more learning how to use the macro button... :) These pink bell-like flowers were a treat for me and B to photograph! 

Beautiful white flowers. This picture fills my soul with God's glory. 

Jonas Brown. So cute you could take him home with you! 

We stopped in Magnolia to deliver a plant to a friend and did a driving tour of Magnolia Blvd. If you look closely, you can see a little fountain framed by trees in this pic. We had to cross the street and then get practically into the yard to get pictures! 

bigger picture of the same - you can see that its really big! 

the wall of glass in the new Pacific Marketplace at Seattle-Tacoma Intl. Airport. Apparently the panes flex with the wind. neat-o and BEAUTIFUL. 

For my science (and home school) friends. Here is a bee doing what bees do. 

trying my hand at getting some things focused and other not - these purple flowers were beautiful! 

These are a rose called "Joseph's Dreamcoat" because they start out very vibrant pinky-red and fade to cream - so when there are a lot of them it looks like a bunch of different roses. Bethany and I call them "David's Jackets" :) 

Come Lavish in Love

I was at New Song on Sunday night - for two great services. If you are new to New Song, you recieve a CD, with 5 songs on it. It gives a "taste" of the music at the church, but also provides a variety of GREAT words and sound to entertain and feed your day.

One of the songs is "Come Lavish in Love" - the words caught me breathless today as I clean up the offices and search online for a dress

And I stand justified, through faith in God
We have peace with him through our Lord Jesus Christ
Now in grace we stand; we rejoice in hope
Praising him in every victory, every trial.

We know hope will never fail 'cause he has given us his love
through the Holy Spirit living within us

Cause I am lavished in love
forever been forgiven
caught up in your grace as it flows down from your throne

I'm eternally enamored
enveloped by yours arms
and I know your strength with hold me when I fall

Cause I'm lavishely loved.
I'm lavishly loved, lavishly loved.

then it goes into the words from amazing grace. triumphant in the truth of god's grace.

what a song. what a truth. it speaks directly to my heart. and if i were better at this whole "web" thing I would link the song here so that you could hear it. As it is, i want new song to prosper and so I'll say this:
if you go to the following link: https://www354.ssldomain.com/clovercreek/resources/product.asp?productid=61 you can get aNew Song CD for like $10 or something ridiculously inexpensive like that. Do it. Do it NOW. Its my favorite CD right now. There's a song on it called "Gracious God" that I've been singing to myself for YEARS since they started singing it at New Song.

(note: the CD referenced above doesn't have "Come Lavish in Love" on it.... apparently you can't buy that one on-line yet, but if you call the offices of Revalesio or New Song they may get a copy of "Live at the Rialto" in your hands - tell them I referred you and be sure to say, "please")

(New Song: 253.404.0177 Revalesio: 253-404-0111)

Blessings dear friends - may the grace of God be yours!
love<>

Variety of items

Good morning! At least for those of you in the west its still morning - for the others good afternoon!

Couple bits of information:
1) I traveled to Point Loma Nazarene university on Sunday night to interview for a position in Residence Life there on Monday. After the whole experience I didn't feel like I was a fit for them. Consequently....

2) I accepted a position at Greenville College as the manager of the Fitness Center, beginning July 11th (when I return from my second Seattle trip). I am excited about this change in direction, and to use this position as a tent-making job in order to do whatever ministry the Lord is moving me into at Greenville.
(http://www.greenville.edu/athletics/facilities/fitness/)

3) I had a SUPER TIME with Gloria and Donna (and Anita/Brian/Steve and Tony on Sunday) over last weekend. Glo and Donna and I spend all of Friday and Saturday together and most of Sunday (until I headed to the airport) it was a great time and I was so blessed to have spent it with them.

4) I'm thrilled to still be in the Seattle area all this week attending the Jesus-Ministry conference in Tacoma, sponsored by Clover Creek and New Song. What a blessing. I am learning, growing, being challenged and encouraged. I expect great revelation this week to help me prepare for this next year at Greenville and further moving me into my calling.

I am being challenged in a few ways, and at the end of this are some scriptures that are real to me today. But my sense today is that the Lord wants me to let him pick me up and be carried - even though I'm awake and could walk, he wants me to lay my head on his shoulder like I was a 4 year old girl who just loves being carried by her dad and trusts him to take her wherever she needs to go. My hope is that today I can let him direct me into the right places - that I can close my eyes, rest and go with him.

Scriptures for today:
(Ironically last nights prayer time was largely about being single... and today's reading was 1st Corinthians 7...)
beginning in verse 8, excerpts throught the chapter: Now to the unmarried I say: it is good for them to stay unmarried as I am. Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. Are you unmarried? do not look for a {husband}. time is short and we should live in response to that - if you buy something, live as if it were not yours to keep, those who use the things of the world as if not engulfed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. I would like you to be free from concern. A single woman is concerned about the Lord's affairs - her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. In my judgement, she is happier if she stays as she is... vs40.

psalm 119:92 - if your law had not been my delight, i would have perished in my affliction.

God is good, and he loves me. I'm learning that more and more - and even as its something I teach a LOT, i realize this week that i need to be taught more in my heart, too.

Read all of Psalm 119 as you have time and be encouraged that God's word is your lamp (vs 105), and that he knows ALL about you. (vs 73)

So I pray that God would open my eyes to see the wonderful things in his law (vs 18) and that I would be transformed through the revelation.

Love, Tiffani

quick update for the regular readers (and any occasionals, too)!

god loves you. and he loves me too. (thought I would lead with that)

thus far I don't have a job yet. But I do have a job OFFER, and an INTERVIEW, so its true that it never rains but it pours.

I'm in Seattle, WA today (actually Kirkland for the NW-sters). Last night my flight arrived to the greeting of the POURING rain, at 12:30am..... 2:30 am my time. I awoke this morning early to a phone call from a good friend and also to a beautiful early summer day in Seattle.

blue sky
light clouds
green everywhere
the sound of traffice
the sound of birds chirping
warm sun
very light breeze
the sound of little league traveling over the air from the local park
peaceful and perfect.

I am blessed.

I am staying this weekend with two of my aunts - Glo and Donna - and we are hanging together ALL WEEKEND! I'm psyched! And then I fly to San Diego on Monday for an interview at Point Loma Nazarene Univ, for a resident director position. I fly back to Seattle that night to prepare for a conference at New Song church (see link to the left) - "Jesus Ministry" which has a lot to do with what I'm teaching and doing back in Greenville, but will be great in-depth information and training for me. Further education!

That is the plan. And I am feeling rejuvenated as I consider the options of staying in Greenville or maybe going to San Diego. May the Lord give me wisdom to follow my heart and his direction. And may he speak loudly so that I can hear him over the desires of my friends, family and the breaking surf at the ocean. :)

much love to you today. may God demonstrate his love to you intimately and with the desire of your heart today.

love, tiff

links:
www.pointloma.edu
www.newsongministry.org
www.greenville.edu

"Am I lovely?" "Do I matter?" (answer Psalm 45:11)

These two questions are the innate questions of women (as revealed in John and Stasi Eldredge's new book "Captivating").

(p.s. before you get too far, this post is a lot about women, and so don't get mad if you're a guy, OK?)

I started reading Captivating on Monday (a friend gave it to me for my birthday - THANKS!) because some women here are going to go through it this summer together. I had heard some good things about it, but also some negative things about what might be in it. It's touted as the "female version" of Wild at Heart, the tagline says, "What Wild at Heart did for men Captivating will do for you." I know some women who have read "Wild at Heart" and been wounded by the way it portrays women to men.

side note: someone wisely said to me today - "its foolish to read a book about men, written for men, to find out your identity as a woman." I agree, but I'd also agree that its hard to see things written that you don't agree with and not think, "I don't want men to think that way about me."

To summarize before I begin with a couple quotes I will say this - I am only 65 pages through this book (which is about 1/4) - only mid-way through chapter 4. And already I have been moved to tears and found peach and solace within it.

The Eldredges contend that there are three main "pieces" within a woman:
1) the desire to be sought after/desired/pursued/romanced - we'll call this one: Princess
- this is not a damsel in distress, its just that we want to be valuable and worthy of being sought.
2) the desire to be an irreplacable part of an adventure, something bigger than ourselves: Warrior
- this takes shape in all different ways, but ultimately it means that we want to be useful and able to fight and help achieve a victory
3) the desire to be thought of as beautiful as we are - both inside and outside: Lovely
- the argument is that each woman has beauty inside her to unveil and we want to be able to unveil it.

Here's where I've been most touched by this book thus far, and by the hope that is in my heart for healing as a woman:
Because God created both man and woman in his image, the deepest desires of our heart are the desires that God put there - both to teach us to seek him, and because it IS him. God desires to be sought after; its all over the bible: seek me, come to me, find me, ask me. God desires us to be part of the bigger picture, the bigger battle, GOD is a Warrior. And God has inexpressable beauty, and longs for it to be displayed.

I read a story recently (and I won't be able to do it justice here) where a man was on a walk and came to a never visited part of the countryside which was teeming with flowers and grasses and life - beautiful. The man cried out to God, "God, why would you create this beauty out here where no one will ever see it or value it?" In the story God's reply was to this effect. 'My beauty is such that even if no man shall ever see it, the birds and the heavens will look down upon it and rejoice.' God longs to share his beauty, and does share his beauty, in order that he might be glorified.

I am encouraged that because I was created in the image of God that my longings (in their best form) are not wrong. I'm encouraged that I can see God in me; the Apostle Paul called it, "Christ in You: The Hope of Glory". I am encouraged that I indeed AM a Warrior Princess, a beautiful representation of the King of Heaven, loving to be loved and delighting in it, and seeking to fight along side someone for a cause greater than my self.

Two quotes before I head to lunch:
"We feel unseen, even by those who are closest to us. We feel unsought - that no one has the passion or courage to pursue us, to get past our messiness to find the woman deep inside. [aside: who hasn't felt that way, especially if you are a strong personality!?!] And we feel uncertain - uncertain what it even means to be a woman; uncertain what it truly means to be feminine; uncertain if we are or ever will be" (p. 7)

"She is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God. Woman. In one last flourish creation comes to a finish not with Adam, but with Eve. She is the Master's finishing touch... Eve is...breathtaking... Not an afterthought. She is God's final touch, his piece de resistance. She fills a place in the world nothing and no one else can fill. Step to a window, ladies, if you can. Better still, find some place with a view. Look out across the earth and say to yourselves, "This whole, vast world is incomplete without me. Creation reached its zenith in me."" (p. 25)

Eldredge, John and Stasi, "Captivating", Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2005

Make sure you hear me say that this book is not about female dominance or any NOW agenda..... But its nice as a woman who has often been forced to be "manly" in business or told to be "less" strong outside of business to realize that God thought that there was more needed after he created man. That I was created not as an aside, but as an integral part of creation - JUST as I was created.

More to come.

The King is enthralled by your beauty. Psalm 45:11

Love, TR

Oswald Chambers and the problems with the information age

I think I may have quoted this before, but maybe not....

Excerpts from "My Utmost for His Highest" - by Oswald Chambers
June 8 - "What Next?"

If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the smooth waters just inside the harbour bar, full of delight, but always moored; you have to get out through the harbor bar into the great deeps of God and begin to know for yourself, begin to have spiritual discernment.

Beware of harking back to what you once were when God wants you to be something you have never been.

Check out more from Oswald at: http://www.rbc.org/utmost/

Here's a little bit of my update about my problems with the information age and the global village:
1) you end up knowing too many people to really maintain quality relationships with. studies say that women can really only maintain 3 intimate friends, and the rest are less close. how do we manage that when we have close friends in 12 cities around the country?
2) you are invested IN relationships (actively) around the community in which you live, but you also want to make sure people who are either full-time or temporarily in different communities feel loved.

HOW!!?!?!?!? This is the downfall, the pitfall, the destruction that is owed to the information age. Don't get me wrong, there is a TON of great things we have gained. But the ability to communicate instantly (and thus to communicate poorly often) is not one of them.

Today I am against the "global village" (comical, even as I use this "blog" to post my thoughts to my friends and family around the country!).

This is Andi's "Isn't he silly, Tiff" face. We exchange this look a lot when Jared is being goofy. 

Jared in his normal photo pose..... running away. At this stage he would rather be silly than sit still! 

Waiting. 

Little ballerinas (pre-recital). Andi is on the right. 

All the excitement of getting ready and then a 40 minute car trip? No wonder she fell so fast asleep. 

Getting ready for the recital. "Mommy, I think we should paint my fingers and toes with the reddish-pink color." 

Andi and Ryan in their confederate attire. I guess once you move to the south its a requisite? 

Andilin loving the cinnamon rolls we got to have for breakfast on Sunday because it was "Recital Day" - John and Karen, et al. are great at making special days really special! 

Ryan got new slip on shoes recently. They may be his all time favorite acquisition (next to the electric train!) 

Jared. 3 years old. 

Here's Ryan driving his new red convertible sportscar. Its important to wear something to cover your heat, you know. Doesn't he look like a grown up!?! 

Its tough to be a performer - lots of waiting in line! 

How sweet are these little ballerinas? 

Andi with her dear friend Peyton. (the day before Andi's recital) 

Andi is VERY chic in her ballet leotard and her retro shades (mine). 

Jared with his watchdog - waiting for his mom to buy him shoes. We got to the bookstore and were getting ready to get out when this voice comes from the backseat, "I forgot my shoes!"