God's faithfulness in my relationships

One of my biggest prayers for myself the past couple of months has been that I would be able to continue building into relationships throughout this crazy season at work (mid August - early November). God has been abundantly faithful in providing me with the motivation and energy to do this, and I want to share some of the ways He's been answering those prayers.

• A Tuesday evening off from band practice so we could meet Eliot and Jessie for dinner at Chick-Fil-A. We hadn't gotten together since MAY! Our long-term passions are quite aligned, and it's always fun to share and dream together.
• Dinner with Lindsey in Beacon Hill. A sweet time of sharing our joys and struggles with careers and marriage and many other things.
• A four hour hike with Ryan & Janine last Saturday. Great conversation, much needed exercise, and an awesome place to hike nearby - Blue Hills Reservation. Greg & I are thrilled to get to lead a community group this fall with this special couple.
• Bible study with Katie and Connie. What a blessing to share life so deeply with two amazing women!
• Women's September book study at church - We're discussing Noel Piper's book on women of extraordinary faith. God has opened a little door for me to lead the ladies in worship through a song or two now and then, and I've LOVED being able to serve in that way again. It's also been fun to get to know a few newer women at the church.
• Dinner with Nick & Deborah, our newlywed friends. They're so adorable; we love that we live so close to them!
• Connecting a little more and a little more deeply with some gals serving in the church band.
• Breakfast with Dan & Ann. Good times catching up, getting excited about community groups beginning and serving the church band together this week.
• And then of course with work being so crazy, it means more time with co-workers. I've been having fun getting to know some colleagues more these past two weeks. And I love the lunch breaks and Dunkin Donuts runs that keep us going!

I feel overwhelmingly thankful for how God has sustained me through the past month and enabled me to live a thriving life instead of barely surviving. It's only through Him.

Where I have been the last few weeks...

O LORD, You have searched me and known me!  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.  Where shall I go from Your Spirit?  Or where shall I Flee from Your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, You are there!  If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.  If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to You, the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with You.

For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  If I would count them, they are more than the sand.  I awake, and I am still with You...

Oh that You would slay the wicked, O God!  O men of blood, depart from me!  They speak against You with malicious intent; Your enemies take Your Name in vain!  Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?  And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?  I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

From Psalm 139 and deep within my heart...

Congratulations, Nick & Deborah

Yea for Deborah & Nick!  They're married!  Greg and I were so honored to participate in their wedding this afternoon.  It was a marvelous celebration and sincere covenantal ceremony.  I tried to get a good picture of the bride and groom, but nothing seemed to come out well.  So here's a cute picture of them at one of their showers.

And here we are all dressed up for the wedding.  I can't believe I still fit into this dress!  I bought it in Turkey when I was NINETEEN!  LOL!

Cool cake.  Those are cannolis in case you were wondering.

Mandalinalar

I was going to write some deep thoughts from today, but I'm too distracted by the oh-so-delicious clementines Greg and I are enjoying right now!  They're the closest thing I've discovered in the US to mandalinalar in Turkey.  It's so amazing how the moment I pop a slice in my mouth, I am right back in Istanbul. Most of my mandalina memories are tied to the Tummons, so I often close my eyes and remember sitting in their salon (living room) with dear friends for a morning study of Acts.  I LOVED stopping by a fruit stand on my walk to their house and picking up a huge bagful of these incredible fruits to share around the circle.  Thanks, Creator God, for these amazing fruits - clementines and mandalinalar!

A First

Yesterday was an exciting day for the Kings. Greg had his first opportunity to lead our church through God's Word during our Sunday services. I was so proud of his diligence in preparing the material and seeking to share God's message with our community. It was a long day of teaching as our church has two morning services and then an identical service in the evening at another location in Boston. But it was wonderful to watch God supply Greg with His strength. I was personally blessed to connect with God through Greg's message on Acts 25 & 26 all six(?) times I got to hear it!

One of the things I've always admired about Greg is how he faithfully digs deeply into the background, meaning, and application of scripture. I remember going to him in Turkey once before we were even dating and asking if he could help me better understand the necessity of blood for sanctification in the Bible. (One of my dear friends in Turkey was asking about this.) Greg expertly walked me through the Old and New Testament, pulling out the significance of bloodshed. I remember walking away thinking, "Wow, God. You have given him a gift of teaching Your Word with depth and accuracy."

Yesterday was a great opportunity for Greg to teach our community. He'll be the first to admit he has a lot to learn about teaching in that context, but I know many were blessed by how he faithfully handled the Word and relied on the Spirit yesterday. I'm personally excited to watch him grow as he has more opportunities to teach in the future.

Bringing the Old Testament to life

As you see in the picture below, Ayse's been particularly into the Psalms lately.

Greg & I are proud of her commitment to God's Word. I think I caught her deep in prayer in this picture.

Unlike our kitten, Greg and I have been into Genesis and Exodus recently, partly because I'm doing a Bible study on the tabernacle and Greg's studying Hebrew. But Greg's also been checking out some really interesting documentaries from the library on the land of the Pentateuch. I admit I was skeptical of finding them worth my time, but after watching a few minutes, I was hooked!

A week off

Drew & Carrie visited us last weekend. It was wonderful to have them with us in Boston! I don't have any great pictures, so you should see Carrie's wonderful post from last week. Miss you guys already! (Why did you have to post a morning picture of me?!)

In other news, I took most of last week off of work to prepare myself for the schoolyear ahead (ah). And it happened to be our anniversary last Wednesday as well. We celebrated by going out to dinner, and Greg gave me a gorgeous bouquet of my favorite flowers! They still look perfect this evening! We also went to the beach that day (a sandy one that is).

Here's my hubbie of three years chillin' at a rocky beach in Rockport.

Oh, doesn't this just make you want to come visit?

I love New England's rocky shorelines...

One of my favorite "new" spots in Boston. This used to be where the expressway went before they finished the "big dig" tunnels under the city. Now it's a long park with tons of benches, tables, fountains, and grass! I wish I had a picture of Carrie and me walking in the fountain with all the little kiddies! (I think our husbands were a tad bit embarrassed.)