Memories in My Hand

Since being back from the Honeymoon, there has been a lot of things to get settled around the house. After the wedding, my wedding planner brought all of our gifts and stuff from the reception over to the house. Totally fine. We just didn't have enough time before we left the next morning to clean everything up. My older sister and her family were going to stay here for a couple days and I felt completely awful that they had to deal with all this stuff laying around everywhere!! They seemed to manage. :) So, the night we returned to Wilmington, we opened all the presents from the wedding. Lots of good stuff!! :) As we opened a present, we wrote down the name of who gave it to us so that I could get to work on the "Thank You" cards. Everything was going just great, until........I opened the present my Gra'ma gave us and I just started to cry. Her present had been wrapped in a white pillow case. First reaction was me thinking, "Awesome!! I can put new pillow cases on the bed!!" What was inside the pillow case was the real deal. I pulled back the pillow case and saw different colors of pink and purple. There was fabric with beautiful flowers on one side and a star design with the pink and purple fabric on the other. There was no reason for me to pull it all the way out. I already knew what I had in my hands. My Gra'ma had made us a quilt. Tears just streamed down my face. I can't explain why honestly. This quilt, I knew, must have taken her a lot of time to put the effort, time, and energy into creating. When I was younger, one of my aunts made me a quilt. It has gotten rather ragged looking now. I used it for everything and up until last winter I still did use it for everything!! Sleeping, wrapping up on the couch with it, when I was sick, or when I was just plain cold. I used it all throughout college and when I moved back to Wilmington into my own apartment. That quilt has been good to me. It's about the size of a double bed, perhaps a little smaller, so I could never put it completely over my queen size bed. As my wedding day was approaching, I began thinking of what I truly wanted/needed for our little home. I know I never voiced any hints about wanting a quilt but in my mind, I secretly wanted her to make us one. To think, this entire time I had been wanting one and she had been working on it that whole time just brings me such joy. You see, my Gra'ma enjoys to travel. I'm not talking up to the Appalachian Mountains. I'm talking, flying to other countries kind of travel. Each time she goes on a trip, she takes one of her children or grandchildren with her. Last summer, I had the honor of traveling with her to Germany for about ten days. An incredible experience I will definitely never forget. Before that trip, I went with her to the UK when I was 13. And before that, while my Papa was still alive, they took me out west. On that trip, we were headed to Alaska but my Papa got very sick and we were only able to get to Wisconsin and had to turn around. On all these trips, my Gra'ma says that she is spending our inheritance on us while she's still alive. I have no problem with that!! :) We get to travel with her and create memories that we can't create otherwise. I will always cherish those memories. Having a quilt creates another dimension to memories that I will have. It's a memory that I can tangibly hold and touch. It might sound silly and perhaps a little childish and I know it doesn't have nearly as much meaning to anyone else. But this quilt...means a lot to me and I'm so happy to own a one-of-a-kind-hand-made-by-Mickey-King quilt. 

A hui kaua... 

Love and Coffee

Good morning friends!! I pray that everyone is having a wonderful morning and will have a fabulous day. Today is the day the Lord has made. REJOICE!! And be glad in it. I know I want to strive to find joy in today. My plate is not slammed packed with things to hurry around and do today. I have to work and I had to take Matt to school this morning since we only have one car. Since I woke up with him, I came back and made some coffee so I wouldn't go back to bed. :-p I realized I hadn't made time in the past several weeks to have some time with the Lord like I should. After pouring my Kaua'i coffee and finding a seat on the couch, I opened my Bible to Romans 12:9-21. Paul is speaking on the topic of love in these verses. I could probably talk for several pages on these passages but I would like to focus (for now) on verses 9-13. It reads:

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality."  

Now, there are many passages in the Bible that speak on love. Why did this one stick out to me today?? I think one reason is because of the new chapter I've turned in becoming a "Mrs." Since the beginning, Matt and I have made it a point to pray together on a regular basis and that has not changed since being married. Spending time with one another has created a bigger yearning to spend time with the Lord also. This most certainly does not come easy!! The first thing Paul writes makes me immediately think about what it means to love sincerely. Thankfully, for all us "laymen-terms-needed" people, Paul goes on to write out what loving sincerely should look like. All these things can be a no-brainer for sure. But do these things change importance when it comes to the different people we encounter?? With my husband, we are devoted to one another. We made a promise to honor one another. We push each other to keep our spiritual fervor and serve the Lord. We find joy in hope, patience with one another, and are faithful to pray together and for one another. At times, it can be much easier to follow these things with those we are close with and see on a regular basis. Being in the restaurant business, I see all kinds of people along with personalities. Patience is tried on a regular basis both from customers and those around me for sure haha!! Honoring someone else above myself can be difficult especially when respect is not shown. Showing hospitality comes with the job title but I find being hospitable to others a joy. Yes, people can weigh that joy down for sure!! But that shouldn't give me a free pass to not love them sincerely. I think of what was done on the cross out of sincere love. Jesus didn't have one question in his mind if I was worth going through the pain and humility he would have to endure on my behalf. He knew he was the only way I could spend an eternity with him. These are simple requests written out for us all to follow. Why, then, do we struggle to show these on a regular basis to EVERYONE we come in contact with?? Jesus didn't pick and choose who he would go to the cross for. Why should we get to pick and choose who we will love sincerely?? Today, I rejoice because I am a princess of the Most High. I am loved by my creator sincerely and in him only will I find everything I need and want. Try passing along sincere love to someone you know and perhaps someone you don't know. See how it changes your outlook of others and maybe, just maybe, you will begin to see those around you like our father in heaven sees all of us.

 A hui kaua...

New Things

Well, this is my first EVER blog. I'm not sure how well I'll keep up with this. I am signed up for several other "communal" sites and well, just haven't done much with them. Perhaps this will be a better fit for me. My older sister has a blog and I enjoy reading it when she posts it on Facebook. Now I can keep up with her via this also!!

I have contemplated what to write about in this first blog. So many things that can be discussed I reckon. As you know, I am recently married. As in.....just 10 days recently married!! We went to Hawai'i for our honeymoon which was a complete surprise for me. He kept it a secret until our reception where he told me in front of everyone. Great surprise. :) We had a wonderful time and definitely would like to make plans to return in the future. Perhaps the next time we can go with another couple or two. The wedding was everything I had imagined and hoped it would be. I had the best wedding planner EVER and photographer that caught every moment I would want on film. Not to mention my seamstress was incredible. :) My mom made my dress. There are not words for how happy I was with how it turned out. There were so many people that spent precious time in helping to create my big day that I could go on forever about each of them. I think my favorite part of the reception was the moment we had our first dance. Nobody knew I had choreographed a whole montage of songs so when we broke into some awesome moves, everyone was surprised. :) Matt enjoyed himself I believe. The day had everything it needed to make a memorable experience. Perfect weather, perfect timing, perfect everything. Now, here we are, back to "reality" from the honeymoon. Matt went back to school today and I went back to work. I'm excited for this new season of grace. God is awesome and continues to amaze me. I am thrilled to see where He will take us in the coming days, weeks, months, and years together.

A hui kaua...