Spring Break

I went to visit an old friend of mine from college over spring break. 800 mile drive one way to southern Nevada, but it was worth it for the beautiful weather and time to catch up with a dear friend and her family. When B. said he couldn't come with me (too much work) we had to divide up the kids, no way I could make that trip trying to manage all four of them! I decided to bring Blaze so she could see her friend Coraly, and then we debated which twin I should take... Serious is grumpier, but Starlet gets into more trouble - which would be easier for me to handle on the road, and for B. to handle at home? In the end I took Starlet, because Starlet is very attached to Blaze.

Blaze and Starlet handled the long drive really well (thank goodness for DVDs, and motel swimming pools). Also we stopped at a few pretty places along the way.

Here's a picture of Blaze at the beautiful red rock canyons at Colorado National Monument:
Blaze and Starlet at a resort in Nevada where we stopped for a picnic lunch:


Blaze at the base of Bridal Veil falls, Utah (yeah, I found another waterfall! Every place I go travel, I always look for waterfalls)
Now we are all back trying get into the daily routine again. For my writing progress, I am currently struggling with editing Chapter 3 - since I re-wrote chapter 2, it now appears as though I'll have to re-write a lot of chapter 3, too. But after this it should get easier - I hope!

My next verse to memorize for Beth Moore's scripture memory challenge is one that I chose specifically to pray daily for my friend D.W.

Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

Beth Moore always seems to have something insightful on her blog, here's an encouraging little tidbit she shared to keep us motivated with memorizing:

Did you know that memorization is one of the best ways on earth to keep our brains sharp? Yep. And I also heard a few days ago that all the multi-tasking we're doing does not work the part of our brain that requires stimulation to tap into our brilliance. (Every single one of us has brilliance.) That part of our brain requires tremendous focus on one thing for extended periods of time, pushing our thoughts a solitary direction that stretches and works it beyond its normal exercise. That's part of what Scripture memory does!

Keeping up on my Bible read-through. And I have now lost 5 pounds, slow but steady progress. I have also been so blessed by three books I have been reading lately. I have so many good quotes to share from these... will have to wait for my next blog post, though.

Oh but one thing I do want to share right now though is this amazing Biblical resource: www.gty.org (Grace To You). I downloaded several sermons by John MacArthur before heading off on my long trip, and it was very refreshing to listen to powerful Biblical teaching to make the miles pass by (Seeing God's Purpose in Your Trials; Who is Jesus, and Why Should I Care). Years ago, I used to participate in Grace to You's tape library, where you'd pick 4 tapes and they'd send them to you, and you'd get four more once you sent the first bunch back. Now, they have all of MacArthur's sermons and studies on-line, most of them transcripted or available for download to listen to. I know there are many other good preachers out there (I'd like to check out John Piper, too), but my husband also loves listening to MacArthur when we go on road trips, so I keep going back to this familiar source.