lately

It's been a while since I updated, partially due to the craziness of life as a med student and partially due to the fact that we have had people staying at our house every night, except one, for six days. It was great hosting Derek and his TOMS shoes teammates as well as Janine and Gaby, her Nuru co-worker, but it doesn't leave much time for blogging. So here's what's been happening lately:

• Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Feathers! I was blessed to be able to attend Adam and Chrissy's wedding last Saturday and celebrate with them. The bride looked beautiful and it was a wonderful celebration of a couple brought together by the ultimate Matchmaker (with a little help from Tiffany).
• After 7 long months, I finally got to see Janine again! It was great to have her here for a week and to hear about her time in Kenya as well as what God is doing in her life now. (More about what God taught me through her visit in my next post).
  
• While Janine was here, we were able to have a "family breakfast" at our house with the members of our community group and other friends. Jamie was a huge help, handling the eggs and bacon while I worked on pancakes. It was a great time and gave Janine and Derek a chance to connect with a lot of people that they haven't seen in quite a while. Here are a few pics from the morning:
  

Jamie and I cooking breakfast and Janine making a weird face apparently

"Normal" family photo

...and not so normal ;)

• On a personal note, I feel like I have been struggling for a while with a lack of desire and motivation to work on my relationship with God. I have been lazy about prayer, reading the Word, most things actually. Mostly, I have just felt beat down by the cares and stress of life. Lately, however, I feel God drawing me back to Himself and renewing my desire for Him, which is such a blessing. I am grateful for a Savior who is faithful even when I am not and for brothers and sisters in Christ who not only challenge me to grow closer to God but who show me what that looks like with their lives (another HUGE blessing of Janine's visit). Rob Bell asks the question: If someone looked at only your life, how would they answer the question "Did Jesus rise from the dead?" Praying that my life will be more of a reflection of the resurrection power during this Easter season and beyond.