EXCITEMENT!!!!

Yesterday, I spent 8 hours in the car--but it was SO worth it! Marshall's grandparents threw us a wedding shower at his dad's parents' house in Tennessee. It was wonderful time with both my family and my future family--I loved having them all in the same place! And I loved that my parents got to see the Farm. It's on a TON of acres, and the property is surrounded on 3 sides by the Elk River. They have cattle, horses, dogs, crops, a 4-wheeler and wildlife--It's a beautiful place! I was overwhelmed by his family's love for me/us and their excitement for us getting married. The message behind their immense generosity said that they love us and want us to succeed. What a beautiful blessing to be marrying into an amazing family!

Several big things are happening in the next few days, and I'm really excited!!

1. TOMORROW, Mike and Meritt--my future in-laws--leave for China to adopt 2 little girls who are about to be the newest members of the Sims family! Maggie and Mary Henley are 4 and 3 years old, and I can't wait to meet them! Marshall and I have the honor of taking Mike and Meritt to the airport tomorrow morning; they'll be gone until the 19th. SO many people are bursting with excitement for them. Mike and Meritt's friends, who adopted a little girl from China about a year ago, are hosting a time of prayer tonight for Mike and Meritt in preparation for their trip. What an amazing reflection adoption is of God's love for His people! "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. . . So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God" (Galatians 4:4-5,7). I'm SO EXCITED!! Follow their blog at http://msims7.blogspot.com/.
2. My sister Mary Anna starts her first day at Providence Christian Academy on Tuesday! It's a big change for her--cause for some apprehension, but it's a great change, and we're all really excited for her!
3. Passion Conference 2012 starts Monday. I'm told it's a big deal; the Georgia Dome selling out says it's a big deal--we'll see if it's all people say it is! At this point, I'm most excited about all of the people I could potentially see there. I'll be with a group of Camp All-American's full-time staff and summer staff, and I know a ton of other people going. It'll be an adventure to be part of something GIANT. I wonder what God will show me?

"The Lion King" holds answers to all of life's questions.

So I'm still just moping about the clutter in my room and not really doing anything about it. I'm a little overwhelmed. Maybe a lot overwhelmed--I'm so paralyzed I haven't even thrown out the 2 dead plants that are sitting on my shelf. Part of the problem is that I don't want to throw away things with sentimental value. Or things I ever possibly might use again. Prime example: right infront of me on my bookshelf are 8 dried roses and 4 education theory textbooks. I've saved and dried 1 rose from every time Marshall has ever gotten me roses--when I was 17, it seemed like a sweet thing to start doing. And the textbooks. . . I only saved the ones I reallllly liked. . . aka the ones I couldn't sell back. Be real, Rachel: You're not a teacher, and when you are one one day, you're still NEVER going to look at those textbooks again! 

I also started a project yesterday--that will remain unnamed until after our wedding--that made me wonder, "What are memories good for?" Is it biblical to keep mementos in the form of pictures, objects. . . etc? This morning I went to Jeremiah 2 as part of my read-and-study-the-Bible-in-my-lifetime project, and saw these words:

"Thus says the Lord, 'I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. . . What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?'" (Jer. 2:2,5)

And the Lord goes on to talk about how they have forgotten that he brought them out of slavery in Egypt and led them through and out of "the wilderness, a land of deserts and pits and drought and deep darkness"--and he reminds them how he brought them into a plentiful land full of good things for them to enjoy.

I remember from when I read Deuteronomy a few years ago that it stood out to me how often the Lord warned Israel not to forget what he had done for them, and how often he told them about it--he always calls himself "The Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" as if he wants Israel to define him by that.

One of my co-workers observed recently that with people who grow up in the church, there often isn't a huge need for teaching--there is more of a need for reminding. We forget what God has done and who he is. And when I look back (especially when I read things I wrote/journaled as a teenager--it's painful!), I see that he truly is the Lord who brought me out of slavery, out of a figurative land of deserts and pits and drought and deep darkness. I don't remember that often enough.

So, what about the clutter in my room? Idk; I guess it holds value if it reminds me of what God has done. . . most of it doesn't. Regardless, at this point, there is no room among all the clutter to note the things that God IS doing and WILL do. I think I need to let it go and throw some stuff out. I think I'll go with what Pumba says in The Lion King: "You gotta put your behind in the past." At least in my approach to cluttered spaces.

Why am I blogging again?

Yesterday was full of happy little things, like 

• How much I just like Marshall. He does cool stuff. He cooks, he knows a lot about technology and enjoys troubleshooting, he is personable, he kayaks and hikes with me, he's athletic, and he's thoughtful and compassionate. He's great! I think we're going to do great together.
• Our premarital counseling class had us take this test that says that we are very compatible, based on personality traits and our backgrounds. It's always fun to hear that from  an "official" source.
• Coffee with my friend Anna--she's getting her Master's at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland; what an adventure! I think that's amazing to get to travel the world and live abroad, but what I always realize from talking to people who are doing that is that I am right where I want to be. This is home!
• The main character in The Hunger Games is named Catniss--as in, Katness--a great noun to sum up all things that make my sister Kat, Kat.
• Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update can be super HILARIOUS. Mine and Kat's new favorite segments: "Get in the Cage" and Stefon.
• http://www.hulu.com/watch/144710/saturday-night-live-update-stefon
• http://www.hulu.com/watch/243579/saturday-night-live-weekend-update-nicolas-cage-and-bradley-cooper

Let's try this again. . .

I started a blog when I studied abroad in the spring of 2009, but I didn’t really use it–sorry, mom! I’m trying again because my friend Sara suggested it and I agreed it might be cool.
This morning, using slightly different words, I asked myself, Where does my energy come from? My bedroom is consumed by Christmas clutter and neglected chore debris, and in this sigh of a day between bustly gatherings with family and friends, I wonder if I’ve committed a timeless human crime. The nation of Israel did it, even though God warned them not to:

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers. . . –a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant–then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of slavery. Fear the Lord your God, serve him only. . . Do not follow other gods, the gods of the people around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. . .” –Deuteronomy 6:10-15a

It’s clear to me in all the blessings of Christmas and pre-wedding abundance that metaphorically, God was speaking to me as well. I am in the Promised Land, so to speak. God has richly blessed me and uses the people around me to bless me immensely; but I have forgotten the Lord who is the reason that I have it all in the first place! I have begun to “worship and serve created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). Easy to do.

Now, obviously, my implication (the Bible’s implication!) is that this is a bad thing. And every frequent church-goer knows that’s bad (hush hush). But why?

My thought, based on what I see in the Bible, is that our sin blinds us from seeing what God sees plainly: That there is nothing in this world that compares to the “surpassing greatness of knowing Christ” (Philippians 3:8). That in Christ, we find true life and unending energy; not in STUFF. And my joy/energy does come from Him; I just forget to give him credit for it. Maybe this blog will be part of helping me remember to remember that?