Waiting

I know a lot of you already read the Girl Talk blog, but if you don't you should at least check out today's post about waiting. I reflected on how true it is that waiting is about who we become while we wait rather than what we get at the end of the wait. How much less would I appreciate the art of homemaking if I had not worked for five years? How much less patient would I be now if I had been able to have children three years ago when I began to desire a family? God's timing is truly perfect.

Book Suggestions?

My sweet sister gave me a Borders gift card for my recent birthday. (Most of you know that I LOVE to read. Megan does too--we share book suggestions from time to time.) The gift card is probably enough to buy two, maybe even three books if I get some good deals. Anybody have any suggestions about how to spend it? I'm especially interested in hearing about any must-read parenting books I should get to while I still have the luxury of lots and lots of reading time. But I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Our new "neighbors"

A family of cats has taken up residence in our backyard recently. We don't know if they belong to anyone. We had noticed the mother wander around our backyard ever so often weeks ago, but just a few days ago we realized that the kittens were living under our hot tub. The reason we realized this: we found one of them dead on the stone path next to the hot tub and saw little eyes peeking out at us when we went to investigate. (I got the depressing task of maneuvering the poor dead kitty into a plastic bag and taking it to the Humane Society.) The remaining kittens are really cute but we hope they don't stick around forever. As many of you know, I am allergic to cats. How ironic that they would choose our backyard as their home! At least these neighbors don't have loud parties in the middle of the night.

Mama cat did not take her eyes off me for a second when I crept outside to take this picture. I didn't dare get any closer!

Thankfulness

This weekend I started rereading Out to Canaan, the 4th book in Jan Karon's Mitford series. (I highly recommend this series. The characters are wonderful and God is glorified on every page.) Anyway, the book included a quote from Patrick Henry Reardon that really stopped me in my tracks.

Suppose for a moment that God began taking from us the many things for which we have failed to give thanks. Which of our limbs and faculties would be left? Would I still have my hands and my mind? And what about loved ones? If God were to take from me all those persons and things for which I have not given thanks, who or what would be left of me?

How often I fail to give thanks! If I am honest, I realize that most days nothing would be left of me, my loved ones, or my possessions if thankfulness were required for keeping them. And there is so much to be thankful for: my Savior, my husband, a job that Zach loves and allows me to stay home, a solid roof above my head, eyes to see the beauty God created in Pennsylvania, friends who know the Lord and encourage me in my faith...the list goes on and on. Even my frustration with looking for a church turned to thankfulness as I pondered these thoughts. I'm thankful to live in a country where I am free to choose a place in which to worship God.

Oh, the patience of our God who continues to bless us in innumerable ways even when we give no thanks! May we consistently pray as we're instructed in Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

"Cops" The Indiana Episode

The house next door to us is a rental, home to four male IUP students. Like so many college students, they like to party. Loudly. In the middle of the night. Their first party was the weekend before classes started. They were outside on their back porch until about 4 AM. It kept us up for a while but we didn't do anything about it; we decided to wait and see if it became a regular occurrence.

So last night we came home from watching the TCU/Texas game with some friends (so sad) and a party was in full swing on their back porch. I decided to give them til midnight and then I was going to call the police. (Online research had told us that Indiana has a 24 hour a day noise ordinance which they were definitely breaking.) But we were saved the trouble when the police showed up around 11:30. Apparently they could hear the party from their car a block away! Most of the kids ran into the house and tried to hide from the police, so there was a lot of yelling on the part of the police and threatening to get the landlord to open the door. Eventually the kids came out and dispersed, and the kids who live in the house got a big lecture from the police. Not surprisingly, there seemed to be a lot of minors in attendance at this party and everyone had been drinking.

So this is life in a college town, I guess. I was very reassured by what I saw last night, knowing that the police take disruptive/underage partying seriously. I won't hesitate to call next time if it turns out our neighbors didn't learn their lesson.

It's hot dog night in Indiana!

IUP football season began today with a home game against Cheyney. (Cheyney, like IUP, is a school in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.) We only stayed until halftime but when we left IUP was up 42 to 7. Because they scored more than 30 points, it's hot dog night in Indiana! That means that if you take a reserved seat ticket stub to any area Sheetz (a popular convenience store around here) you'll get a free hot dog. Too bad, Zach and I got in with our I-cards instead of tickets so no hot dogs for us. But the game was fun to watch and we enjoyed cheering on our new home team. Go Crimson Hawks!

The new Crimson Hawk mascot was "hatched" today.

The Hawks in action

IUP's marching band

Funny Story

Now that September is here, Zach has been spending more time than ever preparing for his doctoral exams. Fortunately, IUP's music library has a lot of helpful resources. Zach was there tonight checking out a big stack of books. The girl at the desk made small talk. The conversation went something like this.

Girl: "Wow, what are all these for?"

Zach: "I'm studying for my doctorate."

Girl: "Oh, what are you getting your doctorate in?"

Zach: "Tuba performance."

Girl: "So, how do you like the new tuba professor here?"

This is not the first time Zach has been mistaken for a student--he gets asked at least a few times a week as we meet new people in town. I guess looking young is a good thing, right?

Psalm 16

Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.
I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides you."
As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely.
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
You will make known to me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

I have been dealing with some anxiety lately. I know in my head that God is sovereign but it is so hard to live out that knowledge sometimes. My heart wants to feel like I'm in control when really, I'm not. The truths of this psalm have been very comforting to me: I have no good but God. (verse 2) God supports my lot. (verse 5) God is at my right hand and I will not be shaken. (verse 8) Only in God's presence can I find fullness of joy. (verse 11) How wonderful to know God who causes all things to work together for my good!

Cooking for a Crowd

We had the "Tubaphonium" crowd over to our house last night for a Back-to-School party. (Tubaphonium=tuba/euphonium ensemble) There were 21 students plus me and Zach. I've never cooked for more than six people at one time, so this was quite an adventure. I made fettuccine bolognese because pasta is relatively easy to cook for a crowd, plus huge amounts of salad, bread, and cookies. The kids seemed to have a good time, and Zach and I enjoyed entertaining a crowd in our home for the first time. We really desire for our home to be a place where we can share the love of Christ with Zach's students through hospitality and the testimony of our lives.

Thanks for the big pot, Ashley! I definitely need to invest in one of these for my own.

The cookies are just that good!

Transformation

My parents generously decided to buy us a guest bed as a housewarming gift, so last week while my mom was here we went shopping for the bed and all the linens. Of course, the new comforter required a new paint color in the guest room. (The color is called Almond Fudge, and it looked just like melted chocolate ice cream in the can.) The transformation was completed today when the bed was delivered. Now all we need is some guests!

The First Day of School

Today was Zach's first day of classes at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His lectures went well, he taught several lessons, and he had his first faculty brass quintet rehearsal. Overall, he likes his job so far. I am so thankful that his first day as a teacher was exactly the opposite of my first day as a teacher in LAUSD: I came home crying and wondering if I could quit, but he is looking forward to his future here. I am so amazed at what a talented, dedicated husband God has blessed me with. Zach has a lot going on right now (starting a new job, preparing for his doctoral qualifying exams, preparing for several performances he's giving in October) and he's doing it all so well. His example helps me be more diligent with my time.

Zach in his office

Sutton Hall, the oldest building on campus

The Oak Grove, home of the campus-wide picnic lunch every Wednesday

The search continues

Zach and I have been in Indiana for a month now and we still are not sure which church we will call home. We have visited four churches so far and each has strengths and weaknesses. Today we went to Faith Orthodox Presbyterian. The people were the friendliest of any church we've been to and the preaching was good. From what we've learned, Orthodox Presbyterian churches have very solid, Calvinistic doctrine that we agree with except they practice infant baptism. We strongly disagree with that, so we wonder if it would be a problem in the future when we have kids but don't want them baptized as babies. We miss Grace so much!

Our new house, then and now

Many of you have seen pictures of our house from our May house-hunting trip; now we finally have pictures of the changes we've made. Nothing major, basically just a lot of paint. (As an aside, we met the previous owner last night at a University reception and realized how thankful we should be for all the things we didn't have to change because he did, like the green shag carpet that ran through much of the house and is now a beautiful hardwood floor.) Anyway, I have been waiting to paint my living space for five years of apartment dwelling and I am quite content with the way things turned out here.

Then and Now

Painting the kitchen made me the most nervous, since we chose such a bright color. I sometimes wish we had chosen a darker blue, but I'm satisfied with this.



















The living room turned out to be my favorite. I love the yellow and red together.












The bedroom is my other favorite place. The wall behind the bed curves up and becomes the ceiling, so we chose a very neutral color for that, but the other walls are all green.

















This is the small office attached to the bedroom. It's probably too small to see but that is the official PCBS picture on the wall!










The former playroom has become Zach's music room. It is wonderful to finally have a dedicated place for all the tuba stuff!









We didn't take pictures of every room in May, so here are extra pics of rooms that only have a "now" version.

Thank you Bill, Becky, and Heath for helping us paint!

Why "psalm1031"?

Ever since we moved to Indiana, PA three weeks ago I've been pondering whether or not I should start a blog to better stay in touch with friends. I finally decided the answer was yes, which brought on an even tougher decision: what to call it! Just about everything I thought of that involved my name was already taken, so I thought of what was really important to me. Psalm 103:1 came to mind: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." That is one of the first verses I memorized when I got serious about committing scripture to memory. As John MacArthur explains it, it's a command to our souls to praise the Lord. Everything in me, everything I do, should praise Him. I fall so short of that so often but it's the longing of my heart and will be a lifelong goal.

So here is my blog about my little corner of the planet. I hope my friends and family enjoy this opportunity to see what the Lord has prepared for us in this new place.