Our friends, Glenn and Judy, are missionaries in Guatemala.
Judy texted me the other day to ask our home address because she wanted to send me some coffee with a & sign on it because it reminded her of the sign I'd made a few weeks ago. (Is that not the sweetest thing?!)

As soon as it arrived, we knew it would be the perfect addition to our traditional Sunday brunch.
And oh my.
It was.

Our brunch consisted of apple-cinnamon pancakes, eggs, and fresh squeezed orange juice.
And we looked pretty gourmet adding a little coffee fresh from Guatemala to the menu.

Thank you so much for thinking of us, friends!
You are a blessing. :)

Love,
Coffee-loving Newbys

PS - I always mention that we have friends over, but they're never pictured. I promise they're real! They'll make an appearance one of these days. :)
PSS - Yes, my hair is darker in these pictures. It lasted about 3 days, and now I'm back to (darker) blonde. I've just gotta accept it - I'm a blonde. Don't quite feel like myself as a brunette.

Quick DIY: Weathering terra cotta

Disclaimer: Full sun is not the best for taking pics, but it was the only option today (because it's gorgeous and sunny outside today!). I won't complain, just wanted you to know they're not the best.



These terra cotta planters and pots have been sitting in the corner of our deck for... umm... a year? Too long. Even though I love to garden in the summer, I don't have the greenest thumb, so I don't always rush to fill pots when I know I'll probably kill an innocent plant.

But today I wanted to give those planters a little facelift.

I started by spray painting them white. It wasn't perfect, at all. It was a quick job and a little drippy, but it didn't matter.


I waited a few minutes for it to dry, then sanded a little of the paint off by hand.


Finally, I added some stain. I dipped an old rag in the stain, gave it a quick coat, then wiped it off with a drier side of the rag.


And that's it!



They look a little different, huh? I'm thinking I may use one for herbs (outside) and the other for a fake plant (inside). In all - including drying time - this probably only took about 30 minutes. I hope you try it!

Apart from me, you can do nothing.

When my alarm went off at 4am this morning, I can't say I had the best attitude about spending the day at the hospital.

But as I drove through dark, empty streets on my way to the hospital, this one verse would not leave my mind:

"I am the vine, you are the branches. 

If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. 

Apart from me, you can do nothing." 

John 15:5

I hadn't even read that verse recently, so I knew it was the Lord. It was (obviously) very appropriate for the day I was about to face, so as I pulled into my parking space, I pulled out my Bible and read the rest of the passage.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you... I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last - and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 

This is my command: Love each other." 

John 15:12,15-17

I can't even think of a more applicable chapter for today.
Today, a day I learned a lot about what truly loving each other means.
No, I'd never seen my patient before this morning, but it didn't matter. She was in so much pain and was grieving the news of her prognosis, and she needed love more than she needed any pill or surgery.

So I did my nursing duties, just as I would always do, but I prayed how I could show her love.
Today, it meant two very simple things: a foot massage (because who doesn't love that?!) and prayer. I felt like the Lord led me to both things that helped her to relax, to breathe a little deeper than she had in days, and to feel loved. At the end of our prayer, she cried. And then I cried, because she cried, because that just happens sometimes.

It was two very simple things, but I think they made such a difference. I'm learning so much about those who have passion for the ministry of nursing and those who just do their jobs. I want to be the former, that's for sure.

If you've ever been on a missions trip, you know this phenomenon. You go to serve and help and teach others, but it ends up being the opposite way around. They serve and help and teach you more than you could ever give to them. I feel the same way about nursing. Sure, I know all days won't be this fulfilling. But I learned so much from her today and learned about myself how fulfilling it is to truly love.

I am so, so thankful for today.

There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.

Mother Teresa

Your biggest fan.

At our couples' shower in November 2008

A month before Shawn and I got married, my parents threw us a couples' shower that also happened to be a book shower. What a cool idea, right? Each couple gifted us with a book that meant something to them - from novels to marriage books to theology books to cookbooks to everything in between. And at the end of the night, my parents requested that each couple share some piece of marital advice for the soon-to-be-married couple.

Believe it or not, I remember almost every piece of advice that was given. I think I remember it so well because it came from people whose marriages I really respect and look up to. Marriages that have not only lasted, but thrived. That is so rare, as I'm sure I don't have to convince you.

One piece of advice really stuck out to me, and it hit me again today.

"Be your spouse's biggest fan."

To me, it means this...
Talking positively about Shawn to other people.
Encouraging Shawn in any way I can.
Treating Shawn like the treasure in my life that he is.

It's so easy for us to complain, and it's just as easy to start complaining about your husband... how he never helps around the house, how he watches TV when he's supposed to be watching the kids, and on and on and on. (Those things are not at all true of Shawn, especially since we don't even have kids.) :)

But here's the thing. As much as it may feel satisfying in the moment to complain or to cut down, I really believe it gives Satan a foothold in the marriage that he just should not have. In a world that does everything it possibly can to destroy a marriage, we have to do everything we possibly can to make it last,
to build each other up,
to point each other to Jesus,
to be each other's biggest fans.

So I know I'm still a novice at this marriage thing. But if someday I'm invited to someone's bridal shower and asked to give a piece of advice, it'll be just that.

A new thing!

I'm sitting here procrastinating (again).
I should be writing nursing diagnoses for my most recent patient,
or studying the heart for my test tomorrow,
or emptying the dishwasher,
or a million other things.

You know the feeling, I'm sure.

But instead, I'm sitting here at our desk, staring over my left shoulder at this most incredible view.

The warm sun is fading behind the trees, and all is drenched in a hazy golden calm. I'm so thankful I get to drink in this beauty day after day.

And yet at the same time, it's times like these - when I'm overwhelmed, tired, and alone - that it's so easy to dwell on the past...

Like how wonderful it used to be to live near lots of close girlfriends, where we could meet down the street for coffee at a moment's notice.
Or how I wish I were closer to certain people that used to be such a huge part of my life.
Or how much more useful I used to feel for Jesus when I was backpacking in the Amazon or sharing the Gospel with cab drivers in Chicago... not sitting in my little house on the prairie studying notes.

Do you see how easy it is to be robbed of joy? I let it happen all too often. And yet every time Satan tries to swoop in on a moment of beauty and calm and replace it with turmoil, the Lord so gently reminds me of this:

"Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:18-19

I am so guilty.
I'm guilty of dwelling on the past, of not "perceiving" the "new thing" He is doing. Like what about how He led me to nursing school, allowed me to get in, and has provided every penny? Or how He fuels our dreams for the future and so graciously centers them on serving Him? Or how He loves on us with sweet friends, encouraging conversations, captivating worship music. The list goes on and on. So why do I not notice all of these things? Because I'm not looking for them. I get lazy - and I'm not daily asking, "Your will be done, Lord" and then praying that He'll show me what that looks like.

I'm also guilty of thinking that the things I do bring me closer to God.
"If I could only just be in full-time ministry...."Somehow I fail to understand that when I say something like that, I am going directly against the Gospel - the truth that it is He who works in me, not me who works my way to Him.

Maybe this sounds like lots of rambling. Or maybe it's what you've been struggling with lately and that verse from Isaiah is precisely what you needed to hear. It amazes me how God's Word can travel deeper into your soul than anything else - how things you didn't even know needed to be dealt with rise to the surface when you read the Word.

I pray I'll remember the Gospel in moments like these, and choose to look for the new thing He is doing.