I was driving home from Denton today and was reminded of how beautiful Texas is.  We talk a lot about how beautiful the ocean is, how awe inspiring it is to sit at the feet of the mountains but even this flat land was meant to inspire our hearts to God.  The first settlers were shocked at the new and unique creatures found here.  The sound of the buffalo herds was audible for miles.  The sky seemed to stretch on to the ends of the earth.  The long, tall grass was a hiding place for a wealth of different animal life.  One could get lost amongst the expanse of this flat, grassed land.  The sun sunk into the earth with a beauty many lost words trying to describe.  In short, Texas is beautiful.  We miss out on that beauty when we obsess ourselves with the beauty of the ocean, with power and stability.  We think about the mountains, majestic and tall, reaching upwards to heaven.  We dream of living amongst the forest with it trees so old, so weathered.  The desert is a place where even in the nothingness, God can make things grow, and flourish.  The creativeness of the rain forest calls to us, with it's treetops unseen by man and its dense, unique beauty.  We see the Grand Canyon and are awestruck at what God can do with only water and time.  We play hide and seek throughout the caves and marvel at the splendor of the absolute darkness, yet the creativity of God there.  But no one here seems to sit back and marvel at our man made lakes, our failed attempts at mountains, our highways full of imitation horses, our gentle hills and subtle plains and has their heart cry out.  No one seems to look at the sprinkling of stars crowded out by city lights and has their soul sing "how great thou art".  When the winds blow strong or the days grow hot and long, there is no overwhelming of ones joy.  We get so lost amongst the day to day to realize that even in the 80 degree weather in December, even when it drops down into the 20's that night, even when the thought of stepping outside brings on the sweat or even when the wind's chill is so biting there seems to be no escape, we fail to realize that God is there.  God is here in Texas.  He created the high skies and the low land for His pleasure.  He created the north wind that just won't quit to bring glory to His name.  How great is our God that He can break weather records!  How marvelous is He that even on the coldest nights, we know summer's warmth is never far off!  My God can allow you to go swimming and have it snow within 2 days.  How awe inspiring is my God that He is still in control of everything, including the weather!  If you never take the time to see the beauty here, no other marvelous creation will cause your soul to overflow.

Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee
how great Thou art
how great Thou art.

My name is Stephanie Davis and I am the AWESOMEST ever!
I like when tons of cats sing Happy Birthday... I think its cool.
I think I was the cutest baby ever... everrrrr.
I basically just love myself.

hehe This isn't really Stephanie... its her friend Mandy and I am on her computer and she doesn't know I'm on her xanga. hehehehe

And btw, she is awesome, but she doesn't like the cat birthday song and she actually is the cutest baby ever... well, besides my baby sister.

I love you Steph!!!

I despisingly love city lights on a distant hill.  there is something soothing about seeing them after a long, late night drive.  On the way home to Arlington, there is this hill that in my mind basically starts the plains.  It is 20 heading West from Duncanville.  Once you come around the curve, you can see clear to ft. Worth.  I drive down it only at night because the view of my twinkling home screams to me.  you can see for miles.  i have lived within the shadow of those hills since I was born and coming down that hill resonates the idea of home coming to me.

on the other hand, city lights make me sick.  They seem to sing of man's creation, of man's innovation and they signal our might and power.  When you take the time to leave the city and go get lost, there is something hopeful in the anticipation of being lost.  It's like even though you have no idea where you are and where you are headed, you are relying solely on God for direction and safety.  After one of these drives, the twinkle of the lights let you know that you are about to slip back into a world uneffected by your experience.  The lights will forever twinkle and your soul will be drained by their incessant glow.

I've lost my desperation and that is making me desperate.

Mexico.

I think Chuck will be there.  He sent me a text message today that says that Carlos says hi.  That (in my head) means that he is there, and normally, when he is there, he stays for about a month.  For those of you who haven't heard of Chuck, he is this man who is probably about our parent's age who is madly in love with his wife.  He leaves he a few times a year and heads down to Reynosa where he diligently serves the orphange.  His joy and constant smile completely changed my view of men and showed me that a man can be madly in love after 20 years.  The text made Mexico all that more real and all that more farther away.