Rarely do I so fall in love with someone’s music that I write about it. In fact, this is the first time! (Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t fall in love with certain musicians… I do… sometimes too much during my last year in college I actually went to three Jars of Clay shows, and even once came home with a drum stick that the drummer threw into the crowd *blush*)

Earlier this year, I was introduced to the music of Laura Story, through her January 2008 release entitled “Great God Who Saves”. While you may not have heard of Laura Story, if you follow Christian music, you’ve undoubtedly heard a little song she wrote that was recorded by Chris Tomlin that goes like this… “Indescribeable. Uncontainable. You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.”

That song, as well as nine others, make up the album that has been in played daily in my home for weeks. Laura has an amazing ability to put into words what I so often feel when considering my Creator. In fact, while I listen to these songs, I often feel as if the words are not her’s, but God’s. (Makes sense, since she describes most of her music as scripture-based.)

“Might to Save” is an obvious favorite, especially since we also sing it in church. But there are a few other standouts as well, including “Perfect Peace” and “Grace”. It was the later song that actually caused me to write this post. Here are the lyrics:

My heart is so proud. My mind is so unfocused.
I see the things You do through me as great things I have done. And now You gently break me, then lovingly You take me and hold me as my father and mold me as my maker.

Chorus:
I ask you: “How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abound?”
And you answer: ” My child, I love you.
And as long as you’re seeking My face, You’ll walk in the pow’r of My daily sufficient grace.”

At times I may grow weak and feel a bit discouraged, knowing that someone, somewhere could do a better job. For who am I to serve You? I know I don’t deserve You. And that’s the part that burns in my heart and keeps me hanging on.

Chorus
You are so patient with me, Lord.

As I walk with You, I’m learning what Your grace really means. The price that I could never pay was paid at Calvary. So, instead of trying to repay You, I’m learning to simply obey You
by giving up my life to you For all that You’ve given to me.

Chorus

The part that always gets me is the chorus. It reminds me of one of my favorite Third Day songs - Take My Life - which also talks about the seemingly endless need for forgiveness. I find both of these songs to be hugely encouraging, particularly when I listen to them right after I’ve just screwed up again! And as I was comforted, I decided to share this with whoever might read my blog, in the hope that you might also find comfort in Christ’s daily sufficient grace.

What family with kids doesn’t want to go to the zoo at least once? When we considered a trip to our local zoo, we were surprised at how much it was going to cost. A trip to the Maryland Zoo on a weekend would cost us $52 ($15 x 2 adults + $11 x 2 kids). You can save a little by going during the week, or by purchasing your tickets ahead of time online. Parking is free.
A family membership at the Maryland Zoo costs $87. This gives us a year of admission and several other benefits. If we planned to visit the Maryland Zoo more than once in a year, it’s definitely worth the price of membership.

But wait, there’s another option.

The National Zoo in Washington D.C. offers free admission, as part of the Smithsonian Institution. However, it does cost to park at the National Zoo ($20 for 3+ hours). And, the National Zoo offers memberships, just like other zoos. You’re probably wondering why I would suggest paying to get into a FREE zoo, right? Well, here’s the bonus: a $60 family membership at the National Zoo gets your in FREE to tons of other zoos in the country (and offers discounted rates at even more). Plus, you get FREE parking at the National Zoo and a host of other benefits.

So, I opted for a family membership to the National Zoo. It cost just $8 more than the cost of one trip (for a family of 4) to the Maryland Zoo, but offered a whole year of FREE zoo visits at the Maryland Zoo, the National Zoo, and many others. (As an added bonus, the membership got us a double stroller at the National Zoo for $4 instead of the normal $11. Plus, have your kids wear their Club button to receive free animal cookies at the Zoo.)
Side note… if you have never visited the National Zoo in DC, it’s definitely worth the trip! You could easily spend several days trying to see all the animals. Enjoy!

Well, we’ve been in Maine a whole week. They say it takes a week of vacation before you start to relax. I’ve been working remotely most of the week, so I’m not sure this past week even counts, but I am just starting to feel relaxed. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous - mid 70s, low humidity, mostly sunny…

At the bottom of my browser it still says the weather forecast for Maryland. On Wednesday, I saw 103 degrees and was ever so grateful for Maine! Here’s a picture of the view out our bedroom door. I keep the door open when I’m working, and the desk is angled so this is really what I see while I’m typing this! I am so blessed to have a job that allows me to work from home, wherever home is on a particular day!
That yellow and blue “blob” out in the water is fun. Someone sits or stands on the end, until another person jumps and bumps the first person out into the water. It’s even fun for me to sit and watch the kids being propelled off the blob. It takes some big and heavy to really make you go far…

The other day I overheard the following conversation between two cousins:

Anna (age 5): Caeli, chapel is boring. But if you color dots all over yourself, your mom will think you have chicken pox and won’t make you go. Try it. It works.

It’s been a busy two weeks! On July 11, the iPhone 3G was released. At 7:30am that morning, I went to my local AT&T store only to find they were already sold out. I put myself on a waiting list and finally received the call 8 days later. I practically ran to the AT&T store (yes, I really I just admitted I’m a Mac geek, but if you didn’t already know that then you are clearly new here!) and got there just a few minutes after receiving that glorious phone call. Fifteen minutes later I walked out with my new phone in hand, and a huge grin on my face.

Disclaimer: Yes, I fully understand I just signed the next 2 years of my life over to the digital devil (so to speak) - AT&T. Yes, I wanted the iPhone that bad. And no, I don’t regret it.

So anyway, just one week after receiving my iPhone, we took a 9 hour trip to Maine. We left our house at 8am with me at the wheel, and Wyeth at the iPhone, er - GPS After only 90 minutes on the road, I made a wrong turn and it was the iPhone to the rescue! It felt a bit strange trusting this little phone to lead us in the right direction, but Steve Jobs did not fail us!

By 12:30, we were down to less than 10% battery power. The AT&T store had been sold out of car chargers, so I only had a wall charger (and no walls handy!). Yikes! Wyeth made some quick moves on the iPhone to find out that an Apple store was a mere 30 minutes away, and less than .5 mile off our route! So we stopped at the Danbury, CT Apple store to buy a car charger, picked up lunch and gas and were back on our way. Now, it was my turn to play with the iPhone the rest of the way to Maine. I spent a lot of time using the GPS, Facebook for iPhone, and also Twinkle (chat/Twitter).
We pulled into Chop Point at exactly 6pm, just in time for dinner! Thanks to the iPhone for helping us to get here