Starting out with the Bible

Since I don't have any pictures to post, I just thought I'd write about life.... These types of questions have been at the forefront of my mind lately:

1. Who do I love, and what am I doing about it?
2. Am I pursuing my dream, or is fear stopping me?
3. Am I doing something that matters?
4. What am I doing to help others?
5. Am I as good a person as I want to be?
6. What am I doing to live life with passion, health and energy?

So one thing I am doing to help me answer these questions is to learn more about what it means to be a Christian and to learn more about the Word through Bible studies. I've never done a formal Bible study before, and I am completely motivated to dig in and to grow spiritually. I want to do this for myself and for my family, so that I know we are focused on what matters most.

I actually have joined two groups. One of my Bible studies includes a group of women from my area who all are 30-something Christians with various backgrounds in religious studies and denominations. We are studying the Beth Moore Esther "it's tough being a woman" series. It's a great balance between the history of the time and to the interpretation to the present time. The latest lesson is on "it's tough being a woman in a mean world" and it has given me perspective on how I interact with people and how easy it is to bubble up in anger. I'm making it a goal whenever I feel my blood pressure rise to pause and pray on it. What is making me feel this way? What is the Lord teaching me? Is this anger really even necessary? I have a long ways to go regarding many of my relationships, but I hope that I am going to be a more forgiving, relaxed person with the Lord in the center of my thoughts.

And I'm in another Bible study with some wonderful female friends from work. We meet every 2 weeks over lunch. It's so nice to not only have a break from all things Boston Scientific for an hour here and there, but to also know these women better. We are studying the Beatitudes from the gospel of Matthew through a Max Lucado book called "Applause from Heaven." I think this particular passage is opening my eyes to how valuable it is to get multiple perspectives in order to add depth to the message. I would never have gotten the same interpretation on my own, and I'm grateful for the messages and self-reflection the study is giving me. (We're going to be starting a new book in a month or so, so let me know if you have any recommendations for a read and discuss type of study book.)

Technical difficulties

Not sure when I'll have more pictures to post, but just checking out our blog is motivating me to fix this situation. The hard drive that we keep all of our pictures on is broken, so I have to figure out how to get all of our pictures back. Say a prayer!! I would be devastated if we lost them. I don't have a back-up for probably the last 6 months of stuff, but we do have everything uploaded to Snapfish, so at least I can get hardcopies.

And even the camera situation for new pictures is not pretty. I can't find the battery charger, so I can't even take NEW pictures. What a mess we are!

My little nephew Andrew

My sister Katie and Albie welcomed Andrew into their family in June, and I was so excited to visit them a few weeks ago. Andrew is such a sweet little baby - I can't wait to see if he is the calm, easy-going little man that he appears to be at this point. I brought Henry along, too, so that he could play with cousin Landon. They were typical toddlers - stealing balls from each other - but overall had a really fun time together.

Henry was OBSESSED with Andrew. He constantly signaled to us that he wanted to hold the baby, and he gave him kisses every chance he could get.