been a long time...

Well, I've been in the Adirondacks for about a week and a half now and things are going quite well. For one, it's absolutely BEAUTIFUL up here. Second, and perhaps one of the most important details in making this summer one of the best it can be... drum roll please... there are almost NO BLACK FLIES! HURRAY! I'm saved! God DOES love me. ;) I've already hiked one High Peak - Colden Mt. - and a couple other lower peak mountains, and yesterday Kevin (my "mountain-man" bearded co-leader) and I went canoeing with a 15 yr. old guide for the entire day. I love my job. I could do this, ohhh... for a very long time. grins And next week we're taking a group of kids rock climbing on Moss Island (I have no idea where that is) for 3 days, our first trip of the summer. It's going to be a good summer.

And last, but not least, the bride and groom. 

Amazing friend numero tres. 

Two amazing friends. :) 

All us girls in the limo on the way to the church (from the back: Phil's cousin Amanda , Laura's friend Aleah, our cousin Trisha, Laura's old roommate Meagan, Laura, and me (Valerie, another friend of Laura's, is taking the picture). 

Me with my beautiful sister Laura on her wedding day...  

the valley song

you have led me to the sadness
i have carried this pain
on a back bruised, nearly broken
i'm crying out to you

i will sing of your mercy
that leads me through valleys of sorrow
to rivers of joy

when death like a gypsy
comes to steal what i love
i will still look to the heavens
i will still seek your face
but i fear you aren't listening
because there are no words
just the stillness and the hunger
for a faith that assures

i will sing of your mercy
that leads me through valleys of sorrow
to rivers of joy

while we wait for rescue
with our eyes tightly shut
face to the ground using our hands
to cover the fatal cut
though the pain is an ocean
tossing us around, around, around
you have calmed greater waters
higher mountains have come down

i will sing of your mercy
that leads me through valleys of sorrow
to rivers of joy

jars of clay

What is GOOD to remember?

What is important to you?
Things will never be perfect...
but they can be excellent
and they can be very good
and they can be good...
And then there are things you have to decide
really aren't all that important...
And those you must be willing to sacrifice.
Don't sacrifice what is most important.



It is good to be honest when you are hurting...
It allows others to hurt, too
and to hurt with you.
And then you can heal... and they can heal.



Adventures
are always good. :)
Life is an adventure



laughter
and tears



Hugs are good.
People need physical touch...
It's something that every soul cries out for.
If everone let down their walls
they would realize that touch is a love language.



Friends are worth the risk of being vulnerable with another human being as imperfect as you.
Love is worth the risk of the hurt that will always accompany it.



Sometimes it takes someone else (someone you trust, respect, love...) to show you who you really are or really can be.
Perhaps you are more than you think... Perhaps I am more than I think.
Perhaps... something that is, someone who is greater than us is at work in us...



It is good to remember that there are so many things that are good to remember.

Lord, give heed

i'm burdened, but hopeful
my eyes are full of tears...
but somehow i can't help but think
that when given time maybe things aren't as tragic as they seem
but then again... maybe they are...
but then again i find hope...
where does it come from?
it doesn't really make sense... not really
yet, i cannot rid myself of it, not that i would want to
i'm glad it is as stubborn as i
where would i be without it?
Lord, where would i be without you?
i don't understand the way in which you are working right now...
not that i have ever understood, fully, truly
i just kind of stand back after the fact in amazement that i'm alive another day
that i'm alive at all
that i'm a part of the life of another
where are you though, Lord?
i keep calling out and calling out...
be faithful in your promises
even when we don't know or understand your thoughts or ways
when these are not our own
Lord, where are you?
please answer
be present, be felt, give heed to this plea

Laura Hall...

Tomorrow, Saturday June 4th, at 11:30 am
my little sister, Laura Eileen Schumacher
will marry Philip D Hall
and become Laura Eileen Hall
My sister is getting MARRIED!
It's crazy when you realize that the plans the two of you have been scheming since you had an idea about what being married was are finally about to be realized. It's not pretend. It's not a vivid imagination, although imagination certainly plays its role. Laura, my little sister, is really getting married. I'm really her Maid of Honor. She's really beginning a new path in her life with a man she is completely in love with and will be, Lord willing, for the rest of her life. One day they'll have a baby, and then a couple more. And it won't be the two of us with our dolls trekking off to the woods, but her own little girls (if she's so blessed) instead, with their own dolls. It really is astonishing how fast it has all gone... the blink of an eye... the lifespan of a blade of grass or a summer flower... yet how beautiful.