Weekends

I have been living for the weekends the past few weeks.

I think I am finally starting to get used to working again.  The whole getting up early and teaching all day has had me exhausted.

Friday afternoon I came home and crashed.  It was a lazy Friday evening.  I don't even really remember Friday night.  Pretty sure I slept for most of it.

Saturday morning I woke up early and got ready for a day in LR.

I had a Thirty-One party that morning.  It was the first home show I've done in a while.  I enjoyed it so much!!  

I've got to step out of my comfort zone and start meeting new customers in my new hometown.  I miss doing home shows.  

It was a great party!  My hostess earned over $200 in products and nothing makes me happier than helping my hostess earn lots of free goodies.

After the party Andrew and I went in a few stores to look at home decor.

We close on our new house in 39 days.  

Then we headed over to the stadium for the Razorback Game.

It was so incredibly hot!!!

Miserable kind of hot.

I lost count of how many bottles of water we went through.  

We had fun despite the heat.  

And it was worth it since we won!

Love my hogs but they have some work to do before we play some of the SEC teams or we are going to be in big trouble.

We started today with church.  I sat in with our 412.  That is the name of our 5th-7th grade class.  We had 17 students -most of which were boys- in a tiny little room right off the sanctuary which means we have to be very quiet.

It was a lot of fun.

Next Sunday I am scheduled to serve in the nursery.  I am excited!!

Andrew and I just finished Connect classes so now I'm trying out some different areas and praying about where I am supposed to serve and how I will get connected with my church family.

Since I was in with 412 this morning, I missed the sermon.  :(  Andrew said it was really good.  Thankfully we put our messages on our website so I can watch it later this week.

Now it is time to finish getting ready for tomorrow and then off to bed.

Beautiful

For the past several weeks, we have been in a series at church called Beautiful. We have talked about how God can take our lives, no matter what our circumstances are, and make something beautiful out of it. All we have to do is be willing to be obedient servants.

Our pastors used the story of Jonah to show how God is capable of using even our disobedience to make something beautiful. God told Jonah to go to Ninevah. Instead of be an obedient servant, Jonah fled from the Lord and went in the complete opposite direction of Ninevah. This disobedience led to a storm in the middle of the ocean and Jonah being swallowed by a large fish. Doesn't sound beautiful?

God used that storm to show the other men on the ship that He was in fact the one true God.

Now that's beautiful!

A couple of weeks ago we had a guest speaker. Christopher Coleman came to share with FBC how God has used his life to make something beautiful. Christopher was pronounced dead at birth. The doctors covered his body and basically sat him to the side while they concentrated on delivering his twin sister. Fifteen minutes later the doctors heard a cry come from the covered baby they had proclaimed dead. Though he went 15 minutes without oxygen, Christopher Coleman was indeed alive. Because of the length of time he went without oxygen, the doctors informed his parents that he would never be more than a vegetable. They told his parents to put him in an institute and forget about him.

His parents chose to take that sweet baby home and love him just the way he was.

I laughed and I cried through Christopher's story. More importantly God spoke to me through his story. There were two things that really stuck out to me though.

1. God told him he had a message that only Christopher could deliver. I think this is true for all of us. God has a message that only I can share with His people.

2. You can't completely serve God and stay in your wheelchair. Chris wasn't talking about a physical wheelchair. He was talking about that thing in your life that holds you back. It could be pride, fear, an addiction, or any number of things. Get out of your wheelchair and serve God with everything you have.


I really enjoyed Christopher message's. I encourage you to check out his message. I think you will be deeply touched. If you have the time click here to listen to Christopher's story. I wanted to post the video here, but couldn't figure out to do it from our church's website. Christopher is a little hard to understand at times, especially in the beginning, but stick with it. It gets easier.

Blogging With Secrets

It feels like it has been awhile since I've posted about something other than Tuesday Tunes. Which by the way, I'm loving that series. It's fun to share about the different music that God is using in my life right now.

There are several things going on in my life right now that I want to blog about. But they are kind of secrets right now. Either things that I don't want to share or things that are still in the works so I'm waiting to share. In time, they will all be shared.

But for now I'm finding it hard to blog when I feel like I can't share everything with you.

A few things I can share....


*Andrew and I have been visiting a church consistently for awhile now. This past Sunday we went to a class after the service where we learned the history of the church and how it all works. It's a big church so this class was telling us what all was offered. There's another class you can take to learn the church's beliefs and the next step to join. Andrew is in the process of maybe having lunch with one of the pastor's. It's something we're praying and discussing. Something we still have lots of praying and discussing about it to do.

*I'm so ready for June. I feel like I'm in survival mode as far as the school year goes. My zest for teaching is gone. I want to enjoy and love it, but I'm finding it really hard this year.

*Sadly enough, I really can't thing of anything to share with you. We've been a pretty boring couple. Take tonight for example, it's 8:30 and the husband is fast as sleep. I'm joining him as soon as I hit publish. :)

A Church Home

As you know, the husband and I have been without a church home for a year now. Wow! I can't believe it has been a year. Crazy. We are still going to church every Sunday, just not always the same church.

It's hard. Even though we have been going to church, we don't belong anywhere. We don't have a church family right now.

When we first left our last church, I was in NO hurry to join another church. I was burned out. Now I'm ready. I miss not having a home church.

A week ago, I felt like God shared with me where he wants us. It is a place that I never thought God would call us to. It's not a bad place at all. In fact I love the people of this church. They are so sweet. I've just never felt like I belonged when we've gone to this particular church. It is a place that I made very clear to my husband, I didn't want to be there.

Yet now, I feel God is calling us to that very church. I have felt Him tell me this twice now. Not an audible telling, just a feeling.

Andrew has not felt like God has shared this with him yet. I don't know why God hasn't shared with Andrew. Maybe I'm wrong or maybe God knows Andrew isn't ready or something. I don't' know.

I just know that now that I feel like we're supposed to be there, I want to hurry up and get there. That blows my mind because of they way I was running from this very place.

Anyways...all this to say... Will you please pray with me that Andrew and I will know where God wants us.

The Battle

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

Friday night I was missing the husband like crazy. He's been gone two weeks now and I was definitely feeling lonely and bored... not a good combination.

I picked up the phone and called him, while allowing myself to get my hopes up that he would be home Saturday night. He told me it was going to be late Wednesday night before he would be home.

I lost it!! The tears came instantly. I allowed Satan to help me host a pretty big pity party. I was tired of being alone and having two sick dogs wasn't helping matters. I even allowed Satan to convince me that the husband didn't even miss me.

Oh the things we let Satan do to us. Someone once told me that Satan would attack my marriage every chance he got. We weren't shielded from this just because the husband and I are both Christians. If anything, I think that makes us more suseptible to Satan's attacks. Friday night it was like I just welcomed Satan in with big open arms. I let him tell me things that I know are not true.

Saturday I woke up and while the pity party was over, I wasn't completely out of it. The excitment doesn't end as soon as the last guest leaves a party. You are still on that emotional high from all the excitement. That is where I was Saturday, only it was more of an emotional low. Maybe a more accurate statement would be that the pity party had just been downsized.

This morning feeling a strong desire to worship God with other believers, I went to All Points Church. Brother David's message was from Ephesians 6. God really spoke to my heart. He reminded me who this battle was really against. It's not against my husband or his job or his boss or anyone else. The battle is a spiritual one. It is against Satan and Satan alone.

My strength to fight this battle is not my strength at all, but that of God. It is only through God that I can fight this spiritual battle that I face every day not just when the husband is away.

As soon as service was over this morning, I knew that I wanted to visit Journey Church tonight. I wanted more. I was thirsty for God. That in itself felt good. It's been too long since I was thirsty... truly thirsty.

Tonight at Journey, Alex preached from Psalm 28. His message?? He reminded me that the battle is one not of flesh and blood. It is through God's strength that we fight this battle.

Um... WOW!! Two different churches. Two different pastors. No relation at all and yet I got the same message twice in the same day.

I'm so thankful for the reminder that the battle is not against any thing or any one in this physical world. It's a spirtual battle. God is on my side. It is through his strength that I can face this battle. It's a battle that my God has already won. The victory is already his. Through him I will make it through not only the next three days without my husband, but through the rest of my marriage until God calls one or both of us home.

This Past Weekend

Wednesday night the husband got a phone call from his boss. He needed to be in Springfield by 8AM Thursday morning. The husband doesn't even come close to being a morning person so he decided to go ahead and leave Wednesday night. The furbabies and I were home alone Wednesday night and Thursday night. The husband was able to come back home Friday and made it here around 7PM that evening. I think his babies missed him.




Saturday we kept our niece Kandace all day. She wasn't real sure about staying with us when her Mommy left, but she got over it pretty quickly. We loaded her up and headed to Lowe's & Target. She is such a good little shopper. I've never seen a kid like to go as much as she does.



After our shopping trip we were all ready for a nap. She and I passed out on the couch and Uncle Andrew snapped a picture. I promise she didn't nap like that the entire time. :)


Sunday we decided to visit All Points, a small home church that Andrew's sister and her family go to. I enjoyed it so much. The Holy Spirit was most definitely present. The message definitely hit home with me, which I wrote about in the post below.

After church and lunch, Andrew and I went bike shopping. I've been wanting one for awhile, but he doesn't approve of any of the ones I like. Well we finally hit jackpot yesterday.

I have a brand new bicycle.


I have ridden every afternoon this week and I love it!! I'm no where near ready for the 20 miles that my husband nephew consider an easy ride, but I'm enjoying it none the less.

Whatever is true...

I don’t even know where to begin. There has been so much going on in my head lately and more importantly in my heart.

For the past several weeks, God has been placing different things and people in my life to help me realize some things.

It’s no secret that I daydream about the children that I hope Andrew and I will have someday. In the past those daydreams have always been about names, nurseries, showers, and family time. Not bad things to dream about. But lately my daydreams or thoughts have taken a different direction. During one of our many conversations about the right time to have kids Andrew made the statement that he just didn’t feel we were ready spiritually. I have to confess I was offended by that. I didn’t know how he could think that, after all we are (and were at the time) both Christians who go to church. Funny how even though I knew then that there was more to it than that, I thought that would be sufficient for my children someday.

Lately I catch myself doing things and I think to myself, I don’t want to do this in front of my kids someday so why am I doing it now. I’ve had this thought while I’m texting or checking facebook while driving. I don’t want my teenager doing that so I have to set the example not to. I had this thought awhile back when I was meeting Andrew after work. I had gone out of my way to get something to eat and for a reason unknown to me I didn’t want him to know about it. So when he called and asked where I was, I lied. I instantly thought what if my child were sitting in this car listening to me. I’m lying and over something so silly. Andrew wouldn’t care if I ate. I’m pretty sure he wishes I would eat more. :)

Then I had the thought that while my future children are what prompted all this, there is someone who is with me always watching me. I’m doing these things before the Lord. I have heard people ask what do you want to be doing when the Lord returns. What will he catch you in? That is just silly. God is not going to get here and be shocked by what he finds me or you doing. He is with us always and already knows what we are doing. He has already caught us.

A week or two ago I was in a bad place because a family member had hurt my feelings. I knew that this family member had no idea of the fact, yet I continued to dwell on it. I had sent Andrew an email about it in the middle of the day and in his response he included a scripture.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admireable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

I can’t tell you the number of times God has given me this verse in the past couple of weeks. I haven’t been able to figure out why he keeps giving it to me. After the message Brother David shared at church yesterday, I think I’m beginning to figure it out.

I have sin in my life. I have been ignoring that fact. I’ve been ranking sins and comparing myself to others. I’ve been trying to make myself look good.

I watch things on TV that are not true, noble, right, pure, lovely, or admirable. God told me yesterday to stop watching those things.

I might have thrown a little fit in response. I really like those TV shows. But I know they aren’t what I need, so I’m giving them up. Satan tried very hard to convince me otherwise. He was almost successful. It was hard to delete these shows off my DVR, but they are gone. My DVR is no longer scheduled to record these shows.

I’m asking God to forgive me and help me rid myself of my “secret” sins. Besdies they aren’t a secret. He knows about them.

I pray that in the weeks to come and for the rest of my life God will keep reminding me of Philippians 4:8.

The Weekend

Something about not going to work today makes posting about my weekend feel a little strange. It doesn't feel like it's over yet, but I guess by definition, it is over.

Friday night involved a relaxing evening at home with the husband. We had considered going to Winter Jam, but ended up not going. I was feeling 100% and he had to work late. By the time we had gotten there, we would have been in the nose bleed section. We decided to take front row seats in our bed to March Madness instead.


I realized Friday night that I've never really watched March Madness before. I know what it is and I watch the final game or so, but I've never watched it this early on. I never realized that all these teams are playing all at the same time. It is totally designed for men. I would get into a game and then the TV would take away that game and give me a different one. I mean seriously. You don't even have to lift the remote to channel surf. Very frustrating to a girl like me who hates channel surfing.

And the commercials. I don't watch commercials anymore thanks to this wonderful little invention called DVR. Commercials are just stupid these days. AWFUL!!

Anyway.

Saturday was a beautiful day! Andrew spent the morning working on the gate to our fence. It was in pretty bad shape and we have been fearful of escape from the insider (Liberty Belle). While he did this, I ventured out to Kirklands and Old Navy for something for spring.

I wanted this from Kirklands They didn't have any. Not they didn't have any W's. They didn't have any flags at all.

I wanted this from Old Navy

It didn't fit.

A little bummed, I headed home to see how things were going with the husband. Thankfully, he had much better luck with the fence. After lunch and a bit of rest, it was off to the garage to work on my desk. He hasn't worked on it in a little over a month, but we made some good progress Saturday. It is so close to being finished. Look at what a monstrosity he is building for me.




Just for comparison, here is a shot of me laying on the desk. :)


Sunday we slept in and then got ready for some more shopping. Andrew wanted to go look at tents and sleeping bags for his 3 day bike trip he is planning. I wanted to go check out the scrapbook section at Tuesday Morning.

Tuesday Morning turned out to be a great stop. Andrew found two sleeping bags that only weight 1.9 pounds for $20 each. Light weight is important because he will be carrying them while riding a bicycle. Of course, he had to try them out when we got home. It was too funny to not take a picture. Liberty & Liam loved this sleeping bag because they could kiss all over Daddy. :)


I found an 18X24 cutting mat for my new scrapbooking desk. It was a steal for $9. Love it. Also bought a chipboard album and some paper.


Sunday night we went to Journey Church. Tonight was Cary and Sara's last night. They are moving to Missouri to pastor a church there. After church we all went to U.S. Pizza to say good bye. We don't spend just a ton of time with them now that we aren't at Journey, but I'm sure going to miss them. They are definitely some of our favorite people. Here are just a few pictures from the night. There will be more to come later.

Really Thankful

Real is the word that has been on my mind nonstop since Friday night. If you remember, Andrew and I left our church home in October. At the time, we were in NO hurry to join another church. I'm not sure that we are in any hurry now. We aren't looking for what you find in most churches right now. We want something real, something that isn't about anything except relationships. Relationships with God and with those around us.

This was really brought to the forefront of my mind Friday night. Andrew and I stopped by to see his sister, Joy, because I need to pick something up. Andrew and our three nephews played basketball outside in the frigid cold. While they were out freezing their tooshies off, Joy and I sat inside and talked.

Now I have to back up to the early years of our marriage. Back when my father-in-law pastored a church here in Little Rock and we all went to church together. Joy was my Sunday School teacher at the time. Being in her class, being around her made me want to grow as a Christian. Her love for the Lord was definitely contagious. I instantly began to look at Joy as a spiritual role model.

When we all left that church, I wasn't seeing Joy every week like before. And I've really missed that.

Back to Friday night, as Joy and I talked, I just remembered how much I love her and enjoy spending time with her. We don't get to do it nearly as often as I would like. Our conversation just brought the word, REAL, to mind.

Joy's love for the Lord is definitely real. It's not a show. In fact there isn't anything showy about it. Just being around her for a few minutes, you would pick up on how much she loves the Lord. I admire her in so many areas. She is such a godly wife and mom.

I just so enjoyed our conversation Friday night. We talked about church today and just wanting to be apart of something that was real. She and her family are part of a home church. You can see that they are doing what they feel like God is telling them to do even if it isn't what some people consider the norm.

As soon as we got in the car to leave that night, I told Andrew I really enjoyed it. It was great conversation with Joy. She always makes me want to just praise God and draw closer to him.

Yesterday, she sent me a text asking if she could bring me lunch today. I was so touched. I immediatley started crying.

So today she came with lunch in tow and we enjoyed more converstation in my classroom for a little over an hour today. Before she left she told me that God had just laid me on her heart this week and that she had been praying for me. I have tears running down my face as I write this now, because it has just really blessed me.

I am so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family. I honestly can't tell you how thankful I am. I truly have the best in-laws.

I did a lab with my Science Class today that involved throwing a marble into flour, so I was a little stressed by lunch. Joy's visit just reminded me that God was in control. He has his own plan and they are far better than any plan we could come up with on our own. He knew I would need this visit on this day.

How lucky are we to serve a God that always has things under control?! He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. For that I'm so thankful.

I love you Joy. Thanks again for lunch and the visit. I truly enjoyed it.

A little of this and a little of that

Being churchless isn't all bad. It gives me the opportunity to have my husband beside me in church. This is a rarity for us. For most of our marriage, he has been in the sound booth or on the stage. Don't get me wrong, I love that I have a husband who uses his gifts to serve the Lord. But it is also nice to be able to worship right next to him during services. We returned to New Life, the place we visited last week. While I've enjoyed it, I think it is safe to say it will not be our new home church.

Baby fever is back. After my last post on having baby fever, I sat down and talked about it with the husband. I knew that was all I needed. And it was. After our talk, I felt better. But... I recently met two new precious beautiful nieces and well... it is back. :) This time around, it is more than last time. This time, I want a baby. Not now because that means baby would be here around August and that just isn't good timing for this school teacher. But soon. Again.. I'm not saying we are about to start trying to have a baby. I'm pretty sure my husband doesn't feel the same way and I'm okay with that. I'm just dreaming.

Along with my baby fever, I also have Christmas fever. I am so ready to put my tree up and get out all of my Christmas decor. I'm ready to go Christmas shopping. I'm ready for all things Christmas.

Tomorrow morning I'm taking four of my student council members to have breakfast with Tom from Channel 11 at Golden Corral. This means I get to be at school at 4:15AM. Something tells me it is going to be a long day.

I'm working on some paintings to serve as Christmas Door Decor. Hope to show you those soon. Still wanting to sale some of my scrapbooks, but haven't come up with a name that I love and is available. I thought I had one, but there is already a blog with that name. Still open to suggestions.


And that is all my ramblings for tonight.

Have a great week! Love ya, E

Where did it go?

That is the question I'm asking myself about this weekend. How can it already be time for a new week to begin.

This honestly might have been the busiest weekend of my life. It is definitely up there. I have been running since I left school on Friday.

I have been working on an ABC scrapbook for my sister-in-law, Sara, as a gift for her baby shower. For anyone who may not know, an ABC book means there is a page for each letter. For example A is Announcing the Arrival, B is Brother & Me, and so on. Even though I've known for quite some time that her shower was today, I waited until a little over a week ago to start. :) That is just how I do these things. When Friday arrived, I still had several pages to complete, and by several, I mean well over half. So... I left school right after the buses on Friday and came home and got buys scrapping. I managed to get four pages done before it was time to get ready to leave.

Five of us got together at Jill's house to work on things for the shower. I enjoyed hanging out, but I ended up volunteering to do even more crafts. I know this may seem crazy, but I love Sara and I love crafting so it was no big deal. And what I did really did take that long at all thanks to my Inspiration. However, it did mean I was up later than normal and didn't get any more scrapbooking done on Friday night.

Saturday, Andrew and I woke up around 7. We had to get ready to go to the Juvenile Diabetes walk with my student council kids. I am so thankful it didn't rain on us at all. We had 8 cars of people go for our team. It was about 20 kids and 10 adults give or take a few. Great turnout! I really enjoyed it. I love my kiddos so much!!!! After that 5K walk and running errands afterwards, I was in major need of a nap. I think I slept for like an hour before it was time to go again.

We had a leadership conference at church. I will admit, I did not want to go. However, the husband really wanted me to go with him so I went. I am so glad I did. We had a guest speaker who was pretty good. He is the president of an online seminary. During the conference, there were a couple of times where we had to share with our neighbor about some things. They were some tough questions, some personal questions. I am so proud of myself for being brutally honest. I didn't try to act like I was better at it than I really am. I know that may sound crazy to some of you... that I'm proud of myself for being honest. It's hard for me to do that sometimes, especially with close friends who were in my group. I worry too much about what other people think. But I did it, and I'm glad. I learned they struggle in some of the same areas that I do.

After the leadership conference, instead of coming home to scrapbook like I should have, I cam home and watched the Hogs. Really should have scrapbooked. Those stinkin' hogs lost. Very frustrating. I get so into these games. I remember a time when I didn't care about it at all. Now I stress myself out while watching games. Ridiculous.

After the game, I stayed up until 12 to scrapbook. Then was back up at 7 this morning. I scrapbooked some more and finished the album. Then it was off to church. Great message this morning.

As soon as Brother Tom said Amen, I was out of there today. I ran to Wal-Mart for wrapping supplies and then headed to the church. We got all set up for the shower and then enjoyed loving on Sara and Miss M.

Lately, it seems it has been Baby Baby Baby. I think about them so much, I am having dreams about babies every night it seems. I really enjoyed making Miss M a blanket and scrapbook. As I worked, I prayed for her. I tell you this, I can't even begin to imagine how Sara and Cary, and Jill and Alex feel. I'm just the aunt, but I am so ready to meet these little girls. I want to hold them and love on them. I am thankful God gave me two arms...one for each of my sweet nieces. :)

Tonight we had our first meeting of groups. I really enjoyed it. We are going to be getting to know some great people. I cannot wait until the 4th to have our half of the group in our home.



As you can imagine, there are a lot of pics to go with this post. However, you are going to have to wait on those. I'm tired and need sleep so they will be coming hopefully tomorrow.

Like I said, busy busy weekend. Despite that, it was also a very blessed weekend. One that I really enjoyed.

It's been awhile...

I realized today that it has been over a week since my last post. I've been very busy and just don't feel like anything new has been happening. School starts next Wednesday. YIKES!! Where did the summer go? Who came and took it? I honestly can't believe I have a little over a week before I'm back into teaching every day. People keep asking me if I'm ready. Well, I guess the answer to that question depends on what you mean by ready. I am always excited to be back in the classroom and meet my new students. I love the first day of school. I always have. However, if you were to see my classroom, you would know that in that area I am definitely not ready. I worked for several hours today and feel like little was accomplished. I have so much to do that it is hard to know where to begin. Hopefully I will make some major headway tomorrow.

Andrew and I are also busy getting involved at our new church home. He has been working quite a bit. He has been very good though at making sure I'm okay with him being there. He knows I worry that this new project will overtake his time. It is just who he is. He absolutely loves what he is doing at ISBC and he gets very caught up in it. I am just glad he is enjoying it and is excited about. My husband definitely has a gift for all that technical stuff. :) I went to Sunday School for the first time yesterday. I knew I wanted to get involved in one soon, but I wasn't sure where to go. I wanted to be in a married class seeing as how I'm married and all, but I knew I would be going alone. Drew is doing sound check during Sunday School Hour. I asked a new friend from church and decided to join her for a married class. I really enjoyed it and am glad I went. Even though I was the only person in the room without my spouse, I didn't feel out of place. That is how I know this is where God wants us. I feel so completely comfortable and at home at ISBC. I feel like I've been there for years.

I'm loving the month of August because I am getting lots of time with my Momma and other family members. She and my Daddy were here Saturday. We drove to Hot Springs to hit a few antique shops. My Daddy loves going in them and hunting for electric trains. Mom and I just walk and talk. She and my Mommom are coming down again on the 22nd for some shopping. Then on the 29th I'm having a Southern Living at Home party to celebrate my birthday and they will be back again.

I love spending time with my Momma. It was very hard on me when Andrew and I first got married. I would sit on the bed and just cry. I would tell Andrew that I wanted to go home. He had to remind me on several occasions that my home was in LR with him now. And it is home now. But I still talk to my Momma almost every day either by email or on the phone.

Anyways...the whole makeup thing is still going well. It is still hard to believe that I have become a makeup wearing girl. :) I like it though. It makes me feel better about how I look when I leave the house in the morning.

So that's it. Nothing too new or exciting, but it's life and it is good so I can't complain.

Our Weekend

The weekend started Friday with me sleeping in. I had to get up early every day last week so Friday was great. Of course, Friday morning the sun was shining brightly into our bedroom window. Every other day it was raining and still very dark in our room. Oh well.

When I finally got up and around, I headed to my classroom. It was the first time I have been in there since the last day of school. I needed to get all my furniture put back for Open House which is this Thursday. I managed to get the fish tank pushed across the hall to its new home and my desk moved into the hall. I'm getting rid of it. Scary, I know! Then I decided to open my new filing cabinet. I laid it down on the ground and was slowly sliding it out of the box when things went awry. I pulled on it wrong and pain immediately shot through my back and right leg. I must inform you that I injured it last Saturday while putting on pants. Don't know how it happened. Anyways, I stood there for several minutes because the slightest movement caused me pain. I managed to sit down on one of the tables so that I could call Andrew. I asked if he could help me move it one day this coming week because it had to be done. I crawled out to my car and came home. I laid in bed the rest of the night in great pain. Thankfully I had my sweet husband to take good care of me.

I spent Saturday pretty much the same way.. in bed. Andrew worked at the church all day. Saturday evening we went to a cookout with some new friends from church. It was a night of laughs and getting to know our new friends. Don't worry at this point my back was feeling better.

This morning was church and it was so good. Our pastor is doing a series on spiritual warfare. Today he shared that we must spend time in God's word and hide it in our hearts. It is the biggest weapon we have. This was also the lesson of my quiet time a few days ago. I was reminded of how Jesus resisted Satan's temptations. He disputed Satan's arguments with Scripture.

We are home resting now. Gearing up for another work week. The Weavers are all heading out on vacation today. We hope they have a great time. Maybe we will be able to join them for dinner one night this week.

So that was our weekend. Peaceful minus the back injury.

Can You Find the 16 Books of the Bible?

From the newsletter of First Baptist Church in Oscola, AR

I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu, kept people looking so hard for facts and for others, it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the name of the books were not capitalized, but the truth finally struck home to numbers of readers. To others it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea, so she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now for there are really sixteen names of books of the Bible in this story.



Go ahead. Give it a try. Don't share you answers. Let everyone give a try. Plus, there are two that I can't find. It is driving me CRAZY!!!!!

A Big Decision Is Made

I must start this post by saying thank you. I have asked you all to pray about a big decision that Andrew and I have been facing.

We have both felt that God was calling us back to the county we live in. Andrew was offered a part time position at ISBC to help them with sound, lighting, video, their website... basically all things technical.

While we both strongly felt that ISBC is what God was telling us, we still struggled with the decision. We are human after all. Moving to ISBC means leaving Journey and that isn't something we are enjoying. Journey is our family in every sense of the word. God is doing amazing things there and we know he will continue to do so. We are going to miss Journey. We are so thankful that our family at Journey wishes us the best in what God has called us to.

This has been particulary hard for me. I am very excited about ISBC. I think God is going to do awesome things for us and through us there. But part of me feels that I need to stifle my excitement. I don't want anyone to take my excitement for ISBC as me loving Journey any less than I do. That isn't the case at all. But anyone who has ever obeyed God knows how exciting that is. And that is what we are doing... obey God. This has definitly been an emotional decision for me. But I have such peace about this move.

So there it is... my big secret. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for letting me share my excitement with you.

Love you all.

Incredibly Blessed

I am so excited to share the details of my weekend with you. This weekend wasn't really out of the ordinary other than we had an extra day off, yet it was one of the best weekends I've ever had.

Friday night, Andrew and Tyler went to Riverfest, a local series of outdoor concerts and fun. I don't do Riverfest. Way too crowded for my taste. So I send the boys and I stay home. While they were out singing along with Willie Nelson, I caught up on some much needed Z's here at home. It was really nice. :)

Saturday morning we definitely slept in. I woke up around 9, did a little shopping, grabbed some much loved Dairy Queen and then came back home. Andrew and I hung out for a little while and then he and Tyler headed back to Riverfest. I went to do a little more shopping. I had to find a gift for my secret pal. We are revealing ourselves this week. I'm super excited to find out who all my wonderful little gifts have been from.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand. When I got back from shopping I took a short nap before heading to my little cousin's softball game. She did great! They won big time although I don't remember the exact score. I was glad that I was able to watch her in action.

Sunday morning we slept in as late as possible without being late for church. I really enjoyed church Sunday morning. We have been studying the book of Colossians. The more we study the more I'm loving this book of the Bible.

After church the three of us came home. That's right. I said three. We brought our niece, Kandace, home with us for the afternoon. It was an interesting adventure. She is such a good baby!! She and I hung out while Uncle Andrew tried to take a nap. I sat Kandace on the bed with him while I went to use the restroom. Kandace would start to cry and Andrew would look over at her. Kandace would just laugh at him. He rolled back over, she cried. He rolled over to look her and she giggled. It was as if she knew she was disturbing his Sunday nap. They made up later. She sat on the couch and listened to Uncle Andrew play guitar and sing. Actually she sang along with him. It was so sweet.




Once we had Kandace safely returned to her parents, it was nap time for Aunt E. I didn't get much of one with her. We were too busy playing and having fun. Andrew left to go hang out with a friend. I slept until 9:30 when Andrew called to awaken me by leaving some crazy screaming message on the answering machine. This is what he does when I don't answer my cell. He was going out to eat with those friends. So I woke up, got dressed, and off to IHOP we went. It was so yummy. I enjoyed the 2x2x2, two eggs, two pancakes, and two pieces of bacon.

Monday morning. Awww!!! It was so nice to sleep in and not go to work. We slept until 11ish when we had to get up and get ready to head to Jill's for lunch. Alex grilled some yummy pork and chicken. We hung out over there for a couple of hours and then came back home for a nap. I'm beginning to think all the naps is what made this such a great weekend. :)

Up from our nap around 6, we went o Ashley's Furniture to look around. We don't really need anything, we just like to look from time to time. We did find a dresser that we really liked. I want a buffet type piece of furniture for my living room. This dresser would work perfectly.

Groceries came next. While in Wal-Mart we ran into the Billsons. Tyler ended up coming to our house to help Drew clean out the back bedroom. Then they went to Tyler's house to put together a basketball goal.

While Drew was there, I watched the season premier of Jon and Kate + 8. When this show was over I just cried and prayed until I fell asleep. There has been a lot of hype about Jon and Kate, both good and bad. They are the talk of the tabloids right now. Whether you are a fan of them or not, the Gosselin family is in need of our prayers right now. It is very clear that Satan has a foothold on their marriage. You could clearly see the brokenness that is in their marriage right now. They both seemed very hurt. I cried for their marriage and I prayed for their marriage. I prayed for all marriages that are struggling. Then I cried tears of thankfulness for my own marriage. I prayed that Andrew and I would never exclude God from our marriage.

Unfortunately too many people don't realize that a marriage should be between three people, not two. When you start to exclude God from the marriage, you are inviting trouble into the marriage. God deserves to be the center of our marriage. If we want to have a good marriage, we will invite him in daily. Watching Jon and Kate struggle last night has just made me all the more thankful for my marriage and what it is. My heart just broke for Jon and Kate and for their kids. Take a moment to thank God for your marriage and to pray for all the marriages that are struggling. Without God, I don't know how they will survive and sadly many of them don't realize that God is what is missing.


So there it is. Like I said, not really out of the ordinary but extraordinary.

Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day Weekend has now come and gone. Although I am not yet a mother, this is still one of my favorite weekends of the year. While I hope she knows she is loved every day of the year, this weekend is dedicated to my favorite lady...My Momma! Next to my hubby, my momma is my very best friend. I don't know what I would do without her. There isn't very many days that go by that I don't talk to her on the phone or email her.

Andrew and I got up Saturday morning and headed to Maple Springs to spend the day with my Momma. As always, I had such a good day just hanging out with Mom. Someday I will convince her and Daddy to move closer to me. :)

In the middle of celebrating Momma, we took a break to celebrate Seth. My BABY brother is turning 22 this month. His fiance hosted a surprise birthday party for him on Saturday. We actually surprised him. I absolutely love my baby brother. And yes I realize that at 22 he is not a baby anymore. But those of you are big sisters understand how I feel I'm sure. I am thankful for him. He is a very talented young man. And I just adore Ashlee. She is such a sweetheart. Little brother did good.

Sunday morning, we began our morning with church. This is how we begin every Sunday and I absolutely love it. There is no better way to start your week than with your brothers and sisters in Christ praising God and learning more about his word. This week we started a series on the book of Colossians. I'm looking forward to this. I have never really studied this book before. Yesterday, Cary said something that really hit me. Andrew and I have decided it was time to get out of debt. It is going to be a slow and somewhat painful process, but it is one that needs to be done. Cary was talking about how he doesn't want to leave a mess for others to clean up when he is gone. This really spoke to me. If something happened to Andrew or me or both of us we would be leaving a huge financial mess for our loved ones. I do not want to do this. It just made me want out of debt even more. More on that later.

Yesterday evening we went to Jill's house to celebrate Mother's Day with the Weaver Clan. I wasn't going to go at first. I wasn't feeling too well. However, Andrew drove off without Jayna and Jessica's birthday presents. Oops. Since I had to take those over I decided to stay. Having my own car helps. Andrew always wants to stay much much later than I do. :)

I'm so glad I went. I love my in-laws. They are wonderful loving people. I was glad I was able to see Momma B on Mother's Day and be there to give her the gift we purchased.

Momma B even got me a little something. First she made the sweetest card on her computer for me. It stated that someday I'll be a mommy but for now I'm a "puppy" mommy. I loved it. She also got me a cute pair of flip flops. Thanks so much for that Momma B! It was so sweet of you to think of me.

The Popcorn Ball and Journey Kids

Friday night, Student Council hosted The Popcorn Ball for grades 6-8. This was the first time I have ever been in charge of anything like this. And while it was a bit stressful and tears were shed, it was a lot of fun. The Popcorn Ball is a dance. Why is called that? That is what my kids came up with. We wanted a theme and we wanted something different. We tossed around several idea and this one seemed to be the easiest and the cutest. It's biggest contender was Boogie Night. Boogie Night lost due to its decorations consisting of boogers. I actually liked this one, but the girls thought it was gross.

Anyways, we stayed after school Friday to decorate our cafeteria. The kids did a wonderful job. The place looked great!! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera there with me to take any pics. :(

The dance started at 7:00. I wish you could have seen these girls. Oh my!! They were dressed to kill. They had their hair all done and their dresses were beautiful. I think I hosted a middle school prom. They were that dressed up.

Andrew came to help me out and brought my camera. I took a several pics. Below is a picture of one of the decorations the kids made. I thought they did an awesome job on it.



One of my students loves to make cakes. She always does an awesome job - both on the appearance of the cake and the taste. Her cakes our unbelievably good. I keep looking for an event where I need a cake so I can hire her. Here is a picture of the cake she made for us.



I also took several pictures of the kids getting their groove on. I don't feel comfortable posting those without permission though, so you will just have to take me word that they had an awesome time.




Now for Journey Kids.... Today was my Sunday working with Journey Kids. At least for a while. We work a month at a time and then rotate. I have really enjoyed my month. It has been such a blessing to spend time with these precious little girls. God has taught me through them. I will definitely miss this time. However, I've also missed being in the service and am looking forward to being in there again.

Monday Mayhem

I feel like I have so much to blog about today. I can only hope that this all makes sense.


1. I will start with yesterday. Easter. Not the most beautiful weather for Easter Sunday, but still definitely a great day. It rained all day here. That didn't damper any of the fun and praising that happened. We started the day with church. Remember that I'm working with the kids this month. I have to admit that I was really bummed about having to do this on Easter. I really wanted to be in the service today. I don't know about service, but let me just tell you that God was definitely in the Journey Kids room. I had six of the sweetest little girls in the world. And oh my did they all look beautiful in the Easter dresses. We started with three songs. There is nothing sweeter than hearing those little voices singing songs. One girl particularly though, on the slow song, had her hands raised to her God and was singing so loud. I'm really surprised they didn't hear her in the nursery and in service. Towards the end of the song, with her hands still raised, she quit singing and was just talking to God. I couldn't help it. Tears definitely started flowing. Our lesson was about Thomas needing to see Jesus to believe that he had risen. I got to have two live baby chicks for this lesson. They were so cute and sweet. The girls loved them. Great lesson, Sara. :)

After church, I headed up to my Mommom's for chicken and dumplings. And I don't care what you say, my grandma makes the best chicken and dumplings. :) They are so incredibly yummy. I was able to visit with them for a couple of hours before heading back to have more yummy food with the in-laws. WE laughed, loved, and celebrated Andrew's birthday. Let me just go on record here and say that I have the absolute best in-laws in the whole world. No lie. I love them bunches. I could right many posts on the entertainment of the night - Jackson Luke dancing and making out with his mommy (he's one) and me spanking the nephews. Aww. You should have been there. :)

Few pictures from Easter





2. Project 365 - I'm behind. Like more than a week behind in pictures. Part of me says I'm too far behind and it won't be legit to take pictures now for all those days so I should quit. Plus my life isn't that interesting. It will be the most dull book ever. But I feel like I'm a looser if I quit. I'm breaking a commitment that I made to myself and I don't like that either. So I ask, if you were in my shoes would you quit or go back and take pictures?


3. That classroom of mine. We started testing today. Boring. While my students are testing I tend to daydream and brainstorm ideas for next year. Today's focus was classroom set up and decoration. I have seven round tables in my room instead of desk. I was thinking I would like it if I had tablecloths. Then because I will be teaching some social studies I thought - How could would it be if I could find some fabric that had maps on it and turn that into table clothes.

I also want to set up a little comfy area for kids to read. I want some carpet and lots of big pillows.

Both of these things can be made. If only I knew how to sew. So then I thought, how fun it would be to spend a couple days with my sweet mother in law this summer making these things while getting some sewing lessons.




Well I think that is all my thoughts that I wanted to get down. If you are still reading this, thanks. :) Happy Monday.

The Weekend is Here!!

The weekend is finally here. This has been one of those weeks that has flown by, yet at the same time crawled by. I'm not even sure how that is possible. It's like the individual days go by quickly. It's 7th period and time to go home before I know it. But the week as a whole as been long. Does that even make any sense?

Anyways, as it has gotten closer to Friday I have become more and more exhausted which in return makes more and more ready for the weekend. I have been torn about my weekend plans all week. Andrew is going to Osceola for the weekend to help his dad. At first I thought I would go see my mom & dad, but decided against that since I will be driving up there next Sunday after church. Then I found out that Sara was going with Cary to Osceola, so I thought I would tag along with Drew. But today, I have just felt very tired and in need of me time.

So... after much debate I have decided to stay home and send Drew to Osceola without me. I have big plans of reading, reading, reading, watching girly movies, reading, hot baths, and did I mention reading? :)

My nephew, Cody, is playing in a basketball tournament tonight and tomorrow which happens to be at my school so I am going to go out tonight and watch him play. After that, I am coming home and don't really plan to leave my bed other than for a hot bath.

I also plan to look over my lesson for Sunday. April is my month to teach Journey Kids at church. I am so excited about this opportunity to serve. Those little ones are too cute and say the craziest things. Most week it is a class full of spirited little girls.

Oh and I must share. Jill & Alex went for their first ultra sound yesterday. They are definitely having a baby. They got to hear the heartbeat yesterday. God is good!!!!

So there are my big plans for the weekend! What are you plans?