tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71523791940858836152024-03-05T01:17:22.395-08:00The Ice'sThe Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152379194085883615.post-80881304372834105032011-02-03T12:26:00.000-08:002011-02-03T14:11:06.372-08:00Make me a purse which does not wear out...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-AloS7ABjACcVk7HHfN_LSss7wI_dhBVjG9a2XgLKgINrCbfKHglMDTlXZumN8KlcLQIhnQP0F6i-SsoEqAJqPWEgKY2IPlpJ5p7TKxPqF2v5CF4WgEWQVHgEczmNIY-H9PeD1JHJBKP/s1600/vicious_cycle_of_poverty1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-AloS7ABjACcVk7HHfN_LSss7wI_dhBVjG9a2XgLKgINrCbfKHglMDTlXZumN8KlcLQIhnQP0F6i-SsoEqAJqPWEgKY2IPlpJ5p7TKxPqF2v5CF4WgEWQVHgEczmNIY-H9PeD1JHJBKP/s320/vicious_cycle_of_poverty1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569576812721505426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I am studying Sociology/Social Work right now and I absolutely love it. I get to study and learn about the things I am most passionate about however my increased awareness about the social problems in our society often lead me to a place of being completely overwhelmed. I was reading chapter 2 in my textbook on the cycle of poverty and I was left convicted and overwhelmed. Convicted because although I think I do some things in terms of "justice" I really have to wonder if it just seems like I am doing more when I compare myself to people around me.<br />-Some people think poverty is a problem.<br />-Some people do a yearly "Saturday-Service-Project."<br />-Some people do not even have the poor on their radar.<br /><br />None of this is meant to sound as though I am judging others, I just don't think my personal standards of addressing these issues should be done in comparison to those around me. This allows me to get by, by doing the bare minimum, while still feeling like "at least I did more than the average person." Rather, I want to remind myself of how God views the poor and oppressed. The Bible contains more than 300 verses on the poor, social justice, and God's deep concern for both. I want my life to reflect who Jesus spent time with during his earthly ministry and allow that to be the litmus test of how I am spending my life.<br /><br />So I am reading chapter 2 and I begin to cry. I think about how much stuff I have, how much stuff I still want, and how much kingdom work is left to be done during my short life here on earth. Jamey probes and asks me why I am crying and I tell him how I'm sad and feel like I'm not doing enough, and I could be doing so much more.<br /><br />I tell him about a few of my friends whom I admire so much who are literally giving their lives away to see the Gospel restore and redeem people that are poor and oppressed. Like Cassie, who spends most of her days hanging out with the homeless of Shreveport and seeing them find hope in Christ. <a href="http://www.thehubministry.com/">http://www.thehubministry.com/</a><br />Or Courtney who lives in East Asia ministering to prostitutes in sex shops around her city...<br />No one can charge them with not giving their lives away... They literally have given their lives away for the sake of others. They are on a path to become the next "Mother Teresas" while I wait for the next big sale at Urban and go on the occasional mission trip.<br />But Jamey chimes in as my sounding board of biblical truth, just as he always does and reminds my heart of some important things:<br /><br />1.) None of the problems of poverty and oppression will truly be solved until Jesus comes back to restore all things as they were intended to be<br />2.) That spending time with college girls, loving them and helping them understands the needs of the poor is giving my life away in a sense<br />3.) Raising awareness and living my life as an advocate for the poor is just as honorable as living in Calcutta, India (both are needed)<br />4.) Being a good steward of my job, my school work, my husband and college ministry is glorifying to God<br />I needed this truth and encouragement desperately today as I was sinking in a black hole of all the world's problems and all that needed to be done. While simultaneously doing the math of realizing I only have 1 life to live and only 24 hours in each day and feeling like most of that time I am wasting away just like the next guy. However, it does not ever excuse me from just doing the bare minimum. I don't think Jesus would leave me here on earth to do "greater things than he" like buying Hillsong albums and John Piper books. I think he took the whole "love thy neighbor" thing pretty seriously, and so should I. <span style="color: rgb(89, 69, 9);"><b><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Deut. 15:7.</span></b><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Verses like this are not hard to understand, they are hard to do.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I tell people all the time I am not "good" at hanging out with refugees or homeless. They are so different than me and we have nothing in common. Sometimes I do it because I don't see it as optional in scripture. Other times I do it, although it is uncomfortable, because I think my awkward interactions with the poor bring glory to God.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I am definitely not perfect and have TONS of sanctification in a million areas of my life, but I'm thankful for the struggle between this world and the next. Hoping when He comes back he finds me as a "purse which does not wear out"</span><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"><b>Luke 12:33</b>. "Sell your possessions and give to the poor; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys."</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsW0oG1KQzDOAw-vnXs6xoTYrgmfpcxzRKxhjJ7TpAjiGji7xI76wjuuoqkFhH_-E4XW5s6S9ugE-4fVD32Giy4KgFKsB8rwbWBi7FW_sWBkuGJpUe8wR-5-YFRPdVIxVWh_yOlQubC3R/s1600/students.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsW0oG1KQzDOAw-vnXs6xoTYrgmfpcxzRKxhjJ7TpAjiGji7xI76wjuuoqkFhH_-E4XW5s6S9ugE-4fVD32Giy4KgFKsB8rwbWBi7FW_sWBkuGJpUe8wR-5-YFRPdVIxVWh_yOlQubC3R/s320/students.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569574138451033858" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">~My present Calcutta...a thanksgiving dinner with international students back in November~</span><br /></div>The Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152379194085883615.post-85302807139224944332010-11-23T23:10:00.000-08:002010-11-23T23:27:22.692-08:00Its been a while.......so long in fact that I am not sure anyone will read this. Oh well. This is more like cheap therapy than true entertainment for those around me. Heck! We have Glee now. Who needs to read blogs anymore? j/k<br /><br />So I am in school and although it has dominated my life I actually really enjoy it. I am reading so many books about my favorite things in life: missions, poverty, Islam, campus ministry, etc. Learning truly is a gift. Education is a luxury many go without. I always dream of some sort of non-profit I create where I get the opportunity to provide education to those who have not been given this chance. I always think about some of my kids who have spent most of their lives living in refugee camps, waiting on food drops from the UN, avoiding cholera. Now they are dropped into our American country with our English-school-system that gives them 0.2 seconds to catch up or they fall behind. Many refugee high school students do not graduate because they are stuck. Do you put a 15 year old in class with the 2nd graders because that's his reading level? Or do you spare him some dignity and put in a freshmen class where there's no chance of him ever catching up to the rest of his peers?<br />And what about the kids who go home to broken families, or single-parent households with a mom who can't help with homework because she's working job number 2 just to pay the bills. Or what about the kids who can't wake up their mom for a ride to school because she's passed out from the night before?<br />Education comes at different costs for different people and not all kids can be expected to learn the same when the environments they come vary so drastically.<br /><br />This is just one of my soap boxes and a problem I think of often. I want to do my best to fix these things even on the smallest scale. Even if I only make a tiny dent. I care only because I have been cared for first. My deepest need has been met. Now it is my turn to care and meet the needs of others and never tire of doing so.<br /><br />"And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right." ThessaloniansThe Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152379194085883615.post-89483971474049234412008-10-02T10:29:00.000-07:002008-10-02T10:36:56.512-07:00The truth comes out...Okay so here's my blog confession. I have some typical excuses for not keeping up with this thing like business, full time job, ministry, being a wife etc, but here's my honest one.<br />I DON'T KNOW HOW TO WORK THIS STUPID THING!!<br />Its so annoying wanting to blog but not having a 5 hour chunk in any day to figure the dang thing out!<br />In case you haven't noticed I dont even know how to add friends to the side of my page to click on, I have to go to Summer's page and click on everyone from there.<br />Also putting pictures on here is drama. I click on the image thing and it adds all of the pics to the top and I have to drag them each down to their appropriate place in the story of my blog. And it takes FOREVER to do that. I dont know how to add a link either which is annoying because it cuts out some of witty banter points when I can't say, "too see for yourself click here..haha!"<br />So without friends on the side, and without pics, and without links to enhance my witty banter I think my heart has just given up. Not to mention the few times I've written a freakin novel and somehow the whole thing has gotten erased!!ugh!<br />anyway, so I'll update soon. I just need some blogspot 101!<br /><br />MelThe Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152379194085883615.post-81502594028180330742008-07-12T15:38:00.000-07:002008-07-15T08:00:57.126-07:001031...This is for you!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbb8t05Yh_4wk-6AAZSgEsUtAFrLGcBxPLOkNjYGAWV7rphXOv8o5RJrYmfIOGr4si6dJeVR575zs4Iqbb6j7TrHblPaQL4ht9HcGMW7nyBrxwtw2XDa_ZtYN5bPsAG4asfoQGdNKX6sr/s1600-h/summer08+190.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbb8t05Yh_4wk-6AAZSgEsUtAFrLGcBxPLOkNjYGAWV7rphXOv8o5RJrYmfIOGr4si6dJeVR575zs4Iqbb6j7TrHblPaQL4ht9HcGMW7nyBrxwtw2XDa_ZtYN5bPsAG4asfoQGdNKX6sr/s320/summer08+190.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222262018035435346" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jamey's been asking me to post this bad-boy for some time now so I thought I would!! I couldn't decide what to title this blog. In honor of my old roomies I chose the title for 1031...but a close second was "Now this is TRUE LOVE!"</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Haha! I just wanted to give a shout-out to the joy of marriage! To have a best friend that loves you so unconditionally the way Jamey loves me, is ridiculous!</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And although I was advised to throw out my teddy-pj's by my friends....I didn't. Jamey even says I look "cute" in this. He was the one who actually got out the camera to take the pic!</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Don't worry, all you girls who spent good money on my lingerie shower, I still wear those sexy numbers too. But every now and then you just wanna put on a good-ole-fashion night gown....... (from elementary school)....and black-ankle-high-socks....(for warmth)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">haha...kinda sad, huh??</span></span>The Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152379194085883615.post-91822526007719305952008-07-07T12:24:00.000-07:002008-07-07T12:25:18.919-07:00The New family Pet!<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WCjgqW3t5D0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WCjgqW3t5D0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>The Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152379194085883615.post-84467429254042653962008-05-25T21:05:00.001-07:002008-05-25T22:14:58.660-07:00L.A. trip!! and a little more...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYc9GXH2ePIqb-hwIxoP2usNiCcDLR_1ekfksF3qE53tyQo-qMI-_vqdMZNvytFc4Qq88xYA71mNBc5pRVcetJzrCmaispqkozpxl9Mtt3U0epJEMmToO3aXgtJoALZigzb6gqe1vxV7y_/s1600-h/spring+102.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYc9GXH2ePIqb-hwIxoP2usNiCcDLR_1ekfksF3qE53tyQo-qMI-_vqdMZNvytFc4Qq88xYA71mNBc5pRVcetJzrCmaispqkozpxl9Mtt3U0epJEMmToO3aXgtJoALZigzb6gqe1vxV7y_/s320/spring+102.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204550235785805890" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTVC0F4nNZnomtljtjev3AMmRNz_0Mv4C7LylrihyJJzN00KynkRaNah3T5fHg0eVTVaHBnnTbFn-9pD6htryXqJroZ9AvBPSr7mDN24OkbVHkmDCK8-DuHL6jyYGd0xpFgmRQqGlm6b2/s1600-h/spring+113.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTVC0F4nNZnomtljtjev3AMmRNz_0Mv4C7LylrihyJJzN00KynkRaNah3T5fHg0eVTVaHBnnTbFn-9pD6htryXqJroZ9AvBPSr7mDN24OkbVHkmDCK8-DuHL6jyYGd0xpFgmRQqGlm6b2/s320/spring+113.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204550240080773202" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMNMS-96puaJyoVC_-uEywasOIbkmqvyVgUm3nGlsnQV5k2u09d5s4ekcAYUSK-O5swRwQSojTcWllgQ1-JMaSe9VVZhyphenhyphencF9djVSD_mvsZbtc4fSwJ1koStH42M5f3BCVza9o-7i4g50m/s1600-h/spring+116.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMNMS-96puaJyoVC_-uEywasOIbkmqvyVgUm3nGlsnQV5k2u09d5s4ekcAYUSK-O5swRwQSojTcWllgQ1-JMaSe9VVZhyphenhyphencF9djVSD_mvsZbtc4fSwJ1koStH42M5f3BCVza9o-7i4g50m/s320/spring+116.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204550248670707810" border="0" /></a><br />Here are some pics from my trip to L.A. in early April that I promised I would post!!<br />There are random pics of Jamey and I at a yummy mexican restaurant in Hollywood, in our rented convertible (SO FUN), at his show at the Troubadour, and with some of my favorite people in the world (aka Cassie, Sarah, and Sean)!! Such a fun trip!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbqmjPmRPuTCcL_AylQVzvwam63tF9Jzonb21bnl6CcFiLmrYrVrcsEFYZ-6cjDtBoYfCP4YYx1Ydye9FE1ryihdNUGAs2hlq5682g2snfs70JFd2PevQT1t7fw6Au9cwhQMnz4N_rfEf/s1600-h/spring+107.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbqmjPmRPuTCcL_AylQVzvwam63tF9Jzonb21bnl6CcFiLmrYrVrcsEFYZ-6cjDtBoYfCP4YYx1Ydye9FE1ryihdNUGAs2hlq5682g2snfs70JFd2PevQT1t7fw6Au9cwhQMnz4N_rfEf/s320/spring+107.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204536552020000754" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrSNoVOOzdex1w2FCK0s9W6H4f6b8MibqZNY5Eq3nHoINROZRlbZJqofL39_d_FnHPzTdXzKCNiOxjD1D5zupezqowrKpts1zARp0q_S99Uv0ypu3rGLSLsPYSb0JGtUqwEkuRIHm8zBx/s1600-h/spring+109.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrSNoVOOzdex1w2FCK0s9W6H4f6b8MibqZNY5Eq3nHoINROZRlbZJqofL39_d_FnHPzTdXzKCNiOxjD1D5zupezqowrKpts1zARp0q_S99Uv0ypu3rGLSLsPYSb0JGtUqwEkuRIHm8zBx/s320/spring+109.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204536560609935362" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEsOgz_BATlu1acF5M2cPIni-l8N2iMkA90DpASao1fTXT9FD_Ltb8nqH79HTucoNf7XvmQRaOM9whyphenhyphen-5wF5vFXpsZAXyLDkKidn7SOSF7iFo5jHFsFIfW_upy29adwJefl93Wcw_yNDm/s1600-h/spring+112.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEsOgz_BATlu1acF5M2cPIni-l8N2iMkA90DpASao1fTXT9FD_Ltb8nqH79HTucoNf7XvmQRaOM9whyphenhyphen-5wF5vFXpsZAXyLDkKidn7SOSF7iFo5jHFsFIfW_upy29adwJefl93Wcw_yNDm/s320/spring+112.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204536564904902674" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_Mu3kJpWSIeyJgUNQFM0WdjftKchGT6mfur0X75qpJZAHZxfCqiRuFzd86v2myKLoSTbApAeV1D23N_VJaXiJvegchv0RALh-hlnX-hkNd68ZIY48JfVDy_AofhBj56xhjxDQ9z5j6_9/s1600-h/spring+114.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_Mu3kJpWSIeyJgUNQFM0WdjftKchGT6mfur0X75qpJZAHZxfCqiRuFzd86v2myKLoSTbApAeV1D23N_VJaXiJvegchv0RALh-hlnX-hkNd68ZIY48JfVDy_AofhBj56xhjxDQ9z5j6_9/s320/spring+114.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204536569199869986" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As far as what's going on now.....<br />I'm a little tired and in a weird mood so I'll do some bullets and see where they take me!<br /><br />- Love my job!! Its so fun and so right up my alley. Praise God that I get up in the mornings loving what I do. (I don't love having tons of meetings...) but I LOVE getting to hang out with college students and international students!!<br /><br />-Jamey just started recording his first major debut album! He sends me texts from the studio saying things like...and I quote...."I'm in guitar heaven!"....not too sure what that means, but it makes me happy that he's so happy!!<br /><br />-LB moved to Fort Worth!! Praise his holy name on high! Its such a blessing having a good friend here, because although I love my job, and know my purpose here, I dont feel like I've made a ton of connections with people. Maybe I'm just spoiled from my old homegroup, or the days of 1031.... I meet people, and when I do..... I can enjoy them as a person, but in my 7 months here I haven't really felt a deep connnection with anyone except my sweet friend Tessa! But there's still time, and probably somewhere deep down inside I'm looking for a "new Dawn," or a "new summy/chavon" who loves Jesus, but is just slightly inappropriate, or a "brooke" who I can have worship sessions/dream about saving the world with or someone who gets my humor....you get the idea...geez the more I write, the more selfish I sound. So I'll end on the note that I'm just thankful Lauren is here!<br /><br />- Lastly, I was reading in Luke 18 about the persistent widow and something about that parable grabbed me! I decided in my heart,...."I WANT TO BE THE PERSISTENT WIDOW".... Jesus tells the disciples in this parable, "ought always to pray and not lose heart."<br />Lately, I've had some weirdness between me and God concerning prayer. Part of my heart was walking in some serious unbelief and it was (and still is some) affecting my prayer life.<br />For some reason I've been feeling like my happiness and God's desire for his glory are mutually exclusive.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Example:</span> Sometimes when Jamey drives home late at night from an out-of-town-gig I pray that God would protect him and keep him safe. (But I do so with the thought in the back of my mind being, "Well, I can pray for God to keep Jamey safe...BUT...he's not as concerned with me (somewhat good but mostly not good christian) having a long lasting marriage....AS MUCH AS HE'S concerned with his glory being made known. And maybe His will is for me to have a 4-month-long-marriage that ends tragically and I go around sharing my testimony and God gets the glory. (Now I know what you're thinking...unhealthy train of thoughts....dont worry....I'm fully aware of this) I'm sure I need some major "katherine-esque-theophostic-sessions" to get to the root of all this, but nonetheless....God used the persistent widow in Luke 18 to encourage me some. And all I know is that she begged and pleaded to an unrighteous judge and he granted her justice. So how silly is it to not ask God for something, on the off chance he doesn't answer the prayer...pretty silly, right??<br />.....at least I'm trying to convince myself of that truth<br />How sweet of God to show me a passage about His <span style="font-weight: bold;">true</span> character as opposed to the skewed one I tend to see through the lenses of at times...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Luke 18<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="en-ESV-25680" class="sup">1</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">pray and not lose heart</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">. </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="en-ESV-25681" class="sup">2</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> He said, </span><woj style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.</woj><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="en-ESV-25682" class="sup">3</span><woj style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.'</woj><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="en-ESV-25683" class="sup">4</span><woj style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself,<sup></sup> 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man,</woj><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="en-ESV-25684" class="sup">5</span><woj style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'"</woj><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="en-ESV-25685" class="sup">6</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> And the Lord said, </span><woj style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"Hear what the unrighteous judge says.</woj><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="en-ESV-25686" class="sup">7 </span><woj style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?<sup></sup> Will he delay long over them?</woj><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="en-ESV-25687" class="sup">8 </span><woj style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">I tell will </woj><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">will he find faith on earth</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">?"<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">MUCH LOVE....<br /><br />Mel<br /></span></span>The Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152379194085883615.post-53215277478329744162008-04-22T12:53:00.000-07:002008-04-22T14:59:37.389-07:00Much Needed Update!!<span style="font-family:verdana;">Hey friends and family...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Well first my apologies for being so dang M.I.A. as far a</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">s my blogging. Its been a CRAZY couple of months and to be honest a hard couple of months!!</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">But nonetheless I'm still alive and kickin' with a few stories to catch folks up on</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> where I've been!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Back in March I had the opportunity to go to Guatemala with our college group! It was an amazing experience but a trying one for me personally. First of all I was horribly sick the first 4 days of being there and I was barely able to participate in the activities.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Also I had some trouble getting my luggage.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">If anyone knows me you know that I'm a horrible-last-minute-packer when it</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> comes to overseas trips. Each time I usually deem it a "good idea" to start</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> packing around midnight the night before an early morning international flight!! This trip however I decided to start packing a week in advance. And I was sure to</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> pack just enough outfits, the right amount of hair product, underwear you name</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> it! Well God, in his funny sense of humor, knew that my luggage wouldn't arrive</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> until the day before I left to come back home!! AKA I had no clothes, no hair product, no clean underwear the entire trip.<br />Also some background on why I was sick was that I HAD to get my wisdom teet</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">h out 5 days before I left b/c the oral surgeon said if I didn't get them out it would have been bad news bears! (well...he didn't say those exact words...but thats a paraphrase of what he said)<br />So what's the moral of the story???</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I should go back to last-minute packing!!</span><br />j/k<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This is me trying to recover from my chipmunk cheeks!</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqic4LieiYyeYMPwH5ld3hVY_8jNE79eJtbe4oLRX3pRvmLgrq22Itb5f9qPF-TP4e68WPkOmXqR9Chjr-8DOXmjp7tRtVIgZSfoV-jhi_utjSuDu-avDPnzmz8OWUFo68mwW1I_splDM/s1600-h/n18302845_33105738_9083.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqic4LieiYyeYMPwH5ld3hVY_8jNE79eJtbe4oLRX3pRvmLgrq22Itb5f9qPF-TP4e68WPkOmXqR9Chjr-8DOXmjp7tRtVIgZSfoV-jhi_utjSuDu-avDPnzmz8OWUFo68mwW1I_splDM/s320/n18302845_33105738_9083.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192172285506430994" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">p.s. Did I mention I was the only one who didn't get their luggage out of 50 people?? (this was God's way of ensuring that I knew it wasn't a demonic attack on our team, but rather his divine hand in teaching ME an appointed lesson)<br />The trip was awesome despite being sick and my bag situation. God did miraculous things while we there and made the trip well worth the my little circumstantial set backs.<br />Here are some pics from the trip!!<br /><br /><br />Public transportation in Guatemala usually looked something like this!</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNJdro55xX4f4XVu4W0JoQwge9sxbHi5AhogmxrclwT_35mWGu0-hDOFq0bSN99i2VWlVLJZdEnn9UHO8TF9jtns_0-GKFF_15JqxCAYMMdetww94F_PQBiGbzA3rWfftjf84lh517gxE/s1600-h/n18310078_33062197_4553.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNJdro55xX4f4XVu4W0JoQwge9sxbHi5AhogmxrclwT_35mWGu0-hDOFq0bSN99i2VWlVLJZdEnn9UHO8TF9jtns_0-GKFF_15JqxCAYMMdetww94F_PQBiGbzA3rWfftjf84lh517gxE/s320/n18310078_33062197_4553.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192176919776143490" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS69mRTlaTOrBrtOfRHqMF6BwdMy9F6rMYg5QdvG-qmd5ap8rviKfRuKKsDdOgaTjrrdwKYA-zqihcwBUlIe1XdwLIuoob8TromJPlXFqD-32Zwa5-AHOC8smWoFBSXvjnmU5t11jX_WhE/s1600-h/n18311962_33082721_8624.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS69mRTlaTOrBrtOfRHqMF6BwdMy9F6rMYg5QdvG-qmd5ap8rviKfRuKKsDdOgaTjrrdwKYA-zqihcwBUlIe1XdwLIuoob8TromJPlXFqD-32Zwa5-AHOC8smWoFBSXvjnmU5t11jX_WhE/s320/n18311962_33082721_8624.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192176932661045394" border="0" /></a><br />This is me about to throw up on our ferry ride!! yuck!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguWhnoZKP3oYNe0rGOSlckseUGAMAxiUgNl2bJSa_J-q8neAkul60P7jpc08N6bJU_Z02ezgUD07OHMRMwNLKWFc7FhaoviYiXThyphenhyphenRitMU46PkRgDXV2a_XsTLgoSgFM8J_0ETq8Q-NhY/s1600-h/n18311962_33082741_5544.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguWhnoZKP3oYNe0rGOSlckseUGAMAxiUgNl2bJSa_J-q8neAkul60P7jpc08N6bJU_Z02ezgUD07OHMRMwNLKWFc7FhaoviYiXThyphenhyphenRitMU46PkRgDXV2a_XsTLgoSgFM8J_0ETq8Q-NhY/s320/n18311962_33082741_5544.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192174647738443874" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9WhUQEhW9sG07ygpxalaD8EyiyBY5H-W3zfuub-JEhbydqHkWyPcVx2TdMzjvY6peuavPAekqkLrmTmsrGzGvwxXOTxQ_0H3bcx3SUQUyUlQ8ZISDGEX2qXQjrBkDuy8DsFdGZjOXOlWT/s1600-h/n18312351_33067497_9702.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9WhUQEhW9sG07ygpxalaD8EyiyBY5H-W3zfuub-JEhbydqHkWyPcVx2TdMzjvY6peuavPAekqkLrmTmsrGzGvwxXOTxQ_0H3bcx3SUQUyUlQ8ZISDGEX2qXQjrBkDuy8DsFdGZjOXOlWT/s320/n18312351_33067497_9702.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192174647738443890" border="0" /></a><br />No matter how dirty you are, you can always look cute eating ice cream! right??<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8B9kWE-eeqqsTeZ6fHXeQ_mlUmT5qwxRl-kBXx_cZAPYs-zKTnfO69jDUxkzSWSEtXf-yNV1-Y9BJSmSlJEhTUPGCB4PRNZuXcTjtJ8lyRPqNjaBKCCdE1zI4cw0VIwCV6HZeqkgzAu3/s1600-h/n18306828_33052817_1520.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8B9kWE-eeqqsTeZ6fHXeQ_mlUmT5qwxRl-kBXx_cZAPYs-zKTnfO69jDUxkzSWSEtXf-yNV1-Y9BJSmSlJEhTUPGCB4PRNZuXcTjtJ8lyRPqNjaBKCCdE1zI4cw0VIwCV6HZeqkgzAu3/s320/n18306828_33052817_1520.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192172289801398306" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNw1YqyGuMRarquIsT0jwSBSQZBHEiKgSZE43SP5aKxvRyPs9mQ0vKK_D7s3CmSg1LirUOsyvgqMbhZtCbgCc8kDsLo7gsEMu0033N9Dv5OJLuS6hln3-ZLwD0uSFLXXhq5Gj8Ex33N2d5/s1600-h/n18300845_33174809_2925.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNw1YqyGuMRarquIsT0jwSBSQZBHEiKgSZE43SP5aKxvRyPs9mQ0vKK_D7s3CmSg1LirUOsyvgqMbhZtCbgCc8kDsLo7gsEMu0033N9Dv5OJLuS6hln3-ZLwD0uSFLXXhq5Gj8Ex33N2d5/s320/n18300845_33174809_2925.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192172264031594482" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9YU9S_AVpi01AUA6NJfbWVdZo0wbtOFc-GmH5TJF-ztEZUcQor1eZoAe2DEL1fNOef9YQGtIBVRKqgvZAvo6TMXJoUlnVf8i1N2zAOeV6wfEKthiGuRShVZ4YLn4pDIuGyzSa8GBz9ho/s1600-h/n18302283_33084058_2069.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9YU9S_AVpi01AUA6NJfbWVdZo0wbtOFc-GmH5TJF-ztEZUcQor1eZoAe2DEL1fNOef9YQGtIBVRKqgvZAvo6TMXJoUlnVf8i1N2zAOeV6wfEKthiGuRShVZ4YLn4pDIuGyzSa8GBz9ho/s320/n18302283_33084058_2069.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192172276916496386" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />So I come home from Guat and just a few days later my husband leaves for his national tour with a popular rock band from the 90's called Collective Soul.(remember that one song they did-..."Ohhh, Heaven let your light shine down...") Jamey is getting to play different parts California, and also Reno, Vegas, Seattle, Nashville, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana...just all over! As much as I wanted to be happy for him and his travels I was quite the opposite. Pretty much miserable. As of now we've been married 3 months but we've already been apart</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> 29 total days. It may not seem like a lot to some, but it was really hard for me. However, I knew going into this that it wouldn't be easy at first.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We are and probably will remain at the mercy of Capitol Records for at </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">least</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> another year. It really is an exciting time for us, and will be more of a fruitful time the more I depend on Christ for strength. And if I were honest I was way more prone to "cry fests" and pity parties than I was at using my free time and empty house for more undistracted devotion to Jesus.<br />But God truly blessed us and we found a cheap plane ticket midway through the tour so I could go see him!!<br />I was able to go out and visit my hubby in L.A. and see him play</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> at a place called Troubadour and that was a blast. He was amazing of cour</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">se!!<br />I'll post some of our pics from LA on my next blog.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Finally, my husband came home from tour and I was so excited to have him back. I made him his favorite dessert that I had never made before. Flourless Chocolate Cake. (and I don't think it was near as good as the one his Grandma</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> Lee makes cause he nonchalantly suggested I call her for help next time!! haha) He also had a sold out show at House of Blues in Dallas the day after he got home and it was so fun to be back in "wife mode" supporting him and the talent God has given him from the front row of the audience. Here are a few pics from</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> that show!!<br /><br />Isn't he the cutest thing ever???</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgce42UHgK2i1HEZpUHemBekfnYxSY6LmU5WeGeqiz-Mj6-_UzyLrSAtSSMRJKqSl9GubYT4dxGqGeg_OAaoObAtuuRs-m-521oSqgrMwVc3ulsn4CEYCfJJPzPlwOHpoGNHaDYyNCC3a2L/s1600-h/n29627443_35913516_4523.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgce42UHgK2i1HEZpUHemBekfnYxSY6LmU5WeGeqiz-Mj6-_UzyLrSAtSSMRJKqSl9GubYT4dxGqGeg_OAaoObAtuuRs-m-521oSqgrMwVc3ulsn4CEYCfJJPzPlwOHpoGNHaDYyNCC3a2L/s320/n29627443_35913516_4523.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192188791065749842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is the lead singer Josh.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgalaBDKZjX6rL7WgamHOZb72tY1OK80H5NvtxZNwibu-v1SFwTjj47c0lPdbotOwGFszUTt_aQptTaw8jrSi-fgTHYilJnccwJNNDY4UELwq0W9AQ-2NhJZtxRm8nhZEd5nKC5yPRqQafM/s1600-h/n18302283_33190041_5023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgalaBDKZjX6rL7WgamHOZb72tY1OK80H5NvtxZNwibu-v1SFwTjj47c0lPdbotOwGFszUTt_aQptTaw8jrSi-fgTHYilJnccwJNNDY4UELwq0W9AQ-2NhJZtxRm8nhZEd5nKC5yPRqQafM/s320/n18302283_33190041_5023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192187382316476690" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Me and LB backstage enjoying free food & drink. Praise God for All Access Passes!! haha<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOTcZNqusAqco_xdrkR3MsczjoqDGXA86qwEfnkh7LeMm24BvOdnM4_MkFvE5ziM2v0SeItP17sSUEEJDb3QJkCt2duzuLJGZf5glhxXTtowf5CY0fmiSL2QY7MmwdEmu5YjXgEdppWg-/s1600-h/n23900630_35713459_932.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOTcZNqusAqco_xdrkR3MsczjoqDGXA86qwEfnkh7LeMm24BvOdnM4_MkFvE5ziM2v0SeItP17sSUEEJDb3QJkCt2duzuLJGZf5glhxXTtowf5CY0fmiSL2QY7MmwdEmu5YjXgEdppWg-/s320/n23900630_35713459_932.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192188799655684450" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Some of my high school girls came out to the show!! I think its safe to say that they are mildly obsessed with my husband!!<br /><br />: )<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_ECpR9yJoTsr4acYJPwHjTW474KIgy0ojaAvPXHmqQ_OP4kORm92x8L2N3UV5bbI8m24MGAR76IiXj4caviG41wwtu7onnTcffVc2kQMptewYjdO0h2RBKxkZsFUCP54p7dTUtHz1AKX/s1600-h/n662081965_528812_1358.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_ECpR9yJoTsr4acYJPwHjTW474KIgy0ojaAvPXHmqQ_OP4kORm92x8L2N3UV5bbI8m24MGAR76IiXj4caviG41wwtu7onnTcffVc2kQMptewYjdO0h2RBKxkZsFUCP54p7dTUtHz1AKX/s320/n662081965_528812_1358.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192187403791313218" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrWhZFrDeqO4sucC3ZFYE-xcGTPHh9u7bldB6bJH4mMIHKg9K45KVpWgbig9JwD-XJm3zBnMZS0kw9wKstvQCKXYttjC35zm-hYxzABR6fHVbUxN9tiODAwqFZ80gAcx5MawEbm9IaTtd/s1600-h/n18302283_33189964_980.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrWhZFrDeqO4sucC3ZFYE-xcGTPHh9u7bldB6bJH4mMIHKg9K45KVpWgbig9JwD-XJm3zBnMZS0kw9wKstvQCKXYttjC35zm-hYxzABR6fHVbUxN9tiODAwqFZ80gAcx5MawEbm9IaTtd/s320/n18302283_33189964_980.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192185032969365682" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2I6Fjr3eMU13S4TPicu9F8T0NeWrFiF-ec2WtjXcEd__9dmg884NLfQ5y-oa4rRfZAFMipnZ3stOyKqkTRhlrD_Jt4rCTqYGif873WKGGlOqbO26DI9ywEgrNWMtUoF3t3yHrnE10I14/s1600-h/n18302181_33199865_4897.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2I6Fjr3eMU13S4TPicu9F8T0NeWrFiF-ec2WtjXcEd__9dmg884NLfQ5y-oa4rRfZAFMipnZ3stOyKqkTRhlrD_Jt4rCTqYGif873WKGGlOqbO26DI9ywEgrNWMtUoF3t3yHrnE10I14/s320/n18302181_33199865_4897.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192185037264332994" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Some of the folk from my college ministry were also there to hang out! This is our "Guat picture" of all the people that went on our Guatemala trip!<br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqH9fDgZXOCN1oU-ejPh40eoabA2DAGQNVAZG_C7YSeyM4NMPHKHwlzImrCieYFKBR5q7IKfVUw6ThIhJZ-2NmcLVCuV6YvXSzjZcqal5UvRRPdIZXDwFQ_vyMP2t2cy2Xz4ySbTBfRH9d/s1600-h/n18302181_33199862_4101.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqH9fDgZXOCN1oU-ejPh40eoabA2DAGQNVAZG_C7YSeyM4NMPHKHwlzImrCieYFKBR5q7IKfVUw6ThIhJZ-2NmcLVCuV6YvXSzjZcqal5UvRRPdIZXDwFQ_vyMP2t2cy2Xz4ySbTBfRH9d/s320/n18302181_33199862_4101.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192185050149234898" border="0" /></a><br /><br />That's all I got for now! It took forever for me to upload these pics. Drama!<br /><br />love you all<br />Mel<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>The Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152379194085883615.post-7375155646956371422008-02-14T09:51:00.000-08:002008-02-14T10:11:42.319-08:00Happy Valentine's Day!!<span style="font-family:arial;">Well I just want to brag really quick on my <span style="font-weight: bold;">amazing husband</span>!!!<br />We haven't really talked much about Valentine's or if we had any plans, especially because Jamey has been sick all week. We just decided to watch LOST (the best gift ever...well other than salvation and marriage of course) and make dinner at</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> home!!<br /><br />I woke up this morning and my sick little Jamey asked me to get him some water because his throat was hurting. I walk into the kitchen and to my surprise I find that at some point the day before he had bought me 2 dozen roses, Pino Noir (my favorite wine) and the most heart-felt card I've ever read. On top of that he has edited all our</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> honeymoon pics, had them printed out and he put them in an album for me!! The sweet part was that he had woken up at some point in the night and put it all on display for me in the kitchen. (Hence the</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> request for the glass of water)<br />Ah-mazin!!! I love my husband more than I ever thought was possible and I love little surprises that aren't even expected. So this blog was written to brag on him!!!</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr9zTmtrF2OGyHhahjgGGVjB69lhgYSqAqI9sCM29FxSZR9lK3Z_L01KzVktqtciA6rVrjgAU1aIFCz2-96yPQKqTMjpovhb3DbxRTdXwsrx5BT81zsB-Add8XJSYAuKtKJEYghJrY-Oi_/s1600-h/IMG_0603.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr9zTmtrF2OGyHhahjgGGVjB69lhgYSqAqI9sCM29FxSZR9lK3Z_L01KzVktqtciA6rVrjgAU1aIFCz2-96yPQKqTMjpovhb3DbxRTdXwsrx5BT81zsB-Add8XJSYAuKtKJEYghJrY-Oi_/s320/IMG_0603.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166898516187696194" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />p.s. Did I mention that right when I was about to go hug him and thank him for my gifts that our 80 yr old german lanlord began banging on our front door to come fix our hot water heater that's been leaking in our hallway the last week.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Bom Bom!!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But by tomorrow we will have a new non-leaking hot water heater which means I might get to take showers longer then 5 minutes without the hot water going out! Praise his name for another great valentine's gift!!!</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8D1yAPi_G0THsAp2VhiluFsGHMjVqdXemlDeCIOxYZMvoRvx_e6Ka7I5AjyDk71i1UtwgfvFyhGk-dbXXFILCGh6_NtGWaFXdnzfo1Kl8E9mZX51y5mYPV5zyNOi6U3EVLGAonsY9R8h_/s1600-h/val2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8D1yAPi_G0THsAp2VhiluFsGHMjVqdXemlDeCIOxYZMvoRvx_e6Ka7I5AjyDk71i1UtwgfvFyhGk-dbXXFILCGh6_NtGWaFXdnzfo1Kl8E9mZX51y5mYPV5zyNOi6U3EVLGAonsY9R8h_/s320/val2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166898799655537762" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Here's some pics mere moments before Helga arrived......</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmmVlCseeEbPztSAyqe3E5qFVvCQfHeYGPlIYR2j9MmRhHWmv9ySri_tfyTpllahMwAzJyfdBMaN6vHJ6vT3LfzTGSwkCI7-T8nCl8DSv4oyIghx-7pm9_d146PgXNkOArkzH4lgK3BWA/s1600-h/val1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmmVlCseeEbPztSAyqe3E5qFVvCQfHeYGPlIYR2j9MmRhHWmv9ySri_tfyTpllahMwAzJyfdBMaN6vHJ6vT3LfzTGSwkCI7-T8nCl8DSv4oyIghx-7pm9_d146PgXNkOArkzH4lgK3BWA/s320/val1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166898722346126418" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfftu1mv7j6MRfIEPdRpLZPGEdyNbHQqVw1BK0ff9r_df6WvduW7QyiRuGxMlQ8WxBeHsXUaplIf2pa9L305wi0aOF6QoYhsXAnI0-JoOhUSEjnuxrJwHgfYOO3w48zzst7NkZ1jg9qlm9/s1600-h/val4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfftu1mv7j6MRfIEPdRpLZPGEdyNbHQqVw1BK0ff9r_df6WvduW7QyiRuGxMlQ8WxBeHsXUaplIf2pa9L305wi0aOF6QoYhsXAnI0-JoOhUSEjnuxrJwHgfYOO3w48zzst7NkZ1jg9qlm9/s320/val4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166898872669981810" border="0" /></a>The Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152379194085883615.post-92165029826456804272008-01-31T09:12:00.000-08:002008-01-31T09:35:26.586-08:00It's official...we're bloggers now!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbOwI-B05tIicZSClnQVDAvKcEkN3zO5C7bLx8a25UH-Df_OZllwR1_JlVUZl4WH9K4vbHhpyrN1MvGf1sMT_crJDdPUUFME6fRePny3GyDbVWBPcD1nVSwrTvkziwG-dD9F9hdXoBKJy/s1600-h/firstdance.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbOwI-B05tIicZSClnQVDAvKcEkN3zO5C7bLx8a25UH-Df_OZllwR1_JlVUZl4WH9K4vbHhpyrN1MvGf1sMT_crJDdPUUFME6fRePny3GyDbVWBPcD1nVSwrTvkziwG-dD9F9hdXoBKJy/s320/firstdance.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161695453082507922" border="0" /></a><br />Hello friends and family...<br /><br />Now that Jamey and I are officially married we thought the last thing we should do to truly consecrate our marriage is to....start a blog! So here we are! For those of you who don't know where we're at in life I will catch you up to speed!!<br /><br />Jamey and I live in Fort Worth, TX in a cute little house that I am growing to love. Pics coming soon! Jamey is still in the band Green River Ordinance and plays lead guitar. The band is doing really well right now. They are signed with Capitol/Virgin Records and are expecting to go to LA at the end of March to record their first major debut album. Right now they spend their time practicing and writing potential songs for the album and flying to LA or Nashville to do co-writes with other musicians!!<br />I'm working at Christ Chapel Bible Church as the high school/college Missional Director (or a local missions coordinator). The job is a unique one. I get the opportunity to hang out with students and encourage them to live missionally. I also volunteer at TCU with international students which I LOVE to do. (It gives me so much life to love on them) and occasionally Jamey and I work with refugees, homeless, etc. It's a fun job...but not an easy one. When people ask what it's like I usually quote Matt Chandler (when I heard him speaking once about getting people in the church to "push back the darkness in the world") and he described it as difficult as getting people to climb Mt Everest in a speedo. I would agree that both are quite the challenge.<br /><br />But I love where God has me in my job, in this city, and in my marriage. I can see how He's at work to redeem them all for his glory!!<br /><br />So this is just a little "starter" but I will keep this up as much as I can. And I'll let Jamey give his 2 cents every now and then too. Being an avid reader/thinker (and was a philosophy major at TCU) he's actually a very good writer as well!!!<br /><br />I'll leave you with a little encouragement he sent to me and a few of his friends the other day!!!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Psalm 22:27-28</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">27 All the ends of the earth </span> <p style="font-style: italic;"> will remember and turn to the LORD,<br /> and all the families of the nations<br /> will bow down before him, </p><p style="font-style: italic;"> <span>28</span> for dominion belongs to the LORD<br /> and he rules over the nations. </p><span style="font-style: italic;">God RULES over all the nations. He is king over the kings, the presidents, the government. The earth Belongs to HIM! God is going to do huge things. Jesus upholds every country! He has dominion over Fort Worth. He can do mighty things. He can save a city!! Lets pray huge things, because we have a huge God. Lets pray that no one will go hungry in fort worth, that jimmy gets put out of a job because we dont need police any more because crime stops (sorry jimmy it will just mean its time to be a preacher), lets pray that malls close down because people stop buying crap.</span><br /><br />Love you all<br />The Ice'sThe Ice Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333554761170792144noreply@blogger.com12