Legacies

Last night at college group, Clay challenged us by saying that the only thing we will have after we pass are our stories - our legacies. Do I want to predominantly be known as a girl who played a lot of piano and loved kids? Those are both things I am passionate about, but no, I don't want them to be the things that define my life.

As hinted at in my post on beauty, I want to be a person who finds and lives out of the beauty of even the simplest things in life. I want to reflect Beauty, our Creator and Savior, in all I do. If that is music for me, then I want to work to excellence in my interpretations and improvisations, so that they are thoughtful and musical. If that is teaching music, then I want to excite others about taking black and white notes on a staff and creating beauty, as a reflection of our Creator. If that means baby sitting (or parenting, one day!), then crowning the day with love and laughter, thanksgiving and joy.

Although these thoughts were far from my mind ten years ago, I see now that God used the influence of my Granny to plant seeds in my heart even then. She was a woman who portrayed the beauty of Christ in all she did. She opened her home to many - a home that was welcoming and warm, though not lavish. Her southern cooking was for the stomach and the soul. :) Her words were never spiteful or demeaning. I have memories only of her encouragement and closeness.

Granny and Pop were charter members of a local church and even now, though they have both been gone for years, I can mention "Uncle Charlie & Jean" and immediately I am met with stories of their kindness - told by people I don't even know!

After her passing in 1999, I remember my parents and others frequently saying things like, "You like to make things pretty like Granny." "Granny would be so proud of you." And as I've grown over the past years, I have often come to hear, "Granny would just love you. You two would be the best of friends." I can't help but get a little teary-eyed, for those are truly the greatest compliments I could ever receive.

Today is Granny's birthday. In two days it will be the 10th anniversary of her death. I can't believe it's been that long. Time is flying by. And it makes me think: what is my legacy?

Granny's was one of an everlasting nature. She invested in people and set her heart toward the Lord. I can't help but think of Proverbs 31, where it says, "Her children arise and call her blessed..." (verse 28) In Granny's case, we could definitely add "and her children's children, her friends, neighbors, church family, her extended family, guests, etc."

Oh, to have that kind of legacy!

I'm so thankful to the Lord for giving me this kind of example! Even though the moments seemed entirely too short, they are treasured in my heart.

This is a photo sent to me by my Aunt Cathy. It was taken in 1962 and portrays Granny with her two sons, Chuck and Greg. In addition to her inward beauty, my Granny was also stunningly beautiful on the outside. :)

Busch Gardens With Ty & Vincent

Ty and his family are hosting a French student for four weeks this summer. Last Monday, we took Vincent to Busch Gardens. We drove through this the entire way there! Not exactly good theme park weather, huh? I didn't think so either.

When we arrived, it started to clear up. This was the first ride we went on. (Don't fall out, Vincent!)
Okay. So that was just the parking tram. But the tram afforded a glimpse of our real first ride!
I wanted to take the boys' picture by this, since they're so tall. I thought it'd be funny. We "forgot." (Sorry I don't know how to flip it!)
Before making a decision about riding any coasters, one must examine all the angles and take lots of pictures!
Vincent had never been on an extreme roller coaster before. Ty and I love Montu! With a little prodding from us, Vincent was ready to love it, too!  This was the reaction when I said, "Show me your ready faces!"

This is waiting in line at the Rhino Rally, which was super-duper fun! We had the craziest guide. :)
And that's just me.
And that's a real gator.
This is from up in the Skyride that takes you across the park. I had never ridden on it before. It was so fun that we did it twice!
Sheikra looming in the distance.
We couldn't convince Vincent to go on Sheikra. Look closely. Yes, that's a 90-degree angle, and yes, that's part of the ride.
The Skyride was just lovely! There was a great breeze, a nice view of the roller coasters and animals, and oh! Look at those blue skies. It turned out to be a perfect day!

This is funny. Every once and a while Ty would call a "group meeting." During our meetings we discussed what we should do next, where we should venture, what we should eat, etc. I tried to take pictures of our meetings, but they didn't exactly work out.

This is after one of the water rides. I'm not too much of a fan of water rides. I always get SO WET! Call me crazy, but I don't like walking around with wet underwear. =/ This time, the boys took it the worst. Thankfully, Ty came prepared with a Ziploc baggie in which we placed all of our valuables before the ride.
We also saw some really cool juggling! This guy was awesome!
Mmm, and we got ice cream! Lovely face, Ty. :)
I think there was a language issue, because Vincent ended up with quite possibly the largest-ever ice cream cone! (The other half of it is hiding inside Vincent's hand.) See everyone in the background staring at it?
Me? I opted for a small cone with strawberry ice cream and LOTS of rainbow sprinkles! May I have some ice cream with my sprinkles? Oh, and I got a henna at the park, too. See my finger?
We met some angry fish.
I love giraffes! You know those ice breaker games where you have to share what animal you'd be? I've always said I'd like to be a giraffe.
Ty loved the meerkats, and ever since this trip he's been calling Glenna's dog one!
This was our view upon exiting the park. The clouds were just rolling in as we were leaving. It's almost like Somebody made the weather perfect just for our time at Busch Gardens. Hmmm... ;)

And You Thought the Shuttle Launch Was Highly Anticipated

Where I was this morning, the microwave countdown for the popcorn was a much bigger deal.

And yes, we are wearing Bob the Tomato hats.

One Year - One Month Later

For our one-year dating anniversary, Ty took me on a surprise adventure! I had no idea where we were going; I was only instructed to wear something comfortable. After a while of driving, we ended up at a train station! You have to understand how much I LOVE trains! (I've only had the privilege to ride on one just one other time, so this was a real treat!) This train, however, was very special, because we were served lunch while riding through the beautiful city.

Mmm, this salad was so yummy!
I felt like a VIP, making all these cars wait while I passed. (Okay, okay, they had to wait for the other 20-or-so people, too.)
Here we are with our main course! Isn't the train adorable?
I kept trying to take Ty's picture. "Just look out the window and act natural!" A real smile will do, too. :)
After our train ride, we walked around and looked in some vintage stores and other random shops. Okay, we went in every store we saw, just for the AC.
After that, we drove over to the beach. By the time we arrived, the sun was going down and all the vacationers were leaving - my favorite time to be at the beach. We just walked around, sat (tried to avoid the sand!), and enjoyed each other's company. As dark approached, we headed back to the car and picked up Publix subs! Mmm!

And when we got back to Ty's house, we did some fireworks!

A Few Looks Back, Face Straight Ahead

Today is the day the Mexico team leaves.

I just finished watching the DVDs from the past two years (while walking on the treadmill, I might add :), and I was overcome with excitement for the students who are going.

The Lord has been good to me and has given me a peace about staying home. Still, it's been a hard week, and I can't help but wish that I, too, were headed out today.

I can't help but wonder how Jasmine has changed. My good friend, Hannah, who shared the last two years with me, has the amazing privilege to once again return to Chihuahua. She has so nicely agreed to hand-deliver a message and some pictures I put together for Jasmine. I pray my Spanish is understandable!

2007

2008

2009? I'll be anxiously waiting to hear stories and see pictures.

Until then, dear Mexico team, may "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26)

The team will be sharing glimpses of their trip on their blog. Check it out, and pray for them!

How to Send Your Best Friends a Package

As I'm sure you know by now, Tuesdays and Thursdays are Wesley, Emma, and Maggie days. Last Thursday Wesley went to a friend's, so we had a girls' day. We took advantage of this and decided to do something a 10-year-old boy would consider "girly."

 

I had plans to send a package to Tali this week, so I proposed something to Emma: let's make a photo album of us sending the package! It just so turns out that Tali's youngest sister, Caroline, and Emma are really close friends, so Emma was all in. Maggie was along for the ride...and the cuteness factor. ;)

I've already shipped it, but here's my best attempt at remembering all the captions!

It's really sad around here with you guys away. [For those of you who don't know, this is right outside Tali's front door.]

You could definitely say that we had caught...

...the blues!

We went to the park, but you weren't there either.

An idea!

It took a lot of thought,

a little bit of conniving,

a lot of poise,

a lot of energy,

and of course a lot of eating!

But we had an idea!

We were serious!

And we were ready!

Okay, now we're ready!

Our first stop proved to be unsuccessful.

Maggie had an alternate option, but we passed on it.

Target turned out to be a better choice! [At this point, I directed Tali to open the wrapped gift labeled "package 1," which contained the cd shown below.]

Yay Target!

The next day we set out well-dressed.

We paid a visit to Josh...

...and he gave us a little something for you. [And this is where she was told to open package 2. Side note about this book: a girl from my church co-authored it. It is a fantastic book that takes you through the debriefing process after a short-term mission trip. It was so helpful for me, and I wanted Tali to have the opportunity to learn from it. Good news for you, too, Mexico team 2009! Josh had borrowed it for your sake!]

Next, we wrote letters and drew pictures for you.

And lastly we took this to the post office, so you could have it!

The end!