Cards

Here are a few of the cards I made this week. Enjoy!

What's in a Name? (Part 2)

So last blog I covered the meaning of my first name, Sarah, and this week I did a little digging into my middle name, Elizabeth.


Now I've always known Elizabeth was from the bible and I looked up her name and it means "God's Promise." She was yet another famous character for not being able to get pregnant, but I haven't read her story in a long time. It starts in Luke chapter 1 with the direct statement that Elizabeth is not able to have children with her husband, Zacharias, and now she's really old. One day when Zacharias was performing his duties in the church (he was a priest) an angel appeared to him and told him that he and Elizabeth would get pregnant and have a baby boy who be named John and would be pure and filled with the Holy Spirit and turn many people back to God. Zacharias was scared out of his mind and he basically told the angel that he was crazy and didn't believe him. In reply, the angel told Zacharias, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

 "And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."

Within a few days Elizabeth became pregnant and sure enough, Zacharias completely lost his voice. Nine months later Elizabeth went into labor and the scriptures say that her friends and neighbors "rejoiced with her, knowing that the Lord had shown her grace." What a great picture of community! I'm sure all of Elizabeth's girlfriends had cried with her through her bareness and celebrated with her when she finally became pregnant, so what a beautiful moment for them all to see God's promise come true.
As was customary of the time, they asked Elizabeth if she wanted to name the baby boy after his father, but she declined in favor of the name that the angel had given him, John, but since no one in her family was named John, they sought out Zacharias to see what he wanted to name the child. Since he couldn't talk, he asked for a tablet, and wrote down, "His name is John," and immediately he was able to speak again after 9 months of muteness. The baby was circumcised on the eight day and named John, meaning "God is gracious." Wow.


I can only imagine how desperately Elizabeth wanted a baby. After years of watching her friends get pregnant and have children it must have started to seem impossible for them to have a child of their own. Just like the story of Sarah, it sticks out so distinctly to me because of how God intentionally chose extremely human people through which he worked his miracles. This reminds me of when Paul is struggling with doubt and distress in his letter to the Corinthian church (2 Cor. 12:9) and speaking of the Lord he write, "Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." 


So no matter what I am struggling through, I know I follow in the footsteps of not one, but two women who God gave specific situations in which they couldn't fix things on their own and they had to grow their trust in Him to do the impossible. How often do we actually get faced with a problem that we can't solve by our own abilities or from our own wallets? For this, I am so thankful. 
Just like Paul, I am learning to embrace my weakness knowing that the less capable I am the more room God has to do things I could only dream of being able to accomplish on my own.

Lucille II

I just realized that I never published this post about welcoming Lucy into our home! How did I miss that?


Garland and I have never been the type to avoid change, in fact, we get antsy if we are not undertaking a new project at all times. First it was getting engaged, then buying a house, then getting married, then renovating the house. So when our painting and moving and marrying slowed down a month after our wedding, we knew we were ready to take on a pet. That's where Bosco came into the picture, and he kept us busy for quite some time. In the next year and a half I entered and completed my Masters program, we finished renovating our first home and started talking about shopping for a new one, started the discussion about having kids one day, and decided that our dear, sweet Bosco needed a play mate.


Garland was way more into it at first, I was nervous about having another living thing to be responsible for, feed, take to the vet, walk, etc. I resisted even going to the shelter when he suggested it because I knew I'd fall in love. I finally conceded to going to the shelter (I was really excited deep down), but I had a list of requirements and I wasn't coming home with any dog that didn't meet them.
1) Female
2) Small but not too small (15-25)
3) Not yippy (I hate small, yippy dogs)
4) Not a major shedder
5) no puppies, must be 2-4 years old 
6) Not super hyper
7) Not a barker


As you can imagine, not many dogs met my strict standards. On our third visit we finally found the perfect dog, a 2 year old female pug that was sweet as could be. We signed all the papers and named her Lucille and planned to pick her up the next morning after she got her shots. That night I was so excited I made G take me to buy a new food bowl, water bowl, leash, collar, and dog pillow (all in girly colors, of course). When we went to pick her up the next morning (new purple collar and leash in hand) they gave us the bad news that they had accidentally overbooked and promised the dog to someone else the day before we found her. I was devastated. I had already sent pictures to all my friends telling them about our newest addition. As a consolation, they told us that Lucille had given birth to 6 puppies who were available for adoption. After a short conversation about if we would even consider a puppy (I really did not want to do the whole potty training, chewing, following commands thing all over again) we decided we should at least go look.
I fell in love with Lucille II from the moments she curled up against Garland's chest and just laid there in the nook of his arm. Something maternal kicked into gear and I wanted to take care of that puppy and give her a home. Garland saw the look in my eye and knew right away that he was in trouble and so he went to the Shelter man and told him we'd take her. 
Bosco was so intrigued with her right from the beginning but he was also gentle. It was like he knew she was a baby and a lot smaller than him so even when she would bite at his tail or jump on him he would just barely nudge her back. They are, without a doubt, the best of friends. Lucy wants to be just like Bosco. If you look out our window when they're in the back yard you will always see her following her big brother around, sniffing and barking just like he does (even when she doesn't know what he's sniffing or who he's barking at). And Bosco, in turn, is extremely protective over Lucy. The first time I vacuumed after Lucy moved in she tried to walk up and bark and the vacuum like it was an adversary and Bosco (who is scared of the vacuum) jumped of the couch and nudged her away from the vacuum and into the kitchen as if to say, "don't you know that thing will get you?!"


Here are some of my favorite things about Lucy:
-She is only part pug, so she has the pug body and coloring and curly tail, but she has a snout and her eyes don't bug out. She is also leaner and has longer legs than a pug. She's adorable!
-She sometimes growls at her own tail when she chases it.
-Her default position is sitting, so I will turn around and she will be sitting in a recliner, on the coffee table, fireplace, arm of the couch, etc.
-She makes a wide variety of really weird noises.
-She eats SO MUCH. We often joke that she is half pug half pig.
-When she gets really excited she starts hopping on two legs and looks kind of like a rabbit.
-She constantly crawls under beds and furniture when I enter a room. I'll close it when I leave and then start looking for Lucy after 5 minutes and open the door again and she is patiently sitting on the other side waiting to be let out.

What's in a Name? (Part 1)

I have always known where I got my name, Sarah Elizabeth; Sarah being most immediately from my paternal grandmother, Sarah Opal, and also historically from the bible, Sarah, Abraham's wife. But today I felt like it would be a good reminder to look back on the women that held my name before me, so I started in Genesis 16-21 where Sarah was originally Sarai.

Sarai is most famously known for not being able to conceive a child and, afraid of embarrassing her husband, Abram (later renamed Abraham), for leaving him without an heir, she sends him to her maid, Hagar, so that they can make a baby and carry on the family name. But as women typically do, she changed her mind. As soon as they'd done the deed she told Abram that he was stupid for going to Hagar and she was stupid for letting him. Abram (trying to avoid the classic wife nagging session) told Sarai she could do whatever she wanted with Hagar to get back at her (I see this same principle still in effect today: the man's bad behavior is overlooked by the vengeful wife who instead turns all her venom on the "other woman"). 
This leads Hagar to running away where she meets an angel who tells her she will have a son by Abram and he will grow up to be a wild child. Now at this point in the Old Testament soap opera (I like to think of it as "The Old and the Fruitless") Abram is 86 years old. Jump forward 13 years to Abram's 99th birthday, and the Lord appears to Abram and promises him that he will be the father of many, many children and descendants, and not through Hagar, but through his wife, Sarai. So he renames him Abraham ("Father of Many Nations") and here's where my name first comes into play (Genesis 17):

¹⁵Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.

 ¹⁶"I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

So to summarize, my predecessor started as a barren woman who never thought she could have a baby, but ended up being the mother of one of the greatest men (Isaac) in all of the B-I-B-L-E. The thing I really like about Sarah was that God used a COMPLETELY normal person to do this awesome thing. See, God tells Sarah that she will have a child and she has gone so many years trying and failing to have a baby that she actually LAUGHS at God out of disbelief.  But God sees her doubt and decides that he's gonna follow through with his promise anyway, because he's cool like that. So God blesses Sarah with a son when Abraham is 100 years old and Sarah says, "God has made laughter for me, everyone who hears will laugh with me," and they name him Isaac, which means laughter.


I am thankful to have been named after two wonderful women, my Memaw Opal who was the sweetest, most generous, and best hugging woman that I am convinced ever walked the face of this earth; and Abraham's scared, hurt, and unbelieving wife, Sarai, who God used even in the most unlikely of circumstances to prove that what really matters is how big God is, not how little our faith is.

Winter Blues? Or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)?

First of all, can we just talk about how it is either incredibly fitting or incredibly comical that the acronym for this winter depression is SAD? This can't be just a coincidence, some scientist out there thought this would be an awesome joke to pull on the American public and is snickering in their suspenders as we speak.
However, I can't help but feel like even though the name is a joke, the disorder is not. People really do get sad in the winter! I for one, am highly susceptible to the winter blues. I always get mopey, irritable, and antsy during the long, cold, winter months. I need my sunshine!
Think you might have it? Check out the article below.

What is seasonal affective disorder (SAD)?
Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is a type of depression that affects a person during the same season each year. If you get depressed in the winter but feel much better in spring and summer, you may have SAD.
Anyone can get SAD, but it is more common in:
-People who live in areas where winter days are very short or there are big changes in the amount of daylight in different seasons.
-Women.
-People between the ages of 15 and 55. The risk of getting SAD for the first time goes down as you age.
-People who have a close relative with SAD.
What causes SAD?
Experts are not sure what causes SAD, but they think it may be caused by a lack of sunlight. Lack of light may upset your sleep-wake cycle and other circadian rhythms. And it may cause problems with a brain chemical called serotonin that affects mood.
What are the symptoms?
-If you have SAD, you may:
-Feel sad, grumpy, moody, or anxious.
-Lose interest in your usual activities.
-Eat more and crave carbohydrates, such as bread and pasta.
-Gain weight.
-Sleep more and feel drowsy during the daytime.
-Symptoms come and go at about the same time each year. For most people with SAD, symptoms start in September or October and end in April or May.
How is it treated?
Doctors often prescribe light therapy to treat SAD. There are two types of light therapy:
1) Bright light treatment. For this treatment, you sit in front of a "light box" for half an hour or longer, usually in the morning.
2) Dawn simulation. For this treatment, a dim light goes on in the morning while you sleep, and it gets brighter over time, like a sunrise.
Light therapy works well for most people with SAD, and it is easy to use. You may start to feel better within a week or so after you start light therapy. But you need to stick with it and use it every day until the season changes. If you don't, your depression could come back.

Source: http://www.webmd.com/depression/tc/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad-topic-overview

Snowpocalypse

One thing that is bothering me right now: 
I know everyone else loves the snow, and as an idea, I do too. But as a walking, freezing, driving reality, I have realized something about myself this week. I, in fact, do not like snow very much. I find it annoying and yucky and besides the fact that it is very, very white, I don't really like much about it. Here are reasons I do not like it:
-Everybody FREAKS OUT on the roads and you'd think it was the apocalypse.
-Buying regular groceries is impossible as every woman in the four state area is packed into Walmart shopping for what appears to be the apocalypse.
-I sat in a gas station line for 20 minutes waiting to fill up because apparently everyone in the whole world needs a full tank of gas in the car they will not be driving because of the road conditions (due to the snowpocalypse).
-Where there is snow, there is below freezing weather and I HAAAAAAATEEEEE being cold. period. I want to go back to last week where it was 50 degrees in January. That is the part of Arkansas weather that I love!
-After a couple of days it will build up on the side of the road and be brown and black and gross looking. Now the only thing going for it, the pretty, sparkly, white powder part, looks like watery dirty piles everywhere. Worst.
-I don't like the idea of being stuck in my house for days at a time. I am not a good enough meal planner to have stuff just laying around to cook for two weeks of being shut in. Plus I get stir crazy really easily.
-I dislike when public services are shut down. If I can make it out to your restaurant, shop, service provider, then you can too.


I realize that this sounds really depressing and demanding, and I accept that. I feel depressed due to the snow and cold and therefore demand that life continues as normal. Is that too much to ask?
WE LIVE IN ARKANSAS PEOPLE! HALF AN INCH OF SNOW IS NOTHING!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Well once again the holidays are over and once again I am ready to move on with the new year! As much as I love holidays with our families, moving between 6 Christmases is just a lot to handle, so by January 1st I was ready to say goodbye to Christmas and New Year's and hello to 2011!

Here are some of the amazing Christmas presents that I got this year:

My new Nikon D3100-SO excited about this little guy. I have always loved taking pictures and looked forward to one day owning a camera that could meet my passion with quality. I can't wait to have some beginner's training sessions with my sweet friend Brooke Robinson! She is an amazing photographer (you can check out her stuff at http://www.brookerobinsonblog.com/).

My next favorite gift was my 4D Concepts rolling craft organizer! I love this thing SO much! It is three feet tall and has tons and tons of bins to hold all my stuff. I can finally have separate containers for stamps, inks, paints, accessories, and a separate bin for each color of paper! I admit my nerdiness on this one...

My last favorite gift was my NASB Ryrie Study Bible that Garland got me. This bible is cool for two reasons: 1) Garland gave it to me to replace the bible that Bosco ate (which was the bible that Garland gave to me on our wedding day inscribed with my new name), and 2) it is a NASB cross reference and commentary bible, so it pretty much tells me anything I would want to know about scripture in the most literal translation possible. This bible makes studying so much easier and it makes researching passages much less intimidating. I would highly recommend it!

Thanks to all my favorite gift givers for such a wonderful array of presents! 
Hope you had a merry Christmas and Santa gave you everything you asked for.