Fireproof

Karly celebrated my birthday this weekend by counting ALL the way up to thirty-nine, and then looked at me, shocked, before she said, "Wow!" Yes, there are a lot of numbers between five and thirty-nine. :)

The air was cool this weekend, but it was sunny so we played outside. On Saturday we picked apples at a local orchard and took a hay ride to a pumpkin patch. Then on Sunday afternoon, we hiked around a mountain near Mt. Hood to the hidden Mirror Lake.

Last night Jon and I went out for German food and to see Fireproof. We both loved it! Like the people who made the movie said, the film won't win any Academy Awards, but that's not why they made it. It's a great story about saving a marriage--funny in some places, intense in others. And apparently the story connects with all different ages from the sweet, elderly couple who sat beside us in the theater to our eighth grade babysitter who REALLY wants to see it because her best friend loved it too. Kudos to Sherwood Church for this fantastic, heart-stopping and heart-warming movie about a couple who decide to fight for their marriage.

It was the perfect, relaxing birthday! I'm grateful for everyone of my (many!) years and look forward to this final year of thirty-somethin'.

Setting My Mind on Things Above

I made the mistake of checking the status of our retirement savings today and discovered that almost fifty percent of it has disappeared, just like that. After wrestling with disappointment and anger, I was gently reminded that worrying about our retirement money won't make it reappear. It's much more important for me to set my mind on things above, not on the many worries of this earth.

So tonight I'm trying to keep my eyes focused on Christ, and I'm praying for three things:
1) That God would take away my anxiety and fill my heart with joy and peace.
2) That during this financial crisis, our country would put our trust back in God instead of money.
3) And that God would bless the many people around the world who don't have many possessions but serve Him faithfully with their hearts and hands.