sister

Sadly, this is the only picture that was taken...
(besides a few other photobooth snapshots)


Not sad
Thai Bistro downtown Geneva, IL (one of the cutest little towns)
A ridiculous movie
Brushing Illinois snow off my car before church
Going to a wedding without knowing the people getting married
14 miles to Woodfield Mall
Humungous salads at The Cheesecake Factory
Spending superbowl Sunday at Caribou Coffee not watching the superbowl
and, of course, sisterly sister time :)

Posted by Sarena in

sister

I will sing

I read this awhile ago and I thought it was incredible :)

quoted from this
"Philip Paul Bliss (1838-1876), was a well known teacher, evangelist and soloist. He wrote many hymns, including Almost Persuaded, Let the Lower Lights Be Burning, and Wonderful Words of Life. He also composed the melody for Horatio Spafford's It Is Well with My Soul.

On the 29th of December, 1876, Bliss and his wife, Lucy, boarded a train back to Pennsylvania. The winter snow and ice made for dangerous travel. As their train was crossing over a river in Ashtabula, Ohio, the bridge suddenly gave way and all the carriages fell into the freezing waters below. Bliss escaped through a window, only to find that Lucy had somehow been left behind in the burning wreckage. Although he was advised against it, Bliss headed back into the fire, saying: "If I cannot save her, I will perish with her." The young couple did not survive.

Among Bliss' belongings were the lyrics to I Will Sing of My Redeemer."

It just struck me that those were the words he left behind.

I looked for the song on youtube.. the versions were kinda corny...

Posted by Sarena in

I will sing

My current staples..

:)

Nahnahnah...

these


so so much lemony goodness (other Luna bars are great as well)



iced.. mmmmm

Posted by Sarena in

My current staples..

Post in 2011

Christmas Break was mostly uneventful for me. I got a lot more sleep and relaxation than I actually needed.

The last week of break, Janessa, Kaitlin, and I headed South to Florida to visit Jenny (Kait's sister) and Amanda (my friend from high school days). Janessa and I spent most of the week with Amanda and met up with Kaitlin later. We ate out a lot: African, Mexican, French, Chinese, and Japanese (Sushi). We also went to Savannah, Georgia for a day (so gorgeous) and St. Augustine, Florida. I also got to try rock climbing for the first time.. I had expected it to be hard so I was surprised that it wasn't too bad - definitely an arm workout though!

So here are so out-of-order pictures.. even more random as when I uploaded them here, they switched order and I'm too lazy to switch them around.

Posted by Sarena in

Post in 2011

oh turkey day :)

What am I thankful for?

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" - Romans 8:38-39

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing except ourselves. I am thankful for an endless supply of grace. I am thankful for a Father who's forever calling me back to Him. And, for the moments when I finally hear that call. I am thankful for the times when I am convicted, when I realize that the Holy Spirit is still alive. I'm torn by the guilt and separation - but so thankful because I know what peace feels like. I'm beyond thankful for a God who is so much higher than our humanness and patient enough to wait for us to desire to be like Him.

Thankful because..

"No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand"

Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by Sarena in

oh turkey day :)

A box of chocolates

Some dreams are so vivid that we wonder if they could possibly have any meaning.. I tend to believe that our dreams reflect the past, not the future. Yet Biblical dreams often foretold the future so perhaps some dreams today can still be foreshadowing.

With that said, I had the strangest dream!

I was road-tripping through Texas when I happened upon a desolate town. A few forlorn houses were tacked together with odd pieces of siding. I realized that this town had been ravaged by the recent hurricanes leading to its meager features. I walked towards the houses feeling as if I was surrounded by whispers of history. And then in front of me I saw the bench. The very bench that Forrest Gump sat on. "Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get" reverberated endlessly through my mind. I was thrilled that I had found this bench, this important piece of history. I wanted to share this finding with everyone.

And then, the dream became a lot less realistic - running into a friend who was also traveling through Texas, finding a sign next to some corn fields with the name of a future professor on it, exploring a museum and trying to find the bench again to show to my mom and sister.. "You have to see it - the box of chocolates bench!"

Yes, strange. I haven't watched Forrest Gump in a very long time - and I've only seen it once. I haven't thought about it at all lately. I guess I have been thinking about life a lot though so perhaps the box of chocolates quote could relate?

However, I am going to visit my friend in Florida over Christmas Break, and we were planning on going to Savannah for a day. And when I told her about my dream, she said "It's in Savannah." The bench is in Savannah! So I may actually see it! Ha.

Weird.

Posted by Sarena in

A box of chocolates