A shepherd looks at Psalm 23

I borrowed a book from my gram. It is rocking my world right now. It is called "A shepherd looks at Psalm 23" by Phillip Keller.

Maybe I am like last on the train to read this book and discover Christ's unique character through it but if you haven't heard of it check it out. It is an old book, one that is yellowed with age but holds truth in it that I have never known before.

It was written by a man who grew up in Africa herding sheep. He takes the famous psalm written by David and breaks it down from a shepherds perspective. I have only gotten through the first chapter but it is really teaching me a lot.

Here a few things that have jumped out at me:
"Many who either read or study the Scriptures in the 20th century come from an urban, man-made environment. They are often unfamiliar with such subjects as livestock, crops, and fruit etc. They miss much of the truth taught in God's word because they are not familiar with such things as sheep, wheat, soil or grapes."

"Our view of Him is often too small--- too cramped--too provincial--to human. And because it we feel unwilling to allow Him to have authority or control--much less outright ownership of our lives."

Talking about David's proclamation 'The LORD is my shepherd':  " after all, he knew from firsthand experience that the lot in life of any particular sheep depend on the type of man who owned it. Some men were gentle, kind, intelligent, brae and selfless in their devotion to their stock. Under one man sheep would struggle, starve and suffer endless hardship. In another's care they would flourish and thrive contentedly."

" His ownership of me as a human being is legitimate----simply because it is He who brought me into being and no one is better to able to understand or care for me"

I am so enjoying these truths as I read about our Lord the Good Shepherd.

plans this weekend

I don't really have any plans this weekend. I mean I have plans like: laundry, sleeping, playing in the park, reading bedtime stories, worship, watching lost (we are so sucked into it, its bad:) but that is about it.


Last weekend we went down to st. simons island to see my sweet Gram who was in the hospital and spend some time with extended family. Thats a post for another day but in the meantime drool over some of these yummy lunches/dinners I would love to make for my family this weekend. All courtsey of pinterest.

fun with lovey

fun times this weekend with molly and lovey

baby girl loves to stand on couches and chairs

such a lil dare devil!



how i love thee

jesus is so gracious. so so so gracious. HE is why i breathe.

i am so so so imperfect. i am so mixed up and messed up. i was dead. i was really dead.

now i am alive. i am ALIVE. only by HIM can i breathe. i can breathe.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

2 Peter 1: 3

our little valentine

we spent our valentines together as a family with no electricity. none. i complained even though i know that many people around the world live with out electricity on a daily basis. it messed up my plans. how were we going to stay warm? what about dinner? i had groceries to put in the fridge? what about molly's sound machine? blah blah blah.

thank goodness allen is my other half. he made things infinitely better by finding candles and lanterns from old camping trips. we thankfully also have natural gas that heats our water and our fireplace and stove so issues like dinner and bath time worked themselves out. molly's sound machine is actually an old iphone with a sound machine app and it was fully charged so that worked out fine too. it was cold outside so some groceries were able to say out on the back porch and allen grilled our steaks on the grill. we had fun.

allen said several times, " we will always remember this valentines day when we had no electricity" and he was right. i will remember lighting candles in our kitchen, dining room and living room. i will remember bathing molly with a lantern as our only light. i will remember us rummaging through the fridge/freezer as fast as we can so that cold air would not escape. i will remember that in the middle of our dinner when the electricity came back on and we cheered and then i asked allen to turn the lights back off because if was more fun talking to one another and eating by candlelight.

our Jesus takes care of us and was patient with me while i struggled with being a brat about not having electricity. i knew that it wasn't the end of the world, i knew that it was more important that i had my family and that we had heat from the fireplace and we were safe. however i still struggled. i still wanted MY plans and i sulked when they didn't happen. HE is always patient and slow to anger. he helped me turn my attitude around and used my sweet husband to help that process.

it was a perfect valentines day. absolutely perfect.

my heart to your heart

i love you!

happy valentine's day

xoxo

whitney. allen. molly 

weekend faves

here are a few of my weekend faves in no particular order

1. walking around the neighborhood with the dogs on a really cold Sunday afternoon
2. my mother in law surprising us and bringing over warm tortilla soup for dinner
3. re-arranging  molly's room
4. discovering more of molly's sense of humor
5. girl talk with a good friend Friday night
6. clean sheets on our bed
7. our go to Sunday lunch: grilled cheese and ham with sriracha

seasons of life

I read a quote today that said " childhood is the most beautiful of all of life's seasons" (anonymous) and I started thinking about the different "seasons" of my life.  It is amazing to think of how different each season has been for me as I have grown up and become no longer a girl but a woman. If I am honest with myself (and you) I still to prefer to call myself a girl because woman seems old and mature but in reality I am a woman. When I was a girl I thought about myself mainly. I didn't see very far beyond my own needs and wants. I was given many opportunities to serve others in the name of Jesus and that absolutely speared me on towards living as a woman who saw others rather than just self.  I thought about cute clothes and boys and what others thought of me. I had a hard time imagining myself with a husband or with a child and the thought of buying a house seemed scary.

I still think buying/selling a house is scary. I still want to wear cute clothes and I worry sometimes about how others see me. However, I know that I married the best man God had for me and that being a mom was my destiny. I think back on the hours that I prayed to God and worried about what I was going to "major" in or do with my life and now I know. I am going to be a mom. Part time to students on a daily basis who struggle with reading and math and behavior issues but also full time to my own child who I love and adore a million times more than myself. I know that saving money and working with what I have in my closet is more valuable and important than wearing the worlds cutest pair of skinny jeans. I know that giving up what I want is way harder but so worth it. I used to have anxiety about how others saw my outward appearance and now I really only care about how my heart looks.

I used to pray all the time that God would mold me into the woman of God he created me to be and I finally am beginning to believe and see that He is doing just that.

**picture of Ariccia, Italy where I spent the summer of 2004 learning and loving all things Italian

my favorite part of yesterday

my favorite part of yesterday occurred at 6am.

after an early morning awakening at 4am by our little one and our attempts to help her fall back asleep I finally caved and brought her into our bed at 6. She nestled down next to me and snuggled up beside me. She sighed and immediately began snoring. She stretched her arms out above her head and in her sleep searched for my hand.

it was such a beautiful moment. I was struggling to keep my eyes open but I really wanted to remember everything. The look on her face, the soft pajamas and the paci moving up and down with each suck. Her tiny fingers curled around my hand and the way her wispy hair fell across her face.

oh my goodness I am so thankful for that moment. it has been etched in my heart forever. being molly's mama was what i was made to do.

big hair = good times

this morning on the way to work i opted out of my normal routine. my normal routine being either a) listen to worship music or b) listen to NPR radio.

i instead listened to Cher. it was fabulous. i had such a great time singing in my car. i forgot how good it felt to sing to like that.

i just wish i could pull of that hairstyle of hers...wouldn't that be something?