giraffe poop, wrestling and the skin i'm in...

Love The Skin You're In
Originally uploaded by ...*melissa*....

isn't it funny the things that show us who we are? moreso, the things that show us more of who He is?

this year has been a montage of craziness. since i left tallowood i have traveled through 20 some-odd states, lived in 6 different cities and held down a menagerie of jobs...the only thing that could top my list of job descriptions would be a garbage girl or working at a zoo...although i might actually have enjoyed giraffe and elephant dung more than some of the jobs i had!

several months ago i worked for a brief stint at a marketing company. many of you remember this with fondness because it was hysterical, watching me in a suit every day. Terri Richter, the co-owner of the company, would swing by my desk almost every day and we'd chat of Jesus...of His constant goodness in the midst of pain. of His sovereignty. of His deep, perfect, yearning love for us. one thing you must know of Terri is that in the midst of these conversations of the Lord's goodness, Terri's wife was battling brain cancer. Terri would just say that this cancer, this season, was "a gift" to their family. it brought a sweetness to their relationship with the Lord that they'd never have known otherwise...a sweetness born of faith in the unseen...

i'm feeling a little like jacob recently. we've wrestled, i've pushed and He's pulled me back...and in the end, i leave with a slight limp. i'm praying for my new name. i'm praying for a deeper place in His heart...for Him a deeper place in mine...to be sanctified a bit more in the middle of this. michelle, a friend from seminary days, recently emailed me: "God is oh-so-good in the wounding of His people." how true this is! His pain is used to rescue us from places we should not go! to remind us of His sovereignty! to draw us into those deep places of Him that we'd never have seen otherwise. what a beautiful gift He's given me! i'm so thankful for the way He's made me...for the plan He has for me...

now i'm praying that He'll break my heart for what breaks His...i've such a great need for a repentant heart and He's been allowing me to see so much of my sin in recent days...

what a beautiful year! wouldn't have planned in advance a minute of it, but what a beautiful year!

much love y'all....

His,

annetta

empty horizons

reflections of love
Originally uploaded by Henri Bonell.

hey guys...

isn't it interesting what kinda' curves come on our life roads? recently, justin and i broke off our engagement. and without much warning or fanfare or escort, we were both facing a new life picture. i've been planning our life together for the last several months. now it seems that we're both with an empty horizon at our fingertips...we're allowed to paint whatever we wish. and as amazing as justin is, i wish him all the technicolor crayons in the world...

much love...

annetta

p.s. i'll be around a computer more now...living in a cornfield without internet in indiana for a while now, i've ignored y'all. so sorry.