As Tourists in Egypt

Here are some of the slightly more touristy things we did:



This is a picture in the new library in Alexandria. This facility is a major wow! It houses countless documents and has a computer system in which older books have been scanned in so that you can access them from anywhere in the world. And on some of their computers you can access any website that was ever created in the history of the Web. I would love to spend a day there.
In Cairo we went to the Bible Society. Such a cool place! In their book shop we bought an English-Arabic bible and a children's story of the parable of the prodigal son in English and Arabic.
The Bible Society has created a tour for children to teach the validity of the Bible. It will be opening to the public next month. This picture is of the Lord's Prayer in Greek, Arabic, and English, to demonstrate that God speaks all languages, not just Arabic.

In Cairo we also visited the Cave Churches, churches that are created in the rocks . There is a huge rock face with detailed carvings of scenes from Jesus' ministry. (Most of our pictures turned out blurry)
This is inside the biggest Cave Church. Really, it's a cave.



One evening, we got to all go out to this cove to see the sun set over the water. It was beautiful. There was a lighthouse, walkway over the water, and beautiful lighting as the sun set.

And of course, the pyramids!

Some of the team ventured inside one of the smaller pyramids. It was hot and stuffy inside, but it was fun to see what it's like inside a pyramid. This one was a tomb for one of the Pharaoh's wives.

In other news...

We are 13 weeks pregnant! Yay! We are so excited about this and are looking forward to our little one around March 20th. We have had our first sonogram, seen the heartbeat, and then heard it again at the doctor's office yesterday. Everything is going well. We ask for your prayers for health for the baby, wisdom for us as parents, and for this baby to be one who makes God famous with his or her life.
Here's our little one at 9 weeks. Baby is bigger now- almost 3 inches - and has fingerprints.

We'll find out sometime in November whether we are having a boy or girl. Right now we are just happy to have a baby.

We'll keep you updated!

Home Sweet Home

(At a market in Egypt during Ramadan)

We are back from our trip to Egypt, where we have been for the past 2 weeks. We had an amazing time, took hundreds of pictures, made bunches of memories, and now have even more to consider for the future. We got to meet with local people, experience life in Egypt, and of course hit some tourist sites along the way.

We got to work with a great team of people. We had many great discussions about life, challenges, and how God works in each person's life.

I'll take some time to write a better summary with pictures (hopefully tomorrow).

Birthday pictures

Here are some pictures from Aunt Jerry's birthday celebration:The three sisters and their mom

Josh and Jordan, our 2nd cousin? (Daughter of Josh's cousin)

The sun was really bright...can you tell?
Josh was very popular with the kids. They wrestled him until all three were two worn out to carry on. It was pretty entertaining to watch.

Whew!

I realize it has been a while since I've updated. Well, things have been busy. Here's a little run-down:

I've still been counseling at a church and at the women's shelter. That keeps me busy enough. I've learned a lot and I'm really enjoying it. I'm also still working at the church and just trying to keep up.

We are going on another trip! We are preparing to head to North Africa and it's a whirlwind of stuff to get ready. Fortunately we already had all of our immunizations. However, I'm having to make a few wardrobe modifications and since we are going to be there for 2 weeks, I need to find more things to wear! We have great shoes, though!

Josh's family came in town this past weekend. We were celebrating Josh's aunt's 60th birthday! The party was supposed to be a 60's theme - but Josh, his brother Michael, and I were the only ones who dressed up! Haha! We had fun with our outfits, though.
Here's a picture taken with my phone. Pretty good looking group, huh?

And, I got an iPhone! Yay! It's pretty fun to play with. It is my early graduation present from Josh's parents. Thanks Jack and Jo Ann! =)

That's the quick run-down. I'm sure there will be more to come!

Baking

I am friends with a Chinese student at UTA named Song. She and I get together periodically and hang out and talk. I help her understand American phrases and customs and she tells me about things in China. I have really enjoyed getting to know her.

She told me early on when I met her that she wants to learn how to bake a cake. She said she had tried but it didn't turn out. Well, I usually just use a boxed cake mix. So I had a decision to make: teach her the easy American way (and probably disappoint her) or look up how to make a cake from scratch and give it a try. I wouldn't want to disappoint my friend. I found a recipe online for a basic yellow cake and for chocolate butter frosting. Song came over and we got baking.

Song took pictures of every step so that she would know how to do it again. I won't put all of those pictures up. Here are a few:
mixing...
Pouring...
Looking good...
Song with her piece!
The result? Success! A delicious cake and two satisfied girls!

then end of an era

Last weekend was Josh's and my last Sunday to teach in kid's church. We have been teaching there for 2 years now. While we love the kids and love the other volunteers, we decided that it was time to move on and make room for others, especially since we would not be able to finish the school year with the kids.
Here I am with my girls. I taught 5th and 6th grade girls. I gave them all paper fans on the last day with a note "I'm one of your biggest fans."
Most of them are at least as tall as me and several are taller. Crazy! They are a lot of fun. And I will miss them.

Book Corner

This is a long time over due. I just keep forgetting to write about the book.

This summer I finally read Through Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliot. I have wanted to read it for a while and when I saw it at half price books I bought it and read it immediately. It's the story of the 5 young missionaries who went into inner Ecuador to take the Gospel to an unreached people group. They were brutally killed by those they were trying to reach. The movie "End of the Spear" is about these men. Elizabeth Elliot, the wife of Jim Elliot, wrote the book using her husband's journal, letters, and journals and letters from the other 4 men.

It's an amazing story. I know that many look at the story of these men, killed in their early twenties, leaving behind wives and small children, and think "what a waste!" I know it seems like a reckless and ridiculous thing to try to do and ultimately a failure of a mission. Yet to me, this story is very challenging.

I don't know if God has in His plans for me to go to an unreached people group to take the Gospel to those without it. But I am encouraged and challenged by young men who valued the salvation of that tribe and felt the burden of sharing the truth they had with others, that they would do whatever it takes to share that truth. I know that I am not like that and would like to be.

It's a weighty thing to recognize that what the world values and calls "success" often is so far from what God values and calls "well done." Though sometimes I think I want a predictable life, with a hint of adventure every now and then, deep down my heart cries out that I want whatever God has for me. I really mean that. I want every part of my life to bring Him glory and to make Him famous in the whole world, or at least my corner of it. And sometimes the lifestyle choices Josh and I have made and are making seem binding and silly. Yet when I think about the possibilities of what God may have for us, nothing else matters.

Okay, so I guess that wasn't just a book corner post. If you were looking for something light, I'm guessing you didn't find it here! Thanks for listening to my heart.

Surprise Visit

On Wednesday my mom called me to see if I had plans on Friday. Since I didn't have anything set up for sure yet, she said she might be able to come up for the day to spend time with me. We had been trying to coordinate schedules for a while to drive down to spend a weekend with my parents and it's just been tough lately. Every other weekend I have supervision at SafeHaven on Saturdays, which basically takes that weekend out for traveling. One weekend we had proposed my parents already had plans to be traveling. With our upcoming trip to the Middle East, it was looking like I wasn't going to get to see my parents (whom I haven't seen since May) until late September.

So Mom worked her schedule to come Thursday night and spend Friday with me! We had a great time! We went shopping and looking at decorating things. We took Josh to lunch and showed Mom his new office at the ballpark. We spent lots of time laughing. The day went by quickly of course, but it was a wonderful day!

Thanks for coming, Mom! It was a treat to have you here!

Anniversary Celebration

This past weekend Joshua and I spent a night at a bed-n-breakfast in Granbury. We had a wonderful time! Here is the little old house we stayed in:


Here is our little bathroom and bedroom. It was so cozy!


The house had this great old jukebox. So cool.Where we went to dinner there was this sign that said Welcome to Granbury. You can kind of read it.
Anyways, we spent time strolling around the town square, looking in antique shops, just spending time together. We found cute decorating things for our house and little gifts for others. We really enjoyed relaxing. Plus, we had a 4 course gourmet breakfast Saturday morning. The food was incredible! I was so stuffed but kept eating because the food was so delicious!

So I definitely recommend Granbury Gardens bed-n-breakfast for a relaxing getaway.

Presenting: my brother

This is my brother, Matt Golley. He is someone that I am quite proud of. He has worked with Young Life for several years now, mostly in the Austin area. He loves getting to work with high school kids, impacting their lives, and showing them what living for Christ looks like. He is loud and crazy and loves God will his whole life. Here is how he describes what he does:
Young Life is a relational ministry that seeks to give teenagers positive mentors who through building relationships can eventually introduce them to the person of Jesus Christ

Soon he will start a new adventure. Matt is going to start a Young Life club in Puerto Rico with inner city youth. It's a very exciting opportunity. Right now Matt is working odd jobs to save money and is fundraising for Young Life PR. Young Life is a non-profit, so they raise 100% of their support. Usually that support is raised in the local community, but because this is a new start, Matt is raising support here in the States first. He plans to move in January if he can get all his fundraising done.

I'd like to encourage anyone reading this post to consider giving either a one-time gift or a monthly amount to benefit what God will do in Puerto Rico through Matt's efforts and this club. Gifts are tax-deductible and you can give online. Here's how:

You can make a donation right now at:

https://giving.younglife.org/starthere.aspx

Select either one time gift or recurring gift...

In the Gift Designation area, check the circle for donating to "A Young Life Area Ministry"...click the search, and in the blank for city type: Puerto Rico.
This will bring up Matt's area which is:
International - X3103 International Volunteer W/O Club
select that...and continue on.

Don't feel any pressure from me to do this. I just want to give the opportunity for others to know what is going on and have the chance to be a part of it. If you are on facebook you can join his group "Young Life Puerto Rico."

4 years and counting

Joshua and I celebrated 4 years of marriage this Thursday! Well, we didn't actually get to really celebrate on Thursday. I have a counseling group Thursday night, so we had planned to go out Friday night. And I had supervision on Saturday, so we have a weekend getaway planned for next weekend. Our schedules are a bit hectic these days, but it keeps it interesting.

These 4 years have been quite a ride, but we've both hung on tight, knowing God has big plans for us!Haha! And we've enjoyed growing closer together and growing individually, too, over the years. Neither one of us would be who we are today without the other and we are grateful to be able to share life together.

So Friday night Josh took me to a nice little Italian Restaurant. It was a place we had never been to, so that was fun. There was someone playing the piano lightly in the background and most of the tables were candlelit and set for two. (I didn't take any pictures, though)

Next weekend we have a reservation at a Bed and Breakfast place in Granbury. We are looking forward to trying out a b'n'b and exploring this little town on the lake. The celebrate gets to last a week instead of just a day!

Friday was also Joshua's last day at GHLA. Whew! This has been a big week! But I'll let him post more about his big work transition.

Hill Country and Desert

This weekend we traveled out to Kerrville to visit Josh’s parents. Since he is going to start working for his dad’s architecture firm, we needed to do an official “employee-employer” meeting. The meeting went well and we enjoyed our time seeing his parents and brother and sister. We also took some time to drive around town looking at neighborhoods and for sale signs on houses. It’s going to be expensive to move to Kerrville. But if God wants us to buy a house, He will provide one because we are trusting and following His lead.

On Sunday we drove with the Seefeldts to Odessa. Our friend Clayton’s grandmother had passed away this past week and the funeral was Monday morning. We got to spend time with the Chisum family and see Clayton and Holly’s month old baby girl, Hannah. We were glad to be able to be there with the family to celebrate Mimi and the life she had led. Then Monday afternoon we drove back to Arlington. It was a long weekend of driving, but we were glad to be able to spend the weekend in this way.

Josh has one more week at GHLA. It’s a strange feeling to know he won’t be going to that office anymore and working on those projects. But he is excited about the new opportunities.

Failure

"When I fail in my duty, I readily acknowledge it, saying, 'I am used to do so ; I shall never do otherwise if I am left to myself.' If I fail not, then I give God thanks, acknowledging that the strength comes from Him." - Brother Lawrence, pg 22 in The Practice of the Presence of God.

Recently my group co-facilitator shared with the group that the woman who eventually invented Spanks (those shaping undergarments for women) was asked every night by her father while growing up, "What did you fail at today?" He did not think she was a failure, but rather understood that we are bound to fail at something every day and gave her the freedom to recognize it and move on, learning from mistakes.

For a recovering perfectionist like myself, this is a very powerful concept. I don't like failure and tend to dwell on even small ones. I don't like to be wrong, equating that will being wrong in who I am. It's kind of like I know that I'm not perfect, but I don't like to be reminded that I'm not. I don't just shrug it off and chalk it up to "better luck next time." I'm plagued by things I don't do well. I know, I need help! I'm working on it!

This is a big problem when it comes to my spiritual life, as well. I have a hard time embracing grace and passing it on to others and myself. Especially myself. That's one thing I loved about The Ragamuffin Gospel. Brennan Manning explained that those who know they are ragamuffins, prone to fail, prone to get dirty, but rejoicing in the King, they are the ones who can find joy in grace. They are the ones who really know how they stand before God.

There's freedom in admitting failure. It's humbling and sometimes humiliating. But it's easier than trying to live up to the perfectionistic standard. So I'm going to start looking for my failures each day. Hopefully I'll learn from them. And I'll also be learning to let them go. As Brother Lawrence said, what more should I expect? I know I can't do it all, so why expect it? I will enjoy God so much more when I recognize that all good things are from Him - even the good things it looks like I did.

Summer Wedding

Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Strader
Friday night we went to the wedding of our friends Jeff & Cherie. Its was an outdoor wedding, which meant sweat, but it was a beautiful wedding. We enjoyed being there, celebrating with them this exciting time in their lives. We also enjoyed being with our church family and enjoying community.I think we look pretty nice, too. =) They had tables set up where we sat even during the ceremony. That way they didn't have to change the set-up before we could eat. I thought that was pretty smart. It made it a very casual, relaxed seating arrangement. Unfortunately we sat in the back near a fountain and couldn't hear the ceremony really well. But we knew the gist of the event, so it was all good! =)

No dancing but good cake. There was talk about jumping into the swimming pool, but as far as I know it didn't happen. Our pastor tried to get us in on a pact that if he went in we would all go in. We agreed but nothing happened before we left, so we were in the clear.

Congratulations to Jeff & Cherie and their future together!

Melody, I made the mistake....

You tried to warn me. You gave me all the facts. You informed me of your own personal testimony.

And yet I still fell to temptation.

We bought Blue Bell Mooo Tracks ice cream!

You were right! It's addicting and very very dangerous. Thanks for trying to save me. It is not your fault. I take full responsibility for my actions.

Besides, I figure that if you are going to go down, it might as well be good! =)

I Survived Kid's Camp!

Yes, folks, I had another round of Kid's camp at Connect Church. I hadn't planned on going, but they needed another girl leader and my schedule cleared up, so I went. This year we went down to College Station for camp in Aggieland! (That definitely influenced my decision to go!) We had a great time. Here is my small group:

This is a random gangster picture. We were on the Orange team for camp, hence the orange.
We walked everywhere during camp...and it was tiring. But the good side was that the kids were tired too and would actually go to sleep at night. So I didn't have to play the "get in your room now" game this year. Games were good at Water Day Rec, but no mud wrestling this year. I haven't decided if that's good or not yet.It was great to be back on the Aggie campus, but I didn't really get to stroll around digging up memories. We stayed in the Commons (which are now all co-ed by floor! talk about a change for a conservative campus!) We ate in Duncan hall (Corp dining hall - not my choice). We did get to go swimming one afternoon, which was nice. I didn't get to go see my old dorm or visit All Faith's were Josh proposed to me.

More importantly, however, the kids learned a lot (I hope). The theme was "The Way" in which we taught the kids about the Narrow and the broad way. We had a couple kids make decisions for salvation and several make valuable spiritual connections to their lives. An no injuries this year! Yay for kid's camp! And Yay for coming home to my own bed afterwards!

Josh's upcoming job transfer!

This is Josh. I have be too long absent from the blog world. Meanwhile, my wonderful wife Sarah has done a fantastic job keeping our readers up to date with our life and thoughts. Sarah has been bugging me for a while to start posting again. I desire to, but I am great at making excuses. But I'm ready to change that. So this is hopefully the first of many wonderfully written, thought provoking, and revealing blogs from the Josh side of Joshua and Sarah. (well Ill just start with posting, then perhaps work on the depth) . Sarah is on her way to Kid's Camp at A&M, so I am sitting in Starbucks using their wi-fi. Is there a better place to write a blog? Probably not. talk about suburban cliche. and yes I did drive our SUV here from 2 blocks away. Ill save my thoughts on all this for another blog.

So... There is news regarding my job world.

Since we moved here two and a half years ago, I have been employed by GHLA. It is a 10-12 person architectural firm in Arlington, that mainly designs senior living facilities (nursing homes and assisted living) and churches. It has been a great experience and I have learned a lot. My responsibility and knowledge has grown immensely from my first few naive months as architectural intern. One thing is for sure; I still have a lot to learn.

Well, my dad who is an architect in Kerrville, has desired for a while for me to work for him. We have been praying about this possibility for a while, and now God has allowed for a unique option for me to work for JSA (dad's firm) from here in Arlington. JSA is working on an addition to a hospital in Odessa with an Arlington firm called SBL (architects seem to have an affinity for alphabet names). I interviewed with them last week and everything is falling in to place for me to start work for JSA in a few weeks. I will be employed by JSA, but working out of SBL's office (which is located in "The Ballpark", or the Ranger's stadium.)
I am excited about this for several reasons. I will be able to work with my dad, and brother (although long distance) and I will be able to experience a larger firm's office environment, which I anticipate will be a great learning experience. And I will still be here in Arlington, so no long commute!
There are still details to be worked out, but that will happen. Change is fun and can make you a little anxious, but like Sarah said in the previous post. God is in control, and not us, so we can rest in that if we learn to just trust Him.

Hopefully you will hear from me more soon. Have a fabulous day!

Josh

Waiting...

I've been thinking a lot this morning on my walk and thought it would be good to get these thoughts down and share them with whoever reads our blog. I've been dealing a lot with control lately and recognizing that I don't have it. Okay, that's kind of a lame thing to say because I know with my head that I don't control much of anything. And yet there is still that part of me that thinks I do, or at least acts like I do. But more and more each day, since apparently I need to learn this lesson a little better, I am having to give it up.

And the truth of it is that I want to because more than having control over things I want God's glory to be shown in every aspect of my life. I know that sounds like such a Christian Churchy thing to say. But know that it comes out of much struggle with questions, confusion, disappointment, and the over-all goal of my life. I want so much to bring Him praise with my life that I will gladly surrender everything to Him. No matter what.

I have to do this again and again. I really have to take each area of my life, each new thing that comes up in our lives, and surrender it. Sometimes I'm a little slow at it.

There are so many things in my life that I can't control. I can't control when loved ones will find salvation. I can't control where we are moving or when we will go overseas. I don't even know when we will own a house. I know I won't be able to control my future children - or if we will even have children. I don't have a lot of control over having a career and what that will look like. I don't even control the extent of my own life. Listening to a sermon from Francis Chan this morning I was reminded that I don't even know how long I have here. Right now I can't even plan what I will do after graduation. And that's hard when you have worked 2 1/2 years on a Master's degree.

Francis talked about the importance of taking our little flames (think: this little light of mine...) and getting lost in the Eternal Flame of God, losing ourselves completely in Him.

We sing a song at church sometimes that speaks to this. Part of it says:
"And the cry of my heart is to bring you praise, from the inside out Lord my soul cries out"
That's what I want. More than knowing all the answers, or having what I think in this moment is important, I want to bring God praise with my life.

So that means I have to trust Him. I have to wait on Him. I know that He is good and that He holds all things in His hands and He holds all things together. It's still hard and I think He's okay with me saying that.

Fun in...Centerville?

Yes, it is possible to have fun in Centerville, Texas! Haha!

This past weekend I met up with 3 friends I haven't seen in a while. We all used to work together in College Station and in 2005 each went our own ways. We've been able to meet up at two weddings since, one for Shelley and one for Tory, but it has been a while since Tory's wedding. Since we are all spread out over Texas we decided that Centerville was probably the most middle meeting point. Good thing we weren't looking for entertainment! =)

So here we are...standing in the wind. Not a great picture of us, but at least there was someone to take it for us.
Fortunately the food was pretty good. The service was not, but we weren't interested in a fine dining experience - we just wanted to see each other again.

My camera has this cool smile shutter function in which it won't take a picture after you push the shutter button until it registers a smile on the person's face. So here are lovely smiling pictures of my friends!
Time flew and soon we all had to say goodbye and get on the road again.
Shelley and I rode together, so we had more time to keep talking and sharing, which was so great.

Thanks ladies for a fun Saturday lunch. Thanks for sharing your lives and wanting to be a part of mine. Shelley, thanks again for driving! =) I love you girls!

Birthday Cookie Cake

At the church office they are famous for "scratch-out" messages on cookie cakes. For every birthday of a staff person we get a cookie cake for the staff on staff meeting days and there is always a message. No simple "Happy Birthday Joe" will do. It's always something creative, funny, sometimes has to do with a joke or something going on with the birthday person's life.

So this is the cookie cake for my birthday this year. I thought it was great! My pastor loves to call my clients "patients." He'll call me to talk about something for work and ask "How were the patients today?" I think he really wants to be one of my patients. =)

Summer at the Nasher...again!

So I was doing really well at updates. This summer is busy! It's a lot more busy than I thought it would be. Fortunately it is busy with fun things and my counseling rather than papers and projects and tests. Still, it's busy.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Nasher again. Some friends invited us to go on a Friday night because the Nasher Sculpture garden shows older movies on a big screen out in the garden. We went to see the Wizard of Oz. We hadn't seen that movie in years, so it was really fun.

There was also an art festival going on in Dallas in the museum district. So we walked around to see the booths and what was going on. Josh and I did a coffee tasting at the Starbucks tent. We got to sample 4 different coffees and then choose our favorite to receive a quarter bag of coffee free! Very fun!
Here are the guys showing off their strength. They each won a hat.
More updates to come!

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

This is the fortune I got out of my fortune cookie today at Pei-Wei. I think it's pretty profound as far as fortune cookies go. Definitely beats the usual "Your plans will succeed" type of message.


Hope this brings about deep thoughts for the day, or at least reflection.