digital scrapbook.

some photos, some words, plenty of stories.

last week, walking and talking on alki.

the water was choppy and windy...this was just before a wave jumped right on out to meet us.

we retreated, wet, to our warm car very soon after!

how did i end up with so many friends from indiana??

this is katy, she stayed over at our house on her way home from canada to her home state.

she and dana had lots of fun reading the book that dana brought home from the library.

the day before i left town to head back to texas i got to meet up with some of my fellow seamar interns! it was a fun time just catching up on the last 6 months.

later that day a group of us got to help my friends justin and allie move to a new house! well, kind of. i played with baby james and made homemade hot chocolate in honor of national cocoa day. but the packing went so quickly that we were done with tons of time to spare, so we sat around their packed up living room and played games! it's our favorite thing to do. afterwards, the reeds, craig and i all went to the matador for some happy hour nachos. the nachos are hard to beat, but the conversation is always the best part. i'm blessed to get to do life here with people who passionately seek jesus and who live their lives in a way that exposes sin and walks in repentence. it was a good time of asking questions back and forth, listening, and being reminded of truth.

the next day i got to go to my second christmas party of the season at the ellis' house- AND i got to make oreo truffles as a treat! it was a neighborhood party, but most of our community group made it as well! then, a measley few hours later at 5:30am, i (sleepily) boarded my plane to oklahoma city!! i enjoyed the views from the window seat, as always, did quite a bit of reading, and my fair share of dozing as well...and then i was there!

right after i flew in, in the kitchen (where else??) with my mom and grammy.

the day and a half that i was in okc was relaxed, which i was thankful for! i got to cook a lot of really delicious food, got to look at the classic chesapeake lights (sorry, no photo!), and caught up on the most recent family happenings. before i knew it on sunday morning we headed out early to get back to texas. (but not without a stop at the gap outlet in gainesville!)

back in fort worth with my dad and natalie!

since i'll be missing out on the big family christmas this next weekend, we organized a spontaneous dinner at our house so i could see everyone, and almost everyone made it! we laughed a lot, as we do, and traded stories on what everyone has been up to. everyone is in college or has graduated! we're getting so old.

most of the cousins, plus dad.

the next day i spent the morning with kelsey and the afternoon with victoria, which was a treat. dinner with the family, some fro-yo for dessert, and then the next morning i packed up and headed to the airport! i left closer to 4:45am that time... needless to say, my sleep schedule is more than a little bit off. i got to sit next to a little 7 year old boy with a puppy on the flight back, which was entertaining to be sure. more reading, LOTS of photo editing (more to come on that!), and then i was back to seattle!

the trip was super fast, but i feel like i got to see almost everyone. this week too has been a blur in itself- i can't believe tomorrow is friday already. i have lots of blog posts queued up, the key is finding the time to write them!

exciting fact of the day: the days are getting longer now as opposed to shorter!! yay. because an 8 hour day is just kind of sad.

until next time,

tracey

regenerating grace.

i was listening to one of mark driscoll's sermons on grace the other day. mostly people think of grace in two forms: common grace (food, rain, natural abilities, creativity) and saving grace. in the sermon, mark lists many more than that. (15 i think??) one that stuck out to me was regenerating grace.

regenerating grace is the grace that God gives to us in changing our hearts and making us new. we desire things that we didn't used to, and things that used to be appealing no longer are. i used to believe the lie that my desire to do things well, serve people freely, live in the light, or be obedient stemmed from being raised well. while having parents that instilled these ideas in me is a component, apart from the regenerating grace of Jesus, these things would constantly be at war with the lazy and selfish desires in me. those do exist, sure, but my deepest desires are steadily being conformed through regenerating grace to mirror those of Jesus.

these past few months i've seen several areas of my heart changing to desire to the things that are true and good, things that are in direct opposition to society and culture. i'm thankful for the reminder that THIS is evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in me!

love,
tracey

pictures.

i promised pictures, and here they are!

peeping through the clouds one afternoon. (it wouldn't be a picture blogpost without at least one picture of rainier!)

zippy's: the best cheeseburgers in west seattle.

triple date with the reeds...

...and the harris'!

on another day craig and i got to go bowling with the harris'- nolan wasn't quite sure what to think of all the loud noises

polyclinic semiformal christmas party! any chance to wear fancy dresses to a fancy party...yes please!

there was so much good food- cheeses, smoked salmon, crab cakes, wontons, potstickers, bruschetta, stuffed mushrooms, mashed potato bar, desserts galore, and the list goes on!

the dancing really kicked off around 9, once people had loosened up a bit. dana and i were having a blast, laughing so hard at ourselves, each other, and everyone else!

photobooth! we went back twice more with a couple that we know from church who also happened to be at the party. what a great thing to have at a party!

that's all for now!

love,

tracey

self-righteous.

i'm not perfect. and to pretend to be is to operate out of a very self-righteous mindset. it is inevitable that i will let people down, unintentionally hurt them, disappoint them. i'm human, after all. but to take this failure (in the sense of a shattered sense of idealized perfection) and let it take root in me, to claim it and wallow in defeat or disappointment, is not only unreasonable, it's sin. it's sin because in that mentality, i am essentially saying that i am good enough. and in attempting to be "good enough," i am entirely missing the point of the fact that Jesus died because i am not, nor can i ever be, good enough. if He is willing to love and forgive me when i was living in unbelief and rebellion, who am i to be unwilling to forgive myself, being a stickler in even the most seemingly insignificant things? who am i to turn down the grace that was so costly and is so freely given?

to walk in the knowledge that i am not perfect, i will make mistakes, and that i get to live in grace is lifegiving.

check out the sermon that the Lord used to reveal this to me HERE.

next update i promise to have pictures :)

love,
tracey

steadfast love.

this morning i read:

" 'this is like the days of Noah to me: as i swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so i have sworn that i will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. for the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my STEADFAST LOVE shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed' says the Lord, who has compassion on you." isaiah 54:9-10

what great truth that i need to remember every day. that the Lord loves with a love that cannot be broken or withdrawn. it is undeserved and freely given, and therefore we cannot do anything to disqualify ourselves from receiving it. we cannot earn it, and therefore we cannot lose it. and that is what sustains through the good times and the hard, hope in the fact that we live for the eternal, hope which cannot be taken away.

last week at church we started a new sermon series after having spent the past two years studying the book of  luke. since i only moved up to seattle just over a year ago, that's all i've known! it was exciting to start a new series. last week's sermon was more of a documentary on mars hill, how it got started in a living room, made its way through multiple sites around seattle, drew in all kinds of people who just kind of wandered in off the street and had their lives transformed. i was encouraged to see the boldness with which the gospel has always been preached, and how mars hill has grown against all odds. to see how even through impossible circumstances and hard times, the church persevered, holding onto the hope that the gospel is true and that everyone should have the opportunity to hear it.

seeing the behind the scenes look at how the church came to be where it is now was neat. i was reminded that many of the things that are involved in the process are things that i really enjoy: things like figuring out how to get stuff done in the most efficient and effective way, or how to make people feel welcome, how to serve them, how to do real life with people and point them to truth. if you want to see the story, you can check it out HERE.

gosh. it got late fast! and there's so much to blog about.

until next time,
tracey