National Day of Prayer

"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. " 2 Chronicles 7:14-16

Lord,
Today we join with those around the world in prayer to You. We humble ourselves, for the very nature of prayer reminds us that we are completely at Your Sovereign mercy. We come to You knowing that we can not heal ourselves or forgive our sins...or restore our land. We know that You are omnipotent...all powerful. We recognize today that You are all powerful...meaning there is NO other power. We are powerless and humbled before You. We seek You face because You are our only hope.

Hope is never found in our country, government, parents, bank accounts, jobs, IRAs, families, children, the next generation, or ourselves. Hope is from You alone. Hope that flows from Jesus Christ's veins on Calvary. Hope of standing forgiven and right before You...the Holy and all powerful God. Our coming to You alone today in prayer...is a reminder that our hope is in You.

As we seek Your face today, we must also be faced with our wicked ways. For we can not see Your holiness and then look blindly at our own depravity. We deserve death and the wrath of a perfect God. Sweep us up in your mercy today in order that we may turn from our wicked ways. Open our eyes as we seek You...to who You are...and a sobering view of who we are. Thank You that by the blood of Jesus we have His power to turn from our sins and embrace You as Lord!

Thank You for hearing us. Thank You for the awesome relationship we are allowed to have with You through the gruesome death of Jesus. Open our eyes today to see the amazing worth of Jesus. For without His death, burial, Resurrection and rule...we would be a part from You forever...experiencing the focused wrath that sin deserves.

Oh, Father I pray that you will forgive our sins. We are so depraved...every thought is dipped in self-absorption, every deed is motivated in some way by our own agenda, and every moment drenched in rebellion of a Holy God. I am depraved...I am the poster child. Have mercy on me and forgive my sins.

Lord, today we turn our thoughts and our hearts to You. May we see prayer as it is...a declaration of total dependence on the mind and thoughts of You alone. As we surrender our lives to You sovereignty...may we see our sins as you see our sins, may we be about the "least of these," may we give up the American Dream...for a cross every day.

Father, I ask that You bring those around this world to Yourself. Restore our land...not to prosperity but to holiness. This scripture is spoken of your temple, built by Solomon. Lord, we know today that WE are your temple! We are Your body and your bride. Hear our prayers.

In the Name of Jesus at which every knee WILL bow and every tongue WILL confess He is Lord, I offer this prayer. Amen

Happy Birthday Dorothy!

Today is my mentor Dorothy's birthday! She has been a huge blessing to my life for the past 6 years and I am so grateful that God brought her into our lives...and our family! On Monday night, there was a surprise party for her at a lovely place called the Fickle Pickle.

This party had been planned for months and many women came and enjoyed surprising her! It was so neat to have so many women of different ages and backgrounds there. It is a tribute to the kind of woman Dorothy is...amazing!

SURPRISE!

Toni Hurst planned and arranged this gorgeous "barn" that they use for private parties. It was the perfect night...no rain and cool. They have large barn doors that they opened to allow us to have a al fresco kind of feeling. The tables were beautiful and candles lit the entire room. It was very intimate and elegant! Great Job!

We were given a poem about Dorothy and all that she has meant to each of us!

And the food...UNBELIEVABLE! There was homemade chicken salad with hazelnuts (so good), lots of other kinds of sandwiches, salads, cookies, cake and much more...yummmm.

Over the past month women had been sending in their money for the dinner and a card that told Dorothy personally what she has meant to them. Shirley Howell (her best friend for many years) compiled this beautiful book. She had scrapbooked each page and filled it with cards and other personal touches. There was even a page filled with all the names of the studies Dorothy has led over the years...very neat!
Last but not least...the CAKE! Judy Garrett (a long time HUGE Georgia fan) got this Auburn themed cake for Dorothy...now THAT is real friendship!

Happy Birthday Dorothy! She does not have Internet (her choice) so I know she won't be reading this, but in my own scrapbook I want to remember her 70th birthday. Dorothy is family to us and we are so grateful that she is so healthy, happy, and filled with God's love and grace. She make a difference in so many lives...and I am grateful to be counted among them!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

We had a good time celebrating Cinco De Mayo today! The girls and I talked some about Mexico (especially since Jay has been there on a mission trip!) and what Cinco De Mayo means to Mexico. It seems to mean a whole lot more to those of us in the US than it does in Mexico I am told. But, it was a good opportunity to talk about Mexico and learn more about the culture...and eat YUMMY Mexican food for dinner!
We had tacos, quesadillas, taco salad, and the very best homemade guacamole in the world! I LOVE guacamole and I'm at least glad that it is really good for you since it is SO fattening!

After we ate a Mexican feast, we went to Little Caesar's Pizza for their churros...yummy! We ordered a set for each of us and they were fresh and steaming hot. We dipped them in chocolate and dulce de leche (or caramel) sauce and they were heavenly!

Virginia took Spanish 1 this spring at Timothy Ministry and she wanted to count in Spanish for us...enjoy this cutie pie...because we sure do! (When she gets braces I'm sure going to miss that little lisp...melt my heart!)

Weekend Memories...

This weekend we had a wonderful time enjoying friends and family. We started off with a trip to my mentor's home to have lunch, which we do at least once or twice a month. The girls love "Miss Dorothy" and her house. She sets out this amazing dollhouse filled with so many accessories that it boggles my mind! They play and play and play!

After about 2 hours of playing inside, they were ready to head out to enjoy the gorgeous day and her yard. They got out the sidewalk chalk and got to work. When Dorothy and I headed out to see what they were up to, we saw they had created a beach! They had drawn a towel to share...and if you look closely to the left you can see a cool glass of lemonade and a plate of desserts and a cute set of sunglasses! How creative. There is even an umbrella at the top to keep the sun away. How creative and cute these girlies are!

On Friday afternoon, we headed over to a local school to watch Seusissical the musical! Anli and Virginia took a musical theatre class this year at Timothy Ministry and their teacher's daughter was in this musical. So...their teacher bought her whole class tickets if they wanted to go! I don't pass up free...or musicals...and I had never seen this one. (Sorry it is sideways...I changed it...but something happened in the upload.)

The girls LOVED it and since we have read so many Dr. Seuss books, it was a blast to see them all put together in a new and creative way! The kids did a wonderful job and I couldn't believe some of them were just in middle and high school. The girls' teacher also did all the choreography for the musical too..and the girls enjoyed seeing her and her daughter. It was such a wonderful treat!

Saturday morning we also treated ourselves to Mickey Mouse pancakes! They were double chocolate chip with dark chocolate chunks...yummmm.

I had this fabric from last year and just never got the inspiration to use it...but on Saturday I had set aside time to make the girls new outfits for Disney! Jay was a HUGE help in every single way! He found the pattern for the Mickey ears online to use for the cut out, helped trouble shoot my sewing machine, cut out patterns, and even helped me sew! We had a great time and the girls helped too! Anli helped to sew on the Mickey face to the shirts and Virginia helped to cut.

I'll post a photo of them both in their outfits soon...we were able to finish them BOTH in just a few hours. I was really rusty since I hadn't used this pattern for the Capri pants since last year. It's really simple, but takes a bit of thought...and since my sewing machine wasn't thrilled to be making clothes for a Disney trip she wouldn't be going on...she gave us some trouble.

But, in the end...they are the CUTEST! Our whole family will have these shirts for our first day in the Magic Kingdom! Jay just loves this pattern and it something the whole family doesn't mind wearing. I have several more outfits to make this week to take along with us...but these were first priority!

That night, we headed to celebrate our friend Michael's' 30th birthday! It was such fun to see everyone and since the kids were all with sitters...it was just the adults and we really had a great time catching up.

Here's the group...it was such a BLAST! One couple brought their 3 WEEK old little boy. Oh my how cute and sweet he was. Happy Birthday Michael! What a great time we had!

Sunday was an insane day! We had our first annual Ignite conference complete with family picnic, inflatables for the kids, children's camp, and adult ministry conference. Jay and the education staff worked very hard on this and it was awesome! I learned so much and enjoyed hearing from our education staff.

The kids had a blast too! They played on inflatables, made frog cupcakes and little frog rocks (frog stands for Fully Relying On God), trail mix, and played games. Thanks to all those who volunteered to make that camp great fun for all the kids!

Jay did a great job and I always love the chance to hear him speak! We talked about our spiritual gifts, our personalities, and our passion in service. I pray that those who attended were as encouraged and challenged as I was! The youth praise band led worship and they did a great job!

Thanks to each person who made this conference go off without a hitch! I was blessed!

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!