Peace is Possible

I know that I haven't posted in a few days, and it's not that I can't find things to be thankful for, it's just that life gets crazy and exhausting and it's hard to sit down and write amidst it all.

But, here I am, sitting and writing. Life is still crazy and exhausting, but I'm writing.

This morning my dad, sister, and I went for a walk through a park near our apartment. The sun was shining, baseball teams composed of middle-aged men were playing, and the ducks were waddling. There was a park bench at the top of a grassy hill that you could sit on and see the tippy-top of the mountains in the distance. There was a playground with a tire swing that my dad swung my sister on, and swings that she and I competed to see who could swing the highest on.

I was at peace. Even in the midst of a crazy and exhausting life, this morning in the park was proof that peace is possible.

Blogging and Dancing

Right now, as I'm blogging, my sister is dancing.

I love how different we are, and how much we love, accept, and encourage each other, even in our differences.

I'm going to miss Colie so much when I go back to school. Thank you, Lord, so much, for this summer we have spent together. She is growing up into such a wonderful young lady.

Tonight's Plan

- I drink a delicious mug of hot cocoa
- Nicole drinks a delicious mug of chocolate milk
- We sit together and finish reading Lewis' Prince Caspian

Thank you, Lord, for this fun night of yummy drinks and great literature.

Funny Accents

 "'...It was a bright, secret, quiet place, and rather sad; and all four stepped out into the middle of it, glad to be able to straighten their backs and move their limbs freely.'" I closed the book, and looked up. "Nicole, that's the end of chapter one; do you want to read chapter two?"

"Sure", she says, as she grabs C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian  from my hands. It's summer time, and that means it's Narnia time. Our goal is to finish the entire series before the summer closes. We are sitting outside on our porch; the sun is shining, a rarity in Washington. Nevertheless, it's still chilly enough to drink our delicious mugs of homemade hot cocoa as we read to each other.

"OK, chapter two. 'The Ancient Treasure House' Oooh."

I roll my eyes. "Keep reading, Colie".

She smiles, and continues. "''This wasn't a garden,' said Susan presently. 'It was a castle and this must have been the courtyard.''" Colie read in a deep Southern accent.

"Colie! They are from England! They aren't southern!" I laughed as I spoke.

"Hahaha, oh yeah, that's right", Colie said with a laugh.



Thank you, Lord, for a hilarious time with the southern children from Narnia.

Creativity

Today I am so thankful for the creativity God has blessed my family with.

My little sister and I are about to make posters for a Summer Fun Kick Off-Party our church is throwing tomorrow for the whole community (so, please be praying that God will bless all of our hard work and bring many people to know the Lord), and Nicole is going to be the main artist for these posters. My dad designed them. I just have a really artistic and creative family.

Thanks, God, for not making your children boring. Thank you, Lord, for giving us all unique gifts to serve you with.

Eleven Years Ago.

June 22, 2000.

1:28am.

8 pounds six and a half ounces.

21 inches long.

These are just some facts about my favorite (and only) little sister, Nicole, from when she was born.

As you might have figured out from reading the first line, her birthday is today.

She is eleven years old.

And I love her very much.

You may also remember a video she and I made the other day when I surprised her with the question, "Do you love Jesus?". You should watch it. It's great.

There are just so many reasons why I am so thankful for God putting Colie in my life. Nicole loves Jesus so much. Earlier she was telling me about a song that she wrote about Jesus and how she wants him to hold her in his hands. And that he does. Thank you, Lord, that she loves you. Please keep her loving you.

Today Nicole got everything she wanted for her birthday.

She got a journal that has plain, lined, and graph paper. She's an aspiring artist, and is very excited to draw and write down her thoughts in this journal.













She also loves pigs. A lot. Which I personally do not get, but I think it's great that she loves them. So she got a pig hat today. It's rather cute, I must confess. She also loves this strange little animal called a Chupacabra (it's like a super skinny dog-like-thing), so she got a t-shirt with a cartoon drawing of one that said "Be Kind to Chupacabras". She's a unique girl, and that's why I love her.


She's just so darn cool.

Thank you, Jesus, for loving my sister, and for giving her life.

My Little Sister Loves....

I admit, today has been a hard day. It's days like this when I struggle with finding something to be thankful for to post here. But, this morning, my sister gave our dad a Father's Day card that looked like the Bible (she made it), and she shared her love for Christ with him. Since I already thanked God for my dad the other day (and I have a rule where I can't thank Him for the same thing twice on this blog), I couldn't go with the obvious "thank God for my dad because it's Father's Day" post. 

So, this is my "thank you, Lord, for putting the love of Christ in my sister" post. I asked my sister, Cole, if she loved Jesus in the video below. See what she said...