Have you got your tickets yet???

This Friday, September 26th is opening weekend for Fireproof , the new movie produced by Sherwood Pictures - the same church/company that produced Facing the Giants. I want to encourage everyone to go and see this movie. Let's remind Hollywood once again that faith based movies do just as well on opening weekend and give Fireproof enough of an opening to keep it running for weeks to come.

I've got my tickets already.... how about you?

Happy Birthday Aunt C...

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Brithday to you. Happy Birthday Aunt C...Happy Birthday to you!

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This past weekend I had the wonderful pleasure of traveling to Shreveport, Louisiana (despite the looming hurricane) to surprise my sweet Aunt C for her 60th birthday. Let me just say first and foremost that in no way would you ever believe that she is 60! Aunt C is one of my most favorite relatives (and is married to my all-time favorite Uncle David!) so it was really special to get to be a part of her birthday celebration. Aunt C is a beautiful and gracious picture of a virtuous woman from whom I have learned much. My cousin and Aunt C's daughter, Shannon planned the event and we were able to spend some fun time with her as well.

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Follow along below for the short version of our trip in pictures!

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The Gang at our favorite restaurant (El Chico) on Friday night... we missed you Aunt C!

The Gang at Chili's on Saturday ironing out the final details of the surprise for the night. Aunt C had just called to say that she didn't believe she would be getting out for the night... we had no power at our hotel and the weather was getting rather nasty!

A sneak peak at the birthday cake :)

"What... only idiots would travel in this weather. But I'm glad you're all here!"

Aunt C discovering her senior portrait on her birthday cake!

There were beautiful flowers all around.

Blowing out the candles!

Shannon and Scott...... are they cute or what? I love hanging out with these guys!

The memory box that Momma and I made for Aunt C!

I snuck into Aunt C's bedroom and took a picture of the memory box on her bed... it matched
perfectly!!!

We had a wonderful trip in spite of the weather and Jon and I can't wait to go back for a visit!!!

This is not an advertisement for McAllisters...

If you look closely you will see that in the bottom of this McAllister's Deli cup is a snake.... yes, a snake! When I arrived at work this morning I noticed the small reptile on the floor in front of Mrs. Kay's desk. At first I believed it to be fake - then it moved! Mrs. Kay immediately screamed and I went for "trapping gear". After many attempts on my life by "Sammy the Snake" I was able to trap him under a white Pepper's Deli cup (notice a trend here?). I placed a hymnal on top of the cup and called Jon to come and pick "Sammy" up and take him away.
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By the time Jon arrived we had had morning visitors and they too were anxious about our new friend. Jon quickly scooped up "Sammy" and transfered him to the clear McAllister's Deli cup where once again I photographed him! What a way to start off my day back to work after a weekend getaway that put us in the path of Hurricane Ike... more on that tomorrow. For now - Hakuna Matata!

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P.S. Despite my best efforts to convince Jon that the snake "rattled" his tail he informed me that "Sammy" was only a chicken snake!

Prayer...

My dear friends and family... today as I pray I am coveting your prayers as well. I won't go into a lot of detail but here are the basics - Jon and I are facing some big decisions right now. As most of you know we will not be heading to Starkville to pastor as God has closed that door. We are absolutely 100% okay with this because He has something awesome and unexpected for us up ahead. We also believe that He is moving us (as He has been all along until we got selfish and sidetracked) in the direction of education. It has been our goal since Jon's graduation in 2004 to pay down our debts and return to school and allow Jon to get his Master of Divinity degree. After trying our way for the last year we realize that God has not changed that desire in hearts nor has He allowed us to move in any different directions. Believing wholeheartedly that this is what He wills for our lives at this time - we are preparing for a change and pending Jon's acceptance to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, we will be heading North next year.
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We are excited about this new chapter in our lives, but at the same time we are facing a few difficulties. For the last 3 years Jon has been working as a carpenter in addition to his ministerial positions. That carpentry work is actually our primary source of income while I work only part-time at the Missions Office. Well, as most of you have realized -the housing market is getting slower and slower by the day. So the boys are officially out of work as soon as they finish the house they are working on plus one more. Jon worked a mere 13 hours last week and this week will only put in around 24 hours. In addition to that he has not booked any preaching engagements due to the fact that we may have been unavailable if called to Starkville as pastor. That leaves us in a crunch.
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So, I did all that whining to simply ask you to pray for us. Pray that we will move forward in the way that God wills. We know that if we simply follow His plan that He will provide the way and the means necessary to follow through with that plan. After all He plans to prosper us and not to harm us... plans to give us hope and a future as He says in Jeremiah 29:11.
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Well, thanks for listening to me "vent" a little. I promise it's the last time for a while :) Hakuna Matata!!!

Happy Birthday Bun Bun!

The birthday girl blowing out her candles at Old Venice in Starkville this past Friday night!

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Me and the munchkins.... twins, Ben & Hannah. They are my buddies and we always have a good time together! Lots of sweet hugs and kisses are always dished out when we're together :)

When they say Junior what they really mean is....

Just thought I would share this picture for those of you thinking those Junior Banana Splits at Sonic would be a nice treat... I stopped by Sonic one afternoon to grab a treat for me and Mrs. Kay. it was just one of those days when we needed a little something special. Well, a little something is exactly what we got! Check out the size of that thing - and yes, that is a matchbook I am holding to show some sort of a scale :)

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However, it would not be fair for me to make fun of the fun size treat without saying that it was very tasty... all three bites :) Hakuna Matata!

Two posts in one day.... too funny not to share!

Though you won't be graced with my writing skills (wink, wink) in this post I just had to share this very funny You-Tube video sent to me today. This one is for you Jon - maybe next time you'll think before you speak :)

The Amazing Thing About Grace...

I've been thinking a lot about grace lately. What is it? Why do I receive it? How should it change the way I look at life? The questions go on and on... and I have just stumbled onto a great answer to some of those very questions.

I have always believed grace to mean God's riches at Christ's expense. An acrostic I learned many years ago and it has always made perfect sense. But, it only answers the what part of my question. Of course until now that's always been plenty for me. I am not the person who has to know how and when and where it all works - I just believe it works with or without me and I am fine with either conclusion. While I have a solid faith and know enough to get into a healthy debate with others over said faith, sometimes I believe that I am a little too "passive". By passive I mean that I lack full emotion and understanding of action and consequence in certain situations. In other words if the Bible says it - I believe it without contemplating what it means in individual situations. Hence, I am diving in to something deeper. While I will always be the same person I have always been, passive and all, I want to know that I have reason to be so passive.

Now you are probably thinking, "What does all that have to do with grace?". Well, not a lot, but grace was just the first depth I thought I would try and tackle. The subject matter came to me in the form of a quote, an excerpt if you will. I love quotes... little morsels of wisdom from other more experienced souls. Quotes give me just enough to be intrigued and seek out truth on my own. So, I came across a quote that spoke to me and then went off to find its source - a paper entitled "God's Purpose of Grace", by Horatius Bonar, a Scottish churchman and poet.

But how far has this grace come? It has come the whole length of a sinner’s distance from God. It did not wait till the sinner sought it, ere it came forth. It came unbidden and undesired. Nor did it wait till some of the distance had been removed, or some of the hindrances surmounted by the sinner himself. It traversed the whole distance itself, and over-leaped, or rather leveled every barrier. It burst forth spontaneous from the bosom of eternal love, and rested not till it had removed every impediment, and found its way up to the sinner’s side, swelling round him in full flow. It does away the distance between the sinner and God, which sin had created. It meets the sinner on the spot where he stands, and it approaches him just as he is. It does not wait till there is something to attract it, nor till there is some good reason in the sinner for its flowing to him. No; unattracted, and without any reason in the sinner, it pours itself forth in all its fullnesstowards objects whose only title is their utter worthlessness, and their possessing nothing for the holy eye of God to delight in. (Horatius Bonar)

Did you catch that? Not only do we recieve grace at Christ's expense and for free - we don't even have to search for it. Grace doesn't wait for us to seek after it or decide we need it - Grace over-leaped everything in its path to find us! It removes the distance between us and a perfect God and meets us where we stand, just as we are! Now that's what I call amazing!

Sure, this may be "old hat" to some of us, but it never hurts to be reminded that God is in complete control - He is Sovereign! If He takes the initiative in a matter so precious as grace, how much more can we trust that He will initiate the smaller blessings in life. How much more can we rest in the fact that He is "into the details" of our lives and that at just the right moment, whether we are looking for it or not, He grants us His grace and peace.

Wow.... I just had to share that today and while we are content in the waiting, I hope you will seek Him out today. I want to be found searching when He finds me!

Hakuna Matata!

Arkansas Mini Family Reunion 08

This summer Jon and I had a chance to go with my (maternal) Grandparents to Arkansas. My mother was born in Marmaduke and a lot of my Grandmother's family still lives in the area (Marmaduke, Jonesboro and Rector).

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On Saturday we had a mini family reunion... it was "mini" due to the fact that not everyone was able to make it and some probably didn't even know it was happening! Regardless, we had a great time and I was able to spend time with family that I haven't seen since I was a kid.

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So, instead of me rambling on about the weekend I will just share some pictures and a few captions. Enjoy!

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The blood relatives (from lef to right: Sarah, Granny-Edna, Uncle Sam, Mona, Aunt Willie Mae, Me, Aunt Rita (not blood, but Uncle Sam's wife), Sherry, Aunt Shirley, Sarah Beth, and Daniel)

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"The Hill" Just for you Aunt Bun Bun

Me & my cousin, Sarah Beth

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Daniel's little girl, Shelby. I must have taken 50 pictures of this kid... she's just so cute and doesn't she look like she could be mine???

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Daniel's oldest son, Garrett playing with Sarah Beth's dog Shadow.

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Granny & Paw Paw introducing the Arkansas group to our favorite game of Farkel.

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Garrett was really into the game.
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And here is little Shelby rolling the dice.

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And here she is again... this time saying, "Oh well, I farkeled!"

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David and Isaac (Daniel's youngest son)

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Picture of an old scrapbook that my Uncle Sam borrowed from the town hall to show us. My Grandmother made these scrapbooks when she was in a Home Demonstration club many many years ago. I think my Grandmother is taking this picture and my mother is the little girl on the far right of the bottom row!

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This is my Grandpa Phillips' marker in New Liberty Cemetary. He passed away when my mother was only 14 so I have not had the pleasure of meeting him, but have heard lots of wonderful stories and my brother looks just like him!