Refreshing!

That just seems to be the favorite word around our home these days.  Can’t describe how wonderful it feels to be in this season of  “refreshment” in so many areas.  God is allowing us to breathe deeply and enjoy a new adventure in several aspects of our life recently– and we are loving every minute of it.  It all seems so fitting with Spring around the corner (and a painful season of UNC basketball behind us)– there is so much to get excited about!

Last weekend we attended the Redeeming the Realities of Marriage conference w/ Paul David Tripp at the Summit church.  It was so applicable to pretty much any relationship in life– not just marriage.  I would highly recommend ordering the DVD to anyone– single or married.  God has gifted that man tremendously with an ability to articulate Biblical insight into the human heart.  He does it in such a way that, while you are exposed your great need to be changed, you are encouraged by the fact that our God is faithful and gracious to produce lasting change in our hearts, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our every day lives.  Pretty exciting stuff!

On another exciting and refreshing note: SPRING IS HERE! OK, maybe it isn’t “officially” here until tomorrow…but close enough.  I spent last night watching NCAA basketball with Ben (yeah, we won’t talk about UNC being in the NIT– it just hurts too much right now) and reading the March editions of Southern Living and Better Homes and Gardens (thanks to my gracious Mother-In-Law ). And, it is safe to say that I definitely have the itch for Spring.

(Note: To say that I have the “itch”  is quite an understatement actually– but to say something stronger like I have the “leprosy” for Spring just sounds gross.  So we’ll stick with “itch”, I guess.)

Anyway,  anyone that knows me knows my love for cooking.  However, trying to cook from the pantry and the freezer all winter is, to me,  like trying to cook with your hands tied behind your back.  So, when springtime comes around, it means more than just fabulous warmer weather.

Springtime means fresh basil and homemade pesto.  It means picking buckets full of fresh strawberries and eating half of them before you even get them home.  It means fresh cilantro and homemade salsa.  It means trips to the farmers market on a sunny afternoon to buy fresh vegetables for dirt cheap– then taking them home and roasting them with fresh rosemary, roasted garlic and good olive oil.  And it means that summer cookouts, Vidalia onions, and juicy, flavorful tomatoes are just around the corner.

It means colorful meals like this (from foodtv.com):

Anyone else itching yet?