weekend ramblings

Good to see you, my favorite people! 

It's been a pretty average week. Every week has its unpleasant parts, such as Drivers Ed. (even though I'm 16 and already had my permit for a year in SC... it's a long and upsetting story) and the stress and deadlines that accompany schoolwork. But it's the small, special, happy things that make a week memorable.

Like when I sip hot chocolate or hot tea while I work on school assignments. 

Like when I absentmindedly wander around outside. Embracing the last few leaves on the trees and contemplating the change from lovely Fall to icy but equally delightful Winter (while wearing my Toms, of course).

Like when I can't hold back a smile as I watch my little brother cry out in pure ecstasy while he flies back and forth on the rope swing.

How could you deny the joy in that little face [in the left corner]?

Like when I walk alongside my adorable baby cousin in a grassy field. He runs until he falls down, laughing, only to get up and keep running without a care in the world.

And like when my family spends a relaxing Sunday afternoon at Lake Lure, enjoying the perfect blue sky, clear, reflective water, picturesque mountains and trees, and colorful, lively little ducks. It's definitely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. 

Life is good. In a wonderful, sometimes strange, God-shows-his-beauty-through-even-the-smallest-things sort of way.

~Rachel

time

Hey there!

I've been thinking a lot about time lately.

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of." - Benjamin Franklin

"Time is of your own making; 

Its clock ticks in your head. 

The moment you stop thought

Time too stops dead."

-Angelus Silesius

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:15-16

"Time 
Like a petal in the wind 
Flows softly by 
As old lives are taken 
New ones begin 
A continual chain 
Which lasts throughout eternity 
Every life but a minute in time 
But each of equal importance" 

-Cindy Cheney 

"Time is a dream ... a destroying dream;

It lays great cities in dust, it fills the seas;

It covers the face of beauty, and tumbles walls."

-Conrad Aiken

"O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!" -Psalm 39:4-5

Time is a precious gift from God. It is my prayer that I not waste it by complaining, always being in a hurry, over-complicating things, and living for myself. Instead, I want to glorify God and proclaim the Gospel every day, in all that I do.

So long, lovely friends!

~Rachel

these are a few of my favorite (and not so favorite) things

Hello dear friends!


I have many favorite things. Here are a few of them (thirty-one to be exact):


*Note, the pictures in the post were not taken by me.


1. Coffee. Perfect for pulling all-nighters, staying awake in class, or just drinking to enjoy. :)

2. Watching scary movies late at night with my dad and Benjamin.

3. Hot tea. A typical day for me includes at least one cup of coffee and one or two cups of hot tea.

4. Capturing special moments via camera.
5. Infinitely quotable movies. (Napolean Dynamite or Toy Story anyone?)
6. Popcorn. I eat it every night without fail. Even with braces.
7. Fall. If you read my second post you'll know why. :)
8. Christmas music.

9. Sweaters.

10. British accents.
11. Snow. Enough said.
12. Hugging my three year old brother and asking him about his day.
13. Letters. As in the legit kind that come in the mail. :)

14. Friends I've had for forever.
15. Making new friends!
16. Stress-free days that include pajamas, hot tea, and a really good book.

17. Jumping in leaves.
18. Playing board games on a rainy day.

19. Feeling victorious and accomplished after conquering a nearly impossible math problem. Success!
20. Wrapping Christmas presents.
21. Taking long hikes.
22. Warm gloves.
23. Sleeping in late.
24. Laughing...a lot.
25. Apple pie.

26. Hugging a stuffed animal when I feel like crying.
27. Being encouraged.
28. Listing my favorite things.
29. Chocolate.
30. Burt's Bees chapstick.

31. The Hunger Games. 

Of course, there are also a handful of things that are not my favorite. Here's a list I've compiled of things worth disliking:

1. Physics.
2. Cockroaches. *shiver*
3. Sharks.
4. Failing tests.
5. Very early mornings.
6. Clowns.
7. Being depressed.
8. Pop quizzes. 
9. Mushrooms.
10. Screamo music.
11. My whole family getting the flu the week of Christmas.
12. Drivers Ed.


I hope your week is full of smiling, loving, and answered prayers! 


~Rachel

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!