Day 11 of Thanksgiving

Thankful for trips down memory lane....

When I was a teenager I used to sing this song in my church at just about every church singing we would have.  It's really neat to look back now and read through these lyrics that I sang so often and see how God has used them throughout my life.

God is so faithful and I stand in awe of Him right now!!

Here's the lyrics to the song:

God will make this trial a blessing

I’ve just come into a valley one like I’ve never been before.
I keep searching for a way out seems like pad locks are on the doors.
Oh ther must be another sunrise another sunset that I’ll see.
God will make this trial a blessing that’s the love he has for me.

I was not the first one to come into this place.
You see every child of God this test you must face.
It is here that God will mold you and make you what you ought to be.
God will make this trial a blessing just be patient you will see.

Now I’m standing on a mountain lookin back I can see.
When I was in that lowest valley his strong hand was leading me.
Oh its good to see the sunshine and to taste sweet victory.
God has made this trial a blessing oh the grace he gives to me.

chorus

God will make this trial a blessing tho it sends me to my knees.
Tho my tears flow like a river yet in him there’s sweet relief.
There’s no need to get discouraged there’s no need to talk defeat.
God will make this trial a blessing and the whole wide world will see.

Day 10 of Thanksgiving

Thankful that "there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus!"

Day 9 of Thanksgiving

THANKFUL for a wonderful LifeGroup to share life with. Our LifeGroup has been meeting for a little over a year now and it's so neat to see how we've all grown closer to one another and to Christ through our Bible studies and other life events. They were truly there for me, Rodney and Joshua during a rough time we were forced into by an individual earlier this year. I can't put into words how much each of them mean to me and how much it meant for them to really reach out and care for us during that time.

Looking forward to beginning our new study tonight and seeing how God will use it to bond us and our children even closer together.

Day 8 of Thanksgiving

Today I am very thankful for freedom and to have been born in America. I'm also thankful for the faithful ones that have protected our freedom and sacrificed so much so that we can live in a free country.

I watched a video and read an article today about a lady that spent 28 years in a Korean concentration camp. She was captured at the age of 13 and just a few years ago she escaped. She lives her life "under cover" now. She still has family members in the concentration camp and doesn't want harm coming to them because of her escape.

As thankful as I am to live in the freedom of the USA, I'm thankful that God sees beyond our borders and He cares for the World. His heart yearns for those in capativity to find freedom and for those being persecuted to find rest. I'm thankful that God sees each one of us individually, no matter where we are, and that He has not forgotten a single one of us. I'm thankful that this dear Korean lady has found freedom from her captivity and my prayer is that she will turn to Christ and realize that it is Him that has truly set her free. I pray for her healing, not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. I'm sure she has a lot to overcome from her past and my prayer is that she will find peace and healing.

I'm also thankful for the ability to pray and to be able to pray openly and boldly to the Lord, knowing withouth a doubt, that He will answer.

Day 7 of Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for quiet moments like tonight. Joshua is tucked into bed for the night and Rodney is sleeping and I'm just enjoying the silence of our home. I used to HATE silence and it would drive me nuts, but here lately I love sitting in a quiet room and just being still with nothing to do and absolutely no agenda. The rest of my life is so loud and busy and I love every minute of it, but nights like tonight are one in a million and I'm thankful that right when we need them they come along.

Day 6 of Thanksgiving

Today I'm thankful for my awesome church family! I'm so blessed to be a part of such a great missions minded church that truly reaches out to others!! If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be a member at Gateway I would have laughed at you. I distinctly remember having conversations with Rodney saying I would NEVER join Gateway. My only reason was that I didn't want to join his home church and that I wanted to go somewhere that neither of us had been before. Needless to say, I'm so very thankful that I gave in and followed the Lord's leading, along with my husbands, and am now a part of such an awesome church with some of the best people in this world!!

Day 5 of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my parents. I read in a book recently that, "it doesn't matter whether your parents are good, bad, or indifferent. God knew that those two individuals possessed exactly the right genetic makeup to create the custom 'you' he had in mind. They had the DNA God wanted to make you."

Me and my momma!! We're closer now than I think we've ever been and I appreciate her so much. We've been through a lot but she's my momma and I love her so very much! She's always been there for me and I know without a doubt that she always will be.

Me and my dad. I've known my dad for 14 years now and although things aren't exactly how I would like them, I am still thankful for him. The times we have spent together and the conversations we've had are very special to me. 

I am thankful that I'm here because of these two individuals and I'm thankful that my momma never gave up on me.

Day 4 of Thanksgiving

I'm so very thankful for having a personal, one on one relationship with Christ. I've been a Christian since I was 11 years old and although there have been times where I've ROYALLY messed up, God has stayed consistently with me and has showered me with overflowing forgiveness and compassion. Looking back at some of the things that have happened to me I often wonder where I would be had I not known Christ during those times. Even imagining it makes me shutter and scares me half to death because I know, without a doubt, I would NOT be the person I am today if it weren't for Christ. I'm so very thankful that He has saved me from myself and I'm thankful that He has not left me hopeless. He has given me a firm place to stand and dignity to hold my head high.
I celebrate in the confidence I have in Christ that I belong to Him and with Him I'm eternally secure!

Day 3 of Thanksgiving

With much confusion and pain that I still feel in regards to this sweet baby girl, I am thankful for her! My January 1, 2005 New Year's Baby Girl - Renee Grace - didn't make it to see her 2nd birthday, but she made a lasting impression in a lot of lives, including my own. And, though I would much rather have been able to bring her home and see her grow up with Joshua I am thankful that people that didn't have a relationship with Christ now do because of her. Rodney and I had began looking to adopt a baby from Nicaragua and shortly after beginning the search we recived a phone call on January 3, 2005 asking if we wanted to adopt a baby girl that had been born January 1, 2005. She had not even been named yet. We said yes and named our precious little girl Renee Grace. She now lives on in our hearts and in those that have come to know the Lord because of her.

Day 2 of Thanksgiving

MY SWEET, SWEET JOSHUA!! The miracle of how Joshua came into my life still leaves me teary eyed and so very thankful each and every day I look into his sweet little face. When facing the dark path of infertility there is little room for hope. You see those around you beginning their families and it makes you envious, sad, scared, hopeless as to when or even if you'll ever have the same.

Rodney and I began looking into the possibility of adoption when we were approached by a friend asking if we would like to meet a lady he knew who was pregnant and wanting to give the baby up for adoption. Looking back I see how God's hand guided each and every step of the process and how he very intentionally placed Joshua in our lives. I am so grateful for my little boy and can't even try to put into words my love for him. He is a joy and brings such excitement to our lives.

Seems like it was just yesterday that he was this little. He loved laying on his changing table and checking out all the fun stuff on his wall.

NOTHING BUT PERSONALITY!!!! He's such a happy boy!

Kicked back and enjoying a little vacation time.. :) I love this picture of him.

The most recent picture of Joshua. He is 6 years old now and is growing up way too fast for this momma.

I'm very thankful for Joshua! He is one in a million!

A Month of Thanksgiving

I'm going to give it my best effort to blog each day this month about someone/something that I'm thankful for.

Today I am thankful for my wonderful husband. I often say that God knew exactly the man I needed in my life when he put me and Rodney together. Rodney holds me together more than he probably realizes. He is my rock and he is the one person in my life that I know without a doubt will ALWAYS be there for me; no matter how horribly I might mess up. Two of my favorite things about Rodney is how forgiving he is and how VERY patient he is. Trust me, with me as a wife, he needs A LOT of patience and God has definitely given that to him.

Rodney stands behind everything I embark on. He is always there to support me.

I'm a lucky girl to have Rodney in my life. It's so hard to believe that we've been married for 11 years and I'm so excited about what the years coming have in store for us. No matter what it might be, as long as we are together, I know we will always have exactly what we need.

C.R.A.V.E

Our church has just gone through a 6 week series titled, "CRAVE". It was a very timely series for me and God has stretched me and taught me so much more than I went in to it thinking He would.

We talked about 6 different things that each of us tend to CRAVE in our lives.

1. Direction
2. Significance
3. Relationships
4. Belonging
5. Anwers to Why
6. Hope

1 Peter 2:1-3 - "Therefore"
The "therefore" refers back to 1 Peter 1:23-25 where it states, "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you."

Because we have accepted salvation through the Word of God and because this Word is living, active, and will stand forever we should do what it says in 1 Peter 2:1-3, "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."

I'm hoping to blog about each of the 6 points above over the next few days/weeks and really dive into what I've learned from each point. But, for now I'll share the place where I'm starting. In craving - direction, significance, relationships, belonging, answers to why and hope - I must first begin with craving Christ himself. He is the answer to each of these six things. In order to satisfy our cravings we NEED Christ. Left to ourselves we tend to be misguided but when guided by Christ we find direction, significance, relationship, belonging, answers to why and hope.

Isaiah 58:11, "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." If we chose to guide ourselves we will be the complete opposite of what this verse offers. We will be dry and weak. And, that is not God's design for us. I don't know about you but I want an overflowing, purposeful life and that is exactly what God is offering.

I find myself in a really neat place spiritually where I'm truly craving more of Christ and I'm eager and excited about lies ahead. I'm excited about progressing to this next level of maturity and closeness with Christ.

Happy Birthday to my Granny

We spent our Saturday up in Lancaster throwing a surprise birthday party for my granny! She turned 80 years old this past Friday. She amazes me with her strength and her determination to keep on going. She's an awesome lady with a huge God-story!! Her faithfulness to the Lord and total reliance on Him is inspiring. I love her with my whole heart!!
Uncle Mike (momma's oldest brother) fixing up some yummy food!! He deep-fried fish, hushpuppies, and french fries. He made catfish stew and grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for everybody. It was some yummy yummy eating!!! :)
Granny gets her water from a well and her pump went out so I had the job of carting whoever needed to go potty up to my Uncle's house.. LOL.. :)
Granny, Momma, Uncle Alan, Uncle Mike and Uncle Donnie!! My good-looking family! :)


That's what I'm talking about!! YUMMY Hushpuppies!

My Uncles fixing granny's well pump.. luckily they had it all fixed before the end of the day.

AWESOME NEWS

I've been interviewing for a new position at the SC Baptist Convention for the past couple of months and I'm SOOOO HAPPY to say that I've been offered the position and have accepted!!! I will now be working for the Executive Director of our Convention as his Executive Assistant. I will be beginning in the next week or so and really can't wait. This type of work will be similiar - but different - from my work in Dean of Theology's office at Southwestern Seminary. I have missed this type of work so much and although I'm going in knowing that there will be challenges I am still extrememely excited and thankful that God has provided this position for me.

4th of July Weekend

We headed out to Dreher Island at Lake Murray last night to watch the fireworks show and spend the day playing at the lake. We had a blast hanging out with friends and spending the day relaxing. The kids played so hard and swam all day long until it was time to get cleaned up and watch the fireworks show.

Here's the kiddo's all cleaned up, eating some watermelon and playing before the show started.The kiddos playing in the lake. One lady there had her dog and the boys LOVED playing with her dog in the lake. Joshua enjoyed throwing his tennis ball and watching the dog swim to get it.The kids found a dragonfly. It was HILARIOUS!!! The only one willing to pick it up was the little girl and when she went to pick it up the boys screamed and jumped back.Rodney waiting for the show... Me enjoying the time to just sit and watch the kids play!FIREWORKS!!! It really was an awesome show and Dreher Island is the place to see them at the lake. They shot them off right in front of us. You could see the sparks on the ground from where they shot them and when they went off they were right over us. It was GREAT!!!

Beach Vacation

We just got back from an awesome family vacation with my side of the family. There were 16 of us which included my uncles, cousins, granny, momma, me, Rodney and Joshua. We had a BLAST hanging out with everybody and enjoying some time on the beach. This is the first time ever that we've all been able to go on a big family vacation and it's the start of many more. And, hopefully next time even more of the family can come.

My Uncle put up a volleyball net ouside the house we stayed in and we enjoyed a bunch of "friendly" volleyball games... LOL.. My poor team had a blast playing but we didn't do so well on the winning part... It was so much fun though.

Here's where I'm doing exactly what I LOVE to do at the beach... We would lay out for an hour or so and then go play in the waves and come back and lay down more and do it all over again. A few cute family shots! I can't pass up photo opportunities. :)

Me and the love of my life!

Me and the other love of my life!

My Momma!Playing Just Dance on the Wii with my uncles girlfriend. This was A LOT of fun with everybody sitting around watching. We had a group of us rotating in and out and playing the winner of each round.

My cousin Chris and his dad's girlfriend competing.

Martina, Granny, Uncle Alan and Joshua

Me, Amy, Martina, Granny

Joshua and Uncle Alan

Granny, Amy, Chris

Uncle Donnie soaking up some sun... a little too much I might add because he was quite sunburnt and hurting after this day. :)

Happy Father's Day

We started off Rodney's father's day weekend with a father/son home depot project. They made a really cool mini tool box together.
After doing the project and grabbing some lunch we decided to go downtown to Riverfront Park and spend the afternoon hiking and playing down by the river. Every time I go down to this park I wonder why I don't visit it more often. It's a lot of fun and a really nice place for Joshua to explore. Joshua had a blast going on the trails and using his binoculars to find things.

At the very end of the trail there's a neat place you can go out into the water at. There's a little spillway there (Joshua says it's a waterfall) and the water feels amazing after you've been walking and hiking out in the hot sun. Rocket was extremely happy for us to finally sit still and let him rest in the cool water.
Here's a few snapshots of us on the trails...

Rocket totally protesting the walk back to the car. It's 2.5 miles to this part of the park and then you have to turn around and walk 2.5 miles back to the entrance. Next time I think we'll just park down at this end of the park and play in the water instead of hiking. Joshua and Rocket loved this part of the day.


A very happy Joshua!! Any time he can get near water he's a happy boy! :)







After we took our nature walk for the afternoon (which ended up taking 3 hours) we headed home to get cleaned up and took Rodney out to dinner at his favorite restaurant and then went out for ice cream. We had a blast hanging out and just being outside together and are planning to head up to the mountains some time soon to see some more cool trails. We want to find a nice place where we can hike to a waterfall. So, if you have any cool places that you've been to let me know.

Happy Father's Day Weekend everyone!!