A smile and a tear

Well everyone, choir tour 2012 is over. There are some very mixed emotions being experienced by yours truly. These emotions sound like this:

"I LOVED IT/I'M SO TIRED/ST. LOUIS AND CHICAGO ARE THE BOMB.COM/I'M SUPER PUMPED ABOUT BEING HOME/OUR HOST FAMILIES WERE SO GREAT/MY BED!!!!!"

I'm sure you get the gist of it. I promise that I'm not yelling at you, but you have just been privy to the inner workings of my brain. I hope you aren't too scared or scarred. The fact of the matter is that our choir tour was a great time of ministry and fun. Memories were made, laughs were loud, and friendships reached new levels. You can't avoid the last one if you live with 39 friends for a week.

Before I show some pictures of St. Louis and Chicago, I would like to share with you this gem of a Psalm. Let's be honest, all of the Psalms are gems because our Father gave them to us, but this one screams "My God is SO good!" Do you ever read a Psalm and think, "I have had this Scripture available to me since the Psalmists penned these words. Why have I not been reflecting on them all the time?" Maybe that's just me, but just in case there are others of you in the same boat, here are the beautiful words of Psalm 130.

"Out of the depths I cry to you,

 O Lord;

O Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive

to my cry for mercy.

If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, 

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness;

therefore you are feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the

morning,

more than watchmen wait for the

morning,

O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, 

for with the Lord is unfailing love

and with him is full redemption.

He himself will redeem Israel

from all their sins."

Did you read that? "If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared." The ONLY One who has the right to keep a record of sin doesn't!  He forgives with "unfailing love and with...full redemption." Okay, who isn't encouraged by that? 

Now a little virtual field trip of some St. Louis and Chicago adventures. 

Our first stop ladies and gentlemen is the City Museum in St. Louis. If you haven't been, GO! You can climb, crawl, run, jump, dance, spin, and hop throughout the entire museum made of recycled materials.

Climbed and crawled through all of that.

SO MUCH FUN!

Found this pretty church and wanted a cute pic of our matching $3 shirts from Wal-Mart. We met at our host church in Paudcah that morning unaware that the other would be wearing this shirt.

Divas or models...I've heard it both ways!

Now for some of the St. Louis Zoo.

These creatures are incredible.

The ostrich was cleaning the giraffe. He did not appreciate the giraffe butting in on his work.

He is so cute!

I think he was saving some of his food for later...

Wittle camel!

Current background of my computer

Aslan!

Now for a little bit of Chicago.

The "no longer Sears tower" Willis Tower

I love the City!

Fail of a picture at the Bean, but it was fun!

I hope you enjoyed a snapshot of Spring Break!

H&Ks,

Yours Truly

P.S. I do have a Disneybound outfit to post, but that will come a little later.