thankful thursday: good people.

time for another thankful thursday post, party people. here are a few things i've been thankful for in the last couple of weeks:

1. time with friends in the south.
i am nothing if not a maximizer. i attended a conference in nashville last week for work, which conveniently meant i got to see a couple of my favorite friends from auburn and drink my weight in fruit tea. i need a recipe asap so my oklahoma friends can experience what heaven tastes like.

{delicious fruit tea unfortunately not pictured.}

it just so happened that my college roommates had been trying to find a good time for a reunion, so since i was already in the south for the conference, we decided to make it happen last weekend. i drove my little rental car down to birmingham and had the best time with these girls:

i can't believe we graduated five years ago this weekend. that makes me feel so old! we hadn't all been in the same room in almost three years. unacceptable. i loved catching up on everyone's life, and i especially loved watching sarah be a mom and getting to snuggle with my favorite 10-month-old:

those eight girls, y'all. i could not have made it through college without them. so so thankful for time with them last week. such a rare gift!

2. duck dynasty.
speaking of the south (ha)... my husband's new favorite show is duck dynasty. bless it. he was so thrilled over my homecoming sunday night that he surprised me with flowers and two dvds of the bearded crazies. i'm mostly indifferent toward the show, but i LOVE how much it makes chris laugh. if you haven't ever heard his uncontrollable, really high-pitched, tears flowing laugh, then you're really missing out. it's the best thing ever. so if watching silly uncle si means i get to see that laugh, then bring on the duck calls.

3. worship "concerts."
a couple weekends ago, we drove down to ardmore with some friends for a derek webb concert. it was part of his "she must and shall go free" 10th anniversary tour, so literally all he did was play straight through the album and tell the story behind each song. i've blogged about this album before, but seriously people, if you don't have it or haven't listened to it in a while, get on that right now. there's not a bad song on the album.

{i get my concert photog skills from my talented cousin...ha!}

then, last night, shane & shane made a stop in norman, so we of course had to go. i mean, i just really love them. live harmony can't be beat, and they're the best at it. their music has led my heart to worship for a solid decade or so now, and last night was no different. it was good for my soul.

4. postal service.
i love giving gifts and celebrating people, and i hate missing out, so when i have to miss out on celebrating someone, it's not easy for me. thankfully, that's where the usps comes in -- it's the next best thing to being there. and who doesn't love getting a little happy in the mail?! i hope my adorable birthday boy nephew is keeping an eye on his mailbox... you too, mom.

5. cookie dough.
i just ate leftovers for lunch and clearly i needed a little sweet bite afterwards -- a) as a treat to myself for eating leftovers (i'm the worst at leftovers) and b) ... well, let's be honest, i've never needed to come up with a reason to eat dessert. it's just a necessity in my life. so as i searched our kitchen for something sweet, lo and behold i found a tiny little bit of COOKIE DOUGH in my freezer -- just the right amount. where did this sweet goodness come from?!

here's the story that i've put together: chris hosted our missional community last week while i was out of town, and in normal chris (or maybe just normal boy) fashion, he took care of the meal and drinks (read: ordered pizza) but dessert didn't cross his mind (how does that even happen?!). in a moment of what i can only imagine was desperation (remember: necessity) our friend, tricia, took it upon herself to find the ingredients in our pantry and whip up her infamous chocolate chip cookies. they are TO DIE FOR, y'all. hands down the best i've had. so, all of that to say, imagine my delight just now to discover that she was thoughtful enough to leave a scoop of dough (even better than the actual cookies!) for me! i looked something like this:

happy almost weekend, everyone! what have you been thankful for this week?

an idea whose time has come.

the last two work weeks have taken me to dallas, okc, and nashville. it's been a nice break from my working from home routine, but definitely a whirlwind. 

my favorite part of the last two weeks has been that my worlds have completely collided. at almost all of these different events, i've rotated between my buckner hat, my prov road hat, and my cara jane hat (is that a thing?). for example, a couple thursdays ago, i went to a foster care forum in okc where i learned a ton about foster care in general for my job, but also learned how our church can be a part of what God is doing through his people in oklahoma to care for kids that need families.

it was incredible to see government officials, CEOs, foster care agencies, community members, and church leaders come together to discuss the future of foster care in oklahoma. if you're at all interested in this conversation, i highly recommend following @BenNockels and @111Project and reading more about the #fosterforum on twitter. they closed the day with a quote i thought could not have been more appropriate:

"There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come." -- Victor Hugo

then, last week i attended the christian alliance for orphan's annual summit conference in nashville. if you've never heard of it, it's definitely a conference you should look into if you're at all interested in orphan care. they had a whole slew of incredible speakers and workshop leaders, from david platt to steven curtis chapman to u.s. congresswomen to foster parents and adoptees. catch up on #summit9 on twitter.

i was there for work, but again, i took away a lot of helpful information for our church, too. our church isn't very big at all, but we already have several couples pursuing or interested in pursuing foster care and/or adoption -- like 10 or 12 out of our close to 60 people! we're trying to figure out what it looks like to love these couples well and support them on their journey.

at some point between all the workshops and networking and coffee breaks and exhibit hall-ing at the conference last week, i stopped long enough for the realization to hit me square between the eyeballs -- i get paid to do something i am crazy passionate about, and that is so incredibly rare. i was suddenly filled with an immense amount of gratitude. all i could do in the next session was cry my little eyes out during worship. i was just so overwhelmed by the fact that i was in a room with 3000 people whose hearts burst for the fatherless, and all of us were singing together lines like, "the fatherless find their rest at the sound of your great name"... and as if that wasn't unbelievable enough, i was getting paid to be there. it's my job to get these passionate people started on their journey of foster care or adoption. what a GIFT!

even better than all of that, i was reminded countless times through these events over the last two weeks of the reason why we do what we do and care about what we care about ("we" meaning the bristers, buckner, prov road, christians...). david platt said it this way at summit:

we advocate for the fatherless because we understand that while we were still sinners, outsiders, orphans, christ died for us and made a way for us to be adopted into his family. we care about foster care and adoption because we realize we ourselves were once chosen, rescued, brought in, and called his own. it's the most beautiful story of unconditional love and inexplicable grace -- and to think he calls us to demonstrate and declare this story to the world! 

"My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us -- perfect love! ... First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first."

-- 1 John 4:11-12, 19

thankful thursday: belated.

belated because it's now saturday morning.
belated because it's been over a month since my last thankful thursday post. oops!

what a week, huh? way too intense. in the midst of bad news after bad news, here are a few things i've been thankful for:

1. a quick trip to lubbock.
i guess this was technically at the end of last week, but it was so fun to see my husband on cloud nine and to see my cousin before she graduates! i'm thankful buckner has offices in west texas, which gave us an excuse to travel to the land of tumbleweed, windmills, and red raiders.

2. carrie's birthday road trip.
carrie took the week off for her birthday and drove across the country from montgomery to norman (13 hours!!) to visit us. she explored okc, met our friends, and even got to experience oklahoma weather. it was great having her here for a few days -- we love visitors! happy 27th, jehle!

3. a meteorologist friend.
you probably know this about me, but i don't do well with storms... which makes living in oklahoma a blast. wednesday night the weather got a little crazy, but thankfully, we were at our missional community with our weatherman friend. you may remember the mosiers from last year's tornado weather. while my husband was doing this

i was inside with my stomach in knots. the weather passed and everything was fine, but i was thankful all over again that if i have to live in tornado alley, at least god gave me a meteorologist friend.

4. syrup.
i don't get to work there anymore, but i got to eat breakfast there 4 times in the last 7 days. i can't help it, y'all. i'm such a fan of this place and i love the people that work there... and i'm thankful for friends that will get up early to eat pancakes with me.

5. baseball.
even though it was much colder this week than it should be this late in april, i was eager to bundle up and get outside -- away from the tv (news) and computer (social media feeds). we took in not one but two baseball games this week, and last night's was even complete with fireworks! is there anything more patriotic?!

what were you thankful for this week?

brennan manning.

Brennan Manning, best known for his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, passed away on Friday morning. I read a couple of his books in college, and in the wake of his recent death, I'm feeling the urge to read him again. He was and through his works he will continue to be an incredible voice proclaiming God's relentless love and grace for us. If you've never read anything by him, I'd highly recommend you do. It will be time well spent, and more importantly, your affections will be stirred for Jesus.

"My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it."
-- The Ragamuffin Gospel

"Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion."
-- Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging

nephew love.

the husband and i made the trek to east texas this weekend to meet our new nephew. it was so good to be home and so sweet to meet the little guy. i was sad to leave. i mean, look at this place:

who wouldn't be sad to leave? let's just say spring in oklahoma doesn't quite look like that. in fact, it's sleeting today. bless it. i couldn't stop staring at those azaleas and dogwoods... well, really just the trees in general. WE DON'T HAVE THOSE HERE. help me, jesus. 

i've been a little homesick lately, so it was extra good to be around my favorite people for a few days -- and especially fun to meet my newest favorite person. he's just so precious and wonderful and good and perfect. yep. all of those things.

i also loved getting to hang out with my favorite almost-two-year-old (which is so hard to believe!). it's really fun to be able to communicate (-ish) with him now. we played outside, went to the park, watched cartoons... you know, like you do. he's so easily excited and laughs a lot -- which is convenient for me, because i can't help but laugh when he laughs. i'm just crazy about this kid.

east texas, you are beautiful.

family, i already can't wait to see you again.

on our way home, we made a quick stop to see the husband's family. i hadn't seen them since christmas. not acceptable. how cute is this little guy?! and who knew they made overalls for babies? it's too much.

we're so thankful for three healthy, adorable nephews and for family that we love spending time with. they're rare gifts and i miss them again already.