Have you heard of these countries?

Andrew and I were looking at a world map today, and I noticed so many countries that we never hear anything about on the news (to be honest, some of them I don't remember ever hearing about before in my life)... Thankfully we have the Internet, so we can learn all about these "mystery countries" if we choose!

Oman, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Gabon, Mali, Togo, Benin, Mauritania, Bhutan, Myanmar, Macedonia, Tunisia...

I just thought it was interesting that apparently there's nothing happening in these countries (and some of them are pretty large) that would make them "newsworthy" in the eyes of the American press. How strange that, before this evening, I really had no concept of these countries; yet all the years I've been living my life here in America, people have been living, loving, and dying in each one of these countries. It doesn't matter if I knew they existed or not. A simple, obvious thought, but one that is making me "ponder" this evening...

Walking in the Light

"If we walk in the light as He is in the light...the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."
1 John 1:7

"The love of God working in me causes me to hate, with the Holy Spirit's hatred for sin, anything that is not in keeping with God's holiness. To 'walk in the light' means that everything that is of the darkness actually drives me closer to the center of the light."

~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Celebrating our 11th anniversary

Andrew and I had a lovely vacation to Southern California last week to celebrate our 11th anniversary, which was on the 8th. We drove down on Wednesday and spent two nights at a KOA in San Diego, staying in one of their one-bedroom Kamping Kabins. While in San Diego, we explored Seaport Village, Point Loma, Coronado, and the San Diego Zoo.

Then we headed to Riverside for two nights at the Mission Inn. On Saturday, our anniversary, we attended the wedding of Andrew's cousin's daughter, then on Sunday we visited the Slavic church in Hollywood and then had lunch with friends afterwards before driving home to Sacramento.

I'm so grateful to the Lord for giving us 11 years together. The years have gone by quickly! I look forward to many more years together as we continue on in this journey of marriage.

A few pictures:

The view from Point Loma














Us (the happy couple) :-)














Andrew enjoying the Pacific Ocean

I wish I were a better blogger!

I read so many different blogs with witty, insightful entries. I'm a writer...I should be able to do the same! I don't work very hard at my writing, though. It's a gift that needs cultivating...too often I let it stagnate. I lack the motivation I need to really write... not just put words on a page to convey information, but use words as tools to create something new, something beautiful.

Maybe that's part of the problem...wanting to write something new, but feeling like anything that I could say has already been said, and probably much better, by others before me. It often feels like, what's the point? What do I have to say, or write, that hasn't already been said or written a million times before?

But if God has given me this gift, as I believe He has, He obviously intends for me to use it -- in a way that glorifies Him. So although I won't promise it will happen overnight, expect to see different kinds of blog entries here in the future. More of a variety...not just pictures and vacation notes (although those things have their place, too).

What better place than a blog to experiment with words?