Day 201

and tonight was another evening of VBS!!

this is the stage crew, me, pia and amanda. i had to take a picture because we do stage crew for a reason. we don't like costumes, we don't like being in front of everyone, we prefer to wear all black and stay behind the scenes. but alas, when you are called to serve, sometimes you have to step out of that box. so tonight we played servants during the bible dramas. i hope everyone sees this and remembers what we look like in costume, because Lord willing it will not happen again! :)

one of the many reasons we do these crazy things :) too cute!!

this is a picture of the fountain by newberry library. there is a small park there and it was such a beautiful day i decided to spend my lunch hour there. hmm, God is good and His beauty surrounds us even in the middle of a city :)

Day 200

tonight was the first night of VBS and it was AMAZING!!! i was seriously moved to tears seeing how excited the kids were, the effort all the adults put into this with nothing but joy in their hearts and the awesome praise team made up of junior high kids, leading the children in worship. it was absolutely wonderful. i feel so blessed to be a part of such an awesome church body.

here are some pics of some of the pirates and main characters - they are such a talented bunch!

Day 199

ironing, not a fan but one of those things you just have to do...

Day 198

tonight a few of us went to one of my friend anne's favorite restaurant's for her belated b-day celebration. my first time having cuban food - yummy!

me and anne

my mango sorbet served in a frozen mango, so good

madelyn, sad that her coconut flan was done, but satisfied because it was so good :)

Day 197

i'll post a picture later today, when i have one. but i just had to add this verse today.

"the end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride." ecclesiastes 7:8

i am finding there are days when i must remind myself of this. sometimes i just want to make things happen when clearly God is saying, please let me take control. i can be so stubborn sometimes.

i wanted to take a picture of the dairy queen i had tonight (first time i have had ice cream since sunday, i think that is a record!) but alas, i forgot. so here is a pic of my new bag. i love this thing :)

Day 196

tonight was tech rehearsal for VBS. this year's theme is based off pirates of the caribbean so naturally members of the church built a ship! i love this church. we think up these HUGE, impossible, grand ideas, that seem completely unrealistic, but because of God's mighty hand on His prayful, servant-hearted people, He makes it happen! and all this for the children, man do we love these kids, and i mean it! it is so awesome to see adults bending over backwards to make sure these kids have the best VBS experience of their lives, and truly have the opportunity to see their faith in action and for some, to come to their faith for the very first time :)

Day 195

today i picked up the hardware for my new door that i ordered. they even gave me the same discount they gave the developer when he bought the hardware - nice!

Day 194

after getting our nails done, shopping, brunch at nookies and hitting the beach for a bit, it was time to take laura to the airport :( here she is freshening up before she has to sit on the plane for two hours. so pretty! haha!

i had such a blast with these two girls this weekend. i love them so much and am so blessed to call them my friends. we really have that kind of relationship where we don't have to talk for the longest time and then when we do, it's like time never went by :)

Day 193

today we headed to sheffield garden walk a bit before we had to take erin to the airport :( this was their first time eating deep dish pizza!

Day 192

laura got into chicago tonight and erin and i picked her up from the airport and we all headed to cafe ba ba reeba for dinner - yum!

erin was super hungry!

she wasn't kidding - haha :)

erin, our very kind waiter, and laura. we had such a great time at dinner. i've known these girls for 20+ years and just LOVE them :)

Day 191

coffee is set for the morning! two cups because my childhood friend, erin, is visiting this weekend. our friend laura will be here tomorrow night. so excited :)

Day 190

this is me multi-tasking as i drive to prayer meeting - probably not the brightest thing to do. i knew i wouldn't have anything to take a picture of so i had to settle on myself. notice the latte in my hand - yum!

i have been amazed these past few days at how peaceful and joyful i have been despite tuesday's break-in. friends keep asking me how i am doing and all i can say is "freakishly, unexplainably [is that a word?], good!" i praise the Lord for His grace and the peace that surpasses all understanding (phil. 4:7) that i am truly experiencing :)

Day 189

nothing like sleeping in a freshly made bed :)

Day 188

have you ever had, who am i kidding, of course you have, one of those days when you feel like you are running into the wind? like no matter how hard you try, that wind is just going to keep you from getting ahead? well that's how i felt today (maybe you relate to feeling like you are swimming against the current?). and then it really felt like it when at 10am i got a call from my security company telling me there was a break-in at my condo. hmm...

so i left work immediately and drove home, hoping it was a false alarm, when i got a call from chicago PD saying there was a break-in and they would be waiting for me. i get there and find the perpetrators had kicked in my back door, ran in, and stole my TV. praise the Lord that is all they took! i was so afraid i was going to come home and my lap top, with all my pictures, would be gone.

there were a few things that went through my head for the next few hours while calling the insurance company, my family, contractors, etc.

1. praise the Lord i wasn't home

2. why didn't i put the alarm system stickers on my door and windows - idiot!

3. if these were just kids that did this (we think it was two teenagers), what else are they messing with? how lost are they?

4. praise the Lord i wasn't home

the door with the dust from the evidence technician - yeah, the guy who finds finger prints and stuff at a crime scene. very weird to have that done in your house

the side of the door. see that crack? and that was taken after the developer "squeezed" it back together so he could screw the door shut with like eight 8 inch nails

the out side of the door. can you see how they creamed it! i wish i had gotten a pic of the handle before they took if off, crazy.

where the TV used to be, oh well. i feel this is one of those seasons where one thing after another will come my way. i have found that usually that means God is working and in that, i take comfort. i praise the Lord as well for the peace and lack of fear i have right now.

please join me in praying for the two teenage boys that did this. i can't imagine how desperate they must feel to have to break into someone's house and steal. i pray that someone of great character would come into their lives and help them get out of their own mess.

Day 187

tonight ashleigh and emily came over so we could plan our schedules for our little book club :) that's ashleigh paying me for her book or dinner or something, such the comedian...

Day 186

after church, lunch and the beach with my friend ashleigh, it was time to begin the week of cleaning. friends of mine since we were about 5 years old are coming into town. want the house to look pretty and clean :) i wonder though, why does it always take people visiting me to motivate me to clean my house?

Day 185

this morning i could barely get out of bed i was so sore from climbing! but alas, i ran three miles and then met these lovely ladies for brunch (l-r, becky, amanda, ashley). we ate at nookies, one of my favorites :)

Day 184

today pia and i went up to devil's lake wisconsin to go rock climbing. this was pia's first time and she did AWESOME :) we had such a blast! i can't wait to do it in colorado and probably once or twice more before the season is over. i love pushing my body to its limits - climbing is such a mind over matter thing, it rocks!

this is todd, our guide for the day, and pia

this is todd's 13-week old puppy. she is the cutest!

that's me :) seriously though, i am amazed at how you can put all your body weight on like two toes while standing on a ledge that is the width of your pinky toe!

go pia go!

Day 183

ahhh, heaven :) my treat after prayer meeting tonight

speaking of prayer meeting... tonight reminded me that God is never late, but always on time. i had lunch with my friend colleen today, like i do pretty much every thursday. at lunch today, i said to her, i just want God to tell me it will all work out, to tell me that my dreams will come true. i believe i even said, i'll wait however long i have to, i just want to know...

then at prayer meeting, my pastor spoke about the importance of not knowing. as christians, we walk by faith, to quote my pastor, "in the life of faith the worst thing you can do is insist on knowing." what does hebrews say, "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." if we walk by faith, we have to trust in our Lord and believe what his word says. pastor said, "when you know, you are no longer growing." wow! such the message i needed to hear tonight. God is so good. don't get me wrong, trusting Him and walking in faith with what i long for is not easy and by no means am i there, but i am one step closer and tonight, the Lord showed me what to do, just have faith.

psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Day 182

today my friend helen met me for lunch. she is quickly becoming a very good friend as we keep finding out we have way more in common than either of us thought :)

Day 181

this is my hand. the french manicure from this past weekend did not last through all the bridesmaid duties and my nails needed to be cut anyway for the climbing trip i am taking this friday, so here they are. my short nails. i have not had short nails in seriously, like a year. it feels sooo wierd. its like the exact opposite feeling of when you were a kid and you would put lee press on nails on (ok, maybe you didn't do that, but i did) and they only lasted for like an hour because you couldn't get adjusted to the length... well, i am having the hardest time getting adjusted to short nails! very wierd...

Day 180

if you didn't notice, i fit in my dress this past weekend! thank goodness. needless to say, i ate whatever i wanted today :)

raisin bran, with raisins :)

giordano's pizza since i wasn't able to eat it at the rehearsal lunch :)

ice cream with m&m's. i'll be getting DQ at some point this week :)

Day 179

wedding day!!!! i have never felt so much joy for another person as i do today. our God is an awesome God and this wedding is a testament to it :) praise the Lord!

this morning was the last time tracy woke up in my house, in her room :( we have no make-up on, scary! haha!

after a rather long morning of hair and make-up we made it to the hotel. here, amy is trying to hold up the dress while tracy checked-in. hilarious, it is practically consuming her!!

oh, how beautiful!! such a gorgeous bride!

i love this pic. this is the reason we are here today, our Lord and Savior, who is worthy of ALL the praise, ALL the honor, and ALL the glory!

the happy couple :)

i took this in the limo on our way to the reception. at the reception i gave my very first speech at a wedding and i was sooo nervous. here is an excerpt from my speech (i typed it out of course!)

Tracy, the love, encouragement and support you have shown me, unconditionally shown me, will forever be with me. I don’t know much about marriage, but what I do know is that if you can show that much kindness and love to me, Tojy has made a great choice in you today! Throughout this courtship and engagement you have grown so much, and the woman that sits in front of us today is not the same girl I moved in with or even the same girl that moved to Rogers Park. You have grown into this amazing woman of God, grown in confidence, grace and humility. And Tojy, you are a major part of that. You have challenged her, pushed her, and helped make her into this woman. You are the man of God she has been looking for.

And when I look at you two I see how awesome our God is. Proverbs 139:16 “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Is clearly visible here today. God ordained this marriage before you two were even born. As the video montage showed, I am sure neither of you ever considered that the person you would end up with would come from the other side of the world. But God knew, he knew before time that he was going to create Tojy Thomas to love and care for Tracy for the rest of her life. And I just want to thank our Lord and Savior for blessing me with the opportunity to witness this relationship grow and come into existence.

You two are a blessing in my life and I look forward to seeing how God uses you in the future.