since I've written, that's because I've been a bit preoccupied with a new obsession in the form of Lost. Oh man, is it addicting. I had been holding out to watch it after I graduated, so I started a week or so ago and managed to watch all five seasons in rapid succession (thank you, Netflix!). This show should come with a Surgeon General's warning because it's like crack. One night, I seriously stayed up til 7am. No lie.

And it's just so smart. I love a good show that makes my brain hurt. I think my jaw may be sore from dropping so much. The allusions to the Bible and literature weave little mysteries in and out of the plot line and occasionally make for a great punch line (like the time Sawyer calls Charlie "Oliver Twist" HAHA!). Bottom line: I. Love. It.

I'm waiting anxiously for the premiere on February 2, and to bide the time, I decided to make a list of all the questions I have to see how many they end up answering in the final season. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just skip the rest of this post. ;) Here goes nothin'...*insert obligatory spoiler alert here*

1. Who is Jacob's mysterious nemesis? Esau maybe? And is he good or bad?
2. What the frick is the smoke monster?!
3. What makes Walt so "special?"
4. Why can only Claire raise Aaron, and where is that girl anyway?
5. Will Charlie come back somehow? (Oh, I do hope so! He's my fave.)
6. Will Desmond have to return to the island? Will that lead Penny to look for him again (using that snowy listening station)?
7. What happened after the nuke went off?
8. What happened to the real Locke? Is he really dead?
9. Who are the Adam and Eve skeletons in the caves?
10. What happened to Ben's childhood friend Annie?
11. What's in Hurley's guitar case, and why did Jacob give it to him?
12. Why didn't Sun go back to 1977?
13. Why can Hurley and Miles see/talk to dead people?
14. Is Widmore really good or bad?
15. Will someone finally kill Ben already?!!!
16. Who was the man in the hot air balloon?
17. Will Aaron ever get Charlie's DS ring?
18. How did Desmond, Charlie, Eko, and Locke survive the Swan implosion?
19. Will Sayid somehow get Nadia back?
20. Will we get to see the Dharma headquarters in Ann Arbor?
21. Are there more Dharma stations?
22. Why does the Island/Jacob speak through Christian?
23. What is "the Island's" real agenda?
24. Where did Richard Alpert come from, and why does he never age?
25. What happened to the Arrow station, and why was there a Bible there?
26. What are the whispers in the jungle really?
27. I know the numbers will still have an important significance, but what?!
28. How did the statue get destroyed?
29. What exactly is this "sickness" that the French crew got, and why has none of the survivors of 815 gotten ill?
30. What happened after 1977 that prevented babies from being born on the Island?
31. Did the Island have any natives living on it originally?
32. Why did they draw the map on the back of the blast doors in the Swan station?
33. Why did Stuart kill himself? Or did he?
34. Will Jack and Kate FINALLY end up together?
35. And...will the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 EVER get OFF the Island?!!!

It's not too much to ask to get all that answered, now is it? :) I know those genius writers can do it...

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news

At this very moment, a family who has become as dear to me as my own is stepping onto a plane and making the 24 hour journey to Africa in obedience to God's call on their lives as missionaries to Arua, Uganda. It's been such a joy (and so enlightening) to watch God move in every little step of The Taylors' adventure thus far, and I can't wait to hear all about how God uses them to influence the hearts of the Lugbara people. Praise God for friendship in Christ, following His will, and beginning new and exciting adventures totally on faith. Please join me in praying for this amazing family. If you'd like to follow their journey, check out Kat's blog, http://tothebridgeandback.blogspot.com/.

Now for the official shout-out. Doug, Kat, Kylie, Karis, and Caleb, I love you all big time! And I'm saving up to come visit when I can! May your travels be safe, your transitions be smooth, and your faith be strengthened. I know you'll impact your new city just as strongly as you have impacted my life. I can't wait to hear all about it! Thank goodness for the Internet!

Evening Prayer

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. He's Lord over every moment of history, every fleeting second of the present, and every anticipated tomorrow (for eternity!), and that's the God who holds my life in His beautiful hands. How could I ever think this life was about me? And why would I ever want to be the one in control? Oh, God, how You must laugh when I try. Please forgive the times I take the brush from Your masterful hand in order to create a mess of muddied color on a canvas for which you planned an exquisite masterpiece.

This is my evening prayer. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my will and make it Thine. It shall be no longer mine.