the family is all together again.

I'm at home with the folks.

Stacey and Dustin are driving in from Missouri.

This weekend we are celebrating my mom's graduation from college. My mother is an inspiring woman!

My car is sick--transmission. I barely made it home tonight, I really thought I was going to be stranded on the side of the highway. I feel sad for my dad. He works so hard to keep all of our cars running and it seems like there's no end.

I laugh at myself trying to describe the car's issues. I'm such a girl! I was trying to make car noises to my dad over the phone, trying to help him understand what might be wrong as if my noises will help him diagnose things. I think he finds it somewhat humorous. Girl's really can't do car noises very well.

I'm thinking a lot about God lately. I wonder what it means to be forgiven. I find myself being stupid, and then being too ashamed to ask God for help. I know that I don't EVER deserve God's help, even when I'm being good. Why is it easier to face him in my better moments then? I would imagine that God's truest beauty is exposed when I am face to face with a holiness that is in such striking contrast to my weakness. But doesn't Paul say something about that? He says "What then? Shall we sin more so that grace can abound more? By no means!" Well, I am human, and always human, no matter how super-human I try to be. I don't have to try very hard to look for God's grace, it's just there...all the time...because I am human.

So how does forgiveness influence my humanity?

If I'm in a good mood and if I remember, I will take some pictures of our graduation celebration bash tomorrow. I hope you all enjoy your long Memorial Day weekend. I sure will!

Love to you.