Christmas 2007

Still haven't found much time to blog. In the meantime we have been very busy this holiday. I wanted to take a moment a share with you this sweet picture of Jakob and Aaliyah with the greatest Santa Claus at the Milena Mall. This was Aaliyah's first time and she was not sure very sure of this guy. Jakob did enjoy him much more this year the last year. Just wanted to share.

One year ago today...

October 29, 2007, I can't believe it has already been a year since this beautiful lady slipped into the arms of her Savior. My Mamaw left behind such a legacy to live by. This women lived and breathed giving of herself to her family, her church, her community, and her GOD! She was so sweet and gentle to all that came into her presence. Her ambition in life was to always make sure others needs were taken care of before anything else. My heart is full of memories that I will never forget. I am privileged to say that my life as a child and now as a women has truly been touched by her genuine desire to minister to others by giving more than sometimes she even had to give. I miss her today. I was cleaning out somethings on top of my refrigerator and found a letter that I had wrote to her and never mailed. I began to regret never sending that note....and then was reminded that the conversation that I got to have with her before she died was better than any note I could have ever sent to her. Lucy Lambert, I love you and miss you with all of my heart. I long for the day when I to will be with my God my Savior and I will see your sweet face again!

Thankful Thursday

My friend Jess is hosting Thankful Thursday on her site and I thought I would join in.

1. I am thankful for my witty husband and his love for me and our kids.
2. I am thankful for my sweet kids Jakob and Aaliyah spending my days with them is so precious
3. I am thankful for my friends who are such real girls! You know who you are. Thank you for always loving me for who I am and always being such an encouragement to me.
4. I am thankful for my Pastor and staff. Since our family has been attending Westwood we have learned so much from these people and have come to a deeper understanding of what it means to serve the Body of Christ.
5. I am thankful for both of my small groups. Friday morning girls your ALL are amazing. Thank you for sharing your trials and triumphs with me. And my Sunday morning group, "The Essentials" in the short time that we have been meeting together thank you for allowing yourselves to be vulnerable before one another and share with us and God your journey.
6. I am thankful for my Mom, Dad and brother who have been beside me in each phase of my life always being there to support me!
7. I am thankful for falling back (time change) that is! What date is that again?
8. I am thankful for the time I get to spend on my new hobby, planting flowers. This gives me great opportunity to spend with the Lord.
9. I am thankful for the special time that is spent with my workout partners...when we go!haha or should I say when I go! And the sweetest part of it all is the Jesus Time!
10. I am thankful that my God blesses me beyond measure with so much to be thankful for. I Love You Jesus!

We are all looking for ways to give to one another...Right?! Well my friend Brandi has provided a perfect opportunity for you and I to generousely give to our sweet Pastor and his family! Check what Brandi writes...

Do you like winning things? Do you like helping people? If you answered "yes" to both questions, this is the place for you. (I won't ask which you like better!) Now, first: the story, then: the gifts!
I want to introduce you to a family. Jon and Christie D. (no last name to protect identity) and their boys. Jon is our wonderful pastor and the best shepherd of a flock that I have ever seen! He and his wife, Christie, love our church and serve it faithfully and sacrificially. I could go on and on and list the ways that they serve our church body and the community that we are in. I could list the times they were called to help someone in the middle of the night. . .The number of community organizations that Jon sits on boards for. . .the number of life lessons I have learned through their faithful example. However, all you really need to know is that they are amazing, faithful people full of integrity. They also happen to be adopting. After 10 years of infertility, Jon and Christie thought adoption would be the way that God chose to expand their family. God had a surprise in store for them, 6 years ago when they found out that they were pregnant with their first son. 3 years later, surprise little boy number 2 came along! While Jon and Christie love their little boys, they still felt their family was not complete. They continued to try to get pregnant while pursuing the options in adoption. This year has brought 2 miscarriages and a renewed sense of God's call to help the orphans through adoption. They prayerfully considered many countries open for adoption and soon settled on VIETNAM! They are now pursuing an adoption of a little girl.You may be thinking, "how does this affect me?". God's Word is clear about helping others. He says over and over throughout the Bible to "share with God's people who are in need" (Romans 12:13), especially pastors ( I Tim. 5:17-18)! Please join us in helping this wonderful family answer God's call to care for a little girl halfway around the world who needs a family so desperately.
THE BONUS!!!!!
We are giving away PRIZES!!!! Now, are you curious?
Prize #1: TIFFANY & CO. SILVER NECKLACE (Return to Tiffany, Oval Tag)*used but polished and comes with tiffany box complete white bow
Prize #2: Pampered Chef Basket full of fun and useful kitchen tools
Prize #3: A Goodie Bag of Professional Beauty Supplies (donated by Friends Beauty Supply)Prize #4: Sea World Tickets for 2
Prize #5: TimeWise® Microdermabrasion Set from Mary Kay
Prize #6: A new blog header and background by Whitney R.*the girl who just redesigned mine
For every $5 you donate, your name will be entered in our contest. (so, if you donate $20, your name will be entered 4 times and so on and so forth, you get the picture)
If you cut and paste this post on your blog to encourage your readers to join in on the fun, guess what? We will enter your name AGAIN.
If people donate from your blog, ask them to write your blogname in the "Comments" section and for every $100 donated, we'll enter your name a THIRD TIME.Contest winners will be drawn at random as soon as all of the money is raised! Let's go girls!

To donate, go to Brandi's post about this and click "donate" under the thermometer on the right hand side of the page. If you decide to donate, please mention in the "comments" section of her site that you found it here first!

Everything I could have asked for....

This past weekend our women from our church went on our annual Women's Retreat in Jacksonville, Fl. This was my second retreat that I had been on and my first time having the oppurtunity to be able to serve on the Retreat Team. Everything went so well. From being able to serve on a team with some of my dearest friends to serving with women who I admire in so many ways. The theme for the weekend was B.F.F "Becoming Fruitful in Friendships". I loved the fact that not only I could spend time with my current friends but that I was given time to cultivate new friendships that I look forward to having. During our time in our sessions I was challenged beyond what I could have ever asked for in my relationships not only with the body of Christ but with God and even my family and non-believers. What was very exciting for me was that I had already went through a very difficult time of learning about friendships in the past and thought that I pretty much new all that there was to know about having healthy relationships in my life. But as I began to consider the truths that I had already heard before I was so very challenged in ways that I had never been before. Thank you Lord!!!

Deeper understanding of prayer...

As I grow closer and closer to the Lord I am filled with such a passion for prayer in my life. I shared with you in my initial blog that I was reading the book Celebration of Discipline written by Richard J. Foster. I have now finished the chapter on prayer and found my self flipping the pages for more. We all want a more intimate, powerful, relational time of prayer with the Father but getting ourselves and our agendas out of the way has to happen first. I could completely identify with the example in the book of the man that prayed, and at first he thought prayer was talking, but became more and more quiet and realized that prayer is listening. Engaging with the Father is not based on Him tuning His ear towards us but first our ears toward Him. Have you ever had those moments when God is teaching you hard lessons that it feels as though it just "hits you like a ton of bricks" as I continued reading the chapter the Lord began to convict my heart. Seeking repentance and choosing obedience in what I know He is calling me too. I pray for others and when I do it seems as if it is with all of my heart. And then I read this sentence...We must hear, know, and obey the will of God before we pray it into the lives of others. I began to just weep, I want my life to be in such order with my Father that when I pray on behalf of others He hears me heart. We genuinely love people, my desire for those that He lays upon my heart is far more than it is within my power to give, and that absolutely causes me to pray. The great thing about learning and understanding prayer is that this will be a lifelong lesson and many many opportunities for practice.

Monkey Joe's

For all of you mom's who are looking to do something fun with your kids and haven't tried out Monkey Joe's, its a great play place for kids with all sorts of bouncy equipment for all ages. Check out the website www.monkeyjoes.com Johnny and I took the kids this morning and had a blast. And, most importantly during these HOT summer months we were able to have fun without suffering from heat exhaustion! Of course Jakob had fun with us but he didn't fail to mention as we were leaving that he wanted to bring "his friends" (love that, taking ownership already) back to Monkey Joe's with him next time we go.

The month of August, A Month of Celebrations...

My parents just celebrated 35 years of marriage on the 12th (Love you and miss you Dad and Mom)! I went out last night with one of my dearest friends Jen and celebrated her birthday! We had a fabulous time. And, I am looking forward to spending time with my nephew Nathan and my sweet sweet sis-in-law Tira for both of their birthdays next week. These names that I have mentioned are family and friends who are so very special to me. I thank God for all of you. As you celebrate either a birthday or an anniversery my prayer for all of you is that God continues to grow each and everyone of you into His likeness and that you and your families are given His favor for the years to come. I love you ALL dearly. Sunday

"Will Power"

I have begun reading the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. In the few pages that I have read I can't wait to share with you already what I am learning. Especially in the area of "will power". So many times my method of dealing with sin is by relying on my own willpower and determination. I love the scripture reference (Colossians 2:20-23) that Richard Foster uses to describe ways in which we try to control sin. I find my self repeating at times the phrase "I can do it" over and over again in different situations. The fact of the matter is no I can't. By surrenduring my will to Christ this not only releases my control of the situation but turns my "will worship" into worshiping Him with my obediance. Taking the focus off of self and focusing on Jesus.