Sad Day

Jo and I have these matching Glasses. they have these green ducks with ribbons around their necks. we got them at the dollar store that used to be next to Rollerskateland.

mine broke today :(

i really loved that cup, but it's just a cup and now i have a reason to look for a new set for us :)

a fond farewell green duck cup you will be missed.

An Early Letter For My Love 12/15/07

This was written as Heather, Lauren, and I were flying back to America after our semester in England was over. It documents our return with God's finger prints all over it. Enjoy :D

Cabin pressure



we are on the plane right now and i’m thinking about you and i’m missing you. i watched my christmas present it was funny and i really liked it and it was cool how you remembered even little things like the 1st time we linked arms, or when we were looking at fabrics in boyes. i didn’t cry when i watched it so that was good. i put your ring on my necklace with the cross so i will always have it on.

i’m sorry i was such an emotional wreck when we left i just could not handle my emotions and it felt like every thing in my heart was coming out of my eyes all night long. it was really hard saying good bye to some people, but you most of all. i am excited to see what god has for us while we are apart. and i am keeping in mind that we will skype each other, and we will see each other during easter.

when i think about you giving me the ring, and what that ring means for you and now US i get really excited. that was the best thing anyone has ever given me and i love thinking of spending the rest of my life with you. i think it’s pretty cool that not only we can see how god has brought us together, but lots of other people can as well. i’m really proud of you and how you finished bible college so well. it was really cool hearing what the teachers had to say about you and i know that they meant every word of it and more. i loved meeting your parents and your brothers, i hope that the brownies were good, cause the oven was acting funny when i cooked them . your mom was really nice and i am stoked to get to know them more.

ok so really cool stuff happened when we left. your taxi guy was really nice to us, and he told us that the other guy gets really stressed a lot and it wasn’t our fault. the other girls made it to the train on time, and we sat together and we all fell asleep on the way up there. we said our good buys and it was really hard, aside form saying bye to you these were the ones i was dreading the most. as we got off the train at kings cross my bag broke due to the weight of all my stuff. i had to basically drag my bags because they would no longer roll any where. that was hard, but it had me relying on god the whole time so it was good.
we got to the tube and we found it really quickly, and where we stood is right where a door was when the tube stopped. so that was really cool, and there weren’t a lot of people on there when we got on there. then when we went to get off i prayed that it would be the door behind me that would open so i could get off quickly without having to turn around. and that was the door that opened.

when we were coming up the stairs we had to help heather carry her stuff and after doing her bags i then had to do my own. i was soo tired i thought i wasn’t going to make it and just when i was about to cry out a lady asked me if i needed help. it was really amazing she helped me lug them up the other half of the way and then went her own way.
then we were at victoria and we found our train to the airport quickly. when we got off the train there were two other girls who were on our flight and there was a porter who took all of our luggage for us and he took right where we needed to be in line. when we walked in the main area of the airport there were soo many people and lines every where. i then knew why people told us we needed to be there so early, but they guy took us right where we needed to be and we were helped as soon as we got there.

i knew i would need to pay extra for my bag so when the guy told me i was over he sent me to another line and i went and talked to a guy about paying the fee. i was waiting for a lil while then i was helped. they guy looked at my paper work and typed in some stuff, and then waived my fees. he told me they were soo busy that i was jut going to let me get by this one time and that i needed to remember next time i travel to keep my bags under weight . how amazing! i was saved money that i had in my mind committed to spending. then i went and got my refund for my computer it was 141 dollars! so i got money back and i didn’t need to pay the fee for my bags.

we got through all the lines ahead of schedule, and god helped us to get here pretty stress free. and while there where moments when we could have been really upset, we looked at it from the perspective that god will take care of it and we don’t need to fret about it. it was totally cool.

this flight is really long, but it is almost over. i think we only have like an hour and a half left until we land in Minneapolis. we are getting back latter than we had thought cause they changed our connection flight by about an hour but it is still good.

i have these thoughts running around in my head much like the little kids on this flight are who keep running up and down the aisles. my thoughts, keep going back and forth, but like the kids, they are not irritating and and every one seems to enjoy it. i’m thinking about you and my life wiht you and what it will be like to finally live close to you so we an see each other like a normal couple. not living right next door to each other, but not being a whole country and oceans away from one another. when we can call each other and not worry about what the time difference is, and just be able to stop by and hang out before we have to go to work or school or church. being able to share what we learned that day about god and what we were blessed with that day. it will be as it should be.

it is amazing to me that we fit together like puzzles pieces so perfectly and there is only one other piece that can lock on to me. i thank the lord that he has provided for me a man who can lead me and does not try to change who i am and loves me for what i am and who i am. i know this, not because you tell me so, but because it is the same way that god made me for you. helen shared something with us in womens d a while ago about how the reason her and henry can love one another is because the lord has put the love of helen in henry’s heart and i see that in us.

i love you and i will go with you where ever the lord leads you to take us.

Your Beloved,
Donna

The LORD Is Good

He knows me so well. He knows what delights me and how to catch my eye. He knows when I am weak and and when I need shelter. He knows what I truly need, and what is simply a want. He is so good.

There have been several freak out moments since we have moved here. Moments when your gut hits the floor and you think "HOLY CRAP what is going on here?" often accompanied with tears. But the longer we have been here we are learning to quickly turn to Him.

I think of it in these terms, eventually I will turn to God and say "welp I've run out of ideas and though I have strived my hardest to make this problem work itself out with my logic, I run into brick wall after brick wall. Take this thing over I can't do it and I know you can"

So I have decided to cut out the middle man, which would be me running into brick walls and then in exhaustion giving it to God. Just hand it over early and enjoy my life knowing that my Father has it under control. I am by no means saying that I have mastered this method of dealing with the crazy curve balls that come our way, but what I am saying is that this system seems to be working thus far and the more I test it the more it stands up.

So what does that look like in real life?
Before we moved we needed an apt and jobs and He gave us both the week before the SOM classes started
We needed a Good Godly church and we are now attending Morningstar Christian Chapel
We needed new friends who lived near us that we could share our lives with and our church has a great young adults ministry that we have gotten plugged into.
We need to pay our rent and tuition at the end of this month and He has provided the funds from unexpected places.

I still marvel at His provision, not because I didn't think He would come through for us, but because of how He does it. Our life undeniably has the fingerprints of God all over it. And though there are challenges unlike those we have had to face before every time He can handle it.

The LORD is Good

Storm Watch 2010: The Flood

currently i am sitting in our apt with the lights off, not because the power went out, but because as i sit on my little wooden step stool i can see the rain and the rising water better. we have decided not to go to church tonight because the street is flooded nearly to our knees at some points. Aaron went out to get the mail and i was ironing some clothes when he comes in looking like a little boy telling me that we can't go to church tonight because the street is flooded. and then there was a pause where he kept staring at me and then he says wanna go see it? it was adorable.

so i slip on the vans and head out to check out how high the water has gotten. over the past few days since sunday the water has gotten higher and higher creeping towards our house. then it would stop raining and slowly drain away. this is the worst it has been out of all the days yet. the rain has not stopped all day sometimes it is only light rain other times like now it is pouring down.

as i'm observing how high it has risen i realize we need documentation of this event. aaron heads back to get the camera and i to get my wellies on, cause when it's raining and there is a good size flood right out side your door who in their right mind wouldn't have thought lets see how deep it really is by standing in it. and that ladies and gentlemen is how ppl get stuck in flooded areas all the time. for documentation's sake.

we head back out( with out a jacket of course) and i debate how to get out there. but then a car drives by causing a wave of water to rush by me. don't fret i do not fall i'm wearing my wellies of course.

after timing it right between cars driving by i head out into the murky brown grossness that is 4th st. aaron stands on the sidewalk and takes my picture after several attempts with cars driving by we finally get a shot where you can kinda make out that i am indeed standing in a giant lake that used to be our street. so as we head back in i take a few other pictures to document just how much water we have gotten. our pool in nearly full maybe less than an inch til it has reached the edge, and the giant lake that has formed on what used to be our lawn.

so we are still alive and we still have power. i'm wondering with this much rain is this how the ppl who scoffed at noah felt at first until they realized it wasn't draining anymore.























our pool













our new lake (ie the lawn)

a day off

i woke up this morning to make the love bug some coffee so he could be some what awake during class, then i looked up recipes for gravy so i can make fab chicken gravy to go on the mashed tatoes. tonight we are having crockpot chicken and i'm going to make some chicken stock form the leftovers. i love having my own kitchen to cook in :)

i look around our apt and all i can think is God is good. even when "bad things" happen they are to his glory. monday night the pastor was starting ruth and he talked about her circumstances after she left with her husband to go out of Bethlehem. how it had changed her whole demeanor going from pleasant and good to bitter. and understandably so. so when i look at the things that throw me for a loop i think what do i have to complain about? why does my attitude move rapidly like the needle on the richter scale? i am slowly growing in being able to see the good before i am overwhelmed by what seems terrible thus keeping a consistent attitude of praise rather than grumbling.

lots to do today, cleaning, cooking, and other errands. love you guys and know that you are in my prayers.

because my job requires very limited mental skills i have a lot of time to think. so much so that sometimes after work i am so tired of hearing my inner monolog all i want to do is veg out. lame i know. also, because i think so much, i always intend to write blogs about what i have seen or thought of until i get home and i forget to because i feel like i have already gone through the process of writing it down and analyzing it.

we met the pastor of our new church and got to talk to him and his wife (Jack and Debbie). it was so very cool. they are very down to earth people and i totally feel like we can relate with them and learn so much. i had a dream last night that they invited us over to their house to hang out and we just sat and talked for hours about everything and anything that entered our brains. it was a nice dream.

tonight we go to the college/young adult ministry. Debbie introduced us to Chris the pastor of that group and he was around our age, maybe a few years older than Aaron. tonight will be their Christmas Concert type deal yay!

any who i need to get ready for work seeing as how i have to leave in like a 1/2 hr and i'm still in the state i was when i rolled out of bed. and i'm not talking about California.

the tree!!

mom and dad came down and gave us their old tree and bought us decorations and everything :) they are awesome. it was nice spending time with them (even though dad fell asleep so mom and i went in the other room to watch a movie)
the love bug and i decorated it the next day after work and of course we added a few interesting touches of our own. nuff chit chat here's the pics.