disappointment, hope and worship

I was disappointed this week. The cure for disappointment is hope in the eternal Father, Son and Spirit, for "hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Hope is manifested in worship.

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -- Romans 15:13

Hope is manifested in worship.

Worship in song. Finding new harmonies. Praise.

Worship in nature. The sun breaking through a cloud formation.

Worship in written expression. Telling a story. Telling His story.

Worship in community. Authentic sharing of life.

Worship in missional living. Sharing Him with a co-worker.

Worship in service. Showing nursery babies love.

Worship in Scripture meditation. Allowing Truth to abide in me.

Worship in prayer. Coming near to the throne of grace.

My hope in Him has been manifested in these offerings of worship this week.

Another list...but some pictures too :)

Due to the fact that I have no appointments today (are you kidding me? What is THAT about?), I decided to post about the non-stop weekend I just had. Also, at the request of someone (who will remain nameless) who likes my lists (or just likes mocking them), I will process the weekend in traditional Pegs form. I wasn't so swift at coming up with a list on the fly, so hopefully the time processed will produce a quality list. :) So, here's the latest list...as usual, in no particular order:

10. The waiter who thought he could sing but in fact could NOT...and the blessed birthday girl who also thought he could sing so she had him sing to her TWICE
9. Seeing one of my fellow bridesmaids in "Oliver" at the Sooner Community Theatre--Heather was excellent!
8. Being treated to dinner at someone's favorite restaurant--there's nothing that makes you feel special like being taken to a favorite (and Avocado Enchiladas-yum!)
7. Embarrassing the mess out of Robin at her "personal shower" :) Really, though, let's call a spade a spade-it was a lingerie shower
6. Feeling incredibly loved-I think I had about 20 voicemails on my phone over 2 days, and used about 1000 minutes--thank goodness for unlimited weekends!
5. Meeting people I've heard about for 5 years--Jenny & Jacob totally surpassed all expectations
4. Going to IHOP in the middle of the night--really, is there anything better?
3. Seeing (and definitely hearing) a girl run smack into a glass door at a really nice hotel--classic
2. Gas for $2.03--the best thing I've found in Oklahoma to date!
1. Living life--taking chances, meeting new people, and accepting God's blessings as they come!


The Bridesmaids (sans Rachel): Me, Heather, Robin (the bride) and Jenny (the MOH)


Congrats to Robin & Joel (excuse the glare, the front door was open)


Me & Robin


Jenny & Robin at the "personal shower"--Let the humiliation begin! :)

What I Love about North Texas...3 months later

Back on June 2nd, I wrote a top ten about what I love about Denton. I had lived here for about 2 weeks. Now that it's been about 3.5 months, I would like to slightly revise my list...I expanded it from Denton to North Texas, and you'll see why. In no particular order, except it came to my head:

10. The Village Church--I found a place to belong!
9. My home group from the church--lovely ladies
8. La Madeleine (still makes the list, best restaurant)
7. Location, location, location (All my bridesmaidly duties for Robin's wedding in Oklahoma are within a 2 hour drive instead of a 3 hour flight! Also a weekend trip to Austin to see Josh & Amy is totally do-able.)
6. The Greenhouse Restaurant (ah...love those sweet potato fries)
5. The Square (see my post from late July called A Little Piece of Home)
4. My office--has been painted and new artwork hung...I LOVE how it turned out. We call it "The Mocha Coffee Shop" b/c of the colors and the atmosphere I created (pics are forthcoming)
3. Recycled Books--wonderful old bookstore on the Square
2. The feeling of being far from home...but not really :)
1. It's exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Stolen laundry and Victoria's Secret

Two weekends ago (I'm running behind), I spent a lovely Saturday evening on a date with a fabulous man...just kidding. I spent the evening doing 2 very full loads of laundry. When I went to get them out of the dryer at the exact time they should have been finished, I found the dryers empty! Someone stole my laundry! (But kindly left my empty laundry basket.) Are you KIDDING me? First of all...gross. Second of all...I'm not one to talk, doing laundry on a Saturday night, but really...get a life.

My theory is as follows...when I had gone to change the loads from the washers to the dryers, there were these 2 little boys in there--about 8 & 10--just the right age to think stealing someone's laundry would be hilarious. Hmph. My theory is that those two kids stole it. For what reason, other than pure entertainment, I do not know.

Well, without getting TMI on you, I'll just say that pretty much every pair of undies I own was in one of those loads. Thus, a trip to Victoria's Secret was necessary the next day.

Those of you who know me well know that Vic's is not my favorite place, usually because you can find very uncomfortable men hanging out along the walls trying to be inconspicuous while their wives/girlfriends/sisters search the store. Have you ever noticed they usually put a "man's store" next to Vic's? For example, in Denton, Radioshack is within visual distance. My other theory from this weekend is that if the man isn't in the store specifically to buy something for that wonderful woman in his life, he needs to go to Radioshack.

Because, searching the piles of undies for my size and style whilst a man is standing against the wall two feet away (or maybe one foot) was the most awkward thing I've done in awhile. I almost asked the man, "Are you sure you don't need something from Radioshack?"

In fact, it only fueled my fire to be more ticked off that my laundry was stolen in the first place.