Aubrey Scout Carter

This has been a great week. You know what makes it great? Is it the problems that I have run into on the job? No. Is it the sadness that I have felt over hearing about friend's struggles? No. Is it everyday reminders that life is fleeting? No. Is it the fact that Scout got to spend the night with me on Monday night? ABSOLUTELY!!!! That kid can brighten any kind of week! Scout is my four year old niece and I happen to think that she is the greatest kid on earth! She can make me laugh harder than anyone else. She can make me do things that I would never do for anyone else. She can make me feel special and loved and appreciated like no one else. If you don't know her, you are really missing out! Here's the little mantra that I recite to her over and over when she's with me, "Do you know that I think you are the smartest girl in the world? Do you know that I think you are the sweetest girl in the whole world? Do you know that I think that you are the prettiest girl in the whole world?" And then I always say, "Do you know what's better than being pretty? Being kind...and the great thing is that you are both!" I really and truely mean all of that! I hope that when she is 35 she will look back and remember that that is what I think of her. I am sure that Matt and Carla get frustrated with the way that I spoil her, but I just want her to know how incredibly grateful I am to have her in my life. Man, God has just been too good to us!!!!

Creative Outlets

Do you have one? They are so important...at least to me. There are days when I sit in front of a computer all day. Other days, I am leading trips or counseling students, and while that is extremely rewarding, there is always a little restlessness in not being able to create something. I think that we were made to create, because we are made in God's image, and He is the Great Creator. I can remember in college having projects to do and praying that God would give me an idea because nothing has been created that He didn't create in the first place; no thing or concept exists outside of Him. So, for me anyway, I get a

little restless when I don't get to express myself outside of the norm. I have never felt this more than in the last year. Some of you know that I have taken up the hobby of cake decorating. I'm certainly no cake boss, but I love being able to imagine what something should look like and then begin to create it. Sometimes you can tell what it is supposed to be and sometimes you can't. Haha. Cakes are pretty expensive, so I usually have to be asked to make one, but when I am, I get so excited. It really is fun to me. And it makes me proud to show off what God enabled me to create.

During 40 Days of Community, I have had the opportunity to help create the videos for the Sunday services. It has been a blast to sit and brainstorm about what would illustrate a point or idea and make people laugh. I have pushed my abilities and found that I could do a little more than I originally thought possible. We have also been creating Better Together video clips. So a lot of my free time has been spent trying to think of different things that are better together. So here is what I have found...most everything is better together. Decorating cakes is better together. Ideas are always strengthened when more than one person develops them. It is always more fun to share stories, laughter, and even frustration with someone else.

This past weekend I was working on my latest cake, a camping cake for my friend Amy's 30th birthday. My friend David offered

(or was begged) to help. At one point, the pop tarts that I was using to make the tent collapsed. Had I been alone, I may have crumbled with it, but because I had a comrade by my side, I laughed and together we brainstormed about how to make the next one stronger. Things really are better together. And if you don't have a creative outlet...find one. You just may find out that you have a talent that you never knew existed!