Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful in so many ways! This was our first year to celebrate Thanksgiving at our home. I was amazed when I realized this...we've been married 9 years and it's our first Thanksgiving at home...wow! We live several hours away from all of our family and with the stresses of graduate school we just couldn't make it out of town this year. So, we spent the day with some of our friends who have really become our family! It was an awesome day. We ate a cajun fried turkey, watched some football, played with all the kids, and played some board games too. It's an experience I hope to enjoy again soon. :)

The yummy Cajun fried turkey from Razoos!

Can you believe Jeremy actually looked at the camera?!

Randy was SO excited to try the turkey. :)

After the day was over we were all in bed by 10pm because us gals took off to Ft. Worth for some Black Friday shopping! I had never done that before and was quite nervous that I wouldn't be able to stay awake. Well, I survived and surprisingly was able to stay awake for almost 12 hours of shopping! I scored some awesome deals too! That may have just become a yearly tradition. :) 

Suffering for Doing Good

In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
1 Peter 3:15-17

I totally stole this set of scripture from another blog I read this morning. It just spoke to me, in a completely different way than the blog I was reading. So, I went and read 1 Peter 3: 8-17. Just what I needed to hear today. The title for this set of scriptures is "suffering for doing good". As Christians, we will all suffer at some point in our lives, whether it be losing a loved one, having a difficult employer, or hardships with family and friends. This passage was comforting to me today because it reminded me of how God wants me to act toward others. And it also reminds me to always be prepared to speak the truth! So, whatever your suffering is today know that by not repaying evil with evil, you will certainly inherit a blessing from God!

God's Amazing Plan: Part Two

So, part two is here! The big exciting news is only a few paragraphs away. :) I wonder what most of you thought the big news was...I wonder how many of you will have been right?!? I will say it has absolutely nothing to do with another baby. Yes, I have gained a little weight lately but that is from a "cookie complex"...yes, a topic for another day. So, what is this big news? Let me go back a little bit.

A few months after Carson was born I really struggled with what God had planned for my life. I was a stay at home mom for the first time in my life and I had NO idea what to do. I wanted to go back to work really bad, but God kept closing the doors. I knew God wanted me at home but I was fighting Him. When I finally realized it would do no good to fight, I took up the stay at home mom role and actually enjoyed it! During that time I prayed for God to reveal his bigger plan to me because I knew staying at home was not my life long call. So, the doors began to open and I enrolled in graduate school and began that adventure this past August. Just before classes began in August, I felt God calling me into ministry. Now, let me clarify...I have NO idea what being called into ministry looked like (and still do not know what that means for me long term). I didn't share that with anyone because I thought how crazy it sounded....me? called into ministry? I'm not fit to be a pastor. My friends will think I'm crazy! What kind of ministry? Where? How? So, so, so many questions. Most of which I still do not have an answer for. I know getting my graduate degree will help me with whatever God has planned but I honestly have no idea where He will take me and my family. It's actually really exciting!

Fast forward to early September... I woke up one morning and told Jeremy that I felt led to go on a mission trip to Africa. I think my husband thought I was crazy. He just said "yeah, that sounds like fun. Maybe you can go in a few years". A few weeks ago at our church's 5 year anniversary service, we learned that a couple was leading a team and going to Africa THIS coming summer. We met that particular couple at family bible camp last summer and I contacted them the next week for more information. Have you figured it out yet?!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying

"who shall I send? And who will go for us?"

and I said "here I am! Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8

The BIG news...
I'm going to Kitwe, Zambia in Africa this summer on a mission trip with our church! I could not be more excited. I have prayed about it, had close friends and family pray about it, and have the blessing of my family. God's timing is amazing, truly amazing. Now, I have no idea where the money to go will come from and I'm really nervous about flying and going without Jeremy BUT I know this is God's plan. It's amazing to look back over the last year and see that God has placed the right people in my life at just the right times and I'm SO thankful for all of those doors he closed for me.

I hope that each of you reading my blog will begin to pray for me and the rest of the team going to Africa. I ask you to pray that over the next 7 months we will become adequately prepared for the work we will be doing, that the money for the trip be provided, and that each one of us would grow in our faith beyond what we ever imagined. I am looking forward to sharing this journey with each of you! Are you excited yet?

This is a picture from the mission trip to Zambia that our leaders went on this past April!

God's Amazing Plan: Part one

Wow, it's been a while since my last blog post so I've got a lot of catching up to do! Well, I'm only 6 weeks out from being finished with my first semester of graduate school. It has been a wonderful experience so far. I've been challenged and frustrated but am learning SO much more than I ever imagined and I've made some great friends too! On the family side of things, Austin and Carson are growing up really fast. Austin is doing great in first grade and is reading so well. Carson is talking and learning new words every day and is only 3 months from being 2 years old. Where has the last 21 months gone? Can you believe they are this big?!

So, I know most of you are reading my blog to find out the BIG exciting news and I promise I'll get there...in part two! I started this blog back in August and have mostly written about God's call in my life. I have been searching and praying for over a year that I would clearly know God's call in my life and boy does prayer work! I'll be sharing some about that in part two!

1 Corinthians 1:9
...for God is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord