a quiet day.

today, jared is at buffalo wild wings drafting his fantasy football team for the afternoon (don't judge).

so, i'm at home this afternoon enjoying some alone time that isn't consumed with homework or thoughts of what i 'should' be doing. its lovely. i started reading "the divine conspiracy" by dallas willard today, which wasn't on my list, i know, but i didn't realize we owned it and when i saw it on our bookshelf i remembered how wonderful i've heard it is and picked it up. i'm just at the very beginning of chapter one, but even the forward by richard foster and the introduction are extremely thought provoking and challenging. his goal is to help us recall, or discover, the real, touchable yet completely unlike us-ness of Christ. i'm excited to continue journeying with this book and, so far, encourage you to check it out some time.

enjoy your day and search for some healthy quiet this week.
sometimes i miss our wedding, so i thought i'd share a little more of it with you today through this picture. speaking of weddings, we went to one last night for our friends neal and rachel. it was beautiful, and for the recessional they had a slideshow full of pictures of other "happy ever afters" they know. this picture of ours made it!

wanting to read.

school is rather dominant presence in my life right now, but soon i will have a few weeks off between semesters and want to fill them with some good books :). i have a list already:

The Time Traveler's Wife (started on the honeymoon...still not finished. but its good!)
(^This title makes me think of The Memory Keeper's Daughter - read it!^)
The Mark of the Lion series - Francine Rivers
The Cost of Discipleship - Bonhoeffer
A Circle of Quiet - Madeline L'Engle

Not that those won't keep me busy for a while, but I'd love more suggestions!

Enjoy your day and these flowers from a beautiful Irish garden I visited last summer.



beautiful things that spring from these rows....

...with their musical names and musical sounds..." - eisley.
















don't forget to play a little today.

digging.

www.love146.org has many insightful facts and statistics to help create a foundation for understanding the reality of modern human slavery. If you then desire to dig deeper into the issue I invite you to join me in reading:

International Labour Office Report 2005
Trafficking In Persons Report 2008
(these take a while to download)

These facts are not for the faint of heart. I pray as I read them, and for you as well should you join me, that your hope for yourself and these victims will rest in the Lord and not the fallen state of mankind. God sees these people. Maybe He desires you to be a part of bringing them freedom. But you are not the answer to their problems, salvation found in Jesus Christ is the answer. I say this in hopes that you will come alongside me in learning about the patterns of human slavery and what we can do to be a part of furthering the Kingdom of heaven, which is already at hand, on earth. Jesus is their only hope - if you are living life with Jesus, you know what I mean. Maybe we can show them Jesus.