Post #552.

I've been pretty busy so it's been a while ... I hope I haven't lost my devoted audience. :-D

Last night was Christy's Ice Cream Social Bridal Shower! Great fun. Ever have one of those feelings where, in that moment, you feel surrounded by friends and just, well, especially "alive"? :-) Well, I felt like that last night ... great feeling! :o)

Today we writers all went to Panera Bread Company for Sally's b-day. Good times, good food, pretty much good everything! S.R., thanks for having a birthday, and for having Panera as one of your favorites. :-D [I suggested to our coordinator the possibility of us all going to Panera for her b-day and was so happy that it worked out!]

Oh, I forgot to mention we had a delicious chocolate cake, made by Maddie! We ate it at 10:30 in the morning ... so we had dessert first. :o) We left it in the break room. By mid to late afternoon there was just a little corner piece left ... we joked that nobody would take that last piece ... GFA tradition! :-D

I am now all caught up on my projects at work ... and even ahead on some. What a good feeling! :-) Overall I'm doing relatively well otherwise, I think? I find myself pretty often being reminded of the need to always cling to Jesus, my Anchor and Resting Place. I was reminded today, through a sermon, of the supreme, incomparable joys of Heaven as being far greater than anything we could ever experience on this earth. Good word for the day!

I am continuing to enjoy my Bible reading for the 6-month challenge, and the fellowship with friends from church as our class goes and eats on Sundays. Volleyball on Sunday, with some friends from work, was also nice. :-) A co-worker took me to lunch today for my birthday (from last week), which was so thoughtful! We had Panda Express ... yum! :o)

Well, I think I'm going to head out soon ... looking forward to some good time with Jesus this evening, and also walking, resting around the apartment and maybe doing some cooking. :-D

Post #550.

I am so tired. But I've made some good progress on my projects, and am so glad for that. There is still a ways to go, but I know they will all come together ...

Here's a quote from a John Piper sermon I've been listening to a little today that encouraged me ...

"I take it to be a biblical truth that the more earnest we are about fulfilling our mission ... reaching unreached peoples ... exposing the darkness ... loosing the bonds of Satan and of sin ... the more earnest and zealous we are in being the Church, being Christ to this world, the more we will suffer like He did."

It comes from a sermon that I've listened to of his and really been encouraged by before, titled Called to Suffer and Rejoice: That We May Gain Christ.

I highly recommend it.

Yesterday, I think especially in the afternoon and evening, I felt incredibly attacked in the battle (Ephesians 6) on a physical and emotional level. I know part of it, too, is that I was really tired.

I met up with some other gals last night at a local coffee shop to celebrate my birthday and at first just burst into tears. But then as we all shared things the Lord has been doing in our lives ... and I was reminded of some neat things He had done in my life in challenging circumstances ... it helped to quiet and settle my heart.

I wrote out a couple of short Scripture passages this morning, too, as I came in to the office. I desperately yearn to feel Jesus' presence at this moment ... to feel His arms around me. I know He is there even when I can't "feel" Him ... He's always with me.

It's my birthday!

Some snapshots of my 29th B-day:

-a homemade chocolate cake SM baked for me last night
-turning red while my department sang happy birthday to me
-reading a funny card they gave me and what they wrote
-shoulder aches
-hearing something on the radio about it being the hottest day of the year
-working on projects and lamenting not being able to move any folders off my desk ;-)
-consuming a lemon-berry slush (yum!), corn dog and tater tots from Sonic
-writing notes on some newsletters(a bit overdue) and getting them out in the mail
-a fun surprise on my desk - a card and box of Whitman's chocolate from a friend at work :o)
-an encouraging email and encouraging e-card from two other friends at the office
-getting something in my eye and not being able to get it out for some reason!
-wearing my favorite shirt to the office today, a light blue textured cotton shirt with ribbon tie :o)
-getting a much-needed shoulder rub (thanks Katie! :O))
-a fun visit and smile from Dorinda
-saying "Rachel me?" :o) to differentiate between me and the other Rachael who works with us
-hearing from my mom that my dad's first round of chemo would start at 11 today
-receiving a number of "happy birthday" messages on my Facebook account

and finally ...

looking forward to Tuesday night prayer meeting but also realizing I am really tired and should probably take a quick nap before then. :-D

It was a busy weekend. A busy one, but all in all a good one. I didn't feel too tired afterwards, despite it being so busy.

Friday night was the staff celebration. It was so much fun hanging out and playing games and talking to people. :)

Saturday my friend and her husband from my hometown area came. I was able to take them to four Half-Price bookstores!!! (They love Half-Price bookstores and like to go to as many as they can when they come here.) Something neat was that another friend sent me a $25 Half-Price bookstores giftcard for my birthday. I was able to use it for a couple of recipe magazines, a "one-year" Bible with the entire NKJV in portions for each day, and a couple of C.D.'s!

Sunday (yesterday), Joy came to church and Sunday school with me, and to lunch with the group at Tin Star afterwards. :-D What was really cool was she got to meet someone who was part of the same church as a friend of hers who lives in the Dominican Republic. How cool is that!

Michele and I also caught up and had a nice time. I recommend the movie Miss Potter. Well, at least, if you're a girl. :o) Cute movie! Then last night I also hung out for a while at a farewell party for a dear sister from the ministry who will be serving in another area of our ministry for a little while.

Tonight I'm helping a friend pick up her car and maybe helping another friend move with a bunch of others. I also may try to work for a while on some writing projects. I'm also going to read a bit in Job, to catch up on my passages for the 6-month challenge. :)

It's Friday! I feel a bit tired. Tonight I'm going to a special fellowship time for someone on staff! Then tomorrow my friend and her husband from back in the Deep South will be here! Right now, they're thinking they'll pull in to my apartment between 10 and 11 ... we'll spend part of the day together, going to this huge bookstore they love [I can work on some projects for work :o))] and then to eat to celebrate our birthdays. [Her birthday is the same as mine ... well, except a year before, but the day is the same. :-D]

Then either tomorrow or sometime Sunday afternoon, I am catching up with my friend Michele - we'll watch Miss Potter together and eat together! And Sunday is church and my friend Joy is visiting with me and ... well, you get the picture - busy weekend!

I think it will be a good one though. And pretty much every day, I can sleep in a least a little. :o) I also hope to spend some really good time with the Lord. I've been in the Word a lot through the 6-month challenge this week, but have been lacking in the area of focused worship and prayer time! So I look forward to that. It's so good to be with Him.

I had for breakfast today ...

-two Chick-fila breakfast minis
-some fresh fruit
-yummy cinnamon roll

And it was all free! My apartment complex had "breakfast on the go" with Chick-fila participating. Of course I didn't complain! It was fun going over there on my way to work ... and being an early bird (usually uncharacteristic of me! :-))

They also were handing out coupons for free kid's meals. I am thinking about using my coupon during lunch, and also doing some more in my Experiencing God or today's Bible reading for the 6-month challenge.

Free food. It's a good thing.

I've had such a great day!! I got my SEND! projects turned in (yay!) and am looking forward to maybe making some chicken stir fry today, either before or after prayer meeting. :o) I'm very much looking forward to prayer meeting, too!

I enjoyed reading in Genesis today ... I have decided to take on a challenge to read the Bible in six months and am incredibly excited about that! It's with some people from my church ... they were basically offering for anyone who would like, that we all can do that and share on a website how the Lord's spoken to us. Even though I've been a Christian for many years and read quite a bit of the Bible, I've never read all the way through it! I'm incredibly excited.

I feel so refreshed and encouraged in the Lord. He has been showing Himself so faithful and dear, and I know He is carrying me and my family through people's prayers. Last night my mom and I enjoyed talking and going over our Bible study together. :o)

It is a beautiful, sunny day out. And I'm off to rest at home a bit before tonight's prayer meeting. :o) [I think the chicken stir fry will probably be made later ... although I do want to make it tonight at some point if possible, since I have fresh zuchini and squash that were given to me! :-)]

I am doing well, I think! And a bit tired, but not nearly as much as I was last Thursday. :-D

Saturday some of us gals who work in our department went and grilled kabobs (yum!!!) and made smores at a co-worker's house about 40 minutes away. I hung out over there for a while, then walked at a lake, talked to my mom, and made some returns at the outlet mall on my way home. I enjoyed walking around at the outlet mall, doing a little shopping there, and enjoying a refreshing soda at the Cinnamonster. :-D It was a nice, relaxing evening.

Yesterday was fun, too, going to eat with at Baker Brothers with a group from class after church. We have a pretty big class and a bunch of people showed up, so we were all moving our tables down so we could fit in another table without blocking the doorway. Only one thing we hadn't figured on ... all the tables were, like, seriously, obnoxiously noisy to move. So there we all are, moving all these tables and chairs in this crowded restaurant. [I guess we announced our presence pretty well!] We were laughing so hard.

Last night after resting a bit around the apartment and doing some laundry and spending some time in my Bible study, I went out to watch some of the class play competitive volleyball. I brought a SEND! article I was working on with me, and it was refreshing sitting out there in the breeze, working a bit on that. The Lord gave me a breakthrough in the article, too, which was pretty exciting!

I am still working on some SEND! stuff. I will try to work on it quite a bit more tonight, and, by faith, have my remaining two articles finished relatively soon. :-) There's still a ways to go and some things to figure out, but it's exciting to see how things are coming together for these articles. That's always a good feeling.

Then sometime tonight, a friend and I will be meeting for our weekly prayer time at a coffee shop. :o)

I am sooooo tired. But am planning to get to bed relatively early tonight, so that should help! :-) I read some encouraging things earlier today in my Experiencing God Bible study ...

Now I'm probably too sleepy to remember. ;-D Well, seriously, one very encouraging thing was the statement that, basically, all of God's dealings with us, whatever the circumstances, are always an expression of His love for us, because His very nature is love. How encouraging that was to me today!

I am juggling projects (but I enjoy them even if they're challenging at times!), a somewhat busy week, and things related to my family (as I'm seeking to go visit them so we can spend some time together, probably within these next few weeks or so!). In all of this, God is faithful and He is able to sustain. In the words of one co-worker, "God has a really cool Daytimer." :o)

I love how she put that. Some people just have a way with words!