Rebekah

It has just been over a year since I packed up the U-Haul and moved to San Diego. Typically, Labor Day weekend is spent with family...usually all together in Packwood relaxing, playing games, golfing and eating way too much junk food. This year I find myself rising early and spending time with the Lord. Moving to a new city has been fun and adventurous, but at times it is also lonely and uncomfortable. Strong friendships are so valuable. Community is essential. We are not meant to live this life alone, but with one another; sharing    each others' joys and burdens.

Being away from family and friends encouraged me to draw nearer to God. As I opened my Bible this morning, in an effort to learn more about who God is and who He desires me to be. I fell upon a bookmark that one of my high school teachers made and gave to each of his senior students around the end of the school year. It has my name, Rebekah, its meaning, "devoted one" and a verse, Psalm 73:28,

I decided to read the entire chapter and verses 23-26 spoke right into my heart today as well.

"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

 but God is the strength of my hear and my portion forever.

This past year God has shown himself faithful over and over again. It is a continual joy in my life to be able to look back and see God leading and guiding, preparing me for new adventures and challenges, while shaping me into a woman that more than anything desires to seek after Him. While it is a struggle to keep my mind and heart constantly set on Christ and the race he has marked out for me, I know that it is becoming the deepest desire of my heart. when I seem to fail or stumble, I can get right back up and set my eyes back on Him because of his strength, not my own. I desire to live up to my name...devoted one...that nothing would come between me and my God and that my life would be a powerful testimony of his great works.

What does your name mean? I have found a source of strength and identity in the meaning of mine, perhaps God will use yours to speak truth and power into your life as well.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Green things...

When I was thinking about the title of this post...I thought of the shirt they sell at turtle reef (SeaWorld) that says, "I was green before it was cool" with a picture of a green sea turtle...too cute. Too bad it's only in kid sizes :)

I have been wanting to post about my growing vegetables, but hadn't taken the time yet to take some pictures to show off my growing tomato, pepper (maybe) and zucchini plants! I was finally inspired by the random fact that I was going to use my roommates juicer for the first time to make a green lemonade juice. So Lisa has been on a juice fast this week and I've sampled a couple of the juices and decided I should try it...not for a whole week, but just one here and there in place of a meal or snack. Then perhaps for a couple of days and then if I really think it's worth forgoing solid foods maybe I'll try an entire week.

The green lemonade had 6 leaves of kale, 5 handfuls of spinach, a cucumber, green apple and one lemon. It only called for 1/2 a lemon, but I decided to throw in the entire thing in order to ensure it would taste like lemonade. And it does! It's actually delicious! I'm excited to have ventured into the juice world and look forward to experimenting with different recipes.

All those veggies and fruits made 1 cup of juice

pretty flower in our yard

the juicing machine!

Dr. Seuss Baby Quilt

I can't believe that my nephew could be here any day now! I am so excited for Luke, Kendra and Owen to meet their newest addition. While I'm sad to be away for all of the excitement, I'm looking forward to making him a bright and fun quilt for him to snuggle up in. I just love the Dr. Seuss prints...however, their boldness overwhelms me a bit. I'm going to try and tone the quilt down a bit, by using a lighter color sashing and backing. I found the following image through a Google search for Dr. Seuss quilts and love how modern this one looks. I plan on varying the sizes of the colored blocks to give it a little more variety. Now I just have to put my quilting experience and skills to the test to draw up my own pattern...yikes! Never done that before...can't wait to see the final product and meet the little boy who will call it his! 

Quilt image from the blog: Quilt Story