The Boat Post

Last week, I went to Waco to complete my Level 1 Fieldwork at Scott & White Hospital. It was such a wonderful time...I learned so much from the remarkable therapists there. I was in the pediatric and NICU settings, and I LOVED it!

I decided to kick off the week by going waterskiing w/ some of my very favorite people on Sunday afternoon! It was so great to be out on the Brazos River, soakin' up the Texas sun, and laughing and loving w/ three of the greatest souls I know.

Patrick is relatively new to skiing, but he did GREAT!  I even managed to capture a grin in this picture! 

Then there's Don.

Don is an old pro.  No that was a jibe at his age.  =)  He has been waterskiing for 30 years! 
 
 

 
 
Now for Brandon:
 
 

 
 
I was privileged to get to help teach Brandon how to ski a couple years ago.  Now he's a pro, and the student has become the teacher.

 

 

And finally,

 
 

 

 

There's me.  Thanks to Don's expert coaching, I was able to manage getting up on the slalom (w/out having to kick a ski.)  Definitely my new favorite thing!

 

 

 

And just for fun:

 

 

 

I'm blessed with the greatest friends!  There are few things I like better than a sunny day, great friends, and boating.  Throw in some Rocky Mountains, and life doesn't get better!

 

Ridiculously Loved

The first weekend in March, I had the delight of traveling to lovely Central TX to hang w/ my old "gang" from my youth ministry days at Baylor.

Members of our gang:

• Don & Dolores:  married for 25 years, no children, youth ministry volunteers for more than 10 yrs, full of Fun and Life!, the most giving people I have ever met, owners of a masion of a house that we loving refer to as the O'Toole Hotel (it is our unofficial gang headquarters)

• Brandon:  ahhh!  Love this guy!  22 year old Aggie, youth ministry volunteer for 4 years, I've had the amazing privilege of witnessing God's amazing transformation of this awesome friend of mine, can't get enough of Scripture, downright hysterical, lover of all things marroon, drives my favorite Dodge, welder of legit crosses, really cool dude

• Chuck:  high ranking official in the United States Air Force but never comes across as arrogant or power-hungry, super charismatic...ppl just love him automatically, defender of our country especially in Afghanistan, my personal mentor, strongest Christian I know (and I know ALOT of amazing Christians), super faithful friend, has mad skillz on a snowboard, ridiculously filled with the Spirit

So that's the brief overview. 

And it doesn't even do those delightful, wonderful people justice.

Without boring you with all the wild details of this laughter-packed weekend in wacky Waco, I just wanna share with you some general thoughts.

* God is so ridiculously good.  I don't say that lightly.  This beautiful, perfect weekend with my dearest friends lifted my spirits when I wasn't even aware they needed lifting.  God provided without me even asking!  I love His constant pursuit of me, His inability to let me go without Love, peace, and joy. 

* I have the best friends ever.  I mean seriously.  Chuck came into town to give a talk at Aggie Awakening (a retreat for college kiddos).  After his awesome talk on discernment, people came up to ME and told me how much they envied me b/c they wanted to be friends with this guy in real life!  I mean, he's a seriously cool lover of Jesus!  And all of the gang is the same way! 

* I always have said that I must be the most loved person in the world.  Between my amazing family and incredible friendships, I am overwhelmed with blessings.  My cup most definitely overflows!

So there you have it.  One weekend recap down, about a gazillion more to go!

How has God blessed YOU lately?  In what ways are you celebrating His goodness?