rebuilding our library

if you know justin at all, you know that he is a reader through and through. it is one of the things that i admire so much about him. last year his entire Christmas list was books, and books only...

one tough thing about the tornado was us losing our growing library of books. we were able to save some, but many have water damage and/or ripped pages. 

a professor & his assistant at Southern Seminary [where justin is enrolled part-time] arranged a "book drive" from the fellow professors. this was all a surprise as we received 5 HUGE boxes filled with various books: varying from Christian classics, text books and soon-to-be bestsellers. we felt so loved by this generosity and caring gesture.

one great thing about the conference where we are currently is the book selection, both for sale and giveaways. we were able to pick up some really great books out here and we are excited to add these to our rebuilding library. 

[the only bad thing is that we were short on space before....these books won't help that one]

one book we are both excited to dive into is francis chan's new book, erasing hell.

 he doesn't back down, he addresses some tough questions in the book.

excited to start reading this one along with the many others we picked up during our time out here.

bye cedar crest

this summer we have seen the progression in cleaning up after the tornado as they inched closer and closer to bulldozing our townhouse.

justin went back in one last time and managed to grab a few more things that were salvageable, thankful for that. the ceiling had caved in and things were pretty nasty inside. i guess anything left exposed to the elements for two months would be gross...

[you can see the sinking roof on the back.]

we stopped by at night when they were halfway finished with the demo to collect a few mementos. we grabbed a couple bricks and our address placard before the bulldozing, but then we also got two window panes. hopefully we can make something special to remind us of God's provision during the storm and in the weeks after.

on our way out of town we stopped and took a couple more pictures before it was all cleared away.

it's tough to picture, but there was our complex and another set of townhouses plus lots of mature trees in this area. it's heartbreaking to remember all that was lost in the storm.

but we are thankful to have closure on our old place as we continue to get excited about our new house. we close on it as soon as we get back in town from colorado! 

it is still surreal to think about everything that has happened since april, truly thankful and in awe of God during this time.

pikes peak or bust rodeo

we arrived in colorado on saturday for a conference with campus crusade for Christ. we flew into denver and headed down to colorado springs to visit my aunt and uncle for the night before our final destination of fort collins.

justin and i were so excited to experience our first colorado rodeo. these people were in to it! it is a completely different culture than our alabama hunting/fishing culture...but the rodeo was tons of fun.

[if you know me at all, i am a sucker for animals doing human things..so this pig in a wagon was just too cute to me. i had to pose with him. a bunch of kids and i were probably the only ones that thought this was presh.]

there were like 5 or 6 different "events" with cowboys and cowgirls from around colorado and nearby states. my favorite one was when they jumped off their running horse onto a cow and wrestled it down to the ground. that takes some serious practice and talent! most of my "action" shots turned out blurry because the horses/cattle/riders were moving so fast.

i could seriously stare at this view for days. colorado is gorgeous!

our conference officially starts tomorrow, we can't wait to hear from CCC leadership and other speakers.

packing up & moving out

we have spent the past couple of days packing up our belongings....it is tough to see how little we have, but so thankful all the sentimental things we saved.

tomorrow morning we begin our journey to visit family and friends in georgia then head out to colorado for a conference with campus crusade for Christ. we are so excited for the bi-annual conference held in fort collins,co  for all the US staff. justin and i spent our first 2 months of marriage in fort collins, such a precious time for the both of us. we are pumped to be reunited with friends who are on staff across the nation and colorado is absolutely breathtaking.

here are a few pictures from summer 2009 in colorado.

view from our dorm at colorado state.

when we got our assignment to alabama.

look at us babies...

we spent a couple days in denver.

at the conference. a little bit overwhelming.

excited to hear from campus crusade leadership as well as francis chan, david platt and others.

managing God's money

i started this book a little while ago, but justin and i have been so busy with other stuff i haven't had much time to read. i have loved it so far.

one of my favorite passages in the first section has been, in regard to the story of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-25): "Jesus did not call each and every disciple to liquidate their possessions, give away all their money, and leave their homes. But Jesus knew that money was the rich young man's god. The principle is timeless: If Christ is not Lord over our money and possessions, he is not our Lord."

such a good reminder for me to keep my priorities in check, especially as we are beginning to make some big purchases to replace our lost items and furnish our new home. my comfort, security and identity should only come from God, not my possessions or from others.