We're going to Chicago!

matt and i celebrate our 5 year anniversary on july 9th. so we're headed to Chicago for a stay at the W, to celebrate. neither of us have ever been, so we are looking forward to it!

me and ellie

Elliott (Ellie) Madison Kruse

i have never seen anything more precious. i love my new niece, Ellie, so much. i got to spend all of wed, thurs, fri and sat with her, and i already miss her so much! she is so cute. i am so happy for my brother, Mason and his wife, Kelly with their new little baby girl!

Stats:

born 6/23/10 at 4:14 pm

21 inches long

7 lbs 15.5 ozs ( nearly 8 lbs )

we are so blessed that the pediatritian said her feet look good...there was a slight concern there, so we couldn't be happier!

as matt said, "God was having fun with this one!"

excerpt from join the journey this morning...

People are not going to come to know Christ just because someone can spout off several Bible verses and answer all of their theological questions. Christ must draw them through the truth being presented. Knowing the Bible and understanding foundational truths is important, but it will not by itself bring people to Christ. Jesus must work on their hearts, and then we must be available to love them where they are and share truth from God's Word. That is the perfect combination. I heard it said once that God does not want our abilities as much as our availability.

join the journey...

looking back...

reflections from my post a couple days ago...

man, i don't know why i felt the need to post some of these intense internal thinking of mine, but i did what i did and what's done is done, right?

well, i take that back, i do know why, b/c it was something i feel/felt very passionate about...i wanted to share my thoughts be venerable, and to some extent become accountable for what i know it important in this life... and sure enough i had someone care, my mom, she spoke her thoughts about what i wrote, with some concern. i tend to be all or nothing. she impressed upon me the significance of balance in this lifetime, and while we may differ in what we consider, of absolute value in this life; i see where she is coming from, she voiced concern for the worldly part and i needed that. i needed to be grounded and realize the responsibilities I'll have, as i choose to start a family and raise children, with my husband one day...

so after talking to my mom this morning, i have calmed down a little and seen it is all about B A L A N C E and working with what you have. if you plan to raise a family, it is about finding the balance of what you need, not want, and while doing that, implementing a life lived for Christ all along the way. we can serve, we can speak up, we can go on short term missions, we can open our schedules for what He has planned for us...

i am sure this post will be reflected on several more times... but right now, i am thinking most likely we'll stay on track with our worldly plans here, but try to become further educated and just see where the Lord takes us, together, as a family, along the way...i just want to be devoted to Christ.

Cares Dinner Event...

we have so much fun communing with our neighbors at the Winsted. it's what it's all about...

i finally decided I'd love to take some photos for keepsake...

so here are some of our friends. Matt wasn't there tonight, as he was at a studio action-lighting demonstration for work.

Alex and Larry (Larry is great! he is always there and so much fun to talk to)

Perry and Heather (Perry is back. when we lived in the first building, he was our neighbor, he is retired from the Dallas Police and now works at Luke's running store) he is son to Fred and Frances. he moved away from the Winsted for 3 years and is now back!)

Susan, Stephen, Frances and Fred (these two are adorable and walk all the time)

me and my sweet next door neighbor Ruth...I'm just remembering that i had another sweet next-door neighbor, Ruth, growing up for the first 17 years of my life, weird!

Kathy, (Kathy and i have become good friends) Heather and Jerri Dawson (cares leader)

Jerri and Mike Dawson (cares leaders) with Frances

oh the sweet family: Anant, Vasu, and Branu. their mom Swati was not feeling well. they are precious. he is a cancer doctor at the Veteran's Hospital.

group shot!

Matthew 13 : 1-23 "How's your Hearing?"

wow! well Sunday was a really good sermon at our church! i cried all through the praise and worship time, even had to leave to recompose (and it was horrible getting out of our internal-positioned seats) but i managed...

the truth was there, so raw and present. i just had moment after moment of realizations and convictions. it was intense. i didn't even let Matt or myself leave the campus afterwards until we'd talked it through...we discussed things and our futures for about 30 minutes.

we even went back to the 5:30 service to listen to the points made, one more time.

i just feel convicted, i agree so much with the distractions of this world... they are everywhere, they're all around us. they are at the shop i work at, in the planning for the house we are on the path to building, they are in our routines, our TV shows, our money, our self image....i hate it all. i hate it. and i hate that i am so negative here, but it is just that i really don't feel like i will EVER be able to get out of it, out of the sucking, strangling whirlpool; unless i am just completely, completely REMOVED FROM IT ALL.

i just wish i could be living day in and day out in a remote place, sharing what i believe eternally matters; salvation in our savior, Christ, and not looking in the mirror so much...

i know i have a little bit of control over that wish, but the biggest conflict for me is that i don't feel like i have absolute control over that wish. i feel like, how are you supposed to be extreme, when your partner is not...i am married so i cannot just leave, i know that doesn't mean i can't do short term missions. so i think that should be my aim. i mean we have already gone to Africa once.

i know there are things to do here, too. i just feel like i need to be getting more involved in furthering my education, as well. so i am going to go to some Equipping classes at Watermark this summer and the summer Bible study they are offering.

it is so awesome our church offers SO much!

i just want to be faithful and just feel like i am one of those people who is either all in or all out and am finding it difficult to find a balance.

Matt and i talked a lot...the Lord will help us sort things out but we have to be calling on him in all our decision making, that i know!

it is NEVER going to get any easier...

like my mom always said, " no one ever said this life was going to be easy. "

i couldn't agree with this any more...

click here to listen to the message...

this is what it said on Watermarks page next to the sermon:

What is your response to the Gospel? Each of us falls into one of four categories depending on how we've heard and acted on the good news of Jesus Christ. Teaching on another of Jesus' parables in this episode, Jonathan Pokluda discusses the parable of the sower and what each of the types of soil represent.

these are some of my thoughts:

we are called to proclaim the Good News (that God sent his one and only son, Christ to die for our sins, so that we can, one day, be in the presences of our perfect God) and we are to fully expect persecution. we are to hear out unbelievers or questionable believer's questions and if we do not know the answers we are to try to find out. we are not to make converts, but to just plant a seed with the aim of introducing someone to the Savior we personally know and trust in and in hopes that they too will be Disciples of Christ one day. our prayer should be that the Holy Spirit moves within them, unveiling the Light of the Lord.

i don't want to be one of those people who lacks the understanding and never pushes to find the meanings. i don't want to KEEP getting distracted along the way... i don't like this NOISE POLLUTION all around me. i don't feel like i am ever going to be able to rise above it, in this lifetime, though i really wish i could...i am not of this world, i don't want to love this world or the things of this world b/c then i am of this world. the Lord had called me OUT of this world to stand up for him and to spread his word. i truly believe that the more you have, the LESS you feel like you need God. if you feel like you have all you need, then why do you need God? what do you need him for? but none of these things last, none of these things are eternal. none of these things are ever going to fully please, we live in a fallen, imperfect world. i know we are supposed to enjoy things, b/c the Lord made them all, BUT it must be within a balanced mind-frame. they become distractions if they come before the Lord and i know i am going to constantly struggle with that, esp. if i keep gaining new things. i am scared about that and the path we are going to take.

i want to be deep rooted in the Word of Christ. i don't want to be too busy building MY kingdom.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for there's is the Kingdom of the Lord" Matthew 5:10

a r i a l . . .

my new B I K E . . .

check it out!

i got a fixed gear bike like matt has... i'll also picture his below. he's made a project out of his and has been adding parts to it, customizing it all along the way...

anyways, i've always just ridden my mountain bike around the lake with matt, or wherever we go ride, but am loving the simplicity of this new Republic bike so much more, it is way lighter and just easier to ride. there is only one gear, so you have to work at the hills, but matt really taught me to appreciate the stripped down feel of this type of bike! The republic site is really cool, it allows you to choose the frame color, wheel colors, seat, grips, component colors to be exactly what you want.

if you're interested in buying one, use this code for a tiny discount!

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this is what we found when we came home! anybody want a bike? gheez!

assembling

action shot!

my bike!

gold hub!

here is a screen shot of how you can customize it! i started with the Helsinki and changed a few things. i love the white bike with a a few pops of color: blue, brown, gold!

matt's bike!

she GAVE them to her...

ok, so i think this is so cool!

i was reading this blog i frequent...

i read about how this 82-year-old, stranger recognized that this blogger would appreciate her collection of old paper bags, so she literally GAVE them to her... how cool is that???

i've copied what she wrote on her entry...

" Remember the paperbags in the newspaper...a lady of 82 years sent me an email, telling she would love to give her collection of paperbags to me. We met through NRC-next and by surprise we live in the same city.

I gave her a visit this morning and stayed for almost 3 hours! We talked a lot about craftwork and art and ofcourse she told me every story that goes with the beautiful paperbags!

And i didn't surprise me at all that she had lots of collections!

That's what it is all about. Meeting people, listening to the stories, memories and things to look out for... i made me happy when i cycled home with the sun in my face! "

i am just kinda of amazed that things like that still happen, in this day-in-age...actually, i guess stuff like that used to happen. i just love collections so much, so imagining someone discovering something that i really considered treasurable, and then to GIVE their life's collection to ME, would be beyond words. it's the little things in life, right?

this was one lucky lady...

check it out...

lots of fun, random friends pics...

from blogs i follow (or facebook)...

Jim, Gain and Brooke

Dallas Zoo

Nate, Jenny and Riley

Alicia Rico and Dotty!

Adam Rico and Dotty!

cool pic of cousin Katie in Green jacket in LA

The Carruth section (they have fun pics)

Aina chasing Charlotte in Amsterdam i believe!

Aina in Moracco (love these colors)

Caleb in Sudan, teaching

Caleb teaching in Sudan

Awesome shot by caleb in Sudan!

I'm published!

it's official, the books arrived a couple weeks ago...

i've been published in a collage book; Masters Collage, Major Works by Leading Artists, and it turned out looking really great!!!

click here for links to purchase!

i am super excited with the way it was laid out and how it ended up looking!

check it out!