thankful thursday.

a few things i've been thankful for this week...

1. football season.
college football is back, y'all, and the bristers are SO happy about it. currently, the auburn tigers are 3-0, the texas tech red raiders are 3-0, and the baylor bears are 2-0, so we're sitting pretty. i guess i should note that the oklahoma sooners are 3-0 as well, so our friends here are happy, too. below is a pic of us trying to be contextual or something. two things about this shot should concern you: i'm wearing crimson ("stripe the stadium" made me do it) and chris is wearing a visor. bless it.

{great seats at the ou/west virginia game -- thanks, houghtalings!}

2. texas trip.
when some of our norman friends moved to spring, texas (you might remember them from this post), we promised them we'd visit before the end of baseball season so chris could catch an astros game. we really miss them around here. we loved getting to see their new world, hear about kristian's new job with love146, play with their sweet little boys, laugh a whole lot (kristian + chris = a hilarious combo), and, of course, eat plenty of ice cream (it's what they do).

{how did we not get a picture with kristian and katy?}

on saturday, we drove from spring to longview for my cousin's wedding, so clearly we had to make a stop in lufkin to see two of our favorites. it was quick, but we'll take any time we can get with katelyn and walker. so thankful for them.

3. wicked.
my favorite musical is in oklahoma city right now, and i got to see it with a few girls on tuesday night! i've been singing and dancing around ever since. "so if you cannot find me, look to the western sky..."

4. pie.
my mom and brother have been raving about this pie place in the bishop arts district in dallas, so when i found myself down there for work this week, i knew i had to try it. i may or may not have gotten two slices -- one for dessert last night, and one for breakfast this morning. it was hands down the best pie i've ever had -- and it came in super cute packaging, too!

{my breakfast slice: "drop dead gourdgeous"}

5. sunrise.
when i opened my hotel room curtains this morning, this is what i saw:

{if you zoom in, you can see the state fair ferris wheel!}

are you kidding me?! sunrises are the most incredible. every time i see one i wonder why i don't wake up every morning to see it. donald miller tweeted one time that if the sunrise happened once a year, the whole world would wake up to watch it. i agree. it's so unbelievable that this stunning beauty happens every single day and we act like it's no big deal... and yet, God keeps making them happen. such a picture of his beauty and grace, and his new mercies -- every single morning!

what have you been thankful for this week?

thankful thursday: vacation edition.

a week ago today we got back from spending a full week in colorado -- half of it with my family for a friend's wedding in winter park, and half of it just us in denver. it was a very much needed, very much enjoyed getaway. i've been looking at pictures all week trying to pretend like i'm still there. funny how life doesn't really let you ease back in from time away; it forces you to jump back in full force. it's been a crazy week back, so with this post i'm remembering how incredibly grateful i was for our time in colorado. the 5 things i was most thankful for on our colorado vacay...

1. time with my family.
thankful for four days in a row with my favorite people in the whole world. i just can't get enough of them.

 2. the great outdoors. 
i think the only person on this trip who enjoyed being outside more than me was whit. being outside with a two-year-old boy is the BEST. who knew finding the perfect stick could be such a blast?! sticks, dandelions, rocks, flowers -- his hands were never without at least one of these things. thankful for time outdoors with this little explorer.

3. our hotel pool.
thankful for some down time -- and thankful to learn how to say "no" to seemingly fun things, like going out, and "yes" to seemingly boring things that are actually better for you, like laying low by the pool... because... rooftop pool in downtown denver. what?!

4. breakfast.
we've decided our "thing" when we travel is going to be finding the best breakfast spots in town. i think we nailed it in denver. we found so many good places, but the denver biscuit company was our favorite by far. thankful to taste the best cinnamon roll of my life.

5. time with chris in the mountains.
thankful for so many days away with the one i love in a place i love. i hope i never get over the beauty and just sheer awesomeness of mountains. they leave me speechless and practically force my heart to worship. i so enjoyed us experiencing that alongside each other.

gosh, it was such a great trip. so thankful! can we go back already?!

expecting, looking, and longing.

"And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!"
-- Isaiah 30.18, Amplified Bible

i love that the amplified version translates "waits" as "expecting, looking, and longing." waiting can have such a negative connotation. when i read that he's waiting to be gracious to me, it's as if he's tapping his toe, annoyed at my continual failures, just impatiently holding out his grace until i get my life together. but expecting, looking, and longing? that paints an entirely different picture -- one of inexplicable mercy and loving-kindness -- a picture much more in line with the character of God we know to be true from scripture.

i do that way too often. i create a picture of God in my head that just isn't true. i imagine God reacting to things as i would -- impatient, inconsistent, annoyed, indifferent. well no wonder i don't want to spend time with that god. no wonder i have a hard time trusting that god. i think this is why A.W. Tozer wrote, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

so, what if i truly believed -- not just in my head, but deep down in the core of who i am -- that the God i worship is expecting, looking, and longing to be gracious to me, to have mercy on me, to show me loving-kindness?

i think only when i understand that will i be able to spend my life expecting, looking, and longing for Him. because why wouldn't you long for that God? why wouldn't you look to a God who Himself -- His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, His matchless, unbroken companionship -- is better than anything this world has to offer?

i want to live like that. i want to believe it in the depths of my soul and let it transform my life.

these are my thoughts this morning. i have no doubt i'll forget these things by tomorrow morning -- or even this afternoon -- and have to remind myself all over again. thankful for grace.

"My only wish and desire, the one thing I humbly crave to have is the grace to love God, to love Him alone. Beyond that I ask for nothing more." -- St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

adoption in scripture.

one of my responsibilities at work is to manage the blog for buckner's be a family website. i recently wrapped up a series on that blog entitled, "adoption in scripture," where i walked through various places in scripture where we see adoption themes and stories. i really enjoyed writing it. i don't miss late nights in the library, but i do sometimes miss researching and writing for seminary classes. i loved being a student (nerd alert). it was fun to use those skills to write about something i care so deeply about -- and to do it for my job! what a gift!

so, if you're interested, i'd love to share the "adoption in scripture" posts with you. i hope you enjoy them and are encouraged by them. i also hope you appreciate how many capital letters i used.

part I: before creation
part II: abraham
part III: moses
part IV: esther
part V: jesus
part VI: paul's letters

thankful thursday (on friday): texas tour & people i love.

i know i'm a day late, but i had to write this thankful thursday post. i've been especially thankful this week for time with people i love.

1. hefners.
last week, i got a call from my bff: "hey, are y'all busy on thursday?" when your friend who lives 11 hours away asks this question, your hopes skyrocket. "please tell me you're coming, please tell me you're coming!" sure enough, she and her little family were passing through norman hoping to see us. we dropped everything, cleaned up the apt, and were thrilled to host them for less than 24 hours. it was such a quick trip, but i'm thankful for any time i can get with the hefners -- especially little john john!

2. both families.
on friday, we drove down to duncanville to surprise my father-in-law for his birthday. this is a man who is never surprised and is always in control of the plan. not this time! we completely surprised him. there may have even been tears, but if you ask him, he'll probably just say his eyes were sweating. his birthday dinner of choice was a low country boil... YUM! and, of course, we also enjoyed time with our little sitting-up-and-crawling nephew. what a cutie! we were both so thankful for time with the brister/hardy clan -- it had definitely been too long!

then, on saturday, my brother flew into dfw from a summer overseas in "the sandbox." my family took over the international arrival area and eagerly awaited his entrance through those big double doors. i know he loves his time over there, but selfishly, i'm thankful he's back in the same country as me. whit was pretty excited to see "uncle dew," too.

3. foster families.
one of the services buckner offers our foster/adoptive families is an annual retreat at camp buckner. it was nice to spend a few days in the beautiful texas hill country (a nice respite from the flat land i call home!), and fun to be back in camp world -- blob, sunburn, eating contests, pie throws, and all. more importantly, i was super thankful to spend time around these families. i completely fell in love with the kids, a couple in particular, and loved getting to see what i spend all my time working for -- children placed in loving families! such an incredible sight!

4. grandmothers.
i got to see both of my grandmothers in the same 24 hours! what a treat! after the foster family retreat, i made a quick trip down to san antonio to see gigi, then "on my way home" to norman, i made a detour off of i-35 to see grandmother in longview. i'm realizing more and more what gifts they are, and i was so thankful for time (though brief!) with each of them. also, my grandmother is moving and having to get rid of some things, so i gladly picked up this 1970s (i think?) shot of my dad. too good!

5. the husband.
when i FINALLY made it back to norman, the husband and i celebrated with a night out to our favorite fancy restaurant (thanks, groupon!). it's good to feel missed and even better to be with the one you've been missing. five days is just too long, y'all. (we're such wimps.) thankful for a special night with him.

bonus: less hot weather!
i'm including one more this week, because i checked my timehop app this morning and saw this. last year on this day i tweeted this picture:

what?! how did we live like that?! i'm thankful that for whatever reason, this summer has been mild -- still hot (highs in the upper 90s this week), but much better than 115. hello, perspective. get outside, people! enjoy it!

what (or who!) have you been thankful for this week?