Sunshine

It's been a BUSY time lately, hence no recent posts.

Let's see...I sold my house in December. That was a HUGE blessing! I was even able to do it on my own without a realtor. I moved on Dec. 10 and was fortunate to have a great friend ready for a roommate. My good friend Ara has welcomed me to her home, and now we have a full house! She has 2 dogs, Cricket & Oliver, and I have Russell. They all play and are still getting used to it, but it's going well. Her fenced in back yard gives Mr. Russell lots of room to move & play. The picture above is of Russell and Cricket catching some rays over the weekend. They are becoming good friends.

In addition to the move, I studied for the GRE, had to get through finals for the semester, took a trip to Chicago, and prepared for the holidays. It has been a whirlwind!!! Although there has been lots going on, all of these things are positive changes.

Allison and her husband's side of the family experienced great tragedy. Their little nephew, Mason Bradley Pfanner, passed away suddenly in his sleep last week. The little one was two months old and cute as a button. Needless to say, it has been a tough time on all of them, especially around the holidays. You can see his picture here .

Christmas was spent in Kansas City with Mom, Melanie and many others from Mom's side of the family. It was a good time full of "churchin' it up" (a term melanie and I refer to those days in which we attend more than one church service). I took so much time off in late Nov./early Dec. with all that was going on, so it was a quick trip to KC. I was back at work on Tuesday. It was a nice, quiet, productive day.

Now onward to 2007! What will the New Year bring? I'm excited to see. Happy New Year to all! I pray it will be full of smiles, laughter, and love.

Big Day for Russell

Russell had a little "surgery," well, actually a few. He was neutered and had some work done to improve his breathing (pugs often have difficulty, especially as they get older, so this should help prevent that). Here is a picture of him I took shortly after I picked him up. He's still getting used to the "e-collar." It stays on for 10 days until stitches come out. Aw, poor little guy!

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Beckum

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A beautiful, crisp November day in St. Louis welcomed guests from near & far to share in the nuptuials of Mr. Will Beckum and Miss Katie Martin. The Theta ladies had a fun reunion, with many pledge classes represented. Here are a few pictures that capture some of smiles shared at Mr. & Mrs. Beckum's wedding! Congratulations Katie & Will!!!

Defense for Unbelief

In small group meeting last night, we had an amazing discussion about anxiety & fear in our lives...things that cause our faith to be weakened. It was powerful. Here's some of the scripture that was referenced as we walked through the discussion:

Romans 4:19-21
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. (Speaking here of Abraham in Genesis 15 & 16)

2 Timothy 1:7
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Romans 8:13
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

John 14:27
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Matthew 6:25-27
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Matthew 28-34
28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Philippians 4:6-7
6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

Anxiety and fear are not from God. God does, however, give us defenses to help us combat our unbelief. Our defense to unbelief is go glorify God...dig out his promises to us in the Bible and pray over them.

Tigers in Husker Territory

It was a fun trip to Lincoln, NE this weekend...despite the Tiger loss. Best bud Liz Harper and I got to catch up as we often do when the Huskers and Tigers face off. Liz's boyfriend, Scott, is a Husker alumnus. It provides a good couples rivalry each year. In this picture we're enjoing the post-game festivities. It was packed! There were very few people in black and gold. Although the Tigers lost, we did run in to Paul from Extreme Home Makeover. I was excited to have the chance to personally thank him for telling me about Camp Barnabas. I met Paul for the first time when they were in Columbia gathering Mizzou items for the makeover they did at Barnabas last fall. Paul & his producer say Barnabas is still their favorite story. I wouldn't be surprised if some day they go back to do some more sprucing up to the camp :-).

Trick or Treat!

It was a night of Halloween fun as Ara & I carved pumpkins, greeted cutely costumed kids, passed out candy, baked pumpkin seeds and enjoyed the night! Russell got in to it as well. Maybe next year he'll even have a costume :-).

The Road Not Taken

 

 

Preparing to run 12 miles this week makes me think of one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost. This picture is of the beautiful MKT trail where I like to run!


THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Russell's First Sweater

Today is a big day, Russell has clothes! I know, many of you may think this is ridiculous, but just look at the picture...he looks so cute! I actually think he likes it. Sometimes he gets chilly on the tile in the kitchen. This keeps him more warm and cozy.

Happy Homecoming

This past weekend was one of my favorite holidays, Mizzou Homecoming! It was my first year on "the other side" in quite some time. Rather than working and being in charge, I was able to relax and have a good time. It was a full weekend, but lots of fun. The Tigers pulled off a great 41-21 victory over the K-State Wildcats to make the weekend complete!

Happy Homecoming!

Best Birthday Ever :-)

I really believe this was the best birthday ever! The celebration lasted more than a week and was made special by family, frends and colleagues. Here's a picture of the cake mom and I had to celebrate both of our birthdays (only 3 days apart!).

Fall Kickball Fun

Freak Show Kickball

We had a blast this fall playing kickball at Cosmo Park on Friday evenings! Here are some pictures from our last game of the season.

The We Love Marty Party :-)

We Love Marty Party

Oct 6, 2006 - 18 Photos

On September 22, we had a bash for mom to send her out in style! Movers packed up the Ohio homestead, then Allison, Melanie & Brad "took her to dinner." Little did she know a house full of her best friends were awaiting her arrival at the Hart's home! She was so surprised. She had no idea I was coming either. I flew back to MO the next morning. Mom and Melanie drove in on Sunday. Mom is now trying to get settled back into KC life. KC is where she grew up, but she hasn't lived there in 30+ years and she's realizing a lot has changed! She's happy to be around family and friends though. Click photo above to view album.

Summer Recap

Here are links to recap the summer:

Camp Barnabas

May 31, 2006 - 72 Photos

Summer 2006 Pics

Aug 7, 2006 - 55 Photos

Summer Wine Party

Good bye summer!

Sep 2, 2006 - 5 Photos