PSA: What to do with Expired Medication

This year I will be thirty-five (face-palm) and for all of my adult life I have been lugging around, with every move I've made, all my expired medications. I didn't know what to do with them. I knew I shouldn't just throw it away. I had been told it shouldn't go to the landfill or be flushed and end up in our water supply - so I had that knowledge but I didn't know what to do with them.

Chosen Portion

"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

    you hold my lot.

6 

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

Psalm 16: 5-6

So often in my reading of scripture and especially the Psalms I get tripped up by odd wording.  I've chalked it up to not being much of a poetry fan.  Poetry has often felt to me like modern art feels to most people.  Misunderstood.  But I know that there is meaning, deep and rich, if I just take the time to dig in.

This past year, I had the wonderful experience of spending two semesters studying Genesis with the women of my church and also hearing Exodus (31 weeks sermon series) from the pulpit every week. And there is nothing like being immersed in the first two books of the Pentateuch and seeing stories that have always seemed confusing much more clearly to give you a little more confidence in digging into "hard" portions of the Bible.

So when I read The Lord is my chosen portion I first wonder what David in this song meant by portion. And I have to remember David meditated on the Old Testament, memorized it, loved it.  What is he drawing from?  

Numbers 18:20 says "And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel."

The Lord said. Not land (like everyone else), not earthly goods - none of that.

He said ME!  I AM YOUR PORTION.

No matter the condition of my life (hear valley or peak or plateau) God has given his son as a sacrifice for my sin so that God can be my portion.  He gave me the best - he gives me the best; Himself. 

NOW!... to dwell on that daily - to choose that as truth no matter my circumstances and to walk humbly with my Lord.

House Update

I guess this post has been a long time coming but that's sort of how this adventure has been. This summer was full of lots of change and projects. In June we decided to venture into the explosion that was happening in the local real estate market. We worked with a realtor to try and find a home we would first like to move to before listing our house but the more we looked the more we failed to find a house we really felt was worth leaving our first house that we had loved for the last seven years.

Then surprisingly the Lord brought a For Sale by Owner house to our attention as it was directly across the street from our friend's new house. We slowly approached the owners about the property and were mostly denied even the opportunity to look at the house as the owners were still working on updating the house before actually wanting to sale. After some convincing and many many phone calls we were begrudgingly allowed a tour with the high disclaimer that we would have to have "vision".  Little did they know "vision" is the only way I look at a house. After touring the house we felt that it seemed like an option we should consider and after some negotiations and a little bit of finagling to get it appraised we were able to buy it from a wonderfully sweet couple that had raised their family in it. Luckily, our house sold within a week of listing it on the market as predicted by our realtor and we were full steam ahead to move.

Did I mention "vision".... ah yes... well the house we bought needed some updating and some critical wall moving that Phil had agreed we would make happen because otherwise I knew I didn't want to buy the house.

So at 23 weeks pregnant we had bought a new house and immediately started demo.

BIG NEWS! All Glory to God

It has been since October that I last wrote a blog post. Today I realized (thanks Timehop that 4 years ago today I started this blog and posted my first post) and today may be the BEST post YET.

It is amazing to me how time can fly by and also seem excruciating long at the same time.  I have found that the more overwhelmed by God my life seems to be the quieter I tend to be.  Maybe it's because I am more in tune with just how tiny my thoughts are or maybe it's a fear of not adequately expressing the amazing work I am beholding from the Lord.  But it seems to me that this is hardly the time to be quite.  It's the time to yell from the roof tops!

We added JOY to our Christmas decor this year and I love how fitting it is.

CHOOSE HOPE

Some days are just harder than others.  Isn't that just so true for everyone.  One day is good, normal, even average or boring and then the next sort of blows up in your face.

I have been processing over the last couple of months.  Processing is the best way I can say it. Fighting what ifs, battling why, pushing back how comes.  It's hard to press into the Lord in all things.  Everyone has their "thing" too.  Could be money, kids, job, family, health - it's something. And if it isn't today it will creep in at some point.  I'm not trying to be a pessimist here I'm just speaking to my fellow humans who live on this side of perfect eternity.

So what do I know.  For me it always comes down to knowing because my head has been taught well.  I have had sound theology taught to me since I was a baby. I studied and studied AND do you know what is crazy sometimes my dang heart is so slow to follow.  I know truth but man it's hard to grasp faith and hope when their is disappointment, fear and pain.  Right?

I don't want to be sharpened... and yet I do.  The struggle is real.

Guatemala 2014 Medical Mission Trip

We made it home Sunday after 10 days in Guatemala and now almost a week later we are finally recovered enough that I am sitting down to give a little update.

It was a great way to celebrate 7 years of marriage serving alongside my hubby!  I feel so blessed (even though he is a goober and keeps his sunglasses on his nose for a picture at dusk).

Here is the team.

When you go on any mission trip I think managing expectations is one of the hardest parts.  First of all on a short-term trip you know you are going to see far more need than the help you can bring. Second, at least for me, I usually anticipate that all my "plans" will end up different than I imagined.  In this case though, as this was a medical mission trip, it was hard for me to actually have plans since I don't offer any medical skills and was just planning to be a helper.  But I certainly didn't know what was in store for my heart these 10 days.

Let's be Friends!

My mind is circling something. An observation I suppose. Maybe a beginning of a rant... I don't know. I don't want it to be a rant. I often find that people's rants are full of opinion stated as fact and actually lacking in actual fact. See what I did there? :) 

Anyway, my thought that started this need to blog/rant is: "I like Facebook". 

Why you may ask did I have this thought? Well let me tell you. I have recently found myself in a group preparing to go on a trip out of the country together and we don't hardly know one another at all. So I have been friending people trying to ask questions, I can see where they are from, what they care about on a daily basis etc.. So why are these thoughts warranting a blog post? Why is my head swimming with thoughts?