Everyday in May: {Day 17: Spiel the Beans!}

Today, I'm linking up with Shelly to "Spiel the Beans" on my Summer Bucket List!

Summers in the desert are best spent indoors, due to the overwhelming heat. But I do have a couple things  I'm thinking of doing with my family...

Yamashiro Hollywood

Our favorite restaurant, Yamashiro, may be closing. So we're planning our 7th anniversary dinner there.

Hollywood Bowl

There are some great concerts this season, so I hope to make it to at least one.

We have a week in Palm Springs already booked... This will be the 2nd year we've been crazy enough to go to the hottest vacation spot. My plan is to find some activities ahead of time, instead of vegging in front of the TV with the A/C on.

~Publish a 30-day devotional~

Adopt a new baby!

Today (and everyday), I found my happy in this face:

G: "This happened so that the power of God could be seen in him." ~John 9:3b

L: There have been plenty of times where I've asked God, "Why me?" It is easy to play into this world's excuse for challenges: we failed/sinned somewhere so this is punishment. It has taken a lot of prayer and study to realize that this is NEVER the case. God doesn't test us. The enemy challenges us, pushes our buttons, makes things go a different way than we'd like so that we might doubt God's love for us. When we came to terms with the fact that conceiving just wasn't in God's plan for our lives, Stephan and I had to really grow in the knowledge that He had something very special for us. Adopting wasn't going to be a fall-back option to having kids. It was going to be a way for God to be seen in us. The challenges that came with adopting, the waiting, all was for His glory. We may not have handled it that way at the time, but we sure did grow closer to Him. Now, as we wait for another call to grow our family, we feel better equipped to handle all that will come, but the unknown is very scary... we really hit the blessing jackpot when Ryan came in our lives.  

A: I've got to stay in the Word. A bucket list is great, but we must remember that He is in control. Pray over it, ask for guidance and wisdom, and stay in the Word.

M: God, I pray for perspective. When things go a different way than I had imagined, I want to react in a way that brings You honor. I want people to see You when they look at me.