Boston

It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since Nolan and I got married! We decided to do something fun to celebrate and planned a last minute trip to visit some of our friends in Boston. Allyson was my roomate for two years and was in our wedding. Her and her husband live in Boston now because he is in seminary. Our other friend Jason just finished up seminary so we got to spend lots of time with all three of these close friends! Here are some pictures from our trip:

Lauren's Wedding Shower!

My cousin Lauren is getting married in July and we had a shower for her this past Saturday! It was such a fun weekend seeing family from out of town and spending time getting ready for this celebration!

Me and the Bride!

My cousins Allie and Lauren

Girl cousins! (minus Scotland)

Allie finished her finals Friday morning, packed, drove home, and went straight to the airport to fly to Pittsburgh! I'm glad she made it!

Beautiful gift table

Nana and Aunts with the Bride!

Salad Buffet

Fruit Pizzas-delicious!

Our proudest creation-Melanie and I decorated these mini wedding cakes that Julie made!

Oreo Balls!

Aunt Julie put together these beautiful place settings and made the napkins herself for Lauren to keep!

Home?

A year ago this week Nolan and I signed the lease for our apartment. After trying our hand at the whole house hunting thing, we have decided to stay here for another year. Although it's small, I love our apartment and it has become a home to us. Since I left my Mom's house at 18 (6 years ago...yikes!) I have never lived in the same place for longer than a year. I haven't had a May that hasn't involved packing all my belongingings and moving on. I don't miss the packing, and its feels very "settled" to be here another year. I guess I'm growing up...

The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers

I have been reading like crazy lately, and last week stumbled upon this book at the local library. I remember watching Mister Rogers several times as a child, but when I revisited this guy and this show, I saw a lot of things that I never noticed before and gained a whole new respect for Fred Rogers aka "Mister Rogers."

The book is written by a woman Amy Hollingsworth who knew Rogers for many years and was greatly influenced by his faith in God. In a culture that was becoming more and more fast-paced, Mister Rogers strived to slow things down and to enjoy silence. In watching his show, this message is strongly conveyed. Hollingsworth points out elements of the show such as the flashing yellow light at the beginning of each episode and the methodical way Mister Rogers enters the room and goes through his routine of replacing a jacket with a cardigan and his shoes for sneakers. All of these reinforce Mister Rogers desire to slow down, spend time in silence, and most importantly in prayer. This is a lesson that I know I need to learn. Life can be so busy and hectic that I often overlook things that I may notice if I would just slow down a little.

Another very significant life lesson Mister Rogers was intent on passing on is what it means to truly view yourself and others in the way that God has created us, and to love your neighbor in a way which imitates the love of Christ.

I thought this book was very interesting and it was inspiring as well. Thinking about Mister Rogers' Neighborhood takes me back to being a kid again, and that is a very good place to be. The book closes with a quote from Mister Rogers himself when asked if he had one last chance to convey a message to his audience, "Well, I would want those who are listening somehow to know that they had unique value, that there isn't anybody in the whole world exactly like them and that there never has been and never will be. And that they are loved by the Person who created them, in a unique way. If they could know that and really know it and have it behind their eyes, they could look with those eyes on their neighbor and realize, 'My neighbor has unique value too; there's never been anybody in the whole world like my neighbor and there never will be.' If they could value that person--if they could love that person--in ways that we know that the Eternal loves us, then I would be very grateful" (161).

Yikes...I've been slacking

It has been awhile since I have updated, but I am going to try and get back in the routine! Life has been full of busyness, but mostly good busyness. Nolan and I are getting used to working at two different churches and are having fun doing youth ministry together! It's kinda insane and great all at the same time. April was very full of youth group events for me and here are a few pictures from my middle school bowling night a couple weeks ago. I love these crazy kids!

I also had a high school lock in last week, in which I got NO sleep. It went so well though, we had 20 kids spend the night at the church. We hung out, ate chinese food, had worship, a lesson, and played a bunch of "Minute to Win It" games. If I'm honest, I would say that I have been avoiding lock-ins since I started in youth ministry, but I actually really enjoyed this one!

Last night was our last night of Teen Community Bible Study for the year. (This is a county-wide study for teens that I am the Teaching Director for.) I am relieved to have Tuesday nights free for a while, but last night was really amazing. On the final night of each year we have a big dinner honoring the seniors and then a time of longer worship and students have the opportunity to just share about what God is doing in their life and how Teen CBS has helped them in their faith. Wow, I was so amazed and so humbled by this time. We practically had to cut it off because it was goign so long and so many students wanted to share. Nights like this are truly a reminder of what an honor it is to work with teenagers and it is definitely an encouragement to keep going!

Friday is Nolan's birthday, so I'm looking forward to celebrating that!