Laura's Summer Reading List

I love to read! My family instilled in me a love of books at an early age. However, I am not as avid a reader as I used to be. However, I have pledged to change that! This summer I intend to read lots of books before I return to college life in the fall (to read big textbooks). Here are my picks for my personal summer reading:

The Spirit of the Disciplines - Dallas Willard
I have been working on this particular book for a long time now. A friend gave it to me as a gift during my freshman year at Tech. It's really enjoyable, but I find it to be one of those books I have to take in chunks. Determined to finally finish it! :)

The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom
I read this in eighth grade and absolutely loved it! Corrie Ten Boom wrote about her personal experience as a Christian during the Holocaust. It's really moving, and a true testament to the faithfulness of the Lord amidst even the most horrific circumstances. I hope to glean more out of it this second time through.

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Yes, the children's book. Yes, I want to read it again (for probably the 5th time). It's one of my favorite stories, and it's been too long since I last read it. Memories are beginning to flood back from Mrs. Potaczek's 5th grade reading class...

The Great Divorce - C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis: One of my favorite authors/apoligists/dead Englishmen! I actually gave this as a senior gift to a couple of friends, but I haven't read it yet. (If anyone would like to get me a boxed set of the classic works of C.S. Lewis for Christmas, I will bake you a cake.)

Choosing Gratitude - Nancy Leigh DeMoss
I got this book from my brother and sister-in-law for my birthday! I'm excited to dig into it, because its subject is one of the big themes that God has been teaching me this year. :)

And...If I finish all of those...

The Hunger Games series - Suzanne Collins
I really want to read the books before I see the movie...we'll see if that actually happens.

There you have it! I hope I will have time for all of these books! Find some time in your summer schedule to pick up a good book, find a cozy place to sit, grab a hot beverage (or an iced beverage...this is Texas, after all.), relax, and read!

-Laura

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Boy, a lot can change in a couple of months.

I turned 21.

I moved to Midland.

On the road with Nana (my car) and Dasha (my matryoshka).

I started two new jobs. (And they're both fun. Score.)

My cousin Natalie is growing up and graduating high school...

Gorgeous Natalie and me at her senior oral presentation.

Whoa.

Change....
Change is part of life. Everybody experiences it. I've had what seems like a deluge of change in my life this year. But, as God has drilled into my head, life is pretty unexpected. We can be burdened by changes, or we can embrace them with gratitude.
The Lord has this funny way of talking to me. In the past month or two, the same life lesson has appeared in front of me in lots of different ways. Whether it's been through a book, through my cousin's senior thesis, or through a small group study, these things are echoed: Hold on to faith. Take the unexpected and thank God for it. Depend on Him.

I recently read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Hey, you, reader. Yeah, you: Go buy/borrow a copy. Yes, even if you're a guy, just take off the dust cover and it won't look so girly. :) Her story really touched me. The theme of her book is giving thanks for God's gifts in our lives. Thankfulness for the good and thankfulness for the bad. Thankfulness for the mundane and thankfulness for the grand-in-scale. The word for giving thanks in Greek is εὐχαριστέω. Eucharisteo. I now have a note on my iPhone dedicated to my very own 1,000 gifts. I learned rather quickly that it is really difficult to jot down the hurtful or annoying things that happen around me. But, those things challenge me to search for the good in every situation. I get the chance to open my eyes to the truth that "...in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28, emphasis added)

Even when things don't happen as planned, we Christ-followers can remain hopeful. Take my recent move for example: it was a rather spur-of-the-moment decision, brought upon by a situation in my family. I've come to help take care of my grandma part-time because she needs a bit more assistance here and there. It was quite a unique opportunity to serve my family, and to also get unstuck from the bit of the rut I slipped back into this semester. It was kinda scary to move a few hundred miles away to a place I've never lived! Seriously, the decision and the move took place within a couple weeks. Crazy? A little. But let me tell ya: what a blessing it has been! God plopped this opportunity right in my lap, and I mustered up enough courage to say "Yes!" to him. (Okay, it wasn't an emphatic yes...more like an, "Uh, are you sure, Lord? I guess I can try this...") I pushed away my fear and feelings of uncertainty, and I went for it! I have been so encouraged by it all. Change of pace, change of scenery, change of my outlook. It has been easy to thank God for these changes.

What about the times when we don't want to give thanks? What do we do when bad stuff happens? To borrow a quote from one of my very favorite movies (The Princess Bride), "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." Life happens, and often it's painful. Sure, a life of following Christ brings lots of joy, but it doesn't eliminate trials. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..." (James 1:2, emphasis added) We are told in scripture that we will experience trials in our lives, it's not an if statement. So how do we turn our trials into joy? By giving thanks. Eucharisteo. Easier said than done.

I'm naturally self-focused. When something bad happens, I automatically think, why did this happen to me? Those last two words say a lot: "to me." But my view of this world is far narrower than God's view. He sees all and knows all. It's rather silly to throw myself a pity party about something unexpected that I don't like. What I ought to do is step back and examine what God wants me to learn out of these situations. What does he have up his sleeve? He tends to work in ways that are unpredictable to us. He often works in ways that we only see in hindsight. I have to break my habit of selfishness in order to give thanks for the bad, scary stuff. All of it is God's grace.

Natalie's senior thesis was about expectations. She made the case that the only things we can completely rely on are truths of God: God is faithful, and God is good. One of her illustrations of correct expectations came from the book of Daniel: the story of Shadrach Meshach, and Abednego. These three men trusted God in the face of death. They believed that God would be faithful and that he would use their situation for his glory.

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O King. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."  

-Daniel 3:17-18

God did his little echo trick with this story. It came up in my bible study the week after Natalie's oral. The author of the study, Jennifer Rothschild, pointed out the significance of how God saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: he didn't deliver them from the fiery furnace- he delivered them through the fiery furnace. God was completely capable of sending a downpour from heaven to put out the blaze, but he chose for his servants to walk into the fire and come out unscathed. Rothschild likened this to our unexpected trials. Sometimes God allows us to walk through trials rather than delivering us from them. When tough stuff happens, our characters are refined, and if we pay attention, we learn more about God's character.

When change comes my way (and there is always more in store), I want to remember these lessons! Gratitude, faith, dependence on the Lord.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Upcoming ch-ch-changes:

My cousin Julie is coming home from A&M soon! I can't wait to be living with both of my favorite girl cousins this summer!

And, the best news of late: 

It's for real, guys. I'm readmitted to Texas Tech University for fall 2012. BACK TO LUBBOCK!

Elation! Joy! Big smiles! Cue Tech fight song! :)

Thanking God for all that he gives me!

-Laura

Save the Love Letter! (Homage to Snail Mail)

Well folks, Valentine's Day has come again! What an interesting holiday it is. I think that there are two camps of people when it comes to this day celebrating love. Those who are bitter about it, and those who embrace it. There don't seem to be many people who camp out in the middle ground. Well, I'm an embracer. I don't give it a squeeze-the-life-out-of-it embrace, but certainly a warm, friendly hug. Let's be real: what girl doesn't like hearts and and chocolate and flowers and the idea of love? The other night, I texted my friend, Xochitl, to ask her for her address. In her excitement about receiving a letter she replied, "I love snail mail." I do, too! I love sending and receiving things in the mail! What better time than Valentine's Day to send something to someone you care about? Sorry, X, your valentine will most likely arrive to you on the 15th...but it's the thought that counts, right?

Yes, yes, I was a bit tardy in picking out and sending valentines for loved ones this year. Let me tell y'all, the greeting card aisle at Target on the weekend before Valentine's day is not a place in which you want to get stuck- especially if you are indecisive like me. This one aisle was teeming with all sorts of frantic shoppers: parents telling their kids to pick out cards for their family members and/or teacher, wives choosing cards for their husbands, grandmothers reaching for the movie character-themed valentines for grandkids, and that one brave man, determined to fight through the estrogen-charged crowd to find a card for his sweetheart...utter chaos, I tell you. I had the agenda of looking for valentines for my parents, which were inconveniently sectioned at the very bottom of the tall shelves, smack in the middle of all the action. In order to examine my choices, I had to assume an awkward squatting position, dodge the occasional arm-reach, and as I got up, I did this weird, pivoting, slow-to-rise maneuver to avoid any embarrassing bumps into strangers. Phew. Fortunately, I must say that I was able to find some pretty fantastic cards.

The greeting card. What an interesting concept! It's a whole business of people writing and designing cards for other people...to give to other people, who read them, and they are generally supposed to evoke a warm, fuzzy feeling upon their reception. Makes me think of two things: Hallmark commercials, and 500 Days of Summer.
If there is anyone out there as sappy as me, they just might tune in to those special Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movies that play on the occasional Sunday evening. During the course of the evening, one is subjected to the viewing the sweetest greeting card commercials ever created, that are expertly crafted to tug on the toughest of heartstrings.
I also picture the office of a greeting card company, like in 500 Days of Summer. Some Joseph Gordon-Levitt guy and his quirky bunch of coworkers gathered in a conference room, spouting out ideas, brainstorming for the perfect message. Corny ones, mushy ones, one-liners that just make you say, "Aww!"

I love the mail. I love everything about sending letters, cards, and/or packages to special people. I always have. There's a romantic quality about sending/receiving something in the mail that does not exist via the internet or the smart phone. Something so personal about reading a hand-written message...checking your mailbox to find one thing, just for you, that isn't a bill or an advertisement. Nowadays, it seems to be a means of communication all but forgotten. Left behind by the fast-paced, instant-gratification society that we live in.
Does anyone else out there appreciate snail mail? Surely there are some romantics left out there. Well, obviously, the greeting card industry is still afloat and raking in the dough when holidays arrive. There are still those who give cards, who send letters. But if you're sitting at your computer and you haven't used the United States Postal Service in a while, I challenge you to get out some paper, find a pen, and use that cursive that you learned in third grade (okay...maybe just stick to print if your cursive is illegible...) to write to a faraway friend or family member! Or, let a card say the words you can't seem to jot out. Heck, box up a little gift and ship it off to a loved one. Send a little snail mail to someone special! Even if your letter/card/parcel is sent after Valentine's Day, the gesture won't go unnoticed.

Let's show our love to one another this year! Love isn't a feeling. Love is sacrifice, action, laying down your own wants for the good of someone else. I recently watched this video of one of my new favorite musicians, Josh Garrels. He gives his thoughts on love, and thoughts on writing songs about it. Take a look! (and check out his music!)

Share the love! Send some snail mail!
Happy Valentine's Day to all of you :)

-Laura
John 15:13

It's been how long? Christmas and Russia

My goodness, how time flies! I began this blog to chronicle my month-long missions trip to Russia in the summer. Now it's been six months since I flew home from that beautiful country. And now, one of my favorite times of year is upon us again: Christmastime! Russia has popped up in my brain a lot this December. Maybe because I've recently gotten to see friends who have been there themselves; maybe just because it has a special place in my heart. I thought I'd share memories that often pop into my brain as I go about life here at home. (Random proud moment of Laura- I used my high school html skills to italicize how in my title...yes, I'm excited about html.) 

The seemingly never-ending
escalators of the metro

1. Crowds. When I'm in a big crowd exiting somewhere, or when I'm in a busy line at a restaurant, I feel like I'm back in the Moscow metro or ordering food at the busy McDonald's in Kitay-Gorod.
2. Fishing for change. When paying with cash at stores, I always try to pay in exact change because that's seemingly the polite thing to do in Russia, and I half expect the cashier to become frustrated with me if I don't. One time at a self-checkout at Kroger, I put a 5 ruble coin into the machine instead of a quarter...oops.
3. Escalators. Riding any escalator reminds me of going to and from the metro. Metro escalators were super long and it was not uncommon for young Moscovites to make out on them...awkward yet humorous. 
4. Crossing streets. Crossing a street in Moscow is different from crossing a street here at home. Here, we make eye contact with drivers and wait to proceed until they wave us across the road. In Russia, it's a pedestrian's world. You just cross and hold your breath that the cars will stop for you. Typically, if you look a Russian driver in the eye, he'll take it as a sign for him to keep on driving.
5. Randomly speaking Russian. I'll often answer my friends or parents with little Russian words or phrases that I picked up while I was there.  Да. Нет. Спасибо. Пожалуйста. Я не знаю. Мороженое. I hope that doesn't annoy them too much...
6. Parks. I miss the pretty parks in Moscow. I live within walking distance of two lovely parks here in Flower Mound. They just aren't quite as picturesque as Kolomenskoe, or the park at metro Kitay-Gorod, or the garden at Christ the Savior. At my parks, there aren't ice cream vendors nearby, or well-groomed flower beds lining the pathways, or babushkas selling trinkets to passersby. 
7. Hearing foreign languages. So, obviously, living in Texas, the common foreign language one hears is Spanish, but every once in a while, I hear something different. I've become somewhat of a creeper in stores and restaurants, craning my neck and listening hard to catch any familiar Russian words. (see #4) So far, no Russians.
8. Movies set in Moscow. There are TWO movies out in December that are set in MOCKBA, where my very feet have trod. Haha. I want to see both of them: Mission Impossible (which Brent and I plan to see over the holiday) and The Darkest Hour, which may or may not turn out to be a cool movie. It has potential, I think. If not, I can just point to the screen a bunch and say, "I've been there!" I need to find someone who will go with me who won't mind my commentary... 

Cool city.

I've been able stay in touch with a few sweet Russian girls via Facebook. In honor of Christmas, I asked my friend Katerina to tell me about holiday traditions over there! It was fun to learn, and I wanted to share:
Christmas in Russia isn't as big of a deal as it is in the West. Because Russia was under Communist rule for many years and religion was banned, people didn't celebrate Christmas. So, New Year's is seen as the special holiday there. People get together and celebrate with their families at the New Year instead of at Christmas. The Russians have a "Santa Claus" figure similar to us, and he comes at New Year. His name is Ded Moroz, or "Grandfather Frost." Ded Moroz has a granddaughter, Snegurochka, "she helps him with presents, like a gnome :)" Katerina told me. Isn't that cute?? Christmas in Russia is also different from ours: it is celebrated on January 7th, not December 25th! I hunted online, and History.com said that in Orthodox tradition, it is believed that this day was when the three wise men visited Jesus. (Here's a link to the article, it's a pretty interesting read!) Katerina said that the religious attend church services for the occasion, but overall, it's just a day to be polite to your neighbors, to wish people well.

I love Christmas! I love spending time with my family and reflecting on God's blessings as the year comes to a close. And I love the story of Jesus' birth. :) How the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. My friend Kim (who works for Cru and lives in Moscow! Holla!) posted a super adorable Christmas video on Facebook and I thought I'd share it too! It just makes me smile.

Merry Christmas, y'all! Have a happy New Year!

God Bless,

               Laura

Photos courtesy of Lauren Young and myself 
Video from YouTube

Let's Be Real. Really.

This lil post stemmed from a night of insomnia. I find that occasionally my mind just turns on when my body and the earth's rotation are telling me that I should go to sleep. A lot of those aforementioned nights are nights when I just have some good time reflecting on the Lord. Last night falls into that category.

A couple of Fridays ago, I headed off to Norman, Oklahoma, to attend a beautiful wedding. (Quick shout out to Misty and Gerhard! Woo!) The wedding was that Saturday, but I left the night before to visit with my friend, Abby, from Summer Project. It wasn't long into the evening before we sat down on her RA office couch, and I more or less just had a good cry throughout the conversation. Abby and I chatted for hours about life and love and the Lord, and how the Lord totally affects life and love in awesome (awesome: astonishing, stupendous, stunning. Not merely awesome: "Gnarly, dude!") ways.
Okay, so maybe depending on how well you know me, the idea of me crying on my friend's couch is not a stretch of your imagination. I'm a "crier." I haven't always been. Depending on how well you know Abby, you may be surprised that I was the one who did the crying and not she. She's a crier, too. We share that bond. And tissues, if they're scarce. ;)
I look up to Abby in many ways. She's a year older than me, has a huge heart for others, is a bit more spiritually mature, and she's a couple inches taller than I am. More, if she starts up a metro escalator before me...whoops. Did I mention it's late and that I have my father's sense of humor? Silliness aside, I admire the girl. And I got to spend a big chunk of my month in Russia at her side. She's become very dear to me, even though we only really became friends this summer.
I have lots of friends like Abby, with whom I feel comfortable crying, and who mutually feel comfortable crying around me. It makes me wonder if most people have friends like that, or if I have an extraordinarily vulnerable circle of friends. But crying's not the point. It's being able to talk about touchy, scary, difficult, sometimes shameful life issues with someone. Things that would cause some people to look away, or cringe, or change the subject to something more pleasant. It's about being real with each other.
I remember those crying moments with friends well. The time I was moved to tears in a Moscow coffee shop as Abby and I talked about the wonderful students we had met. Times with my best friends crying over broken relationships. Times when conversations dug down deep, and healing tears were shed. We are all broken people. I don't mean to be a cynic when I say that. I like life! Life is full of sweet moments and wonderful experiences. But no life on earth is untouched by struggles and disappointments. There are points in time when each of us needs to sit down and cry. Or at least have a good verbal vent with someone, if crying's not your style. (It's not everyone's style.)
"Girlfriend, it's okay to cry," said Abby, half-laughing. She gave me a pat on my back and continued, "Shortest verse in the bible: 'Jesus wept.'"
Abby and I sat back and marveled, recounting how Jesus also went through lots of difficult moments in his life. How he chose to become human and experience a world full of harshness. He didn't remain aloof, or skirt over touchy issues. He dug into people's messy, broken, dirty lives and loved them with a perfect heart. And when his friend Lazarus died, Jesus wept. Jesus was real.
Abby and I talked of the blessings God has given each of us.
God loved us enough to become a man and ultimately conquer sin and death in order for us to be with him forever. (Hello, Good News!)
God has blessed us with loving families and friends with whom we can seek counsel in times of need. We are not perfect family members, nor perfect friends, but we can right wrongs and show grace to others because we ourselves have been forgiven much.
I have dealt with my share of struggles these past few years. Lots of soul-searching and question marks. However, the reason I cried that night with Abby was not because of my anxious heart or my fears of the future. The tears came through talking out my issues with her, recognizing God's blessings in my life during difficult times. What mainly caused me to cry was seeing my Father, in his love and wisdom, taking care of me and disciplining me gently through the rough patches. How he cares for me!
Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS." 
Jesus was saying, "Come on in! Come take a load off and tell me how you're doing. Here, let's sit on the sofa. Can I get you a drink of water? Tell me what's up."
I mentioned earlier that I wasn't always a crier. Back in high school I acted like I had it all together and everybody else were the ones that were weird and messed up. Ha. False. Freshman year of college was when I began to realize that putting up a front all the time is just lame. Superficiality is tiring. I didn't want to pretend like I was this well put-together girl all the time. I learned that I could find rest in the Lord. He lets me be real with him no matter what! And in time I learned that I should be real with others...to share my joy as well as my struggles.
Let's get real, readers! Don't you want a friend with whom you can be your happy, sad, silly, messy self? Well, Jesus is a good friend to begin with! What did he do? He led by example. He loved people. He never hid who he was. He was open. Some people scoffed at him and the things he said, but it didn't phase him. He kept on loving. And he loves YOU!
Be that loving friend with a shoulder to cry on. Or one with an open seat next to you if you have personal space issues. Be real! You'll find that you can, in turn, share your hardships with others. Now, disclaimer, don't get all "woe-is-me" around your friends all the time. Ecclesiastes 3 (or The Byrds song) reminds us that to everything there is a season. There's lots of time for joy and laughter!
Be a good listener! After my rant to Abby, I asked how she had been, and she caught me up on the latest in her life. (Abbs, you remarked how you're often "the listener" and it was nice to just sit with me and share your life, and I'm glad I could listen to you. Being a genuine listener is something that God began to tug at in me this summer and he used your good example to help me learn! As our buddy Pittman would say, "See how he brought that back around?") I'm thankful for the Lord helping me learn to listen.
Folks, there are many seasons in life, good and bad. Let us not put up a facade over the struggles, but let's allow God to gently mold us into pictures of his grace and understanding. Let us rest in the Lord's care and follow Jesus' example. Let's be good friends. And let's surround ourselves with friends we can laugh and cry with along the way. :)

Happy Holidays: Sanderson Style

Christmas is right around the corner, readers! I, for one, am thrilled! I absolutely love this time of year, from Thanksgiving all the way to Christmas. For this blog, I thought I'd share some of the Sanderson family's annual holiday traditions, and some memorable holiday anecdotes.

Family Traditions:

Re-enacting the Nativity. This was a yearly fun family event every Christmas when we were children. I think it was a good way for our parents to teach us about Jesus' birth from an early age. The whole family would get involved! Someone would read the story, and then parents/kids would act out the parts. Mary would always ride in on a donkey, which was usually one of the boys. And the youngest family member or a baby doll played the role of baby Jesus. Our manger was a laundry basket. We got creative. ;)

Pie. Okay, I mean, pie is just a food, but my family is exceptionally fond of it. There is always an abundance of cherry and pumpkin pie at every extended family holiday. Apple and pecan also make their appearances, but the two family favorites are definitely pumpkin and cherry. We have good cooks in our family! And good eaters, too!


Storytelling. Whether it's re-living past holidays, or just recounting crazy past events, my relatives love to tell stories. Some recent family favorites are: Eric and Julia's apartment toilet fiasco (Eric conveniently devoted some blog posts to the tale. He's a fantastic writer, y'all.), and cousin Natalie's startling experience with Odessa PD, who came to the house while she was home alone, guns drawn, looking for a suspect named Juan...whoops.

Christmas tree decorating. Yeah, most everyone decorates a tree at Christmas. My family likes to buy a real one every year! It has always been a lot of fun to pick it out and take it home and decorate it together. We don't have super fancy, sparkly, coordinating ornaments. Mom has made it tradition to buy each of us an ornament every year. (When Eric and Julia were married, she gave him all of his ornaments from over the years as a special gift for their Christmases together.) There are also many ornaments that have been gifts, or crafts that we kids did in elementary school. I love our Christmas tree. It's homey and sentimental. :)

My mom and my aunt matching. A running joke of my family is that my mom and Susan, her sister, quite often buy and wear matching outfits without consulting one another. They have done this for years, even back when they were in college. They also unintentionally buy my cousins and me the same things as gifts. A few Christmases ago, Julie and I got identical bathrobes. Years before that, we three girls showed up to Christmas with matching pajamas. Even this Thanksgiving, as Momma and I drove to Plano to meet the relatives for dinner, I said to her, "I bet Susan will be wearing a teal shirt, too." Lo and behold, we walked in and burst into laughter because Susan was, in fact, wearing the same colored shirt as my mother. Must be a sister thing!

Watching The Muppet Christmas Carol. This is a very long-standing tradition that is dear to my heart. Every Christmas when we visit Dad's relatives, we all sit down and watch The Muppet Christmas Carol together. It's definitely my favorite Christmas movie, not only because it's just really great to watch, but also because it is such a well-kept Sanderson family tradition.

After-meal naps. It is common practice for my entire family to scatter around the host house to take a full-bellied snooze after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation. When the Russell side of the family has Thanksgiving in Midland, Uncle David reads Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation. It's really neat to listen and to be reminded of the blessings and mercy of our Heavenly Father.

Granny's home cooking. My dad's mom, Granny, is a phenomenal down-home, Southern-style cook. For years, we would always have homemade bread, her special macaroni and cheese, and big chocolate cupcakes from scratch at Sanderson holiday gatherings. Recently, though, Granny's health has been declining, and she rarely cooks. Thankfully, we have her recipes. I hope to try my hand at keeping those foods in our family. I'm already a pro at the mac and cheese. It's SO good.

Combined family birthday party. It's tradition with the Russell (my mom's) side of the family to have a combined birthday party at Thanksgiving time. We're all together at one home, and there are four members who have birthdays in the end of November and the beginning of December: Grandma, Uncle Dale, Eric, and cousin Sam. So, it's rather ideal to throw a party for everyone at once!

Memorable Thanksgivings/Christmases:

The Christmas when Uncle Dale proposed to Aunt Kathy. At that time, we lived in Chicagoland. Dale and Kathy traveled to the midwest to visit Kathy's family in Indiana, and then to us in Illinois. And they surprised us with the news of their engagement! It was an especially happy and celebratory Christmas.

That Thanksgiving when the plumbing went kaput. A few years ago, we Sandersons hosted the Russell family at our house, and that holiday, one of our plumbing pipes decided to burst. We had NO WATER, with guests at our house! We had to take family potty trips to nearby fast food restaurants. Luckilly, my aunt and uncle rented a hotel room nearby, and they let us Sandersons shower there until we could get plumbers out to our house to fix our problem. (Which took a while, because it was Thanksgiving and everyone was on holiday.) What a predicament.

That Thanksgiving when it snowed. I think it was my junior year of high school, and we all woke up Thanksgiving morning to snow in Midland! We cousins bundled up and ventured out to a nearby field and had a snowball fight. :) 

Our first Christmas with Julia in the family! We got to have Eric and Julia with us on their first Christmas as a newlywed couple. And just to celebrate, God gave us a white Christmas Eve!

That Christmas when we cut down our own tree. One year when we were in Illinois, we went to a tree farm and cut down our own tree! It was such a festive activity! However, I most vividly remember that David stuffed a lot of snow down my back...still a little bitter about that part.

That Christmas I had mono... Oh, hey! That was last Christmas! Yep, I was struck with mononucleosis last December/January, and it decided to rear its evil head with gusto as we traveled down to Midland for the holiday. I was miserable. My family got a kick out of making sure that no one touched anything I ate or drank out of. They actually labeled things.... I also had no appetite, so I barely partook of any wonderful Christmas food. However, I can definitely say it is a Christmas I can look back on and smile. 

All of these little stories just make me feel blessed beyond measure. I am privileged to have a close-knit extended family, and family members that love and follow the Lord. These holidays together are always times of thanks to God: He has so richly blessed and provided for us over the years. And with that, I am thoroughly looking forward to Christmas travels in a few weeks! Wishing you readers the same. Cherish the time with your own families!

Photos courtesy of Julie and Natalie Brown, Google searches, and myself.

Faith is NOT a Feeling!

As I was in a particularly dreary mood one day, my mom handed me an old paperback book. Its slightly worn cover bore retro font imposed on a photo of some daisies. Frankly, its aesthetics didn't wow me. It was old. Mom said, "Here, sweetie. I think you should read this." I thanked her, set it next to my bed, and continued to mope. Lesson 1: Don't judge a book by its cover. (Lesson 1b: Don't mope.)
The book was called Faith is Not a Feeling, by Ney Bailey. My mom told me that Ney Bailey was involved with Cru (I'm trying to get in the habit of calling it Cru rather than Campus Crusade, but I digress.) and she mentioned that she really liked the book when she read it way-back-when. However, I didn't feel like reading at the time. So, there it sat by my bed for a couple of weeks, until I got tired of Momma asking me if I had started reading it. Lesson 2: Listen to your mother.


Let me tell you, folks, that the book was a proverbial blow to the gut to read, as well as a giant sigh of relief. Ms. Bailey had me in tears in chapter one (and in subsequent chapters). She began the book with a story about a devastating flood in Colorado in 1976 that took the lives of seven Crusade staff women. Bailey narrowly escaped the floodwaters herself, and her response to the tragedy was supernatural- possible only by placing her faith in God and His word- and by learning from her past experiences and mistakes. Throughout the rest of the book, she shared intimate stories from her life of discovering to walk by faith. I dare you to find yourself up a copy. If I had a disposable income, I would buy tons of copies and give them out to my friends for Christmas. (It's the thought that counts, right?)

So, what is faith?

My Merriam-Webster app on my iPhone (I'm a nerd. I like words. Don't act surprised that I have this app.) has three different definitions that talk of allegiance, fidelity, trust, belief. While those definitions are perfectly acceptable for life, we're specifically talking about faith in God.
Ney Bailey wrote that faith is our choice. Faith is "a matter of taking God at His word."
Looking at the above words from ol' Mister Webster, specifically the first three, those words seem conditional: based on the performance of whatever you're putting your "faith" into.

• Allegiance: We ally ourselves with like-minded individuals. Allegiance can change as quickly as an opinion. (Or poor sports performance, for all of you fair-weather fans out there.)
• Fidelity: Our society is plagued with a lack of fidelity, especially concerning relationships and marriage. These days, I feel like we don't take that word seriously.
• Trust: "I trust you as far as I can throw you," is one of those good Southern phrases that we hear every now and then. Good trust depends on the constancy of the trustee.

On the "Christian flip-side," faith is about OUR action. Our choice. Why do I say that? Here's something Ney wrote, and then I'll expand with my two cents:

"If faith is a matter of taking God at His word, what does God say about His word? I found the answer in Scripture itself.

'Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.' [Matthew 24:35]

'...The word of the Lord abides forever.' [1 Peter 1:25]

'The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.' [Isaiah 40:8]

"These verses were telling me that everything in life may change, but God's Word remains constant! His truth never changes."

Faith in God is different. God tells us countless times in the bible that His word is unchanging! One can even see this chronologically speaking, if one researches the accuracy of today's bible compared to centuries-old manuscripts. (That's a blog for another day...or go pick the brain of Josh McDowell and look through his books.) Fact is, God has promised us His constancy. So, the strength of faith is dependent more on us, the "trusters," rather than the Trustee. The Trustee has told us that He has 100% perfect, unfailing performance. What an awesome God we have to put our faith in!

FAITH is taking God at His word. How do we do this?

I loved peering into the life of Ney Bailey, reading about her personal ups and downs and how she learned to take the Lord at His word. I saw a ton of parallels in myself. I'm a woman. Women are "girly," for lack of a better term. We have lots of emotions, and I, like many, let those emotions run my life more than I'd like to admit. (Seriously, that's hard for me to admit, because I often pride myself in being a rational, logical person. In reality, I am often a basket case. Ask my best friends. Or Brent. Or my parents.) I can let conflicts get the better of me. I can easily give up on situations based on feelings of insecurity or doubt.
The absolute gem that I unearthed in the book was Bailey's simple example of a prayer:
"Lord, I feel...but Lord, Your Word says..."
I can't even tell you how many times I prayed that today in some instance or other. How do I feel? And what does God say about that in His word? Seek and you will find. God gave us a whole book of answers. A love letter full of faithfulness.

Faith is NOT a feeling. Faith is a choice. A habit of taking God at His word.

I want to make faith a habit. I have the bible, the Word of God, at my fingertips. (All the time, people. I have the bible on my phone, too.) Also, as a follower of Christ, the Holy Spirit lives inside me- I have THE voice of reason hidden in my heart. A wonderful Counselor.
God has made it simple for us to hear, but we must have the faith to listen and believe, instead of yielding to what our feelings tell (and sometimes yell at) us.

"...no matter how I felt or what I experienced, I could choose dependence on the Word of God as the unchanging reality of my life."

Quotes from Faith is Not a Feeling by Ney Bailey