what i love about my love....

there is a psalm that i prayed for Justin as we were courting, and every day i am amazed by it becoming reality. every day i fall more in love with the man God has given me to adore. here are those verses, "how blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments...his descendants will be mighty on the earth...he is gracious and compassionate and righteous...he will never be shaken...his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld, he will not fear...he has given freely to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." Psalm 112

i am still madly in love with this amazing man, for many reasons....in no particular order!

• he can make amazing peanut butter cookies & chocolate chip pancakes
  
• he is extremely selfless and serves with joy
  
• he never complains about doing dishes
• he's strong & rugged, yet dashing
• he takes care of me in little ways and big ones too
• he sings unabashedly to the girls, making up lyrics as he goes - in Spanish too!
• he is usually the first to say sorry and humble himself, even when i am at fault
• he is very organized, and has reasons (a-b-c-d) for everything he does
  
• he has vision and dreams bigger than himself, and a faith that is deep
  
• he is adventurous and cannot be tamed. i love that!
  
• he wrestles, tickles, dances, explores & loves our girls with all his heart
  
• he loves me for who I am, and yet pushes me to be more like Jesus
  

a few aspirations

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common — this is my symphony."
~ William Henry Channing
(Ali posted this quote)

language is a gift...

learning a new language is really a feat in itself. i am convinced that it takes more than motivation to truly communicate a heart-language of another culture. i am in my 2nd semester of learning mandarin and i have a huge respect for people who have mastered it. not only are there 4 tones, no alphabet, and new sounds to enunciate, but each word is composed of characters (pictures) that can be pronounced differently...depending on the tone, and mean something quite different. my studious husband has far surpassed my measly gibberish, but i believe he has a gift. that does not excuse my sporadic study habits, but it gives me a goal to aspire to. i just have to work harder!!
i really want to be able to converse with my chinese neighbors, to talk to the vegetable man (not just buy veggies), and understand the lives in my community. i need continuous motivation, practice and a humble heart... this mastery cannot rest on my own abilities or i might give up. i am not ready to even think about studying Uyghur (wee-gur). yikes!
with a bit of language-acquisition envy, Ali

we shall see...

here's to a fresh start and a new chance to journal my random thoughts and joys, my mothering moments, sights & smells of central Asia, and all the things to learn along the way. i hope it will be real, down-to-earth snapshots of me. welcome to a glimpse inside my brain and hopefully my heart.

p.s. On April 30th, Justin was shocked to hear that I had started a blog without him. I made some minor edits, and now...we are officially blogging together { how precious }, so you can soon find some manly-reflections here as well.