Never mind what I said in my previous post about the snow melting...

The snow started to fall this afternoon and isn't supposed to stop until tomorrow night. I took this picture at a city park I enjoy visiting. The snow is a wet snow so you can hear the snow as it hits the ground & roof of the house.

This is the same park in November


Kids playing Ring Around the Rosy in the park


My shoes playing in the snow

Melted snow in Philly

The snow in Philly has pretty much melted. It's always pretty the first few days but then it turns into dirty slush mixed with ice. Dangerous combination. This is a picture of our house.

This afternoon I am at my favorite coffee shop in Chestnut Hill working on my finances. I haven't done budget maintenance for a quite a while so I'm tackling in one afternoon.

Hope whoever is reading this has a good weekend.

New Running Shoes

Talitha and I went on our first run together this afternoon. I christened my new shoes. There is such a difference in running in new shoes. It's still light when I get off work so there is more motivation to fun. Plus the weather is warming up which helps as well.

Donivan, are you reading this post?

If I write about YOU on my blog I expect you to read my blog. :-) It was a blessing to catch up with you last night on the phone. Thanks for the words of encouragement, your honesty and for asking questions that didn't allow an easy answer.

26 degrees in Philly. Weather.com says it "feels like 14 degrees." Is it ready to be spring yet?

My Valentines: Dad, Mom, Christie, Sara & Peter

Matthew, a friend and co-worker posted a sweet Valentine to his wife on her blog this morning.

"Amy, you are my pink. Will you keep marrying me every morning? I promise to keep you filled with coffee and give you something to be passionate about. Even if it means being passionately annoyed!"

So, so sweet, Matthew. Good job! Check out the post and enjoy Matthew's creativity & Amy's good words. http://minismith.com/

Stuart Beach

The water really was this color!

More Pictures from Stuart, Florida

Peter was presented with a scholarship at the Martin County Fair's opening night.

Walking around the fairgrounds brought back memories of high school. I entered photographs, sewing and science projects in 4-H.

The hat was bought for the fair. :-)

Florida is beauful! It's 75 degrees... oh it's good to be home.

Family Picture


Christie-the birthday girl

Cynthia Roderick, Mom and me at Christie's 24th bday party.

Currin trying on Dior sunglasses.

We couldn't keep all our shopping in bags of the back of the PT Cruiser.
Fun times with the Nabor girls- all day shopping. What a blessing to see them in Florida and hang out. Randy was teaching on mercy ministry and inner city churches.

I'm in Florida for business for two weeks. The first week is with our team leaders attending a church planting training in Orlando. The second week will be spent in Jacksonville for our team leaders' retreat.

My rental car for the next 10 days!

I love having my own room - king size bed and all!

Snowing in Philadelphia, PA

Snow has come down for two days straight now. The snow is kinda sticking- the ground needs to freeze a bit more. I am like a kid when this white stuff falls. This picture was taken outside World Harvest's offices.

Geocaching

Tammy and I did a tour of small, neighborhood Philly parks. We found 6 out of 8 caches. It was fun to discover parks I'd never been to before. In this adult treasure hunt called Geocaching, the point it to find a hidden objects by using your GPS.

One of the caches was hidden at the Rodin museum in the art district of Philly. Unfortunately, we didn't find it. But we found the statue that reminds me of my dad. He had bookends of Rodin's The Thinker. It's one of the most famous parts of the larger art piece call Gates of Hell.

Going Geocaching this afternoon...

I've never done this before but a new friend of mine loves it. We're going to look for treasures in the art district of Philly using her GPS. Check out the history of geocaching:
http://www.geocaching.com/about/history.aspx

Post- Urbana

Five of us flew back to Philly together after Urbana. We ended up having a 5 hour layover in Chicago. We took advantage of that by sleeping in the airport. Our plane touched down later on Jan. 1st and I hit the sack around 1:00am. I slept until 5:00pm on the 2nd. Yes, that's 16 hours.

Urbana 2006

The exhibit hall- you can see WHM's booth. It's the one with the large banner that says "Get Lost. Find Life."

Below is a link to a video of worship bringing in 2007. The girl you see a few times is, Talitha, one of my roommates. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7890765848254095613

Some more pictures from Urbana...

Worship at Urbana 2006

World Harvest Mission Urbana team


I ran into friends from the past at Urbana

Theology has always been important to me. I really value what I learned in high school through a church Bible study and all I learned at Covenant College. In the last two years I’ve wanted to see theology have practical implications. In the face of life, hardships, death, disappointments how do the truths of theology make a difference in the way I live?

My pastor in Philly gave me a book called The Practical Calvinist. It’s a book that colleagues of D. Clair Davis put together upon his 30 years of teaching at Westminster Theological seminary. Clair Davis wrote an article for the Presbyterian Journal on December 3, 1986 titled "What's so good about being a Calvinist?"

Davis writes that Calvinism applies the Bible where we need it most. "Think through the basics. Jesus died for you personally (Personal Atonement). He loves you, not what he can get out of you (Unconditional Election). He pours out his love on every bit of you, not just on what you think is your sweeter and nicer side (Total Depravity). His love is stronger than all your doubt and foolishness and fear put together (Irresistible Grace). He keeps on loving you, all the way through to the end (Perseverance of the Saints). That's the Five Points of your Father's love!"

Unconditional Love

I was faced with real ugliness in my heart tonight. Talitha, my roommate, allowed me to talk, cry and process. As Talitha prayed I realized I didn't want to pray to my Father because I felt so horrible. But wait... Jesus always sees my ugly heart. It's me who is blind to my dark heart. Grace is so undeserved and yet amazing. Why does our Father love us? Not because of who we are or what we do, that's for sure. The Gospel logic isn’t logical at all. But that’s the point, right? Thank you, Jesus!

Jesus I Am Resting, Resting

You can hear one of my favorite hymns at: http://www.purevolume.com/matthewsmithalliowe

Jesus I am resting, resting
In the Joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power
Thou hast made me whole.

Chorus: Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.

O how great Thy loving kindness.
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O how marvellous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings;
Thine is love indeed!

Ever lift Thy face upon me,
As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting 'neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory,
Sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting;
Fill me with Thy grace.

Discovering Jackson Pollock

David Letterman recently had an older woman on his show who believed she had an original Jackson Pollock painting. If it's a true Pollock, it's worth a lot of money. I enjoy art but didn't know much about Pollock. I "googled"him and found out he was an American, abstract impressionist who lived from 1912 to 1956. There's this great website that allows you to paint in a Jackson Pollock- manner. Go to this link and then drag your mouse over the screen. A double click changes the paint color. Have fun! http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

The Philadelphia Art Museum has his "Male and Female" painted in 1942.

Two weddings in one day...

Megan, Liz & me at Trippy & Lisa's wedding

Emily, Megan, Susan, me & Christian at Susan & Justin's wedding

Peter Gay, me & Megan at Susan's wedding

1998 Toyota Camry- with a sunroof!!!

Praise God for providing the perfect car for me. It was a HUGE added blessing to have my mom in town the weekend that I went to look at this car. I sent out a prayer request to over 150 people on the 16th, looked at this car on the 21st, made an offer that night and picked up the car on the 23rd. Just in case you don't realize it- the 23rd is exactly a week after I asked for prayer. God doesn't always work such an amazing deal out so quickly. I'm glad He did though because my car has stalled on me at least 5 times in the last week. God is faithful to His daughter!

My roommate, Talitha, introduced me to a crazy website full of random quizzes. I took the "What Kind of Intelligence do You have" quiz. (http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofintelligencedoyouhavequiz/) Here's the result. I think it's pretty accurate...

Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence You shine in your ability to realate to and understand others. Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel. You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations. A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict. You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

God, enter into our joy and pain with us. Show us we're your sons and daughters who can climb up into your lap and be loved and accepted completely by You. This is my prayer today.

Netflix has allowed me to expand my movie watching. I never would have put the three following in my queue if it wasn't for friends recommending them to me.

The Lost City (Peter Gay)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343996/

The Chorus (KJ Macha)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372824/

Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now (Janine Anderson)
http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=289407

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

After church today I headed downtown. The weather was perfect- 80 degrees, the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze. I parked on at Boathouse Row (see left picture), grabbed my 1970's yellow-flowered blanket and found a grassy spot in the sun. I read Girl Meets God in-between dozing on and off.

Bethany and Rachel joined me two hours later. We rested on my blanket for a while and then Rachel and I checked out the waterworks (http://www.fairmountwaterworks.org/) and walked up to the art museum. The girls left soon after to take Rachel to the airport.

Bethany, Rachel, Monica

I put on my running shoes and went for a nice long run/ walk downtown. I ran from Boathouse row, past the art museum, up the steps (like Rocky) and down the Ben Franklin Parkway, around Love Park (http://philadelphia.citysearch.com/review/11568924) and back to my car at Boathouse row. The weather couldn't have been better for a run and my shins felt fine. I felt God's presence with me as I ran. The joy in my heart could only come from my heavenly Father.

The Philly art museum became famous after Sylvester Stallone ran up these steps in Rocky

Logan Circle with City Hall in the background

9-11

Everything in my being fights against death. It’s so unnatural. It makes me so uncomfortable. I hate death. God, enter into this uncomfortableness with our family today. I Corinthians 15:54 Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Amen and amen.

My grandpa Linde has gone to be with the Lord. He had a stroke about two weeks ago that left him paralyzed on the left side. Thankfully his mind was still strong and he recognized my aunt and grandma. Over the last two weeks his circulatory system had weakened and he caught pneumonia and a slight bladder infection. He had a heart attack this past Wednesday morning and never regained consciousness. His heart stopped beating around 3:00pm that same day. God allowed him to live to be 85 years old before calling him to his heavenly home.

Please pray for my Grandma, Gladys; Dad, Orin; Aunt Marlys and Uncle Wayne as they mourn the loss of my grandpa, Lawrence Linde. Please pray for the whole Linde family as we gather these next few days to mourn the loss of a gentle, godly man yet rejoice that he has been set free from earthly pain and is worshiping our Savior face to face. Please pray that the funeral on Monday at 11:00am will point us all to Jesus and will bring praise to the Father. Thank you in advance for your prayers.

God's already answered my prayer these past two weeks... that He would take my grandpa quickly or allow him to get well enough to move back to the apartment with my grandma and not need to go into a nursing home. The reality was he probably wasn't going to get well enough to move home so the Lord was gracious to take him quickly.

The pictures I attached were taken this past July when I was in Minnesota visiting my grandparents. We had sweet times together and made more memories. I'm so thankful I was able to see him so recently.

Rock of Ages is one my favorite hymns. This is the last verse: While I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyes shall close in death, When I soar to worlds unknown, See Thee on Thy judgment throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.

315 Easton Road is now full...

Talitha Brauer moved in a week ago. It's nice to have the house complete. Leah, her 22 month old son (Jonah), Talitha and I are are getting settled in together. Art and English were Talitha's majors at Hillsdale College (http://www.hillsdale.edu/) so we now have lots of great art around the house.

Parking Ticket in Manayunk, PA

Bethany and I are working out of the office today in a cute part of Philadelphia called Manayunk. We had breakfast at LeBus (http://www.lebusmanayunk.com/) and are now at a coffee shop called Bucks Country Coffee Co. (http://www.buckscountycoffee.com/). The weather is so beautiful- it's the perfect day to work off site.

We were watching the meter closely for this whole morning. Bethany went to the car to put in a quarter and there was a parking ticket for $20.00 on my windshield. We probably had missed it by a matter of 2 minutes. Bummer.

My friend, Meg, is serving in East Africa. Her latest newsletter quoted the words that have been in my head and heart recently.

“Why is it that I think I must get somewhere, assume some position, be gathered together, or separated apart in the quiet of my study to pray? What is it that I feel that I have to go somewhere or do some particular act to find you, reach you, and talk with you? Your presence is here- in the city- on the busy bus- in the waiting room; in the home- at dinner, in the bedroom, in the family room, in the car in the parking lot, at the stoplight. Lord, reveal your presence to me everywhere, and help me become more aware of your presence each moment of the day. May your presence fill the non-answers, empty glances and lonely times of my life. Amen" -Robert Wood A Thirty-Day Experiment in Prayer

Meg then reflected, "I used to feel guilty about the fact that I so often doubt God’s presence and power but I’m beginning to realize that I need not fear my doubt. If there was no doubt there would be no need for faith.” These words ministered to me and I hope they do the same for you.

(This picture is of the Schuylkill River in and the Philadelphia Zoo hot air balloon.)

06/07 MOB Planning Meeting

Yesterday we had our annual planning meeting at Chestnut Hill Coffee Company. We did some dreaming for our department for the next year as well as some tangible planning. Our meeting was great but I'm tiered today. It's draining to be thinking creatively for hours. My brain is more tangible, linear and practical. I'm ready to tackle our action items but fellow team members, Matthew and Dan, would have loved to continue to think of how we can improve our department. Our department has a good mix of personalities that work together well. If we didn't have the dreamers the tangible people wouldn't be able to make the dreams a reality.

I went to Liberti Church (http://www.liberti.org/) today with Bethany and Janine. Steve Huber preached an excellent sermon on fear. I felt like he was preaching to an audience of one... me. The rest of this entry is taken from my sermon notes- I hope they make sense and bless you as they did me.

Five things about Fear

1. Fear can cause sin
-The text was Genesis 20. Abraham pretended that Sarah was his sister because he was afraid of the king.
-Being a workaholic & being lazy are both sins. There is fear in failing so we work too hard or because we fear failing we don’t try at all.

2. Fear is close to worship
-What we fear is what we will worship. I want people to approve of me and I work hard to protect my reputation. These are two idols in my life.
-If we fear God we will worship Him. Check out Psalm 130:3-6 & 111:10

3. What we fear shapes us
-I won’t be able to truly love people if I fear what they think of me.
-Isaiah 51:12&13 “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?”
-What if we fear God & let him mold us? We would find real joy, real love and real peace
-God blessed Abraham in spite of his fears.

4. To heal our fear we must look to God & His love
-Are we ready for great liberation?
-We must look to Jesus, who died for us & rose again.
-We must look at our fears in the reality & in the face of Jesus.

5. God wants us to grow by meditating on His promises
-Let God speak to us in his word
-We often don't do what we should with God's promises. For example: Steve gave his 2 year old daughter a beautiful pearl necklace, worth about $20. She thanked her dad for it but didn't realize the value of the bracelet. She lost it 5 minutes later. This is how we treat God’s promises. We thank Him for them but then loose sight of them soon after.
-We will always find what we look for the hardest. If we want to be bitter or judgmental, we will find material. Look for God’s promises and they will be found.

"Isn't life rich when you're thrown into the tornado of God's glory?? "
Grace Haymes (wise friend from Philly)

You Tube is new to me so a few days ago I tried to upload a video. Check it out. The one I really want to put online is the one that Peter beat me really bad in arm wrestling. It's too long so I need to figure out how to shorten the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqx6GdjMoI8

Caught in the rain

I landed in Minneapolis, MN and was greeted by the Linde Family. After a good dinner we met up with my grandpa and his wife, Jeanne. We all walked across the Mississippi River on a historic bridge. The clouds were looking a bit dark but we didn't it would start to rain right away. Boy! Were we wrong. Large drops started to fall every few seconds until it was raining very hard! My mom, sisters and I didn't see the point of running off the bridge so we squealed as we got soaked to the bone.

We all crowded under a large tree while the men went to get the cars. What an adventure!

A Butterfly Experience that Makes Me Smile... Daily

Without sunlight my toenails are silver and as soon as they get sunlight they change to a bright pink. It's like magic- I love it! I don't know why but I smile everytime I watch them change color.

If you'd like your own color-changing nail polish you can order some at http://www.delsolsandiego.com/nailpolish18.html