Prayer is Much Appreciated

Drew and I are taking the Senior High kids from our Youth Group (Oakland Baptist Church) to the Edge Conference. We are going to Caswell (technically Oak Island, NC) this morning until Saturday afternoon and are hoping this is a great opportunity for God to encourage/challenge our teens.

Please pray for:

Softened hearts

Safety
Strengthened Relationships 

Services 

Sincerity

We love these kids and deeply desire for them to passionately follow Christ no matter what the cost! So thanks for lifting them up with us!

Crazy Busy Christmas

Drew and I always have a busy Christmas, filled with family, food, and fun. ;) Blending time with families can be difficult once you are married, and there are definitely tweaks to be made with ours, but for now, I enjoy the craziness... Drew tolerates it. ;) This is the second Christmas morning that we have had my mom, Jeremy, Katie, Audrey, and Owen at our house. Audrey is at a perfect age for opening presents, but we were so proud that she also shared and gave our presents to us. Breakfast Pizza was consumed, and Memaw and Larry came to visit. I loved the fact we woke up to snow! My mom had opened all of my blinds so it jumped out at me when I went out of my bedroom. 

For lunch we headed to the Hunsleys. I had some of the best steak ever and played Apples to Apples. Drew introduced me to some brain teaser game, but it intimidated me after a couple rounds. I would never be able to beat him at that type of game anyway. It is always interesting, entertaining, enlightening, going over to Drew's parents house, because where he comes from a house full of boys (and a momma), I come from a house full of girls. It's a whole different world, let me tell you.

For dinner we headed to the Farmer get together. There's always a lot going on over there. :) I am so blessed to have so many aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents! If you couldn't tell, family makes me happy. I definitely over indulged in yummy goodness and enjoyed watching Drew and Luke play basketball. Drew seems slightly at a disadvantage doesn't he? ha ha

How did you spend YOUR Christmas?

Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve was more relaxing than A) I thought it was going to be and B) it usually is. God is good to me like that :) I got to spend some time with my kiddos that morning, but was surprised to have Teal come home at 1 so I was able to leave early. Drew and I went to Fellowship Community Church with Dad, Dreama and Ryan for the Christmas Eve service. It was nice as always. I like attending a church on Christmas Eve so that my focus stays on the One that deserves it. Once we were home we visited with my family, Robin, Elijah and Isaiah came by, and then later Mary and the kids came by. :) As always they totally made my night. :) Trouble was had played, movies were partially watched, snuggles were given, and stockings were stuffed. Oh, so were are bellies... from steak and junk of course. Over all, it was a wonderful day. Again I say,

I AM BLESSED

Letting God Do Great Things

Life is just plain hard sometimes. I know it and you know it. It's a fact. What do you do when YOUR life gets hard? I don't necessarily mean when the worst possible thing happens. I mean when you are let down, or hurt, or discouraged, or terrified, etc..

Freak out? Cry? Throw things? Pray? Talk to Friends? Reflect on Scripture? Scream in a Pillow?

 
Rejoice in the Lord, Always. Again I will say it, REJOICE! 

 

 God's ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts greater than our thoughts

‎"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."

"Call to Me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."

For with God, nothing is impossible!

You who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again... and comfort me on every side.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 
He satisfies the longing soul.

My Jesus takes care of me, and He desperately wants to take care of each of you. He is faithful and our comfort. I am continually hearing of struggles people are going through. Some are life altering, some ruin a week, some things are just uncomfortable. No matter what each one of us are going through, we are all going through junk. BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT ALONE. He is here, right beside me; and He knows what's best for my life. All I have to do is be faithful and trust His guidance. Sounds easy, sometimes it's not.

Date #24 & Youth Christmas Party

We were able to accomplish a couple different things this past week. On Thursday we got out the wrapping paper and settled in with a movie. It is amazing how quickly the night goes when you have 300, 175, no, maybe 30 packages to wrap. It felt like a lot. :) My Saturday was also really productive. I attended my last photography class, took my last English exam, and dropped by Lauren and Steven's all before 11:30. Then my dad stopped by to assess house damage, and Drew and I were able to go out. We ate at Firehouse, went to the post office (closed), Lowes, Cornerstone (a cute store downtown, the whole store is %20 off, and there are some cute Christmas items :) ), and then headed back home to get ready for the youth Christmas party. 

I may be slightly biased, but I do believe the party was a success. We had 17 teens, only missing a few regulars, and having a few visitors. That's pretty good for us! :) We off course played "Dirty Santa" ate an abundance of pizza and cupcakes and Drew and I taught them 4 on a couch. This is a Lakeside game that we haven't taught them due to a low attendance. It might take them a while to get the hang of it. :) Oh, we brought Hiro because he had been outside all day. He didn't move from the above position the entire night. Good dog!

Dates #23 - Christmas Time is Here

Shesh there is a lot going on right now! We have had many busy weeks with parties and finishing school! I think several of the below activities could count as quality time with my man. It is so nice having someone with you around the holidays! I am pretty grateful for him!

SamShe's Birthday 

Drew and I, along with some good friends, drove up to Covington to celebrate SamShe's Birthday. I love her a lot, and although we don't see each other much, when we do it's great! Her husband is also a youth pastor, so it is so encouraging to not be alone in this crazy field of ministry!

First Baptist
My cousins Riley, Macy, and Chris, along with my uncle Joe were in a Christmas play at First Baptist Church. It was definitely not your average Christmas program, but it was great! I loved all the music, and they pointed out a few things I hadn't noticed before.

- One of the characters was a manger. He was talking about how he used to hold Jesus as a baby. He loved and cherished Jesus and was important in the story of Jesus' birth. Then he found out he was also the one that held Jesus on the cross when he was dying. (His name was Woody). How often do we do this? Think about it. We cherish Jesus. We hold Him tight and are in Awe of who he is. Then, we ridicule Him. Whether by a lack of time spent with Him, or rejecting Him towards others, we reject Him. And yet His love never changes. That is pretty awesome, great, indescribable if you think about it.

- The other scene I was in awe of was how they had the crucifixion/resurrection scene and people were dressed in 'bible time' clothes but also street clothes we wear today. What a cool picture of how Christ didn't just give His life for those He knew then, but for those He knows today. He thought of ME on that cross. and He died because of that love he has.

Cooking with Silers
We didn't end up making anything edible, but it was nice being able to hang out with them a little. :)

Snow Day
I LOVE snow days. :) Despite the fact I spent it with annoying fans all through my house that are drying out the walls and carpets, it was pretty relaxing. The usual got accomplished: sleeping in, laundry, watching TV, and then we had some visitors. Last year, Drew and I went to save Starr from the snowstorm. Who would want to spend several days alone in a house when you could spend it with me ?? :) This year she came by with Wes (a new friend) and kept us company. Talking with friends in a warm house is a great way to spend the afternoon. We were pretty disappointed that the snow wasn't great snowman weather, maybe next time.

Skillet Concert
Drew took the teens to the Skillet concert. Although, I took Becca and Mckinsey a couple hours early to get good seats and then found out that we had reserved seats, it was still good quality time with them. I really do enjoy hanging out with them, and wish we could do more! They are some great girls, with big hearts to do what's right. When you, my few blog readers biggest fans, think about it, please pray for our youth. Not just at Oakland Baptist, but everywhere. It is amazing what they deal with these days and the pressure they have to act a certain way.

House Update

Oh the stories. This week has been so up and down when it comes to the 'wet disaster.' There have been ServePro guys and insurance people in and out getting quotes and trying to dry out everything. When I came home yesterday, my kitchen ceiling was 2/3 gone, and dry wall downstairs gone as well. There are still lots of loud obnoxious fans blowing around so I definitely will be anxious for peace and quite. Thankfully, Insurance wrote us a check, and we get to choose who we get to do the work. That means we should be okay having family over for Christmas.Assuming the fans are gone by then.