Interview with Rosaria Butterfield

Because life is short and time is valuable, I typically shy away from sharing or recommending youtube videos. Nine times out of ten there is a much better way that someone could and should be using those minutes than watching a video I think is nice.

However, today I share a video with you confidently, knowing that there is not likely any better way you could spend your minutes than watching it and learning from it. This video is an interview that took place on January 11, 2013 with Rosaria Butterfield at Patrick Henry College. Rosaria is a former tenured professor at Syracuse University who described herself as a "leftist lesbian who despised Christians" in an article entitled, "My Train Wreck Conversion," in Christianity Today. In this interview, she tells the story of how God transformed her life and gives incredible insight into how Christians can best have a lasting, loving, powerful impact in the LGBT community.

Colorado-esque Adventures

Last weekend, Nathan and I had fun taking a couple of Colorado-esque adventures! On Saturday we drove up into the mountains to Cripple Creek, CO for their Ice Sculpture Festival! And on Monday we toured through the famous Cave of the Winds here in Colorado Springs with some great friends of ours. Enjoy the pictures!

The scenery was truly breathtaking!

I am very quickly falling in love with the mountains.

An Ice Slide!

Carving so meticulously with chainsaws!

Inside Cave of the Winds!

At the bottom of the cliff we're standing on is a walking trail with two people walking in the bottom left corner. That gives you a bit of perspective as to just how high up we were! I was very proud of my husband (who is not fond of heights) for taking this picture. : )

Letter to My Valentine

I thought I'd share with you my letter to my valentine today, so you can see why I love ...and respect... him so very much.

Dearest Nathan,

This day is all about love. But I hear that as much as a woman wants to feel loved, a man wants to feel respected. So for you, this day should really be all about respect.

I want you to know today that I respect you. I’ve never met a man who more sincerely loves God and wants to live righteously than you. You do a better job of leading your family in the pursuit of truth and joy in Christ than anyone I’ve ever seen. The way you live an absolutely consistent lifestyle completely amazes me. Be it at work, here in our home, with the church, in your leisure, in your relationships, in your words, or in your attitudes, you truly live excellently always for the glory of God only.  Never once have I not been able to trust you. You’ve never given me reason to doubt your love for me. You show me Christ and his grace every day. Nathan, the longer I live with you, the more I get to know you and the deeper in love with you I fall, the greater my respect for you becomes. 

I am humbled by the pleasure of being loved and lead by you.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Yours Always,

Joanna 

We Need Each Other

I'm beginning to realize what a treasure it is to have my husband come home each evening. I often look across the dinner table at Nathan, thanking God for allowing him to be here with me that day. I know the time will soon come when duty calls him away, and we have to say goodbye.

The reality of military life sets in as I meet woman after woman who has just said goodbye to her husband as he leaves for a deployment. Some are newly married. Some have just given birth to a child. Some will be left alone to give birth while their husbands are away. Whatever the circumstances surrounding each separation, the heartache is so evident. I see it firsthand now.

I am so thankful to God that all across this globe there are local bodies of believers to love and care for these families. I thank Him that though Nathan will leave someday, I will not be alone. Not only has God Himself promised to be an ever-present help to me, He has also called His children to bear one another's burdens and care for those in need. What a blessing it has been to see our church family here live out that responsibility as they walk with these military families and surround them with prayer and sacrificial love.

The family of God is a beautiful thing - a thing I'm so grateful I do not live without. We need each other. I see and understand it now more than ever.

"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God."

1 Peter 1:22-23

The Birthday Week

Before I even entered the world, God blessed me with three lovely older sisters. By the time I came along, I think they'd already decided that our little "sisterhood" was going to be something special. They were right. All of my sisters are stunningly beautiful both inside and out and have become, without a doubt, my three closest lifelong friends. Though the four of us live in four different states now, we've still maintained such sweet relationships and treasure every second that we can all be together.

Believe it or not, all three of these dear sisters are celebrating birthdays this week! I somehow missed the memo that it was the cool thing to be born in February, so I'm the odd one out with a May birthday. Thankfully, they didn't hold it against their baby sister and would usually include me in their birthday celebrations. : ) As you can imagine, the first week of February has always been a memorable one for our family - a week that's become known as "The Birthday Week."

When I married Nathan, I was so blessed to gain three more beautiful sisters! And, wouldn't you know, one of them also has a birthday this week. Her name is Elizabeth, by the way, and she happens to have the exact same birthday as my sister, Elisabeth. 

My Six Sisters - Abbey,  Sarah, Elisabeth,  Me, Kaley, Jennifer, Elizabeth

So... Happy Birthday to four of my six amazing sisters! Each of you have blessed me beyond belief, and I am thanking God especially for you this week.