God.provides

Yesterday morning Wes woke up a little worried. It's very unusual to see him concerned, but he was definitely worried that morning. Lately, we've been having a number of car troubles, one after the other. First, Wes' car needed a new battery, then mine needed a new starter. Then mine died again after a blown head gasket and a leaking water pump. On top of it all, yesterday, on the way home from a lovely holiday weekend in Texas, we had a tire blowout on the side of the road. More expenses. It's been rough financially. With bills, rent, student loans, and car payments, this week especially has been difficult.

When Wes left for work that morning, I sat down for my morning time with God. As I began to pray, certain comforting verses came to mind.

Matthew 6:25-34
For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, not reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little fatih!
Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'
For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

There is no reason for me to ever worry. God provides. I prayed that morning that I might trust God more, and not be tempted to worry. In theory, I already knew He would take care of all our needs, it was just trusting Him to do what His Word says He will do.

A few hours later, as I was sitting at my desk at work, a girl came in to give me some music to look over for accompanying. She handed me the music along with an envelope with my accompanying fee money paid in full. I never expected to receive the full payment before I even rehearsed with her once! God provides.

Then, later in the day, Wes told me he had a paycheck waiting for him at the music store, where he had been working for a few afternoons in the past couple weeks. He had worked there before, and they had asked him to come in, just to have a few extra people during the busy back-to-school season. Again, God provides.

Just when we really needed it, God provided, like He always does.

graphic.design.maniac

After graduation, (thankfully after, and not before) my beautiful macbook pro died...completely. A storm went through and fried every part of my laptop leaving me with nothing, not even the contents of my hard drive. Needless to say, I have been very impatient to get a new computer. So last Saturday, Wes and I went to the Apple Store to get a mac mini. Now I have a brand new amazing computer to use for graphic design!
This past week, I have been working non-stop designing. I've really been enjoying it. First, I designed a logo for the band Wes is in, Sound Society:

I made two similar designs and asked for comments. After a few edits, the logo now looks like this:

After completing this one, Wes came up with a few other really cool ideas. We haven't worked through them enough yet, and it will take me quite some time to make once they're approved. But I'll be sure to post them once they're completed.
The second project I began is the logo for Wes and my little wedding music business. I've played violin duos with my sister for many weddings, but I've never played with string bass. I think it will be really fun to play with Wes for weddings (and good money, too)! Anyway, this is the logo that I designed for us so far:

And it's actually us on the logo! This is my second design idea for this logo, and there might be a few more changes before it's complete. But I think I like it so far.

This is all I've accomplished so far in the logo world, but I did experiment a little with Photoshop this week as well. During our visit to PA in July, we had a little photo shoot with all of us nine grand kids. The only problem was, Amanda and Emily couldn't be there. Since Wes was the photographer, he took group pictures with the seven of us that could be there, and left room in the photos for two more. The next day, we took pictures of Amanda and Emily by themselves. Then, I challenged myself to create a seamless group photo of all of us together. Can you tell who was added?

playing.jazz

I am a classical pianist. The end. But for some reason, Wes won't accept that. Since we began dating, he's tried to convince me to learn some jazz piano. Sure, if I was good enough, it could be a ton of fun playing together, but that's just the point -- I'M NOT GOOD! I even took a whole semester of jazz piano lessons with an amazing jazz pianist. She was great and I learned a lot, but jazz just doesn't come naturally for me.

I was getting really frustrated with it, so I took a break for a while. Lately though,Wes and our friend John have been eager to jam together. With John on trombone and Wes on bass, a keyboard was really the only thing missing. Hmm. So I am stuck once again in the jazz world. After a huge meltdown the first trio session with Wes and John, I determined to change my attitude and quit thinking I can't do it. It wasn't as bad the second time. Actually, I kinda enjoyed myself even.

First of all, I realized one of the reasons I didn't want to play jazz was because I was too intimidated by Wes' beastly skills. He's one of the best (if not the best) bass players in Tulsa to be sure. He's a pro! Then I sat down at the keyboard and let myself enjoy what I could play, rather than stress over what I was missing. Sure, I didn't play every extension of every chord, nor did I play all the chords with the proper inversions, but I did, for the most part, play the right chord qualities at the given tempo. And it was fun!

Playing jazz with Wes and John

humbled.by.my.husband

Saturday morning, my husband started to come down with a cold. He woke up with a headache, and then the drippy nose came. As I sent him off to work this morning, he was still feeling sick. But what amazes me is his attitude. On Saturday, I didn't even know he was feeling bad for several hours. Not once did he complain. Then on Sunday, we left bright and early to church, as usual. After the normal services,we spent most of the rest of our day there, busy in youth related meetings and events. When I mentioned to someone that Wes was not feeling well, they were amazed and surprised that he could hide it so well. When I talked to Wes about it, he said people don't like to listen to complainers, so he doesn't complain. For him, it's not about hiding how he feels, it's about being a people person, and putting others first. Wes is just amazing! His attitude is so inspiring and humbling. I'm so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man.

reminiscing.old.times

This is my third week at my new job and I'm really liking it so far. It's so strange to me that I would end up basically "at home." This office holds many memories for me. So many wonderful things have happened to me here. I mean, I met my husband in this building. Then he became the student worker in the office where I work. Since we were dating at the time, I was here all the time helping him work. The next year, I took his position and worked as the student worker building monitor in the evenings. One very special evening, as I was sitting where I am sitting now at my desk, Wes walked in with a dozen roses and took me away to a romantic dinner. That night, he asked me to marry him. Sigh...my life is wonderful.

hearing.vs.doing

Sometimes, it's the simple things that catch your attention when nothing else does. Sunday at church, Wes and I went to his parent's Life Group class. It's really like a Sunday School class. This particular group is primarily for new Christians or those who want to grasp the basics of the Christian faith. Wes and I dropped by just for fun. The lesson for the day was on the assurance of guidance. You would think that something so inherently simple would be just that -- simple. But it wasn't. Please understand, it is "simple" in that it's straightforward and easy to comprehend. But as much as you hear and comprehend the truths and promises in the Bible, they mean nothing if you do not take heed and do what they tell you to do.

But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
James 1:22

Basically, the passage being studied was Proverbs 3: 5-6. First of all, this is my favorite passage in the Bible. I could probably quote it backwards in my sleep. Secondly, I've heard it over and over and over. It's one of those verses like Jeremiah 29:11.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3: 5-6

As we began to take apart each passage, my eyes were opened to recognize more than I ever knew was there. As I was sitting in that class with pride in the fact that I knew all the verses, considering myself capable of even teaching the class, I began to realize how wrong I was. In my head, I could list everything we were talking about that I've known all my life, but that I wasn't actually doing -- at least not on a consistent basis. Surrendering myself to God in order to trust in Him, worrying, not consistently tithing, etc. In just that one simple Bible lesson, I was put back in my place. I am no better off than someone who has never heard these things if I don't start doing and not just hearing.

everything.new

As I suspected would happen over time, I have not been very good at keeping up with my blog. But since I am writing for my own enjoyment, I'm not going to stress out about timely posts.

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Never assume that once you graduate, you will be done with college and school. It wasn't one month after I graduated when I was asked to come back to ORU to work full time as the Listening Lab Attendant in the Music Department! Now I am back at school once more, but it's completely different this time. I have an office with a desk of my own, where my name is on a plaque outside my door, and students have to obey my rules. I am really excited to be here and am looking forward to a great year!

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And then there's Lucy. Poor sweet little Lucy. In the last picture I posted, she was pretty much the ugliest dog I have ever seen. But she has changed so much! With a little food, time, and love, she has become just adorable!

She's the sweetest, cutest, most loveable puppy in the world!