Did you know the Kansas State Fair starts tomorrow? Just sayin.

 

Zoobilee, Sedgwick County Zoo’s annual fundraiser, is this Saturday night. Register here for tickets.

 

This Saturday is 2nd Saturday! Support local merchants and save.

 

On Monday the 14th, the Extension Office is hosting a Shopping Tour at the Dillon’s on South Seneca. Come learn how to buy healthy foods and still save money at this free guided grocery store tour. Register here.

 

From 11 to 3 on Saturday the Bradley Fair Green Acres will be hosting a Fall Tasting Fair. Come try free samples and visit with local experts.

 

Ballet in the Park will perform Snow White this Saturday at 6 pm in Riverside Park.

This Saturday from 11 to 3 the Great Plains Nature Center will host Art on the Trail. This is a chance to watch local artists interact with nature on a half mile trail. Inside the center enjoy fall refreshments and a nature craft for kids.

 

Library Events

This Saturday from 2:30 – 3:30, come to Westlink for Baby Safety 101. Instructors from Sedgwick County Healthy Babies program will offer home and car safety tips for new parents.

 

Monday the 14th Linwood Branch will show you how to make “stained glass” mosaic art from 3-7 pm.

 

Tuesday from 5:30 – 6:30, Central Library will host a Book Discussion of Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra. Also on Tuesday from 1-2 pm, come discuss Jane Austen’s Emma at Westlink.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Swings and friends are the best

Just these two little guys this year in our garden

Someone turned 5

Daddy covered Birthday Pancake duty

Simplicity in a teacup

Enjoying my early morning river walks

And spotting them

And all the variety

Glory

 

Your 7 Days?

Today is our 13th Anniversary.

 

I hope you don’t mind a poor-quality photo stroll down memory lane.

First real interaction (flirtation): He came over to my roommate’s and my apartment with a bunch of other people and let me paint his toenails. I cannot remember why.

We started dating (well, over a year after the above picture – we’re slow movers). I got to see his childlike side that his student teaching kids adored.

First 80’s party together (the bug? I seriously have no idea. Also, Dan was supposed to be the teenage brother from The Goonies.)

He proposed to me. I said yes because he’s cute. If it all seems fast in a blog post, do not be fooled. It was after much relational work.

Then we decided to go overseas together for an entire summer. Maybe not our best plan as we were scheduled to get married a few weeks after our plane landed back in America. At least we had seen the best and worst of each other before the wedding. Here he is reenacting an American proposal for our English class.

He sang to me. He sang. Just a couple of kids who vowed to forever and keep vowing every day.

Second 80’s party. Courtesy of fun Lincoln friends.

We had ourselves a sweet addition

Another sweet addition

Last night.

 

These pictures are just a small record of our marriage. There have been many, many ups and downs. I just want you to know if you’re reading this and your marriage is struggling, there is hope. He is Hope.

When I look back on these 13 years, I do not see only sweet and fun. But I do see Him. He is tenacious in making us more like His Son. And often that has included struggles between us.

But the thing about struggles is you cannot rely on your own strength. Sometimes all your best answers and techniques fail. And the only thing left is to cry out to the One Who can change hearts.

He’s been changing both of ours.

We are not who we were 13 years ago, standing at that altar. We are so much better. Because He’s walked us through the valleys, shared our joy on the mountaintops, and used it all to soften our hearts.

If you ever wonder if God is for your marriage, the answer is yes. He is not for dysfunction or abuse, so don’t hear that if you’re reading this and in a situation that requires intervention. Get help.

But He is for your marriage. It was His idea.

When Paul talks about two becoming one, He says it’s a mystery because He is talking about Christ and the Church. The way a man and woman leave home and cling to one another as an entirely new unit is the best earthly example of how Jesus left Home and came to make His People one with Him.

It is sacred. And it is worth fighting for.

 

Daniel, thank you for fighting with me and for me.

 

And Happy Anniversary, my man. I’m…still…”so glad it was you.”

 

 

 

80’s party, anyone?

 

 

“When they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site…

The priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants settled in their own towns, along with some of the other people, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.” (Ezra 2: 68 & 70)

 

So, they’ve arrived.

 

According to Ezra 7:8 & 9, their journey lasted around four months. Wonder who they lost on the way? How do you think various relationships among the 40,000 weathered the trek?

 

The first mention of being back in Jerusalem is “the house of the LORD.”

 

We can assume King Neb did a thorough job destroying the temple, so what they “arrived at” would have been ruins.

What must they have felt?

What do you feel? When viewing the ruins of a world burdened by sin?

I don’t always look. Sometimes I look, but only through rose-colored glasses.

But some days I hold eye contact with the ruins. The ravages of sin upon relationships and families and cultures.

 

It’s good to look. To let it matter.

 

I love how the heads of families are immediately compelled to give freewill offerings to rebuild. That inclusion of “freewill” touches me. No one was making them give toward the rebuild. And they hadn’t even settled in their own homes yet. Many of the younger family heads probably had never seen Solomon’s previous temple. Yet they were willing to give first to the reason for their journey:

 

Rebuilding Zion.

 

“You will arise and have

compassion on Zion,

for it is time to show favor to her;

the appointed time has come.

For her stones are dear to your servants;

her very dust moves them to pity.

The nations will fear the name

of the LORD,

all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.

For the LORD will rebuild Zion

and appear in his glory.” (Psalm 102:13-16)

 

The ruins make the redemption sweeter. Israel was never restored to the former political kingdom it once was. But from the tribe of Judah came a New King. One that ushered in a New Kingdom. A Kingdom that can never be shaken.

 

 

“For the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory.”

Tree Top Nursery is having a Labor Day Sale – 30% off all shrubs September 4 – 7

Johnson’s Garden is having a seminar entitled Overseeding Fescue this Saturday the 5th at 10:00.

The Sedgwick County Extension Office is hosting a Daddy and Me Cooking Class beginning Tuesday September 8th. Click here for more information or to register.

Kids can learn how to make a Football Toss Game this Saturday at Home Depot. Register here.

 

Yes! Library Events are starting back up:

Wichita is joining The Big Read this fall with Luis Alberto Urrea’s Into the Beautiful North. Pick up your own copy and join in.

Wichita is one of the nation’s longest-running Big Read participants, and many organizations will be hosting art and literary events in conjunction with the Read. To see a full list of events, visit bigreadwichita.org

Central Library is hosting a series called Spotlight on Kansas Writers. Local writers will be sharing about their work:

Tuesday, September 8, Dr. John Jenkinson will share about his writing beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 9, Jason Quinn Malott, author of Evolution of Shadows, will be sharing, also at 7:00.

 

For Senior Wednesdays, on September 9, Clark Bastian will share the story of the Wichita Carnegie Library Building and its impressive history from 1:30-2:30.

 

Storytimes and Book Clubs will be starting up soon!

 

I hope your weekend is filled with rest and love.

Caleb has been way into kitchen stuff lately

His idea: to make a “pie.” (His pies are awesome.)

Fun finds at Aldi

Sweet friend’s birthday

Just before a downpour

A generous friend, who knows her stuff with gardening, gave us the last few of her quality green beans to grow. Grow they did.

We’re grateful. The basil has been killing it too. My Silver Sneakers friends have been educating me on basil.

Chilly but fun

Beautiful evening

We loved celebrating with several others who dedicated their lives

He is so faithful

 

 

Your 7 Days?

Our son got baptized last night.

 

And few other things matter than the Truth played out in this obedience.

 

“Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But…God…made us alive in Christ…it is by grace you have been saved.

 

Ephesians 2:3b-5

 

So, so grateful.

“The list of the men of the people of Israel:

The priests…

The Levites…

The singers…

The gatekeepers of the temple…

The temple servants…

The descendants of the servants of Solomon…

The whole company numbered 42,360, besides their menservants and maidservants; and they also had 200 men and women singers. They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.” (Ezra 2:2b, 36,40,41,42,43,55,64-67)

 

That is quite a crew.

 

Do you already know about the different workers of the Temple? We know about the priests. The Levites were in charge of different tasks involved in worship and Temple upkeep.

 

I think the singers are an interesting category. Did you know the temple had singers? Verse 41 specifies them as the descendants of Asaph:

“These are the men David put in charge of the music in the house of the LORD after the ark came to rest there.” 1 Chronicles 6:31

 

“David…set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals…all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD…” 1 Chronicles 25:1, 7b

 

It makes me think of how Heaven might be. I never thought before about the Temple being a place of music. But, it was a place of worship. And music is often the soul’s pathway to focus on Someone higher.

Do you think they sang on the four-month journey? There were horses and donkeys and forty thousand people. Surely there were times they needed to lift their eyes to the One worthy of the pilgrimage.

How about us? When life adds up and our own sin weighs us down, how do we fix our eyes on the One Who pursues us and keeps us?

 

Singing His praise can be a way. Lyrics that drip with Truth, straight from His Holy Word, refocus us on the point:

 

The Beauty of Jesus.

 

We see Him as He is: The One from before the foundation of the world. The One given dominion over all. The One Who walked with us so He could take the wrath for us. The One to Whom every knee will bow.

 

The One Who is coming again.

 

He is worthy. May we sing His praises today.

Beginning tonight at NewMarket Square, Dress for Success is having a fundraiser sale. This is a great opportunity to find clothing and jewelry deals, as well as support an organization that serves women in our community. Details here.

Tomorrow is Final Friday.  Great opportunity to support local artists and businesses.

 

Free Outdoor Movie Night at Newmarket Square this Saturday the 29th at 8:00 p.m.

 

I hope you have a great weekend!

Battles

The man

Blooms

Neglected Garden

 

 

Rock throwing

Cheery

 

Your 7 Days?