Redeeming Love

Isaiah 43:1 has never sounded so true and passionate to me. I can almost hear God saying it:

But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator . . . He who formed you . . . "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!"



I know this book's cover makes it look like one of those trashy love novels, but it couldn't be further from it. Redeeming Love might be my favorite book ever. This book was absolutely amazing, life-changing, poignant, touching, heart-rending, inspiring, triumphant and harrowing all at once. I cannot begin to explain how deeply it moved me. I finished it in matter of days and immediately started reading it all over again. What a beautiful, clear picture of God's love for his children! I cannot recommend this book enough. It is a "must read." It's fiction, but based on the biblical story of Hosea and Gomer. Hosea was the man God called to marry a prostitute.

The author, Francine Rivers, says that, "Writing Redeeming Love was a form of worship for me . . . Everything in Redeeming Love was a gift from the Lord: plot, characters, theme. None of it is mine to claim." And you can tell. God is all over this book, revealing his character and the depth of his love to the reader . . . to me, and I pray to you as well! Do yourself a favor and read it. Most assuredly you will know Him and love Him on a deeper level when you finish this book. I hope I've done a good job of convincing you to read it!

I love what the author wrote on a blank page before the book begins,

"To those who hurt and hunger."

Isn't that all of us?

Weekend in the Mountains

Last weekend my family got together for a long weekend in the mountains. We rented a cabin just outside of Waynesville, NC. It was so good to see my whole family. We went for walks/hikes, watched the Olympics, played Catch Phrase, ate some good food (as always) and celebrated my grandmother's 90th birthday! Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Mom has been working out a lot lately and showed us her muscles:


Nanny and her birthday cake, caramel nut cake . . . her favorite!



Nanny with her great grandchildren: Bridger, Tucker, Colter and Caleb



Nanny looking at the Memory Book her daughters made for her:



"The boys"

Another Good Deal

I know I'm cheesy, but I just can't help but share my excitement when I find a good deal . . .

This past week Brian and I were in Lancaster, PA for a 4 game series against the Lancaster Barnstormers. I went on the road trip mostly because I really don't like being away from my hubby, but also because Lancaster has some great outlet stores including my favorite - Pottery Barn! Now that we have a town home to decorate, you better bet that I had my eye out for good deals!

I've been looking for a mirror to go over our fireplace and I found exactly what I had in mind at the PB outlet. And what do you know, we bought it for a third of the regular price! Here are some pics of our $299 mirror that we got for $95.

Fun in New York . . . AGAIN!

Parking = $12.00

2 round trip train tickets to NY Penn Station = $35.50

4 subway rides = $8.00

2 slices of pizza & 2 drinks = $20.00

Watching one of your best friends play in the major leagues for the Yankees, at Yankee Stadium = Priceless

We had another exciting trip to New York yesterday! Brian had a day off so we caught up with our good friends, Dan and Shannon Giese again. Dan plays for the Yankees so he gave us tickets to last nights' game against Baltimore. Unfortunately, the Orioles shut the Yanks down (13-4) and we didn't get to see Dan pitch since he did the night before, but we still had a blast! It was cool to be in the same stadium that Babe Ruth and all those guys played in. I'm also glad we got to see the Yankees play in their last year at Yankee Stadium!







Brian with Gavin, Dan and Shannon's little boy:


Brian, Dan, and Rick - 2001 Augusta Greenjackets teammates:


Brian and I on the field after the game:

Maryland and a break!

A few weeks ago the Patriots played a 3 game series in Waldorf, MD. Brian's parents drove up and met us there. We ate some wonderful crab! Check out the pics . . .







We had a rare 4 days off in mid July! Brian and I made the most of it. We went to a theme park/water park called Dorney Park with our friends Dan and Shannon Giese and their 2 kids. We spent the entire day riding roller coasters and water slides. As you can imagine, we slept well that night! The next day we went to New York City and saw a musical, Spamalot. We really wanted to see Jersey Boys, Mama Mia, or In the Heights but none of those were available at the discounted ticket booth. Spamalot was really funny though, and since it was Brian's first broadway musical experience, I'm glad it was good!



Before Spamalot we killed some time at the Container Store. It was pretty cool! I had heard about it on Oprah, so I was excited that we happened to run into it. Here's Brian looking unconvincingly fascinated.

Wicked!

My friend, Kellie Reith, and I went to New York City last Wednesday and had a blast together! We ate lunch, toured Lucky Magazine offices (because Kellie has friend that works there), and did some shopping. However, the highlight, by a mile, was when we saw the musical, Wicked! All tickets were sold out, but we stood in the cancellation line and ended up getting great seats - middle section, only 8 rows back! We both loved it. The girl who played Elphaba, the wicked witch, was especially good. Here's a recording of one of her songs:

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=4P-cMh4QjYA


A few pics from our trip:

Blessed

You know sometimes it just hits me how fortunate and blessed I am to have married this man:



The other day I ran across this picture that was taken a couple of years ago and thought, "Man, my husband is hot! I married way over my head." Of course I'm always blown away by his gentleness, humility and integrity as well, and those qualities are what made me really fall in love with him.

Just thought I'd share these little facts with all of you . . .

A Day in the Life of Lindsay Adams . . .

I got this idea from my friend, Suzanne's blog. I had a blast reading and looking at her pictures so I decided to do it myself! Here's how it's done: for one day you document your life with pictures and post them on your blog, with commentary of course. So here goes! Yesterday was Thursday, June 19, 2008 and here is what my day looked like:

Brian and I woke up about 9:45 am. (Sleeping in like this only happens during baseball season because we don't get in bed until really late.). I read the newspaper while Brian ate breakfast. We read and eat breakfast in bed almost every morning. However, our reading material varies, it's not always the newspaper.



















We like to go for walks in the park, and do so at least 4 times a week. This park is really nice, so I go walking on the trails frequently for exercise. We walked 2.4 miles today! We always see wildlife at this park too. The usuals are groundhogs, deer, turtles and geese.


Since we're not together for dinner, I make lunch our "big meal" of the day. Here I am, working hard in the kitchen!



Today I made feta chicken, asparagus, rolls, and fruit.



Clean up is my least favorite part of making lunch, and unfortunately, I rarely get any help from my hubby.


Around 2 pm I have to drop Brian off at the field. Bye buddy, have a good day at "work!"




I make my way to the library where I don't find any of the books on my "must read" list. Since they were already checked out, I chose another book that looked promising. It's called, "The Bible Jesus Read" by Philip Yancey. And yes, I felt rather silly taking my own picture in the library so I made sure no one was looking when I took it.


When I get home it's time to get some work done. My boss gives me work that I can do either by phone or on my laptop.



Today I didn't have very much work to do, so after an hour on the computer, I spent about 45 minutes at the pool reading my new book, which I'm really liking!


Later I jump in the shower and get ready so I look half way decent finally!



I had a phone meeting scheduled with my boss at 6 pm.



I hadn't watched the news in a while, so I caught up on the local and national news. Of course I have to catch up on the celebrity news too, so I watched "The Insider!"


Then I had some leftovers for dinner!


At this point in the day, it's time to go to the ballpark and watch the game! But, today I had to run an errand on my way. I had to return a movie to the Red Box. Red Boxes are great because they are always located in convenient places, like the grocery store, and it only costs $1 to rent a movie!



I made it to the ballpark where I get to watch a baseball game and socialize with my girlfriends!




This is my friend, Heather, and her little girl, Cadence. I love playing with Cadence, she's a lot of fun and full of personality!



After the game we went home to unwind. Usually we hang out with our roommate, Matt Hagan, but he went out on the town with some other guys on this particular night. Brian and I watched a little tv. Usually we watch Baseball Tonight, Dirty Jobs, Man vs. Wild, and/or Deadliest Catch, but none of those were on last night (except for Baseball Tonight) so we ended up flipping channels most of the time.


Then it's time to get ready for bed: wash my face, brush my teeth, etc.


And give my hubby a big smooch before falling asleep!

Recommendation

Brian and I read a book a few weeks ago that we both really liked. It's called, The Shack, and apparently it's catching on like wildfire throughout churches in America. I think people like it because it paints a beautiful picture of what a relationship with God can look like, despite great pain and suffering in this life. If you're looking for a good book to read, definitely check it out!