Merry Christmas!

Wow, I can't believe that Christmas was yesterday! Can it really be the end of December? Part of the reason for my disbelief is that I wasn't home for the holidays this year because I was working. However, I think the biggest reason I'm in disbelief is the fact that is has been in the 70s all week!!!! Being from the Midwest, I'm used to cold weather in December...And most likely snow...Now that I'm in a warmer climate it feels very weird (but nice) to be in the 70s.:) 

Since it was Christmas, I thought I would spread some holiday cheer (no I'm not going to sing even if its the best way to spread Christmas cheer. My singing would be too painful), I figured I would share some pictures of gingerbread men that I helped make and decorated yesterday.

The crazy, groovy gingerbread family!

 

 Now the close-ups...

I just couldn't help myself with this one 'cause I totally LOVE Jesus! :)

Now that I'm looking at them, I feel like they should have names.

Maybe, Mo, Larry, Curly, and Shemp?

Or maybe they could be representatives of me and my siblings. ;)

 Anyways, I ended up giving the cookies to my co-workers today. Pretty sure they were all amused by the way they were decorated. Hope they also provide you with amusement! :)

"That's All Folks!"
 

Splendid Snorkeling Voyage

This past weekend I was able to attend a sea turtle conference in the Florida Key (doesn't that sound like fun? Sea turtles are so cool!!!) One awesome thing about the trip was that we went snorkeling off of Key Largo on White Banks Reef. It was my first time and was sooooooooo much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

 I'm sure you can see my excited through the equipment. :)Though it turns out, I may not be the best snorkeler ever because I just really don't like to kick. Even when I swim normally, I use by arms and not by legs. I noticed I had the same habit sometimes during snorkeling. lol.
 
 We didn't see anything extra special like sharks, turtles,or sting rays. However, we did see lots of colorful fish and beautiful coral! The diversity of God's creature is amazing. While swimming I kept thinking what an awesome Father we have. Here are a few pictures so you can also marvel at God's amazing creation!

 

 So great story about that pink fish pictured above, it is a man-eating fish!...I barely escaped that beast with my life. It was so traumatizing that I saw my life flash before my eyes (Did you die? Yes, but I lived)...Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic. The true story is I saw the fish and wanted to get a picture so I dove down to get a little close. It then proceeded to swim directly at me with it's mouth WIDE open. Apparently, I was too scary cause it turned away a couple feet from me. :)

Anyways, it was truly a fantastical experience and I'm so glad I had the chance to go. The rest of the weekend was spent seeing sea turtles at the Turtle Hospital, learning all about sea turtles, catching up with friends, and eating seafood.:)

"That's All Folks!"
 

Delighting in His Law

The other day I was reading Psalm 119 about how David loved the law of the Lord and longed to follow his commands. This led me to Psalm 1 where I got stuck on verse 2, "But his delight is on the law of the Lord and on His law he will meditate day and night." Now I've probably read this verse a hundred time, but this time all I could think was: what is the law of the Lord and why did David love it so much? And then it came to me, the law of the Lord is to love the Lord our God with all your heart, strength, mind, and soul (Deuteronomy 6:5). 

So what is the verse saying? We are to delight in loving the Father. It should not be a chore or a burden, but loving the Lord our God should be a delight in our life. We are to spend our days thinking about how much we love Him. Day and night, night and day, He should be in our thoughts. It's just like when you start to fall in love with someone and all you do is think about them. What are they doing? When can I see them again? Would they like this? What are their thoughts on this topic/item? That is how it should be in loving the Lord. 

And as we start to open up to delighting in Him and loving Him fully our hearts open up delighting in the second part of His law, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mathew 22:39). We are also suppose to delight in loving those around us. For we cannot just stop at the first part because to fully love the Father you must love His people. We can't learn to love God if we hate our brother.If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20).

Father, today I open my heart to delight in Your law. May our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths be filled with love for you. And Father help us to love our brothers just as you love them.

"That's All Folks!"