Lovely Friends

Oh wow. What gifts friends are. And how loving my lovely gifts happen to be. Rachel, Dana, and Laura all flew up here at the same time! I picked them up in Boston where we did some shopping and bookstoring then drove to my cute house in Kittery, Maine. In the mornin, we woke up to the sun and oatmeal banana pancakes. :) We drove up the coast and climbed around an old fort then hopped around the cliffs of Nubble Lighthouse near York Beach. Then we stopped through adorable Newburyport for our picnic veggie lunch (with seagulls) and, of course, for coffee from an elderly Austrian lady- the name of her bakery is Greta's Great Grains.
Next stop was Salem, Massachusetts (home of the witch trials). There, we passed plenty of witch museums and toured the House of Seven Gables, where Nathaniel Hawthorne set his so named book. Our Boston-accented tour guide lead us through secret passageways and narrow staircases. Dinner at the odd. The next morning, we baked Buttermilk scones for breakfast and took to exploring Portsmouth. Poor Dana was sick, so she read and napped. We crossed the old old draw bridge into the old town and shopped and explored a bit. I showed them around Strawbery Banke and we got to go into the Antheneum (an old and awesome library that I have always wanted to get into). We retrieved Dana, made lunch, talked about the Bible, then went to a movie downtown at the old and beautiful Portsmouth Music Hall. We watched a very elegant film about Queen Victoria when she was young. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKs3yIZolsM.
Oh Oh after that, we ate at a restaurant that Dana deemed her favorite restaurant she had ever been to. :) So I was very glad to introduce her to it.

On Sunday we went to my church (which I love) together and then took Laura to the airpuerto. :( We BARELY got her there in time! Oh geeeze- she was so calm though- I was impressed. After we kissed her cheeks and sent her off, Dana and Rachel and I did what other than go to the Harry Potter Expedition at the Boston Museum. That was, indeed, an interesting experience- especially since I have not read the books and have only seen one movie. So I was a real life trivia game for Dana and Rachel while we walked through the exhibit. Then we watched a guy make lightning. After that we stayed at the homey apartment of Rachel's friend, who is a student minister at M.I.T. They made us a yummy and we had fun conversation and I got to take a bath in a beatiful bathtub! I was happy. In the mornin, we gave Rachel big hugs good-bye and then Dana and I set out for a Starbucks (they are rare finds here in Dunkin Land). Then we drove around Andover, Lowell, Concord (as in the Battle of Lexington and Concord), and Walden Pond (As in Henry David Thoreau). People were walking around and playing ice hockey on Walden Pond! isn't that cool! I just think that's so cool. Dana and I had some good good car talks and then I said bye-bye to her in the late afternoon.

HOW WONDERFULLY REFRESHING and ALTOGETHER MARVELOUS IT WAS FOR US TO ALL BE TOGETHER AGAIN! I love you, Girls! Thank you so so much. -Heather

Post-snow Snow Post

Today, the snow stopped falling heavily from the sky and started falling heavily from the trees. This morning, I sat behind my storm door while I ate my cereal and watched the heavy chunks plummet and splatter. The falls were so frequent that there was rarely only one splattering at one time.

Lie

I have had multiple conversations lately with Christians who struggle with the lie that they are not good enough for ministry. They feel like someone else must be better equipped to do the job that they are being called to do. College students directing summer camps, young women mentoring youth, and youth leading younger youth seem to feel much like Moses did when God sent him to lead the Israelites against Pharaoh. Sometimes we do not recognize the lie and we stumble over it repetitively and let it hold us back.
A few weeks ago, I went snowboarding nearby in New Hampshire. My first run down the mountain, I did pretty well. My second run, however, was terrible. I fell forward onto bruising knees over and over again. I could not stay up. Each fall pulled my self-esteem and confidence lower and lower. I wanted to quit. I was embarrassed and frustrated. Then, while I was resting, my friend pointed out that I had forgotten to buckle the metal clip that attached my board to my boot. The clip had been swinging under the front lip of my board. I buckled it and got up to test myself. I did not fall a single time the rest of the way down the mountain! That measley clip had been causing every fall.
The fault for my falls went not to my muscles or to my ability. It went to a silly oversight that effected my whole performance. My unbuckled clip can be compared to lies from Satan. We need to put our confidence in the Lord and know that He will guide us and equip us and use us regardless of our own short-comings. The temptation to believe that we are insufficient comes from the liar.

http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/23/The-March-Of-The-Unqualified

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Chris,
I'm suddenly crazy about sweet Italian sausage. So for dinner tonight, I had penne pasta with sausage and green peppers with sea salt and a touch of Parmesan cheese. I made it up. I ate it on a red plate because things taste better off of red plates. Oh and I got a Fish Eye Cab for 5.00. I haven't had wine around since the week you left. While I cooked, I listened to the Singing in the Rain soundtrack. I was dancing and spinning around the little kitchen with a wooden spoon in my hand. It was fun- esp since my long sweater would twirl out when I spun.
Now i have a girly song stuck in my head- "All I do is dream of you the whole night through. And with the dawn I still go on dreaming of you. You're every though you're everything you're every song I ever sing. Summer Winter Autumn and Spring. And further more the 24 hours a day may be spent in sweet content dreaming away. The skies aren't gray; the skies are blue morning noon and night time too. All I do the whole day through is dream of you." :) I miss you sweetheart. I wish you were here to twirl me around.