Happy Halloween!

Halloween is such a strange holiday.  Who came up with it anyway?  Let's all dress our kids up in ridiculous costumes and send them door to door demanding candy from the neighbors we never even talk to.  And somehow, the whole country jumped on board!  Hmm... I must say I do love to see little bitty kids in cute, creative costumes, but I hate the creepy ones (costumes, that is, not kids!).  It's a funny world we live in.

Just For Fun

A few fun shots from this past weekend:

We went to lunch at the Chinese Buffet, and here's what we saw on our way out. Apparently, even the gumball machines are feeling the economic downturn.

My parents stop to take a picture of this cart every year.  Looks like fall!

And, finally...evidence that my dog really is a freak!  She won't sit still in the car and kept jumping up on my dad's target box thingy.  Apparently it wasn't sitting flat on the floor.  Ha!

Language Barrier

I've read and heard lots of different things about prayer all my life. Some people say you're supposed to be very specific and ask big things of God, expecting in faith that he will answer. And I've heard testimony of how this has proven true in many people's lives.

And then on the other extreme, I've been told that we are not to expect anything from God. Not that we think God won't work in big ways, but we are not God and we are not entitled to anything so we should not expect anything from him. He does not work according to our plans.

So, where's the balance between the two? If I live according to the first philosophy, I end up treating prayer like a magic formula...always trying to say the right thing and be careful with my words, afraid of asking in the wrong way and getting something I didn't intend, or not having a big enough faith to get the results I'm hoping for.

This kind of thinking puts a lot of focus and control on me. It makes me responsible for the good and the bad -- I prayed well & had a lot of faith, or I didn't do it right & didn't believe enough. I'm pretty sure God doesn't work that way. I'm pretty sure it's not really about me at all.

But then if I take the second approach, I think what's the point in praying at all? God's got it all figured out already. Why does what I say matter? What difference does it make? I should just accept things as they come.

However, I know that can't be right either. Jesus clearly taught his disciples to pray. I know God wants me to talk to him.

But what am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to ask or not ask? Expect or not expect?

It's all so confusing.

Or maybe I'm just making it more complicated than necessary.

Thoughts?

Brrr

It's only the beginning of October and already I hate getting out of bed because it's COLD! Mostly, I'm probably just a wimp, but I really don't like being cold! Luckily for me, I currently have a job that doesn't start til after noon, so I can cuddle up in my pjs & a blanket with a cup of coffee and read my Bible or check emails and such. And by the time I actually have to go outside, I'm pleasantly surprised to find that it's pretty nice out. The only problem here is that I think I need to dress in sweaters and turtlenecks and then I go out and start sweating! haha

I've always had a hard time enjoying fall because I know it means winter is on its way. I'm trying, though... It really is a pretty time of year. I should not complain!



Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Matthew 6:34

I Want to Say Something...

...But I'm not sure what it is.

I feel like there's so much in my head that I want to say, but I can't quite make sense of any of it.

I wish my thinking & my writing impulses would do a better job of coordinating themselves!

Tour of Downtowns

It's been an eventful weekend already & it's only Saturday afternoon! :)

Yesterday my mom, grandma & I went over to check out the estate sale at my great gram's house. I wish I had some pictures because it was definitely picture-worthy. It was crazy to see how much stuff she fit into her little house! We rescued an old slide projector and brought it home and got to check out some pictures of my mom as a little one!

Next, my mom & I headed downtown Grand Rapids for ArtPrize. We walked around for 4 hours & only saw a small sampling of the many amazing art pieces.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

A giant penny made of over 84,000 pennies!


Shelves of 'dream jars' -- mason jars filled with items representing all different people's dreams. The tags tell what the dreams were about. Pretty interesting!


And a cute giraffe that I made friends with!


If you live near GR, you should go check it out...there's some amazing stuff!


This morning, we decided to go downtown Holland to check out the Fire Truck parade and the fruit & vegetable carving competition.

Cool Fire Truck


Under the Sea Carving



Finally, we headed downtown Zeeland to see the kids' costume contest.

This was one of my favorites! Some adorable veggie babies!



Go find some fun fall festivities & support your local community!