Let me tell you about Roxanna...

So there are many people in my life who have loved me and have inspired me to pursue Christ with everything in me. Some have only been in my life for a short season and others I have shared life with for a long time. Some of these people I would consider "kindred spirits" and with others its seems we just aren't dancing to the same song.

Well, Roxanna, is one of those people who I feel I have a "kindred spirit". She has taught me so much about life and even in ways she doesn't know. See with Roxanna it is never like I am her "discipleship project". She just loves God and it is reflected in how she lives. Thus, inspiring others around her to love God in the same way. She has taught me to cherish the simple things in life, to appreciate the mundane, and to change one's perspective on the things which can appear to be a thorn in one's side.

Let me example. When Travis and I moved into our little yellow house there were a few things I needed to adjust to. The house was built in the 50s which I love, but there are aspects of a house built in the 50s that can be challenging. One of those things is that we do not have a dishwasher. So, every time we drink a cup of water or butter a piece of toast there are dishes to be done. It is especially challenging when you make dinner for a larger crowd because the clean up can be more exhausting than the preparations. When I shared this with Roxanna she shared with me her story of living in a house with no dishwasher and it has changed me. She said in her oh so sweet Roxanna way, "Ya know Hayley, I didn't have a dishwasher for a couple of years when Gaby and Greyson were little. Instead of dreading it I turned it into a time where I would just talk to God. You see doing the dishes is a mindless task and yet a task that forces you to stay in one spot. You can either dread doing the dishes or look at it as a chance to slow down enough to listen and talk to our Creator." It is so simple, but it changed me. I no longer look at the dishes as a dreaded chore, but as an opportunity to appreciate the simple things in life and to remember the One who gave so much to us.

There are many stories to share about Roxanna. I am sure I will post more along the way, but I want to live like Roxanna. Her life can be crazy being a pastor's wife and a mother, but she still strives to love the simple. Today I went on her blog and read a list of things under the title "comforting". There are many things on her list that I completely identified with and I was inspired to create me own list. So here it is (some of them I borrowed from Roxanna's list):

Comforting:

• the sound of Travis' keys in the front door
• the smell of dinner cooking
• warm sunshine on your face
• coffee brewing
• the smell of laundry drying
• the smell of fresh cut grass or the smell of rain
• a fire crackling
• a really good worship song
• the sound of my husband singing and playing his guitar
• a freshly cleaned house
• the Bible I just to read and mark on through college
• holding a newborn baby
• Sunday afternoon naps
• the sound of a congregation really entering in and worshipping God Almighty
• the sound of birds chirping on a crisp morning
• the consistent sound of waves crashing
• my golden retriever's constant presence
• the sound of one of my family members' voice on the other line of the phone
• a hot shower after a cold day in the snow

What things do you find comforting?

my first attempt...

Well, I must admit I have been a blog stalker for quite a while.  I have been toying with the idea of beginning a blog, but I have been fearful to enter into this world.  Do I really have enough to say to maintain a blog of my own?  I am not pregnant and we don't have children, so I don't have that excuse to start a blog. However, I decided regardless if anyone reads this blog, I believe I will find the experience of writing and sharing our lives very therapeutic.  So, I wanted to begin with a short introduction. 

Travis and I have been married now for 2 1/2 years!  I feel like we just got married a year ago, but we are already coming up on our third anniversary.  We love being married and we have been living in beautiful sunny San Clemente for the past year and a half.  We are really excited to start a family some day, but for now we are content with our golden retriever, Gunner and our prissy cat, Denver.

Trav has been on staff at Saddleback Church as the worship pastor for the first regional campus located in San Clemente.  God really has taught us so much since we have moved here.  Our love for the people in our church really has flourished in the last year.  There really isn't anything more exciting than seeing someone come to know Christ as Lord and Savior of their life and then to see their relationship with God mature.   

I work out of our home as a mortgage loan officer and I am really involved with our church. I am leading a trip to Rwanda in May.  Then in October Trav and I are part of a leadership team taking a group of people from our church to the Philippines. 

We literally live in a tiny "lil' yellow house down by the sea".  It has been a lot of fun living 3 blocks from the beach!  Some of our favorite past times are taking walks down to the beach with our  dog, Gunner.  On Saturday mornings we often walk down the street to the water and then over to the pier for breakfast.  We never cease to be amazed at God's beauty so clearly seen through his creation.  

 

Today when Trav got home we went for a walk and he treated me to a slurppy at the 7eleven down by the train station.  We both remembered slurppies being much more delicious as children.  

Let me introduce Gunner.  He likes birds and will chase them anywhere.  He has been known to runaway from me in pursuit of such creatures while at the beach.  He is about to graduate from dog obedience school and it has been said he has attachment issues with me (or I with him).  Below is a picture of him last summer when we took him on the sand for the first time.  He has been a lover of the sand ever since.  I can't believe how big he has gotten!

Below is Denver.  She and Gunner have a love/hate relationship.  She spends most of her time sleeping and walking around the house in a very prissy manner.  

This was the view we were looking at on our walk home from sitting on our favorite bench over looking the ocean and drinking slurppies.  The view of the pier is at the bottom of our street.  Isn't our God amazing?  The ocean sings Him praises.