Renewed

Oh, my poor blog has been abandoned yet again! I'm so sorry Bloggie, and so sorry to my faithful few readers. I'm determined to be more dedicated. Until summer comes back. :)

Why haven't I blogged? Well, my husband, baby & I all boarded a plane for San Diego where we attended the National Youth Workers Convention. Our time at the convention was incredible! Some of the nation's leading youth speakers came and spoke. Great worship bands like Robbie Seay Band and Starfield led in worship and we spent a lot of time listening and processing all the information we tried to receive in about four days. We were challenged, refreshed, renewed, and spoken to. Sometimes, when you are in ministry, the best way to receive is to go away from your town and glean without all the pressures of the job following you. Thank you to all who prayed for us, encouraged us, and made it possible for us to go!

After San Diego, we roadtripped to my husband's aunt and uncle in Palm Springs and spent a couple of days strolling this beautiful town, talking about more ministry ideas we had, spending time with Dallas' aunt and uncle, and relaxing by their pool. After that we made our way to Las Vegas to again see more of Dallas' family. Most of our time in Vegas was spent with them, which was great! Dallas' uncle and aunt used to live in Denver when we lived in Colorado Springs, so quite often we would see eachother. It was so fun to spend time with them again! Also, I didn't know some of Dallas' aunts and uncles that well before the trip, but spending a few days with them was a great way to get to know each other. We also went down to the Strip and saw all the beautiful casinos, lights, and took in as much free entertainment as we could! We also saw the magnificent Hoover Dam!


We've been back for almost 2 weeks, but are still glowing from this time! India was a good little traveler, thank God! She doesn't do well in cars, which we knew because she never has, so that got a little frustrating. If parents are at their wits end with a crying child, many will pop them in the carseat and drive around for a bit until they calm down or fall asleep. NOT my little girl. You put her in the carseat, and she starts "talking back" pretty quick. She hates being alone (yes, two parents who love people had a daughter that loves people) and she hates not being able to see anything. If you would have passed us while we were driving around, quite often, you would have seen me manuveuring my way from the front seat to the back seat in our squishy little economy rental car, all to speak a few words of comfort to my baby girl. But she made up for it with her angelic behavior on both flights and her love, interest and smile for every person we met.

Overall, we came away from our trip realizing that as important as ministry is, we need to make sure we have family time - easier said than done, when your husband is a youth pastor, and when do most things happen with youth? After school. It's when they are wanting to chat on Facebook, when they send messages, when they have football games, when most youth events are. Many speakers spoke on protecting that sacred time, something that we need to work on. God also spoke to us overwhelmingly on love. It sounds so cliche, and sometimes we look down on and judge the "love messages" as elementary, but really, are any of us above being reminded of our loving, forgiving Father? I don't think so. And if we think we are, we have lost the beauty of the cross.