autumn has arrived!

I have lots in my head about the Gospel of John and accountability, so instead of thinking on them (which I should have), I edited a bunch of photographs from recently. I hope you'll enjoy. For the full album, you can click the link on the right hand side of the screen. Here are some of my favorites:

2 recent lessons

I've learned 2 great things through my classes that are certainly not going to leave me any time soon:

1. From Greek, I learned that the word for hope is ελπις. An accurate definition of hope in the Greek is the "confident anticipation of what we know will surely come to pass." In this season, I am reminded of friends who are living in the sureness of their hopes, with confident anticipation that the God given hope of their future will surely come to pass. I pray for you reading this that you will lean with a confident anticipation on what you know will surely come to pass because God is faithful to his promises.

2. I learned a great lesson on marriage during an impromptu rabbit trail sermon/lesson. Our professor mentioned that we practice divorce whenever we leave the room during an argument. I have heard it often said that we dangerously practice marriage when we stay overnight with the person we're dating. It's dangerous because there is not yet the level of commitment to Christ and to your relationship when you practice the covenant of marriage before it is made. However, I had never heard of practicing divorce. The fact is, when you leave a room when you're mad, next time you will likely leave the house. The not-so-subliminal message that you're sending is: I am better off getting through this argument without you. You could see where this would lead to an actual separation. With a sad number of people around us contemplating divorce, I am reminded of the work involved in doing marriage. I would beseech you as a friend to live in your marriage this week, and even when you're arguing, practice being together.

october thoughts

prepare for a feast of randomness...1. Larry-- thank you for celebrating our anniversary in the most perfect way. I will never forget today. It couldn't have been more thoughtful-- my kinda flowers and pizza on the beach included.

2. I wish I had learned earlier just how much there was to learn from the early Christians about how to live life today. Exhibit A, coming from Ignatius circa 100 AD: "For the work we have to do is no affair of persuasive speaking; Christianity lies in achieving greatness in the face of a world's hatred" (Ignatius to the Romans, 3). Had I had his arguments against gnosticism (the 100AD version of New Age thought) I could have combated Baron Baptiste in my yoga class much more persuasively and with better vocabulary.

3. Did you know that God proclaimed, as in spoke, his glory to Moses rather than showing it to Him visibly? You probably know the story in Exodus 33-34 when Moses says "now, show me your glory," and God hides Moses in the cleft of the rock as he passes by him? Well Exodus 34 says as he passes by the Lord proclaims to Moses who He is! Now, John 1:14, we have seen the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ, for (paraphrase 1:18) until Jesus, no one could look upon God and live! We have seen his glory!

4. The Lone Gull in Gloucester (pronounce Glo-stah) has an amazing caramel latte.

5. I know I haven't been posting, but if you want to see (with your eyes rather than have it proclaimed to you) what we've been doing over the past 2 months, click on the photo stream on the right to see our recent pics in Picasa.

lighthearted... peace prize

I hope you have a sense of humor as you read this. Slowpoke, a political cartoon website, posted this cartoon about why Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. I laughed :)

makeup must-haves!

No one knows the deals at Sephora like my sister. She's worked there for several years and has awesome advice uniquely for each person that walks in the store. She's started a blog just to let you know what items are currently on sale there and which new items you should give a try! I highly recommend it if the idea of walking into a store like Sephora and picking out the ONE mascara for you feels like a daunting task. Check her out here! (http://sephorabydanni.blogspot.com/)

Just a few things she's clued me into that would have done me well to know earlier:

1. Nanette Lepore perfume

2. Tarte foundation (it's my sunscreen, moisturizer, foundation and powder all in one!)

3. Urban Decay eye shadow

4. The power of good brushes in helping you apply eye shadow.

I hope you'll check out her advice!