Whitney

Sometimes there are things that happen where words cannot even begin to express the situation or emotion at all. Over the last 4 days, this type of situation has been happening 30 minutes from my home. Whitney Heichel was a 21-year old-girl who disappeared a few days ago in Gresham. It was a normal day, she was on her way to work at Starbucks. It quickly turned into the most abnormal day her or her family will ever have. A 24-year-old man who lived in her apartment complex waited until she went to work and kidnapped her.

It just blows my mind every time I think about it. As the Gresham mayor put it, "Whitney represented our mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, friends, and loved ones." This could have been anyone... Me, my sisters, my mother, my cousin, my friends... Anyone.

My heart breaks for her... So young, so innocent. And even more, my heart breaks for her family... Her husband. The thought of losing my spouse or my family this way, or at all, is gut-wrenching. Though I did not know her and will most likely never meet her family, I will never forget her.

It was a reminder that life is short.
It was a reminder that anything can happen.
It was a reminder that this world is evil.
It was a reminder that there is no time to be mad or to fight, but only to love.

R.I.P. Whitney Heichel

Pinterest Pumpkin

I am an Oregonian through and through. We had somewhat of an Indian summer here in the Pacific Northwest.... Summer barely lasts from July-August and this year, we were into the beginning of October with temperatures still in the high 70's. Some people loved it, and I did for a time, but then my Oregonian kicked in and I longed for rain and clouds. Part of it too is that my favorite time of year is fall. I love it. I love the colors, the pumpkin cookies, the hot chocolate, the leaves, Thanksgiving, sweaters, rain, boots....

You get the idea.

Anyways, Pinterest seems to love autumn too. So I spent some of my free time (who I am kidding? I have no free time... I definitely should've been doing homework...) looking up DIY decoration ideas cause we are broke but I love me some fall decor.

I found this cute idea and thought I could do it myself. And it turned out pretty good!

First, I got this tacky, plastic, orange pumpkin from Wal-Mart for dirt cheap. I had some spray paint from another project and some thumbtacks from my office.

I then spray painted it black and waited for it to dry. This was the longest part.. The rest took me literally 7 minutes.

Here is what I came up with:

Not bad, huh? It was hard to get the "D" to actually look like a D...

I found another project I am going to do so I will keep you posted.

Lyons

Wow. It has been a LONG time since I have blogged. I really did have intentions of blogging more, but life has been a bit crazy. I know everyone says that, but seriously.

Since my last blog, my husband and I are no longer youth pastors in Lyons. My parents were the senior pastors there and we were the youth pastors. Sometimes family crisis and family issues happen. Sometimes family has to come before ministry and the church. This was one of those times. And so, we are taking a break. Yesterday we went to a new church in Salem. It was weird, just going to church and not doing anything or being in charge of anything. It was a bittersweet thing. It was both a relief and depressing.

Over the weekend, we had our annual statewide convention with many of the students in Oregon. I kept myself busy with helping behind the scenes to distract my mind from being reminded that I didn't bring any kids this year. But when it became time that everything that needed to be done was done and I sat back and watched other youth pastors pray with their students and advice their teens, I became sad. It was a bit selfish, I know, but hear me out. I am so glad that students came and that other pastors were able to be there for them. I just wish I was too.

Out of all of this, I miss the people the most, especially my students. I miss Sunday night youth groups, I miss events, I miss Sunday mornings, I miss Charlie's handshake every morning, I miss giving Gideon a hard time, I miss getting hit with a dodgeball, I miss dreaming big with Glenda... I miss my church.

But out of all of this, we are already a more united family. Out of all of this, my marriage is already stronger. Out of all of this, I believe I will be a better youth pastor. God has a reputation of taking the worst and making it the best. And I am trusting Him to do just that.

Pinned

I ACTUALLY MADE SOMETHING I PINNED!

I had some free time that is very much a rarity the other night, so I decided to make one of the thousands of things I have pinned on Pinterest. (P.S. You can follow me on Pinterest by clicking that little button down to the right) 

Some of them you have to buy stuff for, but it was like midnight, so I found one that I had all the supplies for already. These jeans are old and as you can see got a whole in the leg, so they were no longer wearable. 

 So, I cut them to shorts size, cut a couple slits in them, and took my cheese grater to them to rough them up a bit.

 Then I busted out the bleach, dropped it where I wanted it and let it show up. Next, I got the hydrogen peroxide out and dunked some cotton balls in it and dabbed it on the bleached spots to stop the bleach from spreading more and stop it from getting brighter. I through them into the washer and dryer and here is how they turned out! I haven't tried them on just yet, but not bad for a free pair of shorts!

The Rock that is Higher Than I

Nothing teaches you trust more than when trust is all you have.
When there are no other options but to rely on the One who will never fail.

Unfortunately for me, I learn the hard way.
So I learn trust the hard way.
It takes things getting to a point where trust is my only option that I learn to trust.

I am overwhelmed.
I am exhausted.
I am not in control.

Today, my trust must be in Him. Because my own strength has only failed me.

Patriotic

I didn't post on September 11th, because quite honestly I have no words for that day. Nothing seems worthy enough to be said about it. Nothing I came up with is good enough.

But then yesterday and today, the American Embassies in a few countries were attacked. Americans lost their lives. And the elections are coming up soon..

But I feel like it has become hard to be patriotic. Part of me is fearful of being an American. Part of me is breaking for my fellow Americans. And part of me is wishing that we as a nation were united again and patriotism was a lot more common. I wish the 4th of July was something that rallied us. I wish that more people loved being American.

Don't get me wrong... I would not want to be born anywhere else. when people ask me "what I am" I don't think back to being Welsh or Norwegian or Spanish.. I am an American. And I am proud of it. I just feel like  we have lost our unity, our being patriotic. I miss that. I miss that part of being American.

His Girlfriend

When my husband goes to work all day, I miss him.

When he leaves for work, I make sure I take the time to kiss him goodbye.

At night, we talk before we go to sleep.

I share every part of my day with him.

We try to have some kind of date time every week, even if that means a blizzard at Dairy Queen.

He tells me he loves me... all day every day.

We plan youth group together, pray together, talk about God together.

If something bothers me, I tell him right away so it doesn't get worse.

He finds ways to surprise me to remind me he loves me.

He sends me cute, cheesy text messages when we aren't together.

I know we haven't been married that long, but I hope that in 5 years, 10 years, 50 years, we will still be crazy in love.

Though I am his wife, I want to be his girlfriend too, until the day we die.