Lessons from baby plants!

I love how little seedlings grow. Mine are in a bright sunny window where they get lots of light, but still they all lean closer to the light, stretching to get more of it each day. How they know to do this, I do not know. They are drawn to it and get substanance from it, just as I should be stretching and reaching toward my "light", Jesus Christ.

I also love the new life that springs from nothingness. Baby plants sprout from a tiny seed that looks like it has no life in it at all into a tiny green start... just add water and sunlight. And then it is a joy to watch the plants change day by day, notice new leaves, or another one unfurling the soil above it. (And they are pretty cute little things too.) I am amazed by the care and detail God put into creating each of these little plants and how they know to reach toward the sun for their growth and strength. God is quite an amazing designer!

I think most of all, it reminds me of the God's promises to care for me and and the new life I have in Christ. If God cares for the tiny plants, starting from a seed, He must also, even more so, care for me, His precious creation who He sent His only Son. Perfect for the Easter Season, eh?

I love this passage, not only because it talks about flowers, but also because it speaks to my heart that worries often and God's promises in my life.

Matthew 6:30-34 (from the Message)

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers- most of which are never even seen0 don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep you life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

Day Trip to B'ham!

Today, Chet and I headed up to Bellingham with our good friends, Kevin and Faith, for a little bit of an adventure and a tasty lunch. After hearing about how good the Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro is from my brother, Adam, we finally had a chance to eat there. It was great... great atmosphere and great beverages. I had their delicious root beer and the only disappointing thing was that we brought our growlers with us and they don't fill growlers with root beer because they run out of it so fast!

Then, for a little outdoor time, we headed over to Whatcom Falls Park to enjoy taking pictures, walking through the trails and admiring the falls. It felt good to be outside and to just relax.

What a delightful day! I can definitely handle a little more free time now that school is over if we get to do more fun things like this!

I'm done!

This afternoon I had the opportunity to present my master's project (about asthma and high school athletic coaches)! It is called the "final oral examination" and I'm glad to say that I passed! As a result, I am officially done with my master's degree and on my way to being a full fledged PNP. Yay! It is a somewhat strange thing though to be done with school again and to start looking for a new job... and to not have homework anymore.

Anyway, just wanted to document the exciting news!