Timothy Ministry Wrap Up

Tuesday, was the last day for Timothy Ministry for this school year. The girls absolutely loved the class they took and I loved the 3 hours that I was able to stay there and work on all kinds of catch up emails, SS material, and work. It was a perfect schedule and we sure will miss all the fun we had!

Tuesday was a fun day as all the classes had a party to celebrate a wonderful semester. In their girls Bible study class: Oh No Jonah! they had a magic show from the teacher's son. The girls loved it and were amazed that he broke a pencil with a dollar bill.

In Musical Theatre (they take this class together) they had a talent show! The girls did an awesome skit they made up...and it was really funny! Anli was a beach bum selling "hot dogs." Virginia was the customer and got a big surprise...check it out...

They also did a wonderful performance from "Godspell" based on the book of Matthew. They did a great job and I really enjoyed seeing them. Jay had staff meeting, so he couldn't attend this time...but at least we have the video.

Anli has been in musical theatre classes before and she is such an actress! She always gets into the part! I love that the girls get to take such wonderful classes here and get to meet lots of new friends and have other teachers other than mom. It has been a blessing and we can't wait until the fall.

Virginia really blossomed this year in performing. Many times she is shy about being center stage, but she sure has come out of her shell! Sometimes she floors us by her outgoing moments! She did a great job in the skit in front of the class...you would never know she was one bit shy! Look that this video...

In Anli's Home Economics class she made me this awesome wallet! I LOVE IT! It's in my purse all the time and holds all my coupons and cards. She used the sewing machine and did this all herself. She also is finishing up her cross stitching project and I'll post it when she has finished.

She loved this class because she was able to cook, sew, quilt, and much more! I love that she is so crafty. She amazes me at her creativity and her love of all kinds of crafts and arts. She already wants to start saving for culinary school when she graduates high school...what a girl!

I love my wallet! Thanks so much Anli for this gift.

Virginia's last class in Spanish 1 and she had a fiesta! She had yummy snacks, a pinata, and games. I can't thank God enough for allowing this ministry into our lives and so close to our home! It is less than 1 mile and such a support to our homeschooling. The girls made lots of friends and learned so much. It's great for them to have this kind of enrichment to their regular subjects. Can't wait to see what we'll take next year...

Surprises!

This past weekend when I got to Panama City, Paula and I loaded all of our bags into the room we were sharing. I opened my bag to find right on top...these! Jay had written encouragement and prayers for each night that I would be on the retreat! They were such a HUGE surprise and absolutely wonderful! It really made my whole trip knowing he had taken such time to not only pray for me...but to let me know exactly what those prayers were. What a blessing!
Then...if that weren't enough...I received a dozen RED roses when I came home!

I talk so much about the girls in this blog...that my hubby doesn't get near the justice he deserves! He is a true blessing from God and he spoils me rotten. Sometimes, I don't even appreciate all that he does for our family and me...so today I want him to know how extra amazing we think that he is!

Jay, I know you read this blog everyday. Thank you for being an answered prayer in our lives! Thank you for taking time to make God your number one priority and to lead our family in devotions each morning. Thank you for desiring for your children to have the Word of God written in your own handwriting (amazing!) and that you work on that every single day.

Thank you for being strong enough to keep our course steady...but kind enough to plan a crazy trip to Disney in just a matter of days. Thank you for being the mind behind the money...so I don't have to be! Thank you for being human and admitting as much. Thank you for supporting our family spiritually, emotionally, and financially. Thank you for loving these 3 girls fiercely, yet trusting that God loves us more.

Thank you for being a great organizer, packer, cook, helper, father, husband, minister, friend, listener, computer guru, electronic whiz, financial nerd (Dave Ramsey's name not mine:), and lover of Christ! You deserve so much more than a post on a blog, but I know that this will be in our family blog book for generations and so will the example you have led.

We love you!

Isaiah 58

This past weekend God allowed me to share Isaiah 58 with the ladies. The weekend was entitled "Embracing the Satisfied Life" and it started where Satisfy Our Souls leaves off. It walks through Isaiah 58 verse by verse.

This passage shares with us the indicators of a life fully satisfied in God and His Word. It compares and contrasts the kind of worship, fasting, and prayer that we bring to God and the kind of life God wants us to lead. This kind of life will overflow all over this world. It will feed the hungry (I mean the real hungry), it will clothe the naked, visit those in prison, break the bonds of injustice and oppression around this globe and in our own neighborhoods, and much more!

The much more will be found in the follow up study to Satisfy Our Souls..."Embracing the Satisfied Life." I know....I NEVER in a million years thought I would ever write another study. I was fully turned toward Foundation Bible Series doing the book of John. But, God has intervened...again:)

In a matter of 20 minutes early before daylight one morning, God poured 8 weeks of study into an outline (I thought I was preparing for a weekend...but no!) about the indicators of a life that is truly connecting with God. A life that is truly satisfied. I'm surprised, but the words are burning in my bones! I was so excited to be able to share just a small portion of the new study with the ladies this week and that was so valuable to me. They had no idea, but they were my test group!

Then, as if for further confirmation, I read this post on the Living Proof Ministries blog from Beth Moore's daughter Melissa as she in ministering with Compassion in India. I was just smiling because she expounds on the same passage. Do you think God is up to something in this generation or what?

So, check out this link and pray for me as I begin writing the next study...oh mercy I can't even believe those words are being typed...gotta get used to that! I'm pumped and can't wait to share it...thanks for letting me work through it this weekend you sweet ladies in Panama City!

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2009/04/gods-shameless-love-for-poor.html

Have a blessed day and try meditating on Isaiah 58 for a while and see what God has to say...watch out...He means what He says!

Panama City Beach Retreat!

We had a wonderful time this past weekend with the ladies from Calvary Baptist Church at their annual Ladies' Beach Retreat. We enjoyed lots of wonderful fun, sun, and amazing time together in God's Word!
My friend Paula and I headed to Alabama to meet the group at their church on Thursday afternoon. We had a wonderful time of talking and sharing about God's work in our lives! We had a BLAST and the time flew by so quickly!

After we met the rest of the ladies, we headed to a small town called Abbyville where we ate dinner at a cute little place called Huggin' Molley's. I got the worst salad in history...but the company and atmosphere made up for it in a big way! We spent lots of time in Isaiah 58 talking about "Embracing the Satisfied Life." It was great to share together about all God was doing in our lives and learning how to live a life truly connected to the heart of God. It was a blessing!

The beach...was AWESOME! The weather was amazing and we enjoyed lots of relaxing time on the beach. We even got to jet ski! I had a blast with Patty as we raced over the waves at record speed. We even managed a swap in the middle of the ocean so that I could try driving. I have some kind of crazy fear of deep ocean water (even though I used to be on the swim team). I just don't like knowing there are animals 5 times my size in water I can't see where they are!

I had a small sense of panic as we headed way out into the water where the jet skis may drive along with boats, but after a few minutes I was having the time of my life! We laughed and just had a great time jumping waves.

We ate some amazing food...both in the room and at the restaurant! Here we are about enjoy a wonderful seafood dinner together...there is a whole other table of women to the right with us...so those around us might have wished they were in another section! We had lots of fun and ate some wonderful fresh seafood...I had yummy she crab soup!!!

We all headed to the beach for some sunset photos together! Here Paula and I look like we are reporting live from a tornado! The wind was blowing like crazy...and though several photos were taken...this was the best! I am so grateful that Paula was able to come and thanks to her for driving me home after a long weekend of speaking!

Meredith is one of my close friends and she is the woman's retreat leader and also the wife of the youth minister...who happens to be my husband's best friend! We all went to college together and have enjoyed staying amazing friends. I have gotten to spend the last two weekend with her! She was also at the scrapbooking retreat too. I love getting the chance to hang out with her and the ladies of her church! Thanks to Meredith for allowing me to come and share with her ladies...I was truly blessed by each one of them.

Earth Day 2009!

Yesterday was Earth Day and we had a fun-filled day planned together! You see, in high school I had an amazing teacher that was a strong Christian and an environmental consultant. She taught at our school and then did consulting for companies helping them make wise decisions about how to make money for themselves and their families while being a good steward of the earth God has given us to live in.

She made a huge impression on me and when I attended Samford University after graduation, I majored in Environmental Biology. I was going to be an environmental consultant too! I took every class I could in that major before I headed to Auburn to finish taking the core classes that would easily transfer. I took crazy things like Microbiology, Botany, Topography, Geology, Zoology, and on and on and on.

When I transferred to Auburn the Environment degrees were under Engineering...um...can you say MATH?!?! And, truthfully my grades weren't all that great in my science courses...that autoclave was my nemesis! I remember going to the dean of the Engineering department and sitting down to see about signing up to major in Civil Engineering (What was I thinking?). He smiled and kindly told me that it would require lots of math, chemistry, and better grades! He suggested a nice degree in English...since I seemed to have amazing grades in that. So, I walked myself right over to the school of Liberal Arts and got myself a degree in Editing...and a minor in Biology (thank you very much!).

But, all that is to say that I have always been involved with being green. I was taught early on that everything we have is a gift from our God and we are stewards. We know we shouldn't waste and fly through carelessly the money God has called us to be stewards of, we know that our bodies are given to us by God to use for His work in this world and we should be a good steward of it...and I believe that the earth is a gift God has given to us (and it declares the glory of God so that no one has an excuse) and we should be good stewards of it as a gardener would care for his garden.

So, we are what pop culture calls "green." We use all compact florescent bulbs in the lamps around our house (the apartment dictates the other bulbs since they own the place!), we recycle, we use those cloth reusable bags when we grocery shop, and we do our best to be good stewards of the beautiful place God created by His Words for us to live in for a while!

We began our day with our devotion time and shared with the girls what WE believed Earth Day was all about. We told them exactly what I just shared above and that we are NOT to worship or focus on the gift more than the Giver! But, we are to be good stewards of anything and everything He has given us by grace. We don't save the earth...we are stewards of the earth. Only God saves!

After we spent some time washing out all our plastics and aluminum cans, we headed over to the Hobgood Recycling center. We always recycle these things at our apartment, but I wanted to the girls to see where we can take it and have someone teach us a little more about recycling. We got to sort the things we brought and then listened to what would happen after it left this center. It was really good for the girls...and for me too! This center recycles much more than our apartment does...so we will be bringing more here!

My "green" girls!

Of course, we played at the park on this beautiful day...considering I locked my keys in the car and Jay had to come and bring another key! Always an adventure! But, if you have to get stranded somewhere, a park on a gorgeous day is the place to do it!

We left from there with Dad and took the picnic we had prepared to Woodstock City Park for a free concert and lots of fun activities at their first annual Earth Day celebration! It was such a nice day and having lunch outside listening to live music was really fun!

They had lots of fun activities for the kids to do while they focused on ways to help animals and nature. Virginia works on spreading peanut butter on pine cones for a natural bird feeder!

After the peanut butter they dipped and covered them in birdseed.

They even got to decorate little bags to take the bird feeders home in so they would make a mess!

Next, we headed over to make a homemade chia pet! This was such a great idea! First they took old pantyhose that were cute below the knee. Then, they had little paper cups with the bottom cut out to make a funnel to dump the grass seed into the pantyhose.

They tied off the pantyhose and let the kids add cute accessories to make animals! Isn't this so cute? I have no idea what it is...but its adorable!

Virginia made an elephant! Talk about cutie patootie! We have to get rid of them because they are grass seed...and she is allergic to grass...I didn't even think about it! But, she did fine.

There were jumpy things to enjoy!

My pretty girls in front of the fountain.

What beauties!

We headed home to get some school work accomplished that afternoon. But, first we hung our bird feeders in the trees right next to our apartment!

We hope the birds and squirrels enjoy an Earth Day treat! We sure had a blast and even went to see the movie Earth together late that afternoon...but it was a little too intense for Anli. There were several scenes of baby animals being killed...I couldn't believe it...it's by Disney and rated G. We were shocked and had to leave because Anli's little heart was breaking. She asked if we could leave...and believe me...I wanted to also. They kindly gave us our money back and enjoyed a nice night at AWANA.

What a wonderful Earth Day! Think of small ways you can be a better steward of the gifts God has given you. Most importantly...give all glory to the Giver of all good things!

A Scavenger Hunt leading to a BIG Surprise! *UPDATED WITH VIDEO!*

Are you ready to go on the scavenger hunt the girls went on last night? It will lead you to the BIG surprise we all got yesterday from my sweet husband!

They headed over the the raincoats and found their bathing suits underneath with the next clue attached.

Checking high and low in the bedroom...

Then, Virginia found it underneath her pillow! Have you guessed it yet? They hadn't! At this point Anli was on the trail...

Next to the broom they found their lanyards filled with pins...and the next clue!

And the last clue led them to a sign on the sunroom table that said...

Yep! We are headed back to Disney!!! Yesterday, Jay and I were eating lunch at the table together and the girls were in their playroom hanging out playing. He got up and went to the computer and without looking up at me...said...

"Where did you put that Disney postcard we got the other day about the great deal they are running right now?"

My heart stopped.

So, without a word (as not to ruin the chance we MIGHT be going to Disney) I went and found the card. He was looking at the budget...and then he decided that we WERE GOING TO DISNEY...

In 26 DAYS!!!!!

I'm still in shock.

But, we ARE going and we can't wait. We are able to go this last minute because of a great deal we got in the mail about kids eating, staying, and getting park tickets free. So, we are only paying for Jay and I to go. We get the free dining and staying at our favorite resort! Also, we had a blessing of an unexpected inheritance gift from Jay's family we had been putting aside for something special. Well...Disney is something really special!

So, we had a whole Disney themed family night last night and got out all the books, plans, and planned the meals, the days, and got our act together for our last minute trip!

I am so amazed at my sweet hubby! This kind of thing is WAY out of his comfort zone! But, He is so excited and he may or may not have been spotted dancing in the kitchen with his girls to Disney music we blared all night while making this....

Are we excited or what?
I still can't believe we are going in 25 days!

Let the countdown begin!!!!

Catching up with Auburn buddies!

This weekend I was blessed to be able to travel to Alabama for a scrapbook weekend with some of my favorite Auburn buddies. We all went to college together and attended the Baptist Campus Ministries together...and we ALL married men in the Baptist Campus Ministries group too! It's kind of scary how many of our friends married in the BSU group...but it makes our reunion times that much more fun...oh the memories!
Shannon and I headed to Alabama a little early to spend the night with our friend Brooke (in the middle) at her parent's home on Lake Logan Martin. It was gorgeous!!! We stayed up WAY too late and never even got to the scrapbooks...or digital books rather. We all just brought out laptops so Brooke and I could work on our blogbooks for last year and Shannon worked on a beach album on Shutterfly...but we never got to those that night and the next day!

We enjoyed time out on their deck overlooking the lake that evening and then talked about God's work in our lives for literally...HOURS! What a blessing to have the bond of Christ defining your friendships!

The next morning we each had time with the Lord feeling the breezes blow, looking at the sunlight glint off the water below, and smelling the sweet fragrance of springtime. It was absolutely perfect! I lingered outside just allowing all my senses to embrace and worship God!

Then, we packed up and headed to Subway for a picnic lunch and then went to a park that was also on the lake. We shared for a few more hours, took some fun and funny pictures, and Shannon got a little tan:)

Then, it was time to head over to the hotel where we were able to get a suite so that we could all have a bed that night. Meredith and Wendy arrived within an hour or so and we all got to work! We ordered pizza and talked...and talked...and talked...and talked. You get the picture! We had three laptops and 2 traditional scrapbooks going on...and lots of pizza and snacks.

Our little pregnant momma, Meredith, was on the floor the whole time we were there! She will be having her little boy in a few short months!

We had such a great time and it was fun to catch up with everyone. Thanks to all our sweet hubbies for taking care of the kids so their wives could steal away for some time with friends! They are the BEST!

I am so blessed with amazing friends whom I share the bond of Christ with and can share openly and honestly. It seems we just pick up where we left off! There are so many more friends that I have this with also...and I look forward to time with them all. But, until then it's good to know we share something that is the same today, yesterday, and forever.