yay it's here! august desktop + wallpaper!

well, i don't know how it's already the 20th of the month - oh wait, yes i do, life happened + here we are! it's been a great/crazy/exciting/full month... with us buying our first home!

see us? that's us in our ugly moving shoes, too excited to care that we're wearing ugly moving shoes, opening our front door for the first time together! he even carried me over the threshold... which, i'll just say, was not my most graceful moment....

anyways, besides all the home buying stuff, kelli's sister-in-law got married, and well, we both have businesses to run! as much as we tried to get together and work on this, for one reason or another, we couldn't meet up as early as we had hoped but we were still determined to get one out for august... and i'm so glad we did!!

i have such fond memories of the fair as a kid, going with my parents, then later going with my friends on those sketchy rides, to now staying clear of the 'zipper' and other rides that shall remain nameless... and going for the fun of the rodeo and the best-in-show bunnies... yes, i'm that obsessed with rabbits, that i go to the bunny barn at the fair and try to convince my husband that archimedes needs a friend [hasn't worked yet].

one memory in particular always sticks out when i see a ferris wheel, the one where i was sandwiched in between my mom and dad in one of those seats, a little 4-year-old me looking down from the top and being terrified out of my mind. apparently i was shaking the entire time, say my parents. no wonder i had a fear of heights for so long!

as a kid, i had no idea how i was going to get out of there alive. it was the unknown, the fear of falling, the fear of no going back.... but guess what? i made it down just fine.
this rings so true of life for me. living a life of faith is scary at times, it's uncomfortable, it's risky, it's a daring adventure... but God is faithful. He stays by our side, in control of everything.

one of my favorite quotes from c.s. lewis is "do not dare, not to dare." so simple, yet so easily forgotten or ignored. it's easy to be comfortable, to get set in my ways, to stay 'inside' so to speak, but adventure is how we grow, it makes us courageous by trusting in God because we can't see what's ahead but He does. He knows exactly what awaits us, and He'll get us through it.

such a perfect quote as one season ends and another begins... love to you all, praying you find strength to step out of your comfort zone and step out in faith!

xo!
ash