Jesus died, but rose again. To live with his father forever. And that is fantastic news.

"...because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God thought him, because he always lives to intercede for them."

Hebrews 7:24-25 

1 Cornithians 15:58

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Laboring for the Lord is never in vain. Therefore I will serve Him goofily, joyfully, faithfully, confidently and unreservedly. Today in prayer for people I love. Tonight at our first Young Life club of the year. All day, in all ways, always.

fruit. or as the spanish say: fruta.

if you have been at all following along with my incessant tweeting, our new house blog or just talked to me in the last few weeks you'd know that our house is an absolute disaster zone right now. although eventually 205 will once again be a cute little house i'm proud to call home, right now, let's be honest, it's uggggg-ly. example:

in the midst of the nastiness, though, i noticed this the other morning.

this summer, as part of a semi-embarrassing effort to become a little more domestic i purposely experimented with new recipes and also kept a small roof-top garden. it wasn't much but it supplied me all summer with suchhh yummy basil and cherry tomatoes. the third amigo, however, the bell pepper plant, appeared to do NOTHING for about 4 months. finally, though, it produced fruit! (right? i'm pretty sure a pepper is technically fruit?)

as is customary in the inner-workings of nicole's brain, this triggered an encouraging metaphor for me :)

this summer was hard for me. i went from living in a beautiful community, bustling with the lives of 9 great girls to coming home to an entirely empty house after work most evenings. i walked with people i love dearly through too much death and heartache and tragedy. i felt attacked. old doubts and insecurities and lies resurfaced. i worked a job i hated with people who seemed to hate me. i struggled. but, as hard as it was, i also know without a doubt that it was a season of life the lord used and will continue to use to grow and teach me. 

the summer seemed to come to abrupt end when all the girls returned to madison and school started up and i don't know that i ever really properly reflected on the summer. but even so, our good good god has shown me in the last few weeks fruit of some of the hard lessons and dark days i endured this summer- just as my little red bell pepper finally produced fruit faithfully enough.

i've grown to know myself better. i more fully grasp grace and own the fact that i am a beloved daughter of the highest king. i have a better understanding of my passions and gifts and how i can serve well. i've seen fruit come out of seemingly bone-dry summer months. and can't wait to continue to spot fruta in my life and my relationships from this summer.

turmoil, schmir-moil.

so often in life it seems as though people, while struggling and stressing and worrying and dreading on the inside, still try to keep an exterior composure. people put on smiles when that's really the last thing they want to do. people go about their days telling others they're fine when really there's something inside just killing them. i know, i do it all the time.

thankfully, though, my home sweet home has been the exact opposite of this lately. while 205 is undergoing some MAJOR work on the outside (and let's be honest, looks a little bit like a condemnable tornado-effected crack house... see below) the inside could not be healthier and warmer and more full of love and fun and blessings beyond belief.

this whole year after my crazy, 12-hour days of madness, i get to come home each night to 8 other girls who love the lord, love fun and love me. and i can't in words express the joy this has plopped down into my life! 

i love these girls. i love living life with them. i love random 5-person-spooning sessions... turned photobooth photo shoots. i love the beautiful witnesses they are. i love that i come home to them baking prettyyyy dang often. i just love the way we love and teach and encourage each other.

205 n frances. wouldn't really call it a house right now. but it's certainly home to me :)

Psalm 27: 13-14

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

weekend update with... well, just me.

so school- senior year to be exact!- officially started for me two weeks ago and life ever since has been BUSY BUSY BUSY! days are filled with coffee-drinking, playing with adorable little girls, small amounts of studying and lots of volunteer work. this weekend in particular, however, felt extra jam packed but with lots of wonderful things!

to name a few....

friday evening, after a magical tea party with the two little girls i'm nannying for this year- ella and charlotte- i went to watch some of my high school girls swim. and while they got their butts handed to them, sorry ladies!, i LOVED just being there, cheering for them, getting big wet hugs and chatting with their parents (specifically, agreeing to chaperone a dozen of them to a casting crowns concert coming up)

after that, friday night consisted of celebrating a freshly-turned-21-year-old-roommate's birthday. and it was a blast! i love you, cecily!

early saturday morning my little sister came to town to visit me for a few hours. the morning went a little like this: we browsed the madison farmers market, ate delicious scones, i tried unsuccessfully to get her to talk about where she's thinking she wants to go to college next year, we read this HILARIOUS book (seriously i hope if you're reading this blog post you just clicked on this link) and ate some ian's pizza.

later saturday bad-influence me convinced a few friends we should go apple picking while wisconsin temporarily agreed to let it be autumn. good friends, good apples, good times. (all photo credit goes to the t-riffic laura konkol)

a final biggie of this weekend took place today: i rode a WHOLE bunch of miles in a ride called "pedal the kettle" to raise money for young life. here's a few of the gang right around mile 20... still looking dry and happy :) thanks a million to those who sponsored me this year!

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

life feels full. and it feels good. and i am in awe of a big god that adores me and sent his son so that i could be in relationship with him, able to deliciously experience his goodness in so many facets of life.

love, love, love.

I totally fell off of the face of the blogging world this summer. And I'm okay with that. A lot of wonderful things happened the past few months and a lot of really hard things came up the past few months. And nearly all of them I either rejoiced about with the Lord or just cried right to Him about, without sharing the excitement and burdens with others really. In a lot of ways that proved to be a beautiful thing and just a sweet, sweet season of life and learning for me.


Now, however, with the fall nudging its way in, I think I'm back. The last few days I feel like in a lot of ways I keep coming back to the theme of "loving well" and I'd like to spend this year, possibly the last one in Madison, learning what that means and how to do that better.


This morning while reading a book by one of my faves, the terrific Henri Nouwen, I was reminded of this "Peace Prayer" by St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Father,

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

My time in the coming months will be split between being a full-time college student, working with AmeriCorps in a Head Start preschool, nannying two adorable girls, serving the community of Madison as a child advocate at the Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, and also being a Young Life leader, roommate, and friend.

Feel free to follow along as I occasionally document how I'm learning to love well in those roles, where I'll realize I'm AWFUL at loving well and have such room for growth and, inevitably, where I'll post a few hilarious stories or pictures along the way.

I want to be an instrument of peace. I want to shine hope, truth and light into dark, dark places. I want to love well.