A Thankful Game

God has given us much. We all have countless reasons to be thankful in every circumstance. Here are some specifics:

Something Functional in my house that I'm thankful for is:

My washer and dryer. Thank God for washers and dryers.

Something about my body that I'm thankful for is:

The way it tells me when I'm too stressed out. Trust me, my body knows and lets me know pretty quickly. I'm also thankful that God gave me a body that responds so positively to music. It works better than any drug at aleviating the stress.
Also, my sense of taste. I've been especially thankful for taste with this 2nd trimester business. :)

Something hard that I've been through that I'm thankful for is:

Moving away from home and readjusting somewhere else. Being away from my family is never easy, but I am so thankful for what I've learned from it and how I've grown and changed. I also met my husband here so I can't complain!

Something about this country that I'm thankful for is:

It's diversity. We have a diverse group of people calling this country home and I love that in a 5 mile radius from my house I can find restaurants making food from all over the globe.

Something about 2008 that I'm thankful for is:

The gift of this life growing inside me. I'm thankful that God would let us be a part of such an amazing miracle.

A word I'm thankful for is:

Restore

A sound I'm thankful for is:

laughter

A place in nature I'm thankful for is:

the mountains

Feel free to post your own thankful thoughts, Happy Thanksgiving!

Faith on the Today Show

One thing I love about the holiday's is the way themes of faith and stories about Jesus find their way to places like NBC. I saw Faith Hill on the Today show this morning singing Joy to the World, and was struck at the beauty of the lyrics. What a message to be singing for such a Politically Correct crowd!

Joy to the world
The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room
and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the World!

Christmas EP!

Some of you know that I just finished a Christmas record called The Silent Stars EP. It's 3 of my own songs, and 3 Christmas hymns that I've re-written the melody for. I'm really proud of it and am anxious to share it with you!

I've had some questions about it and let me tell you a couple things. First of all, you can pre-order 2 copies of the record from my website for only $9.99 which is a pretty great deal. Yes, it will be up on itunes but not for a few weeks which will be after the pre-orders are sent out. You can listen to "I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day" right here on this page on my noisetrade widget. What is a noisetrade widget? It's that box halfway down this page on the right side that allows you to listen, download, and share my music all for free. Also check out the cover art of a Christmas rose, which I is just beautifully done by Jett Butler of Foda Studio.

You can also watch this video of my version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem". I hope you like what you hear!

what I'm reading

Mary’s task was the bearing and raising of a child, which can operate as a symbol of all things that require great effort and bear fruit far beyond the personal rewards involved. But the literal bearing and raising of a child is indeed a calling, a mission, and moments of joyous surprise and expectation have the shadow of a cost. I think this is why the first several weeks of pregnancy typically feature an assortment of discomforts: we need reminding, and this is especially true in our self-indulgent culture, that if we foolishly imagine for a minute that parenthood is an accomplishment or achievement or right, sooner or later something will smack us with the realization that it is, above all, a surrender.

from the book Great With Child,
Debra Rienstra

A game for distraction

If I were 7 again I would....
Take piano lessons

If their were an extra hour in the day...
I would not be able to stay awake

my junk food indulgence of choice is...
potato chips

the color yellow makes me think of...
dandelions

the most used item in my kitchen is...
a non-stick saute pan from Ikea

your turn... :)

Campaign Update

Although we hoped tuesday November 4th would be the day of determining my Dad's future in the Iowa State Senate, we have been left without a final verdict. My dad was ahead all night and many celebrated his win before absentee ballots were in. However, the absentee ballots have closed the gap more than we thought they would and we are left in the balance. Here is a statement from waltrogers.org for those of you who are interested:

Many of you are asking us how things are going with the ongoing vote count in our campaign. We want to take this opportunity to give you an update.

As of tonight, and after counting an additional 143 absentee ballots today, we are leading by 65 votes out of over 31,000 total votes cast. There are still some votes left to be counted, including provisional ballots and remaining absentee ballots.

Results will not be final for several days yet.

Although there are no guarantees, we still believe that Walt will maintain his lead, and that when the counting is done, Walt will have won this election.

We will provide additional updates on our website at www.waltrogers.org as they become available.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers over the coming days, and thanks for your support!

Walt Rogers for Iowa Senate!

I've been in Iowa the last few days for the end of my dad's campaign. He's running for the Iowa State Senate. It's been exciting to be a part of it! He has a lot of support in the community and it's been encouraging to see so many people volunteering their time and energy because they believe in the man that he is.

The last few days I've had a chance to help bring some literature to houses in the area. It's been fun to walk door to door alongside my family in support of my dad. He's worked so hard these last months and I'm proud to be his daughter!

He will be an amazing servant to the people of Iowa and the kind of leader that is needed in government! If you happen to live in the Cedar Falls, Waterloo, or Hudson, Iowa area, please vote for Walt Rogers tomorrow!

Here are some pictures from the summer: