From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
John 1:16
I have the most generous God. I have the most generous husband. A couple of weeks ago he forked up the cash for the prettiest little car I've ever owned:
Anyone who's ever ridden in my 1997 bumperless, chronically-trumpeting clunker is probably breathing an exaggerated sigh of relief, but this beauty is so much more than I ever asked or imagined. We got a heck of a deal and my new favorite thing is cruising the town at night, silently jetting down the highway in automatic or manual (somehow, I can choose either) while the dashboard blazes blue and neon orange. I hope I never wake up.
Aside from a gorgeous new ride, last month was filled to bursting with goodness. I had the privilege of baptizing the graduating senior in our youth group, Gabby, and it was definitely the highlight of my ministry so far. We had company every weekend: my wonderful sister-in-law, a dear friend from high school and my sister/partner-in-nonsense/best friend on earth.
Christene and I had the time of our lives, to put it lightly. Almost the second her plane touched down I whisked her away on a surprise birthday trip. We hit up the Riverwalk in San Antonio, ate delicious fajitas and then - surprise of surprises - we found ourselves front and center of a Jon McLaughlin concert. He sang directly to us the whole evening and even played the song I walked down the aisle to (So Close), per our special request. I'm pretty sure Jon will be the featured entertainment every evening in Heaven.
My friend Leslie treated us to an overnight at her parents' beautiful mountain home, and a waffle bar the next morning. We shopped the day away in Gruene and San Marcos, and re-lived the best and worst moments of our childhoods at Cracker Barrel. The rest of the week was a whirlwind of librarying, good friends, discovering tea rooms, homemade pastry and laughing ourselves sick at choice moments of the American Idol finale. Putting her back on a plane felt a little like sending my right arm to Africa.
Riverwalking
Crab Casserole a la Mitford. Heaven in a dish.
Tea room delicacies
I miss home. Lately I've been especially treasuring phone calls from old friends and growing-up-too-fast sisters, one of which remarked yesterday, "In re-thinking my childhood, I've realized that I was a much worse kid than I'd thought." This same sister once scared me out of my wits by sneaking around on the roof at 3 am. Apparently my incorrigible influence will go down in infamy...