What God's been doing in my life...

I haven’t blogged for a long time, so I thought I’d write about what God’s been doing in my life:

I must say that today, in this season, during this part of my life, I am happy! I am happy because I have a friend who will never leave me. I am happy because I know that I am loved deeply and cared for completely. Jesus Christ is my all in all. He is more than enough to satisfy me and He has blessed me richly! The interesting thing is that while this is the total truth, it is also not based on feelings. It is based on fact. Life is up and down, emotions are inconsistent, but Jesus’ love for me is always constant, always life-giving, and always powerful. Jesus doesn’t force Himself on me; I have to choose to believe that He loves me, and live my life with that perspective.

Following Christ is all about relying upon Him. He told His disciples, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) He also said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29). How amazing that Jesus offers to us a life that is restful, fulfilling, and fruitful. All we have to do is remain in Him, come to Him, and take on His yoke. This is something I’m learning, but I am learning it slow. Many times I get very concerned that I can’t come up with a good plan for my life, or I get hurt by someone, or I fail at something, and the world seems to be so bleak. In these moments my eyes are fixed on me and I am missing out on the life-giving strength, rest, and love that my savior Jesus offers. In these times I have learned that the ticket out is time with the Lord, time spent reflecting on the truth in His word and His goodness. Even though this process is slow, I am learning and I can say from personal experience that obedience to and focus on Jesus is what truly brings happiness and peace.

To be a bit more specific, one of the things that stresses me out from time to time is the big question, “what should I do with my life?” Many of you know that I have been trying to decide what to pursue with my life. I went to England after Cal Poly, came to Bend for an office job, and here I am…working and living in Bend, Oregon. I often ask myself, “Self, is this what you want to do with your life? Is this what God’s gifted and prepared you for?” I know that my job is not something that I want to do long term because it is related to an industry that I’m not totally excited about (software, haha) and my actual role is more consisting of analysis and computer work, rather than people work, which is my dream. I love relationships and I love connecting with people and helping them. Anyway, a door hasn’t opened yet for me in this area, so I am still continuing on in my current job. I am confident that Jesus will not lead me astray and that His desire for me is to become more like Him, and that the journey of my life is as important as the destination…or in other words, He is shaping me day by day, and I can access the fullness of joy and fulfillment that He offers NOW; I don’t have to wait for some future big life events to come to fruition in order to “arrive” in that place. I’m there!

I am in love with Jesus, and growing closer to Him every day. He is so faithful and gracious. I truly want to honor Him in all that I do. The song lyrics below express how I feel about my Lord and Savior. Hopefully you will be encouraged by them!

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won’t refuse
Each new day again I’ll choose

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You’re Sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will

When You call I won’t delay
This my song through all my days

All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore

A little winter note

I'm at my grandma's house, this 27th of December, doing a little work remotely, and downloading some pictures. Outside, the sky is completely cloudy and the temperature is cold! I hope it snows soon. I've been home in Siskiyou County for 6 days now and I only have 5 left. The time goes by so fast. Christmas this year was really nice, although different. The main thing that made it different was that we didn't have grandpa here to celebrate Jesus' birth with us this year. We miss him SO much. My cousin Jill and I talked about how strange it is not to have grandpa lead our family in prayer, or gather eveyone in the kitchen for dinner, or read the Christmas story, or tell everyone that the real meaning of Christmas is Christ. He left his mark on our family though, that is for sure. We all want to be like him and follow in his footsteps. I'm so glad Jesus is coming back someday and we can all be together again! After New Years, I'm heading back to Bend with my dad and my roommate Kelli who will be spending the holiday in Weed with us. Kelli and I are moving the first week of January, to a little westside bungalo down the street from our current house. We have been wishing and hoping for a house like this for the last few months and we finally found one! It will be a big effort to move, and our friends and family are wondering why we do such crazy things, but we're excited! We are hoping to have more people over in our new place....so, if you come to Bend (or if you live in Bend), please come over and visit us!! I'm expecitng an extremely busy season at my job during the first few months of 2008, with the year-end financial close and other big projects wrapping up. Another update about me is that I started volunteering for CASA of Central Oregon in early December. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates for children, and it is a national non-profit organization that trains and assigns volunteers to child dependency cases. A CASA volunteer advocates in the court system on behalf of the best interest of the child. I have just started working on my first case. If you have questions, I'd love to tell you more about this...here's CASA's website, if you're interested: http://www.nationalcasa.org/. The pictures I've posted are some from our family's Christmas, and others from the recent months. I hope you enjoy them.












My friend Jaime and me at our 80's Christmas Party. My dress is my friend Leanne's 1988 homecoming dress. I love the poofy sleeves!










Jamie, me, and Tyler at the 80's party













Me and Stef. Love that side pony tail!


















Dad teaches Randy how to bbq, Christmas day.












Jill and Andy Pullen. Jill made Tuscan Tomato Basil soup for Christmas dinner. All the granddaughters cooked this year and gave our moms a break!















Emily and Ellie















Cindy and her little girl Lia.













me and Lia!








The beautiful risotto....the DeRoss girls made squash risotto for Christmas dinner.





















































Grandma and Uncle Mike Sprunger














JB got a train set from Auntie Elsa. That was the highlight!

Sprunger cousins on the couch

Amy and Ellie

Carla and Maddie

Friends from my office when we delivered gifts to the family we adopted this Christmas. Pictured from left to right (Sangeeta, Carla, Susan, Mark, Annie, and Girish)

2007 DeRoss Annual Family Campout

We love the Oregon Coast, especially Honeyman St. Park near Florence, Oregon. This year we stayed one night in Readsport, Oregon in a hotel. It was a great time...lots of deep conversations, outdoor adventure, great food, etc....I have to say I love my family so much. To mom, dad, karen, emily, and ellie - I can't imagine life without you. You are my best friends and greatest treasure.

Birthday pictures...

Even though my birthday was last week when I was home in Weed, I have some awesome friends here in Bend who made my belated birthday very special when I came back this week too! I celebrated with my Nonno on my actual birthday and then I went to Layla's birthday party this week (very fun time at Merenda and the Grove) and then my sweet rommate Kelli took me out to dinner at the fancy, yet rustic Kokaneye Cafe in Camp Sherman on the Metolius River. I feel so loved!! :)

Grandpa's homegoing

That's what grandma called it...his "homegoing." My grandpa Gerry died on June 2, 2007. He was 78 years old. The last few months have been tough as he's been sick with the after effects of brain surgery for cancer and radiation treatments. He just never got better and God chose to take him home almost 2 weeks ago. I was in Dundee, Oregon that weekend with my Uncle Paul and Aunt Paula and my cousins Heidi, Joel, Maddie, and Mary. We found out that grandpa had gone around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night. It hit some of us very hard. Grandpa was a tower of strength and faithfulness in my life. I admired him and loved him so much. It is strange that he is not here anymore and that he's not ever coming back. My grandma is a widow. We had a memorial service the following Friday in Grenada, CA and it was a wonderful time of remembering and celebrating his life, well lived for the Lord. We miss grandpa lots, but we do NOT grieve like those that have no hope. We will see him again in Heaven. I'm so excited for that day! Many people said that God had touched their lives through my grandpa. He definitely touched mine. 18 of the 19 grandkids were at the service and I hadn't seen some of them for 3 years. It was a special time of fellowship and I'll never forget those days. The pictures below are of my family during last week's reunion.

Sehali Falls...Meckenzie Highway, Oregon

We packed a picknic and drove an hour from Bend to this beautiful scenic spot on the Meckenzie Hwy. We explored all around the trails and eventually got so close to the waterfall that we were soaked just standing in the mist! The moss we were walking on was like 10 inches thick and completely saturated with water. It was so beautiful!! I can't wait to go back in the summer and go swimming.

The Bend Coffee Shop Tour Debut...

Okay so Kelli and I decided to embark on a tour of all the Bend coffee shops. We started this morning and our goal is to hit each one over the next couple months...we want to try new things, document our experience, take interesting pictures, and make a scrapbook of our experience as we go! Our debut took place at Thump Coffee in downtown Bend...Kelli had Oolong Tea (sp??) and I had a deliciously smooth caffe latte. We saw this adorable little girl with her daddy - drinking coffee!!! The shop was participating in the interactive project of a local artist and we had the opportunity to take part too. Each guest has the chance to write his or her wish on a wood plank thing and they are hanging them all over the shop. Very cool...Stay tuned for our next tour stop :)