Psalm 104

Hey y'all!

I hope you're having a wonderful last week of October! I'm not feeling very creative/inspired, so I thought I'd just post some recent pictures along with this beautiful Psalm about God's incredible creation. 

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are very great!

You are clothed with splendor and majesty,

2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,

stretching out the heavens like a tent.

3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;

he makes the clouds his chariot;

he rides on tthe wings of the wind;

4 he makes his messengers winds,

his ministers a flaming fire.

5 He set the earth on its foundations,

so that it should never be moved.

6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

7 At your rebuke they fled;

at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.

8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down

to the place that you appointed for them.

9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,

so that they might not again cover the earth.

10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills;

11 they give drink to every beast of the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;

they sing among the branches.

13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock

and plants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth food from the earth

15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,

oil to make his face shine

and bread to strengthen man's heart.

16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

17 In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has her home in the fir trees.

18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.

20 You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

21 The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

22 When the sun rises, they steal away

and lie down in their dens.

23 Man goes out to his work

and to his labor until the evening.

24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

25 Here is the sea, great and wide,

which teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and great.

26 There go the ships,

and Leviathan, which you formed to aplay in it.

27 These all look to you,

to give them their food in due season.

28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

when you take away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.

30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,

and you renew the face of the ground.

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works,

32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains and they smoke!

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more!

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

Have a blessed day!

~Rachel

Fall: Another Word For Happiness

Hello again!


I decided to dedicate this post to my very favorite season. I'm positive that if you look up the words "happiness" and "perfection" in a dictionary, "Fall" will come up as one of their synonyms. No joke. It's just so wonderful in every way...


The most obvious is the perfectly amazing weather. Cold enough to bundle up and drink hot chocolate while you read a good book, but warm enough so that you don't feel completely numb and miserable. Nice enough to button up a jacket, throw on a scarf, and take a  walk through the shower of falling, multicolored leaves. Beautiful enough to outstretch your arms, spin slowly around, and enjoy God's particularly incredible Fall creation. And maybe even snap a picture or two.

How beautiful is this?! Not only the leaves changed colors, but the stem, too! 

There's the anticipation for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all of that holiday joy. Listening to Christmas music even though it's not for 2 months, beginning to think about Christmas shopping, dreaming about the deliciously delightful cooking and baking that is surely in store, and longing for "the most wonderful time of the year" that's just around the corner. Oh, it's just too exciting!

Then of course there's long pants, boots, fuzzy socks, hats, and sweaters in all of their gloriousness. Much more appealing than shorts and flip-flops... at least to me. :) Ahh, my favorite.

Yes, Fall just screams "picturesque." It makes me think of Genesis 1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:1 and 31a). If His creation is good, His Fall creation is even gooder (That's not a word, you say? Well yes, I know. But I need it to prove my point... so you'll just have to deal with it ;)). I hope y'all are enjoying Fall just as much as I am. :) 

Until next time!
~Rachel 


P.S. More Fall pictures to come!

Me, My Family, And I

Hello friends!


Well, I finally decided to take the plunge and create a blog!  So I'll begin by telling you some about my family. 


I'm blessed to have wonderful, supportive parents, and 4 hilarious, awesome (well, most of the time ;)) little siblings. Thomas (3), Chloe (7), Aaron (9), and Benjamin (14). Me? I suppose I'll tell you... I'm 16.


Oh, and did I tell you that we're cows?

My mom and siblings dressed up for Chick-fil-A cow appreciation day.
I dressed up, too. :)

...not really. ;)


My family has moved...alot.
First Raleigh, NC.
Then Asheville, NC.
Third, Louisville, KY.
After that came New York City, NY.

pre-9/11

Then we moved to Black Mountain, NC (near Asheville).
In 2008, we moved to Charleston, SC.

And then 2 months ago, in August of 2011, we moved back to NC. To Hendersonville. (Also near Asheville).

hiking near Chimney Rock

I've loved everywhere we've lived. But North Carolina is probably my favorite. It's SO beautiful here. Especially if you like hiking...and apples.

Skyptop Apple  Orchard

If moving is an adventure, well, I've had quite a few adventures. I don't want to ever move again, though. I'd like to stay here in NC for years and years... But I'll be going to college in a year and a half, and who knows what after that.

To tell you a little more about myself, I'd say I'm a pretty simple person. I'd like for my life to be simple as well, but things always end up being more complicated than they seem. The good news is that God is always in control, even when to me my life feels out of control. I know that everything that happens in my life is part of the sovereign, providential plan he has for me. It's incredibly reassuring. More than that, because I have placed my faith in him, I can remain joyful, even when I face trials and hopeless circumstances (Romans 5:1-5...please read it!) Yeah, that's huge! It's definitely not easy to do, and I fail at it most of the time. But it always encourages me. 

Hopefully I'll find time to make another post sometime soon. I really don't have much time for blogging, but I'll do my best. Who knows, maybe I'll even surprise myself... 

Have a fantastic week! 

~Rachel :)