Life in Pictures

Despite the blog silence (or maybe as evidenced by the blog silence), life here has felt full lately.  Here are a few of the high notes...

K turns 30

K's mom and I teamed up to plan a surprise birthday party for K at our favorite mexican restaurant in SA, La Fonda on Main.  The party was a success, the birthday boy was surprised, and I took exactly one picture.  Oh well, we'll always have this picture of the cake and I'm told K looked very surprised as we walked in : )

Deer Valley

K's other birthday gift was a ski trip to Deer Valley.  Our sweet friends let us use their house as a gift to K.  The weather couldn't have been better and the skiing was amazing.

Valentine's Day

Do you all make a big deal out of Valentine's Day?  I feel like it doesn't end up being that big of a deal for us.  It feels kind of forced to do nice things for each other because you're supposed to on this "holiday."  This year, Valentine's Day was so off my radar I actually planned to take dinner to a friend whose husband is deployed.  And then I kind of forgot about dinner for us.  

We ended up with this pancetta-spinach-whole wheat pasta creation that was actually pretty yummy.  And a good representation of our combined tastes.  K thinks everything better with bacon.  I think everything's better with spinach.  This time we both won :)  

March?

And then there was the whole month of March.  I don't really know what happened, but March flew by.  We got sick, K switched teams and has been working every weekend, and we tried out best to carve out some time together in between.

Easter

March ended on a high note - Easter,  a visit from my mom, and a great Easter brunch with friends.  We opted for another al fresco Easter celebration and the weather totally cooperated.  On the menu?  To start - caramelized bacon (this was to.die.for) and Trader Joe's Rosemary Almonds.  For lunch - rack of lamb persillade, green beans gremolata, braised carrots and parsnips, buttermilk mashed potatoes, and fluffy rolls.  Plus, deviled eggs (thanks, Meghann!) and a frittata (thanks, Dom!).  For dessert - easter egg sugar cookies (that we scattered in 'nests' on the table), Mary Carolyn's coconut cake, and Deb's carrot cake.  I'm still full, but it was a wonderful Easter.  

Hallelujah!  He is Risen!  Hallelujah!  

  

Resolutions

Well hello 2013.  It's hard to believe 2013 is already in full swing.  I'm not much for new year's resolutions, but I do find the fresh start that a new year brings to be exciting.  There is always hope in new beginnings.  I really liked this prayer Scotty Smith shared on his blog on New Year's Day and thought it was worth sharing here.

SCOTTY SMITH|5:51 AM CT

A Prayer for New Year’s Day

     Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:14-15

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of a new year. Tons of confetti still cover the streets of Manhattan from last night’s party, gratitude fills my heart with the breaking of this day.

I’m thankful to begin this year with a little better understanding of the gospel than I had last year and the year before and the year before. I’m already praying that I’ll be able to say the same thing this time next year, and ten years from now; for the gospel isn’t merely good news for people getting ready to die—it’s good news for people who are now ready to live.

In the gospel you lavish us with your love, liberate us by your grace, and launch us into your transforming story of redemption. What more could we possibly want or hope for, in life or in death?

Because the gospel is true, I don’t respond to Joshua’s bold charge with a list of New Year’s resolutions—promises of what I’m going to do for you. Rather, I begin this year resolving to abandon myself to everything Jesus has done for us. Jesus is the promise keeper, not us. He’s the one who has promised to make all things new, including us, including me. Hallelujah!

Father, that’s why serving you is the greatest privilege conceivable and the purest delight imaginable. For Jesus is our Joshua—the one who has saved us, is saving us, and one Day will completely save us. Without any hesitation or fear of sounding cliché, I gladly affirm: Jesus saves! What other Savior died for us that we might find life in him? What other god bears scars that we might bear his beauty? What other god sacrificially serves us that we might gratefully serve him?

Because of the gospel of your grace, throwing away my idols feels less like a painful sacrifice and more like a liberating dance; for all my “empty nothings” have ever given me is momentary pleasure and lasting regrets. Remind me of this all year long when I’m tempted to think otherwise.

Father, may this be a year of considering our lives worth nothing to us, if only we may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given us—the task of testifying (by word and deed) to the gospel of your grace (Acts 20:24). So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ loving name, with great anticipation and much thanksgiving.

I hope you will feel lavished by God's love, liberated by His grace, and transformed by the story of redemption in this new year.