Saturday, April 10, 2010
A Giveaway for Moms and Their Daughters
This is a great giveaway over at All Access. Check it out if you have daughters!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
We're NOT Professionals...
We are not professional bowlers, but we sure had fun taking all of my girls and my sister's girls bowling on Spring Break w/ my mom.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Easter
Our Easter 2010 was wonderful! We saw almost 2000 people come out to LifeSong Church for our Easter Egg Drop/Hunt, and then over 700 come back the next day to our Easter services. We are so grateful for the lives we saw changed this Easter. I loved how Jeff said it on Sunday. He said that you won't find us doing any different service at Easter than we strive to do every single Sunday at LifeSong Church. We always want to come together on Sundays and celebrate Jesus resurrection and life because we have Victory! I can tell ya, though...celebrating Sunday was extra special! What a great thing to know that we can reach out to our community in such fun ways and meet their need for great family activities for their families, and see them come on Sunday and meet Jesus. We saw 13 salvations Sunday, and we rejoice in every one of them!
The girls had fun this Easter starting off with lots of excitement at our Egg Drop/Hunt. We had so much fun waiting on the plane to fly overhead, dropping tons of eggs out, and off we went to gather them all in our baskets. You can imagine with almost 2000 people there, the eggs were gone like THAT! Even still, candy was to be had, and very dirty faces after!
Easter morning, the girls woke up to a much more "intentional" Easter basket. This year, I felt very strongly that our emphasis needed to be more focused on the life, death and resurrection of Christ rather than filling our baskets with a lot of commercialism. We presented all four of our girls with brand new Bibles. Of course, they got candy, because who doesn't have a smile on their face after a little bit of sugar! Our prayer is that these new Bibles will be a constant reminder of our desire to see our girls walk in victory each day.
Easter Sunday afternoon was spent over a yummy Sunday lunch, naps and egg dying and hunting. It was fun spending time together on what could not have been a more gloriously beautiful day!
The girls had fun this Easter starting off with lots of excitement at our Egg Drop/Hunt. We had so much fun waiting on the plane to fly overhead, dropping tons of eggs out, and off we went to gather them all in our baskets. You can imagine with almost 2000 people there, the eggs were gone like THAT! Even still, candy was to be had, and very dirty faces after!
Easter morning, the girls woke up to a much more "intentional" Easter basket. This year, I felt very strongly that our emphasis needed to be more focused on the life, death and resurrection of Christ rather than filling our baskets with a lot of commercialism. We presented all four of our girls with brand new Bibles. Of course, they got candy, because who doesn't have a smile on their face after a little bit of sugar! Our prayer is that these new Bibles will be a constant reminder of our desire to see our girls walk in victory each day.
Easter Sunday afternoon was spent over a yummy Sunday lunch, naps and egg dying and hunting. It was fun spending time together on what could not have been a more gloriously beautiful day!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Catching Up In Pictures
Nicer weather makes for fun times outside!
Our house is for sale...NOT this cutie!
3 of the 4 girls enjoyed a day at the park
A Dinner Party
The HOST of the Dinner Party
A visit to see Papa and Meme
Loving on Meme after her hospital stay
Sitting in her favorite chair at Meme's and Papa's House
Bailey's chorus concert
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Who Do You Inspire?
I have many people that have inspired, and continue to inspire, me in my life. They may all have different personalities, but the one connecting factor in all of them is that they just are who they are. They are "being today who they want to be tomorrow." In other words, they are just being the real deal, truly living their lives....every part of their lives. The thing that inspires me about them is they are not trying just to show the good parts. They are vulnerable, teachable and willing to start over in order to really become what they are supposed to be in life. I've been told (more than a time or two) that I expose too much of who I am to people...say too much, don't hide my emotions very well or I "might" be a little too honest. For a very long time that has, quite honestly, wounded me. It held me back from being who I am. I cared way too much what people thought about me. At the same time, when you are in the process of being who God wants you to be, you're gonna need to hear some criticism, but ultimately care about the One's comments that matter the most. I am learning that God has made me to be me...not you, or who you think I should be, or even who someone else is that may be WAY cooler than me. I'm to be me!
This has challenged me this week as Jeff began a new series called "Close Encounters," challenging us to have encounter with God for one...to know Him as our Father, but also to realize when the God of heaven and earth is right in the midst of our LIVES! Those unmistakable, undeniable times when it's you and God. We talked about this in our LifeGroup Monday night - "Describe your close encounters, or one of your close encounters with God." This, for me, has come through times of God showing Himself to me through others...the ones that inspire me, but I've had significant times in my life that it's just God and me...the only one that could deliver me from being so low and depressed that I could barely breathe...He reached out to me and drew me close and spoke "peace." Times when the hurt and pain have been so severe that He said, "You're not alone. I'm here." Most significantly, though, is that none of those things would have happened had God not spoken His love for me as a 7 year old little girl...had it not been for me accepting a simple and unconditional promise that He would live in my life forever. As I've heard many stories of close encounters in their salvation as an older teen or adult, I hear such a real desperation in voices to live for Him, that freshness in their love for Him...it's just "seemed" more real. I thought a lot about it yesterday, and truly, had it not been for people inspiring and investing in my life, I often wonder if the love I feel for Christ now would not seem so real to me. It made me think of the way inspire others...my kids, my husband, women's lives, our church as I serve as their Pastor's wife, etc. It's heavy the responsibility we have to inspire others, but it's also the very thing that could spur others into their own close encounter with Christ. Don't take for granted that you have no one to inspire. Don't ever deny the fact that if you are His child, you have been inspired to lead others. For me, my husband inspires me as he is just REAL in his relationship with Christ...never living as though he's already "arrived," but doing whatever it takes to move everything in his life in the direction of Christ. My parents have inspired me in the readiness of their hearts to follow Christ wherever He leads them. My sisters inspire me simply by giving my life laughter. My daughters even inspire me as they challenge me to be the mother that they need. My dorm mom from high school inspires me as she prays scripture over my life, and just genuinely loves me for who I am.
Who are you inspiring to have a close encounter with God? Who is inspiring you?
This has challenged me this week as Jeff began a new series called "Close Encounters," challenging us to have encounter with God for one...to know Him as our Father, but also to realize when the God of heaven and earth is right in the midst of our LIVES! Those unmistakable, undeniable times when it's you and God. We talked about this in our LifeGroup Monday night - "Describe your close encounters, or one of your close encounters with God." This, for me, has come through times of God showing Himself to me through others...the ones that inspire me, but I've had significant times in my life that it's just God and me...the only one that could deliver me from being so low and depressed that I could barely breathe...He reached out to me and drew me close and spoke "peace." Times when the hurt and pain have been so severe that He said, "You're not alone. I'm here." Most significantly, though, is that none of those things would have happened had God not spoken His love for me as a 7 year old little girl...had it not been for me accepting a simple and unconditional promise that He would live in my life forever. As I've heard many stories of close encounters in their salvation as an older teen or adult, I hear such a real desperation in voices to live for Him, that freshness in their love for Him...it's just "seemed" more real. I thought a lot about it yesterday, and truly, had it not been for people inspiring and investing in my life, I often wonder if the love I feel for Christ now would not seem so real to me. It made me think of the way inspire others...my kids, my husband, women's lives, our church as I serve as their Pastor's wife, etc. It's heavy the responsibility we have to inspire others, but it's also the very thing that could spur others into their own close encounter with Christ. Don't take for granted that you have no one to inspire. Don't ever deny the fact that if you are His child, you have been inspired to lead others. For me, my husband inspires me as he is just REAL in his relationship with Christ...never living as though he's already "arrived," but doing whatever it takes to move everything in his life in the direction of Christ. My parents have inspired me in the readiness of their hearts to follow Christ wherever He leads them. My sisters inspire me simply by giving my life laughter. My daughters even inspire me as they challenge me to be the mother that they need. My dorm mom from high school inspires me as she prays scripture over my life, and just genuinely loves me for who I am.
Who are you inspiring to have a close encounter with God? Who is inspiring you?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
What I'm Doing
There's a whole lot going on in my life right now. Before you stop reading because you think this is a post about being busy, never fear...I don't like that word..."busy". It has become too much of a status quo statement maker. The busier we are, the more successful we're supposed to appear. Instead, I'm trying to focus on the little details of my days...the insignificant and the significant. I just want each moment to be LIVED, and not regretted. I want to love well and in turn, love God by loving others. So, here's a little peek into my life TODAY, and if I can be intentional to love through even the most tiny detail, then I'm going to relish it!
What I'm reading: "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan - Really has been the impetus for this post. Lately, it has pinpointed in my life not minimizing the ways I CAN love right now, without all of the excuses that I'm good at making, such as "life is just so mundane/routine," "I never come in contact with other people...other than the grocery store," "How can I make a difference?" Rather, know that God has commanded me to love Him and love others, and by loving others, I am loving Him and desiring more and more of Him when I'm exercising love. It's becoming real to me through the hug I can give, the meal I can prepare for others or even my family, through the kiss I can give my girls in the morning that's not easy for this morning person, or through loving and praying for that difficult person. It's practical. It's real. It's freeing.
My favorite activities: I wrote a post recently on being intentional to spend one on one time with my girls, and the month of January was more special to me just because of this alone! I loved getting to sit with my girls and hear even the smallest detail of their day, or what they are into right now. They always amaze me by sharing their heart. Sometimes I think I know them, but then they surprise me even more.
Date nights are consistently one of my favorite activities. I never get tired of spending time with Jeff. We just get along...plain and simple. I love every bit of time I can spend with him. His heart is the purest! He is just an amazing person to get to know. We laugh, we sit and stare at one another, we enjoy our time! We are beginning to get healthier together and I love being on whatever journey God puts us on right now...together!
I still enjoy reality TV. It just amuses me. I definitely think it's fallen into the "favorite pastime category. Along w/ that, I love keeping in touch with friends through Facebook, Twitter and email. It's really strengthened my friendships, when I keep it in check! ;)
New ventures: I'm all about relationships. They breathe life into me, and lately this aspect of my life has taken a newer, richer turn. I've been able to connect myself with some great wives of Pastor's. These ladies have been such an encouragement, whether it be the ones I've had the pleasure to meet in person, or the ones I know through Facebook, Twitter and blogging. They teach me and enrich my life. I had the honor of meeting with five wives of pastor's last week as a part of the coaching network Jeff has been attending the last six months. It was such an edifying time to hear all God is doing in these ladies' lives to make them the lead pastor's wife that God wants them to be. I really appreciate the words spoken over my life during that time. God has put so many neat people, in general, in my life lately. Their humility, vulnerability and love have all worked to make me a better me!
Deeper callings: In loving well, I continue to know God is challenging me and moving me to a greater place alongside my husband as he leads our church. I LOVE being married to a pastor. Even in the times of figuring out my place of leading others, it's a joy to be a part of seeing lives changed. I am excited to be more intentional as Jeff and I lead together and as was spoken over my life at the coaching network, to "relish my reality." I am excited to move forward in the confidence of my calling to encourage and love, in order to be who God wants ME to be!
I encourage you today to take a look at all areas of your life. Sometimes we don't take the time to realize that we are difference makers, and that our life that never seems to matter much, matters to someone! What are you doing TODAY to love Him well?
What I'm reading: "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan - Really has been the impetus for this post. Lately, it has pinpointed in my life not minimizing the ways I CAN love right now, without all of the excuses that I'm good at making, such as "life is just so mundane/routine," "I never come in contact with other people...other than the grocery store," "How can I make a difference?" Rather, know that God has commanded me to love Him and love others, and by loving others, I am loving Him and desiring more and more of Him when I'm exercising love. It's becoming real to me through the hug I can give, the meal I can prepare for others or even my family, through the kiss I can give my girls in the morning that's not easy for this morning person, or through loving and praying for that difficult person. It's practical. It's real. It's freeing.
My favorite activities: I wrote a post recently on being intentional to spend one on one time with my girls, and the month of January was more special to me just because of this alone! I loved getting to sit with my girls and hear even the smallest detail of their day, or what they are into right now. They always amaze me by sharing their heart. Sometimes I think I know them, but then they surprise me even more.
Date nights are consistently one of my favorite activities. I never get tired of spending time with Jeff. We just get along...plain and simple. I love every bit of time I can spend with him. His heart is the purest! He is just an amazing person to get to know. We laugh, we sit and stare at one another, we enjoy our time! We are beginning to get healthier together and I love being on whatever journey God puts us on right now...together!
I still enjoy reality TV. It just amuses me. I definitely think it's fallen into the "favorite pastime category. Along w/ that, I love keeping in touch with friends through Facebook, Twitter and email. It's really strengthened my friendships, when I keep it in check! ;)
New ventures: I'm all about relationships. They breathe life into me, and lately this aspect of my life has taken a newer, richer turn. I've been able to connect myself with some great wives of Pastor's. These ladies have been such an encouragement, whether it be the ones I've had the pleasure to meet in person, or the ones I know through Facebook, Twitter and blogging. They teach me and enrich my life. I had the honor of meeting with five wives of pastor's last week as a part of the coaching network Jeff has been attending the last six months. It was such an edifying time to hear all God is doing in these ladies' lives to make them the lead pastor's wife that God wants them to be. I really appreciate the words spoken over my life during that time. God has put so many neat people, in general, in my life lately. Their humility, vulnerability and love have all worked to make me a better me!
Deeper callings: In loving well, I continue to know God is challenging me and moving me to a greater place alongside my husband as he leads our church. I LOVE being married to a pastor. Even in the times of figuring out my place of leading others, it's a joy to be a part of seeing lives changed. I am excited to be more intentional as Jeff and I lead together and as was spoken over my life at the coaching network, to "relish my reality." I am excited to move forward in the confidence of my calling to encourage and love, in order to be who God wants ME to be!
I encourage you today to take a look at all areas of your life. Sometimes we don't take the time to realize that we are difference makers, and that our life that never seems to matter much, matters to someone! What are you doing TODAY to love Him well?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Happy Birthday to Quinn!
ha
Quinn Olivia is the name we chose for this "unexpected" little blessing three years ago on a chilly February 7th day. It was no surprise to us that we were having our FOURTH daughter...seeing as we pretty much had a winning streak going already! The day the ultrasound tech told us, we pretty much could've told HER! We were familiar with the picture! We were surprised, however, to even be expecting a 
baby at that point in our lives. Having a fourth child was NO WHERE on our radar...AT ALL!
We were going through one of the darkest times of our lives and feeling very uncertain of our future...very hurt, very frustrated, very confused. Going to the movies with my sister and her girls that day was only supposed to be a girls' day out (my sis has THREE girls!)...not a day to go find out that I was pregnant. I just wanted to be out and have a day to not think about the current state of our life, but something kept nagging at me the whole movie..."I think I'm pregnant. No I'm not. Yes, I am. NO I'M NOT. That is CRAZY!!" My thoughts were later confirmed that day as I took a test and found out that indeed I was pregnant.
I was too scared to tell Jeff in person beca
use he was already going through so much. I told him over the phone! I think of his words all the time, especially now on Quinn's birthday...especially now on this side of God's provision and protection - His plans for our life of prospering and not harming - His plans for a future that included a smiley faced, happy little girl that lives life for the fullest. He told me
Quinn Olivia is the name we chose for this "unexpected" little blessing three years ago on a chilly February 7th day. It was no surprise to us that we were having our FOURTH daughter...seeing as we pretty much had a winning streak going already! The day the ultrasound tech told us, we pretty much could've told HER! We were familiar with the picture! We were surprised, however, to even be expecting a 
baby at that point in our lives. Having a fourth child was NO WHERE on our radar...AT ALL!We were going through one of the darkest times of our lives and feeling very uncertain of our future...very hurt, very frustrated, very confused. Going to the movies with my sister and her girls that day was only supposed to be a girls' day out (my sis has THREE girls!)...not a day to go find out that I was pregnant. I just wanted to be out and have a day to not think about the current state of our life, but something kept nagging at me the whole movie..."I think I'm pregnant. No I'm not. Yes, I am. NO I'M NOT. That is CRAZY!!" My thoughts were later confirmed that day as I took a test and found out that indeed I was pregnant.
I was too scared to tell Jeff in person beca
use he was already going through so much. I told him over the phone! I think of his words all the time, especially now on Quinn's birthday...especially now on this side of God's provision and protection - His plans for our life of prospering and not harming - His plans for a future that included a smiley faced, happy little girl that lives life for the fullest. He told meCelebrate Life
Never did I need to hear two words more...NOT even, as I've learned now, living in the midst of heartache, but more because embracing each day in joy, in trial, in success. I'm thankful for God sending us a precious little 7lb 8oz girl to teach us so much about life. She continues to be a ray of sunshine for her Mommy and Daddy, as well as her sisters. She tackles the day with a lot of fervor, and gets in trouble a whole lot for it, but nonetheless, she does it with a smile on her face.
Here are some special facts about Quinn:
Loves sweets - as with the other girls, I blame this on their Daddy. He always gave 'em that first piece of candy, thus spoiling them for life!
Loves her sisters - she is NEVER fully content until we pick them up from school everyday!
LOVES to sing
LOVES her dogs, Jake and Emmy
Loves her "boyfriend," Aiden
LOVES her "gaggy" - her blanket
Loves outdoors
Loves apples
Loves to run to her Daddy when he gets home everyday (will even tell him to go back to the door if she misses him coming in)
Loves her bed! She calls "Mommy" every morning when she is ready to wake up. I love that time of the day when I hear her call my name.
Quinn has blessed our lives in sooooooo many ways. Our prayer for her is the same it's been for all of our girls...that they would come to know Christ at an early age, and in Quinn's case, that He would use her love of life to touch many, many lives!
Here are some special facts about Quinn:
Loves sweets - as with the other girls, I blame this on their Daddy. He always gave 'em that first piece of candy, thus spoiling them for life!
Loves her sisters - she is NEVER fully content until we pick them up from school everyday!
LOVES to sing
LOVES her dogs, Jake and Emmy
Loves her "boyfriend," Aiden
LOVES her "gaggy" - her blanket
Loves outdoors
Loves apples
Loves to run to her Daddy when he gets home everyday (will even tell him to go back to the door if she misses him coming in)
Loves her bed! She calls "Mommy" every morning when she is ready to wake up. I love that time of the day when I hear her call my name.
Quinn has blessed our lives in sooooooo many ways. Our prayer for her is the same it's been for all of our girls...that they would come to know Christ at an early age, and in Quinn's case, that He would use her love of life to touch many, many lives!
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