Life's Little Pleasures

As I sit down to write this update, I am sipping my favorite beverage. It is a Grande Mocha Light Frappacino/No Whip! For $3.85 I can happily sip this beverage for about 12-16 minutes...and I love every second of it. I do not treat myself to these on a daily basis....but occasionally I wake up craving Starbucks!!! Today was one of those days. Starbucks makes me feel so good!!! The photo is of one of the three Starbucks in our small city!!! I can't for the life think of living an hour away from one (as my parents do in Mississippi)....it's just one of the small things that I have grown accustomed to that I never want to live without.



But...this post is not going to be about Starbucks, believe it or not....I want to give you an update on Ryan and I. So.....



This is our favorite time of year to live in LA. We spend every weekend at the beach (For me...some week days, too). Ryan absolutely loves beach volleyball. He is very good at it....me, I like to play sometimes. I scream and block my head when the ball comes my way...which is not the strategy if you want to win. So, I only play when it isn't a serious game and when there are nice people playing on my team! We love being at the beach though...and the water of the Pacific is finally getting warm enough for us to get in. We have yet to pick up surfing, but love boogie boarding! So all of our free time is spent on the sand of Hermosa Beach or in the
massive Pacific ocean.

Ryan is still working hard. I feel a little guilty since I get to sleep in and he has to go to work. So, I try to make most of my days somewhat productive. I tutor a couple days of week...and as for a job for the fall...well, it all rests on whether or not I passed my CTEL test. If I passed, I am almost positive I will be teaching first grade. If I did not pass, I have no idea. But, I am waiting on God for that, and trying not to worry.

Our church (Mosaic) is doing a gathering here in Hermosa for six weeks. If it is a success, they will move a gathering down here indefinitely. This is so great since we normally drive to Beverly Hills every Sunday. It would be such a blessing to have one so close. Not that Beverly Hills is super far away....but when you are driving on LA interstates, it can get quite congested with traffic. We are helping out in leadership roles with this new gathering, and are enjoying it immensely. I am beginning a new Bible Study at our home. This will be our 4th womens bible study. I love doing these. God just keeps bringing such amazing girls into my life. ...and he Challenges us beyond belief through these Bible Studies (We are doing Beth Moore's "Breaking Free" this time around).

We are heading home to Mississippi in 12 days. I cannot wait to see our families! My nephew Maeson just left me a message on my voicemail asking if I was in "Califorma" and he wanted to know when I could come see him. ....I melted at the sound of his precious voice. I really am looking forward to being home. I have to admit that I dread the many comments that Ryan will make concerning moving back to Mississippi. I know it is coming....but the truth is, I don't think God really wants us back in Mississippi. I don't really want to move back, either. If God says go...then I will go. But, I honestly think he is saying...NO....not now...I have so much more you need to do. I actually told Ryan that I would be perfectly fine with God keeping us here in L.A. long term. I have found such freedom in living here. Freedom in my faith....Freedom to love without limits...Freedom to act without judgement.....such freedom! Today as I was running down the strand (concrete path along the beach)...I was looking at the people I passed and those who passed me. As a guy with a mohawk rode past me on his beach cruiser....it reminded me of how much I love this place! I love that there is not one "normal" way to look. I love that no one looks twice at that man...no one thinks how abnormal he is. I think God is healing me of every prejudice bone in my body...and I PRAISE GOD FOR THAT! I love that I am learning to see our extreme differences as an amazing gift...and what I love most is that those differences that I once thought extreme, seem less and less that way.

I realize this has been such a random post! If you are still reading...sorry for the random thoughts that flow through this brain of mine! We miss you all! Come see us...come experience this place that God has used to change my life!

Now, I desperately want another Starbucks!