Chels in Progress

covered by Your grace, so free. thank You for Your endless blessings. thank You for Your abundant grace. thank You for turning curses into blessings. thank You for never leaving. thank You for my family. thank You for my singleness. thank You for the youth ministry. thank You for my global serve team. thank You for a safe home. thank You for our Egyptian brother, who we may never see again. thank You for Paul's letters. thank You for strawberry shakes. thank You for friends who treat me like a little sister. thank You for my ekklesia . thank You, Abba , Father. Majesty by sanctuaryband on Grooveshark ♥

happy Sunday. balboa pier, ca. 2007. film. Home by Phillip Phillips on Grooveshark

Well, this is kind of late, but I have the whole house to myself, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the peacefulness.  It was so needed after a rough morning.  So while Louis Armstrong and I hang out drinking iced tea, here are my top ten goals/hopes for 2013 : Take the GRE . eek! Learn Spanish via Rosetta Stone. Go to the gym 3x a week. I recently developed a love for the elliptical. Which sounds ridiculous...  but my knees are happy that it's less impact than running. Go camping . please, pretty please. Visit Chinatown & the Walk of Fame in LA. lived in Southern California 23 years... Never seen the Walk of Fame. Wash/clean out my car weekly. Poor Keiko, such a trooper. Become a mentor for a teen at Orangewood . oh my heart. Do a better job at showing my family love . Write my resumé . for some reason, this scares me. Higher quality quiet times .  And more consistency. Here's to setting tangible

Dear Papa, I miss you. Sometimes it still feels weird. Like, you should still be in the living room watching Green Bay when I come over. Like, your garage should be potent with that distinct old car smell. Like, I never quite got to say all the things I wanted to.  This is the last photo of you we have. I don't know if anyone else saw it. But I found it on your camera the other day. Were you going to buy that car? I'm assuming you were at a car show, per usual. And you didn't have a pen and paper. But you had your camera. I'm really glad your reflection got caught in this frame. I love that I can see your shades. And your white mustache. And your little hairs on the top of your head. I hope you're in Heaven. I love and miss you to the moon and back. Your Mouse, Chelsea

2012 was the best year I've had in years.  Which sounds kind of silly. But it's true, and I can't figure out a better way to word that. The Best of 2012 Experience:  East Asia for 2 months. P.S. Sorry to everyone who has to hear me keep talking about it. I came home 6 months ago, but my heart is apparently still in transit. Book: Acts Jesus Calling Song: "Heaven Song" by Phil Wickham Goals Met: College Graduation. Becoming an order-writer at work. Awkward Moment: A first and last date. Lessons Learned: What it means to give grace & have humility and patience . *Not that I'm the master of any of these. New Steps: Joining the global service team at church. Becoming a high school youth group leader. *Which are both extremely humbling and stretching. So, off to a new year, and fresh starts. I pray that it's full of moments to show grace , to grow in humility , to display love , to develop patience , to learn to