Saturday Soccer and Sunday Drive

Kiff's team won 5-0!
Too beautiful a day to sit inside.






The rest of the shots here were at the cemetery at Ketoctin Baptist Church just outside Purcellville. I love walking through cemeteries. Reminds me of the smallness of my own existence.

Recent Cooking Ventures

Well, it's nothing spectacular, but it's definitely fun. I made carrot cake which came out well, I thought! I mistakenly sent a bunch of carrot heads and peelings through the garbage disposal... They didn't get ground finely enough and ended up accumulating in the pipe below, which made the sink drain back up.... Jeff had to take it apart to get the gunk out. Yuck! No more carrot peelings down OUR drain. But I think the cake was worth it. :)Here I am making homemake pizza dough, which came out great! I was excited. So excited that I forgot to take a picture of the final product before it was devoured. (Oops.)


And this is what I often see as I am preparing dinner. I think Allie must want to learn to cook. (Either that or she likes the bits of food I throw her way in the process. Yes, I spoil her. But look at her face and tell me you wouldn't do the same thing!)
Jeff and I are doing well, although we are going through a bit of a difficult time regarding a health concern; but it's drawing us closer together, and in the midst of it there are many reasons to be thankful. Please pray for strength and grace for us.

Other than that, we're off to a good start at the beginning of the school year. Kiff has begun her senior year, and on top of that she's got a part-time job, piano lessons, and soccer. Busy busy! Phil is also busy with a full-time job on top of a few courses at the local community college.

And we are getting settled in our new church, which is such a relief to me! Two Sundays ago was the first of the new Sunday School classes that just started up, and I went to one for women called "Becoming a Titus 2 Woman." (We're going through the Martha Peace book by the same name.) WHAT a refreshing time this was for me!! It seems like forever since I've been able to build relationships with other godly women, and I'm finally in a group of women among whom I feel at home. They remind me a bit of the ladies at the VMI Chapel - just wonderful, sweet women of God, of all ages, devoted to learning and growing and supporting each other in the process. I am thrilled to be a part of this class! Afterward several ladies engaged me in conversation and made me feel so welcome and at home; I love them already!

Also, word got out that I used to be involved in music ministry... The worship leader got a hold of me and is bringing me on board in October! I'm so thrilled!! I wasn't expecting to have the opportunity to serve in their ministry so quickly! I'm especially excited because I greatly appreciate this worship leader's spirit. He's genuine and humble and loves to truly worship instead of put on a show. He's the kind of leader I can respect. One thing I especially like about the way he does things is that he chooses two hymns or so to sing every Sunday, mixing them in with the more contemporary songs. He also often explains a bit about the hymns - their origin and meaning and such. I LOVE hymns... They are so rich, and I think it's a shame how they've fallen by the wayside in many churches today. Modern music has its place, I suppose, but let's not forget the songs of the saints who have gone before us!

Oh, and can you believe Federer lost??!? Wow, Del Potro!! Excited for him, and for Kim Clijsters too!

US Open

One of the fun things about marriage is how melding together brings new interests to each partner... I used to be somewhat of a tennis fan when I was a pre-teen, but over the years I'd lost interest. Jeff, however, is an avid fan as well as a talented player. So for these few weeks - those in which the tennis world turns its attention toward the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY - the Case household is no exception.

I didn't even really know about the US Open. I mean, I had heard of it, of course, but I didn't know much. At the beginning of the tournament, when Jeff told me that this is the one time in the year when the TV would be on every night, I thought, "Okay, well, this is his thing; whatever...."

I've been converted.

I just can't stop watching. Rafael Nadal, the Spanish bull, fighting it out with (and triumphing over) upstart Frenchman Gael Monfils.... Young Melanie Oudin from Marietta, GA, rising from obscurity to beat three-time Grand Slam Singles champion, Maria Sharapova.... And, of course, Roger Federer blowing his way through match after match on his way to the top.... It's all so fascinating!

Even the scoring system... Jeff laughs that it's so convoluted because it was designed by the British. But learning the scoring system alone gave me new appreciation and admiration for the game, making it that much more entertaining to watch.

Tonight the two matches on the radar are Rafael Nadal vs. Fernando Gonzalez (they have to complete their rained-out game from last night), and Kim Clijsters vs. Serena Williams. Too bad I have somewhere to be at 7:30!! Guess who will be trying to get home as soon as possible to catch anything she can afterward....

Snapshots from the Week

This is just to show how long my hair is getting... I'm growing it out, and with the added incentive of my husband's preference for long hair, I think I'll actually make it through the awkward in-between stage this time!Got a new BlackBerry! Very fun. Especially the pink part. I think my favorite thing about it is that I keep my grocery list on it... I feel very tech-y as I walk through the supermarket.
Last night Jeff & I took a couple glasses of Napa valley wine and his guitar out to the back deck; then we went for a little walk through the back yard since I had never even been back there. After over two months of marriage, we figured it was about time.


My rock star husband :)

Surprise apples on the apple tree.... Not edible, but maybe they would be if we cultivated the tree. Might do that.
I love sweeping skies full of clouds.

Ebb & Flow

If you've known me for even a few years, you would know the great love I have had for ministry. Mostly, I've been involved in music ministry, drama ministry, and discipling younger women. I also have a great love for women's ministry in general, and I have loved women's meetings where we pray, share our lives, laugh together. These things have given me such a wonderful sense of fulfillment; I gave them my energy and devotion. And just being with God's people infuses me with joy. As a single woman, I had all the freedom in the world to give as much time and energy as I wanted to give to ministry in the body of Christ.

Now, I find myself in a different season of life. I haven't been regularly part of a church, let alone a church ministry, for some time. Jeff and I have been looking for a church for months, and just now we have found one that we feel at home in (finally!). We've been there three times; it's Blue Ridge Bible Church right here in Purcellville, and it's filled with wonderful godly genuine believers. Soon, of course, we'll be plugging into a small group (and I into the women's ministry) and we'll be able to have that fellowship that I've been longing for, but haven't been able to have, for so long. I can't wait.

But because we haven't been able to settle into a church for months, and because we're brand new to this church, it's not like I'm in any kind of "official" ministry right now. Instead, during this season my ministry is to my husband and stepchildren. Right here, right now, ministry is needed - in the truest sense of the word. Sometimes I'm sad that I'm not in an established church ministry - something I've been accustomed to since I was a preteen. But God looks on the ministry I'm in now as just as vital and meaningful and has called me to it.

The pastor at Blue Ridge Bible Church, Jack Gill, spoke yesterday on the Ebbs & Flows of our lives of ministry. He looked at the life of Paul with us and noted times when Paul was more focused on public ministry and times when he was more focused on the more mundane necessities of life. He compared that to our own lives, and showed us that sometimes we find ourselves in a season where circumstances keep us from public ministry; but God is still very much leading us and using us where we are, in the "sacredness of the ordinary".

After all, it's about how I fit into God's plan, not the other way around. What a privilege it is to be an instrument in His hands!

Enjoy these recent pics from the Case home...

Sporting my new Crocs I got online. They're much brighter than I thought they'd be... Jeff says I can wear them anywhere I want except where other people can see me.Jeff showing how much weight he's gained from my home cooking. ;) (Aunt Carol - notice the bowl. :) We use them all the time!)
Jeff and Kiff rocking out the to Beatles. Kiff's been taking piano lessons and doing so well. She's also starting her first job this afternoon! Pac Sun discount, here we come. :)

Bill Cosby!

Mary & Rob and Jeff & I had a huge treat the other night - we got to see Bill Cosby live at the Wolftrap outside DC!! It was a GREAT show and that man is hilarious!!! Here we are beforehand... We had lawn seats which are just behind the arena - they were all that were available by the time we found out about the show. We brought a picnic dinner and a little wine and had a wonderful time before the show even started... Then suddenly the crowd started applauding and rising to their feet, and there was Bill, nonchalantly walking out onto the stage! He was fantastic. We could definitely tell right off the bat that he's getting older - he's 72 now. Moving a little more slowly. But funny as ever!
This isn't a great shot, but it's the best I could do....

Addendum

Jeff and I were talking a couple nights ago about the issue of how God speaks to us apart from Scripture - a topic I've struggled with for over a year. So here's a follow-up to my July 15 entry.

I do believe that God speaks to us apart from Scripture (in the ways the Scripture itself validates). I just think it's vital, especially for those of us who are by nature more emotional and who tend to be driven by mood swings, that we remember that not every impression or emotional experience is necessarily from the Lord. I've learned that I need to be critical of my emotions and sensory experiences in light of objective truth. In general, I think it's best for us emotional ones to take the emphasis off of sensory experience and back on to the solid truth of God's word.

Also, a thought from my husband: God's goal for our decision-making maturity is about morality. Whether we pick the Toyota or the Chevy isn't so critical; what's critical is the heart with which we make the choice. As we learn to make decisions in life, are we growing in righteousness, holiness, etc? Are we becoming more like Christ?

Anyway, here are some shots showing my domesticity. :) Okay, okay, I know it was only pizza, but it was fun!! And yummy!!!