Welcome to the Solanco Fair!

This past week was fair time down here in the Southern End, and for those of you who don't know...it's the next best thing, only to Christmas for all of us! While a lot of fairs have gotten into the whole flashy midway and rides type deal, the Solanco Fair is holding fast to its roots as a true celebration of agriculture and community. Everything starts on Wednesday, with the parade. The whole fair lasts through Friday, and you can partake in all sorts of activities from watching the livestock judging and auction to admiring all of the pies, produce, crafts, and displays that local families and businesses have entered. It's widely regarded as "homecoming" for the community, and a chance to catch up with everyone that you don't see the rest of the year.

In addition to all the incredible food and fun, I'd have to say that one of my favorite parts is the livestock auction. Of course I like it for all of the adorable animals, but actually the main reason is that I have fun watching the families and friends of those who are showing their animals. In a way, it's one of the best means of getting a good picture of how strong family-to-family bonds are here. Behind the scenes, the kids showing send out letters notifying local businesses and families that they'll have an animal up for bid. When you see the turnout of people coming to bid on Friday night then, even if they don't have much use for a pig or a steer, it's a really cool thing. It's also neat to keep track of the families that will buy each other's animals every single year, as a further means of cementing their friendships. And of course, there's always the friendly rivalry between the two local grocers over who will get the grand champion steer.

All of these probably seem trivial to a lot of outsiders, but they're some of the stuff that keeps Southern Lancaster County going, year after year. It's what sets us apart and this strong community is what allows us to pass through the generations, seemingly untouched by the outside world. It's the heart of a small-town farming community, and I couldn't imagine being happier anywhere else in the world. :o)

How Can This Be?

After the Beth Moore simulcast at church on Saturday, I picked up a copy of "Jesus: 90 Days with the One and Only." It's a really neat book chronicling the life of Jesus and interspersed with places for you to write out your thoughts and prayers about what you are studying. Today's lesson was entitled "How Can This Be?" and took an in depth look at Mary's reaction to finding out that she was going to be the mother of Jesus.

When I read that passage (Luke 1:26-38) in my own Bible (ESV), I was struck by the wording of this question...not "How can this be?" but "How will this be?" To someone who always just assumed that Mary was asking if this miracle was, in fact, possible (a.k.a. me), it was a totally new concept to consider this adolescent girl realizing that God was going to do the impossible and not doubting it at all, but simply wondering how exactly He was planning on doing it.

If we as believers all chose to (with God's help) dwell in this state of mind rather than wondering if God would choose to work in the world today or not, imagine the incredible power of our combined faith! I have to believe that this is the kind of faith that Jesus seeks to draw out of His followers, and the kind that will bring Him unprecedented amounts of glory. Join with me in praying to remember this as we go through our day-to-day lives!

Undefiled Beauty

I've been really studying the beginning of 1 Peter this week, because we're starting a new Bible study for the fall term of Sunday school. I'm not sure how all of the versions line up, but I was really struck by the triad of words in verse 4, I think, describing our eternal inheritance with Christ: imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (ESV).

Maybe it's because this time of year always catches me soaking up more than my fair share of the natural beauty surrounding our home, and it just seems so wonderful, so sacred, and yet...it's not undefiled. If such beautiful and breathtaking scenery here on our fallen Earth can be so captivating, can you even begin to imagine the magnitude of that which is completely and totally undefiled and fresh and new in Heaven? I could get lost for hours trying to wrap my mind around that picture!

It could be that, or maybe I'm still reflecting on my recent baptism. As I was sharing my testimony with the congregation, the thought completely overwhelmed me of what a beautiful redemption Jesus has already started (and is continuing to work) in my life! My past was so painfully ugly, and I don't say that because I still feel guilty (actually I feel quite forgiven!), but Jesus has taken away all of that filth and blossomed some of the most beautiful and cherished realities that any human could ever imagine (I use the word blossom as a verb, because every time I try to come up with a better description, all I can see in my mind is a big flower blooming in some sort of time-lapse sequence!). What I'm trying to say, is that I can hardly wrap my mind around a redeemed sort of beauty, but to imagine one that is completely pure and undefiled in the first place...wow!

So anyway, those are my current thoughts. If I blog more in the next couple of months, there's a good chance that my words will still have something to do with 1 and 2 Peter, but that's just a risk that comes with the adventure! :oD

His Faithfulness Continues!

God can be so good to provide tests for us quickly and faithfully so that we don't have time to wander away and think that we're being self-sufficient! This Monday marked the first day of Jesse's work as a full-time employee, rather than as an intern (which he has been all summer). With it came a significant raise, so we are more than a little excited...especially since student loans come due in November. Admittedly though, it was tempting to think we were taking care of ourselves and had the whole "life" thing well at hand.

Thankfully though, our God is faithful in not letting our feet slip. Within an hour of beginning to celebrate the raise we got the estimate for the body work on the car that wrecked in July (half our bank account) and the alternator died in the other car (another pricey repair). Originally, we thought it was just the battery, so my job was to drive it into town (about a 40 minute trip) yesterday for repair. There wasn't much gas in the tank, so I was really nervous the whole way...I couldn't stop for gas because the car wouldn't start back up again. Finally, I made it to Pep Boys, and the car just coasted into the parking lot and died right in front of their service entrance. So not only did He get me exactly as far as I needed, but He even parked the car where they could get to it easily! The people there were so friendly and helped me figure everything out (another concern, since I couldn't reach Jesse at work) and save quite a bit of money!

God has really blessed us over the past few months, and we'll still be more than able to make ends meet, but it sure is good to know that He's looking out for more than just our physical comforts. Our God loves us enough to look out for our spiritual well-being, day-in and day-out. Isn't that something worth praising Him over?! :o)

Cherished Connections

I happened to pick up this summer's "Our Daily Bread" while I was cleaning this morning and skimmed through it until I found today's date. It seemed to be worth posting on here, in honor of the many friends of this type that have come into my life so far, and for the ones who will in the future. I feel truly blessed to have been given so many cherished connections!

"When I heard that David was in the office for a board meeting, I was excited. He and I had a mutual friend, Sharon, who had died several years earlier. We had a few minutes to reminisce about her and her love for life and God. What a delight to connect with someone who has loved someone you have loved! There's a special bond because you love to talk about that cherished person.

"Those who know Jesus Christ as their Savior have even stronger ties. We are forever connected to Him and to one another. 'We, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another,' Paul says in Romans 12:5. We've been 'born of God,' and we love those who are 'begotten of Him' (1 John 5:1).

"When we get together with fellow believers, we have the opportunity to talk about the one we love -- Christ -- and of the love, forgiveness, and grace we have experienced in Him because of His death and resurrection (4:9-10). At such times, we can encourage each other to continue to trust Him and spur one another on to be faithful in our walk with Him.

"This coming Sunday and throughout the week, let's remind fellow believers of all that Jesus has done and of how truly wonderful He is." --Anne Cetas

"If He brings you to it, He will bring you through it."

This was the title of the sermon at our church yesterday. We had a guest speaker from Canada who was going to share his testimony of how God has brought him through his journey with cancer. Sadly, he found out about a week ago that his cancer is back after about a year. Despite this however, he is able to answer questions of "How are you?" with an honest and heartfelt "Top shelf." He shared about how he had gone through times of anger and depression, but through it all there was strong evidence of God working in his life. For this coming season of sickness, while frustrated at the situation, he talked about his eagerness to see God at work again, and the changes that first had to be made in his heart to get him to a place where this can truly be his attitude.

The message came at a really good time for us, because Jesse had just been in an accident the day before. He was coming home from a wedding in Delaware and hydroplaned into the guardrail as he was exiting I-95. The car is a little worse for wear, but he's fine. It was hard to figure out what I should be feeling. Obviously I was really thankful that he was okay...he means infinitely more to me than any material possession. At the same time though, I was disappointed because it looks like all of the money we got for wedding gifts will now be going toward getting the car fixed rather than setting up our home, which I was really looking forward to doing. It caught my attention in the sermon when he shared a quote he had read saying, "For every pagan diagnosed with cancer, there is a Christian in the same circumstances charged with the responsibility of showing how Christ enables us to react and respond." (That wasn't word for word, but I think that was basically what it said). I don't know about the statistical accuracy, but it did shed a whole new light on our circumstance.

We kind of suspected that something would happen eventually...meaning that everything had been falling so perfectly into place and we found ourselves constantly needing to pray that God would reveal to us that we are not self-sufficient and that all that we own is really His. Now He has blessed us with the opportunity not only to see that prayer answered, but with the chance to show faith in Him through challenges! I know it's not as "big of a deal" as being diagnosed with cancer, but I have to believe that our God is just as capable of and worthy of being honored through this situation too!

So for answered prayers and strengthened faith we are thankful indeed...now comes the exciting part of seeing what God chooses to do! :D

A New Chapter

It's hard to believe that we've been married for almost one month already (on Monday)! Some things still feel so new, and others seem like this is the way that it's always been, which I like. God is continuing to teach us how to depend on each other where we used to rely on our families for everything. Despite this, we are both very thankful that both of our families are so close...we would really miss them! I know that lots of people are excited about the chance to finally move away from home and start fresh, but that is definitely not the case for either of us! We love our Lancaster County!

Lots of exciting things have been happening since our wedding day, including a wonderful 10-day honeymoon to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Incidentally, the summer is their off-season for tourism, so many days we had an entire beach to ourselves and it was absolutely beautiful! The only little glitch was that our airline went on strike before we could fly home, so we had to do some last minute scrambling to find another flight for that Wednesday (Jesse's sister was getting married that Saturday!). We made it home though, and jumped right into wedding preparations for Zach and Katrina's big day. That was an absolutely gorgeous wedding, and I'm really excited to not only have 3 new sisters now, but a new brother as well!

The next day we got to host our first get together at our new home (with all of our unpacked boxes cleverly stashed in unused rooms) for Father's Day, and Jesse proved his genius at the BBQ. Last Thursday was his company picnic at 6 Flags, which was fun because Zach and Katrina and Zach's parents were there too! I'm slowly getting everything unpacked, amidst studying for the NCLEX (July 28), and trying to remember what all I need to change my name on! Finally, Jesse and I are playing another season of church volleyball this summer, and this week won 2 of 3 games! It's so much fun to get to hang out with our friends every week! God has blessed us richly and continues to do so. We're really enjoying learning how to honor Him in this new chapter of our lives.

Here are a few pictures of our wedding and other things that have been happening:


I really liked my bouquet, but I'm sure it must have weighed 10 lbs!


Mommy and me before the ceremony.


Daddy and me before he gave me away.


Our first kiss EVER!


The new Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Bender!


We're married!!!


Our new family.


All of our wonderful friends that were in our wedding!


Our first dance had a lift...Dancing with the Stars would hate us!


The finale of our dance. :)


Jesse and I in the Virgin Islands.


Our own private beach!


All of us Benders at Zach and Katrina's wedding.


My new brother and sister!