Merry CHRISTmas

As we enter into this Christmas season, I want to wish everyone a very merry CHRISTmas and best wishes for the new year. I have been truly blessed with my family. I look back on this year and cannot believe all that has been accomplished. All the many firsts, as well as new steps that have been taken. I hope you find yourself surrounded by love and family. Yet never forget you are always surrounded by the love of JESUS. HE is the reason we celebrate this most wonderful time of the year!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was good this year. We set off to Alabama around 10:30 pm after being at Gertrudes for dinner there. We made it to daddys around3:30 in the morning. After waking daddy up at 6 we spent a few hours there. We went to my aunt resas for lunch and got a lot of good food. Turned back around and went to daddys, then we headed home. As a tradition we spent the weekend after thanksgiving not shopping til we dropped, but rather getting all the christmas decorations out. I have a lot to be thankful for, but I truely love the christmas season. I truely believe that its the most wonderful time of the year.
During thanksgiving I was able to see some family that I hardly ever get a chance to see. I enjoyed sitting around and reminesing over the years gone by. It was great to just sit around and fellowship with the family. Although not everyone was physically there, we have kept them in our hearts and thus they are with us no matter where we go.

I did it

Ok, I have taken the next step and volunteered to teach Sunday school. I have to admit, once I opened my mouth up, I felt completely calm and excited about the whole thing. I am looking forward to teaching. Just lots of preparation for a fly by the seat of your pants kid. Now for the events of the weekend. I was planning on a haircut but Abby was sick and that ended that idea. I was gonna try to make it to the Christmas village, but the cold weather is keeping me away...due to having to drag the girls out in the cold. However I am getting a date night with my hubby :) and that makes me very happy. More on the date night later. I am gonna have to get busy to see what there is to do. I want to go see the movie fireproof. I am kinda tricking him into it, by telling him its about a fire fighter. Have to let you know later if it works.

autumns glory

Looking around as I am busily running errands, I am constantly reminded of how majestic our God is. His masterpiece is evident around every turn and in every moment. I love the tapestry He has painted in autumn when the leaves are changing colors. Its even more vibrant just after a rain fall. At least I think that it is. I am begining to love autumn just a little more each year. I still long for the warm days of summer, but there is something refreshing in the crisp morning air. Seeing the leaves in all their glory, taking in the crisp air, just brings me to worshiping my Lord right there. I begin to stay in awe of the fact that the Creator of all this splendor made this just for me, well Maybe not just for me, but at that moment He had me take notice, so that moment in time is mine. He has moments like that for all of us. We just have to be willing to take part of them and to drink in the crisp air that He has left for us.

ponders from the soap box

So now that the election is over, everyone is in a up rival about what is gonna happen next. Well quite frankly i am not surprised that Obama won this election. The economy is bad now, but that is cyclical and whoever is in office when it hits bottom, well their party usually is not the one re-elected. I think that this country does need some changes made. We have got to stop our belly aching' and get on with getting things done. Enough on that one. To quote a good friend of mine...." i may have to follow the law of the land, but i am a child of the King of Kings". Ya know things aren't always gonna be peachy keen here on earth...Come on folks, this isn't our home. We are mearly strangers in a foreign land here. Enough on the soap box. More pondering to come later.

happenings

Life has been just like a box of chocolates here lately. It seems as if the cooler it gets outside the busier life seems to become. We spent fall break hanging around the house. We went to the zoo one of those days. The last weekend of fall break we went to Georgia to the fall festivals going on there. It was nice to get away and visit with the family. Coming back home I realized yet again I had forgotten about Sarahs dental appt., so I had to reschedule that one...and thankfully I got her to that one. :) I have been so forgetful here lately. Not sure what is up with that. This past weekend we went to the Jack Daniels BBQ. It was nice although extremely crowded. After that we rushed back to Nashville to do Ghouls at Grassmere. That was actually quite nice. Although extremely cold to me. My favorite place was next to the bon fire. Hope to do that one again next year. This coming weekend we will trick or treat friday and hopefully do nothing the rest of the weekend. I am looking forward to some restfull days.

Pondering

Well its just another day in paradise heh? Things are getting better. Emotions are getting better. I am struggling with one thing more than any at the moment. I feel like I should volunteer to teach sunday school? In one sense I am really wanting to do this. In another sense I think I have lost my mind. I do not feel that I have enough knowledge to even attempt to teach. I barely feel like I am qualified to do moms in touch, and this is a whole new arena. Any way, I know that I will eventually do what I am being led to do. It may just come out of my mouth with out me thinking about it.... I am pretty good with things like that. I often say things before thinking. And most of the time that winds out ok, but sometimes I can get in trouble for it. Be patient... It all works out for good in due time.

one more tear

Well this day that some of us has been dreading has finally come. Today we said goodbye to our beloved pastor and his better half our dear sister Angie and their family. I have come to a better understanding of how majestic our God is and how He has everything to a plan for our good. Through Brad and Angie I have developed a deeper relationship with Christ and have done some things for the kingdom I thought I could never do. Angie has been such a wonderful influence in my life. I will truly miss her passion for Christ each time I encountered her. She truely inspires me to reach deeper and deeper into that relationship. Although our paths may not cross that frequently this side of heaven, I know she will one day be praising the Lord with me once again. I can not wait though to see the changes the Lord has in store. He is most definitely the master planner and I can not wait to see the way things will unfold and the lives that are to be touched. One of my favorite quotes is "that which does not kill us will make us stronger" Well, I hate to see the change of a pastor. In a way, its unfamiliar territory for me. I have never gone through this type of change before in my life. Yet I know that there are great things to be in store for not only my but for the church as well as for Brad and Angie and the girls. In a sense I refuse to say goodbye. Not only because I suck at it, but because goodbye seems so permanent. I will close and say.... until next time my dear friend.