Hey! I just signed on (for no reason) and discovered that I have 3 followers!! WOW! Of course, I never blog. The last blog I wrote, I had to delete. I don't really have much to say except that I have my wonderful husband home again! Tax season is OVER!!
Just in time for Abby's very busy softball season to begin. Her team has played in 3 tournaments so far, taking 2nd place in each of them. Well, except this past weekend since the Sunday games were rained out, but they were on track to be 2nd again. They played in a tournament in Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago that raised the bar for these girls. We got down there and played so bad the first two games that I thought it was going to be a very long 2 days. I have to admit that I was very impressed with the way that they stepped up. They ended up playing 9 games to come in 2nd in that tournament, which happened to be an ASA National Qualifier. They even gave a loss to a team that is not used to losing, to extend the championship to a 2-game series.
Well, that's all for now! I am leaving Thursday to go out of town with my husband to watch Hannah play in Florida this weekend. Softball makes our world go 'round. And Emma's cheering...and Nick's stuff...
More to come...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
DOXA
Wow! This past weekend was incredible! My church, Providence Baptist Fellowship, teamed up with 2 other churches to host an event for the youth of all 3 churches. We had a wonderful speaker in Brent Gambrell who spoke to the youth about the Glory of God and what it means to be His disciple. The focus of the weekend was "Belong." Now I don't know about you, but at 39, sometimes I have a hard time figuring out where I belong. If you remember at all being a teenager, you know how hard it is trying to fit in. There are so many things being thrown at you, so many decisions you have to make about who you really are and who you want to be. I think teenagers today even have a little bit harder time than I did just 20-25 years ago. Times are changing. Brent did a fabulous job at getting real with the kids. His message was that everything they do is a choice and that whatever choices they make defines who they are.
I was blessed to host ELEVEN 16-18 year old girls and their leader, my sweet friend, Debbie Noland in my home. We had an absolute blast! Several of the girls entertained us playing Rock Band, which was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of our time sitting around in the kitchen snacking and chatting. I was thrilled to get to know each of the girls a little bit better. My daughter, Emma, brought 3 of her friends from Mt. Juliet this weekend so I was able to get to know them better too!
The weekend consisted of 3 sessions of worshipping God through the music of the band, "24," and being taught by Brent Gambrell. I have to say that I learned a lot myself! We had breakout sessions to discuss what he taught. We had a few hours of fun at Laser Quest downtown. Lots and lots of food!! And we finished up by worshipping together at church on Sunday morning. Our own band (Dallas and Daniel Caruth, Andrew Hall and Nick Walker) led our worship which was fabulous!! Then Bro. Joe preached about Christ Centered Community, which really went right along with the weekend's focus. To top it all off, Bro. John's Sunday evening message came from the same scripture passage that Brent taught from on Saturday evening! How awesome is God!
I would like to finish up by saying please, please keep these teenagers in your prayers. There were decisions made and lives impacted this weekend. I know just in the group of girls I hosted that there are several family struggles that really need prayer. I believe that we also hosted a couple of girls that have not had the opportunity to attend and be involved in church. Join me in praying that God uses this past weekend in a mighty way in those girls' lives as well as the lives of everyone that had the opportunity to be a part of DOXA. Thank you, Bro. Tom for all your hard work in getting this weekend pulled together. To borrow words of wisdom from a favorite coach of mine, "Let's build on this!"
I was blessed to host ELEVEN 16-18 year old girls and their leader, my sweet friend, Debbie Noland in my home. We had an absolute blast! Several of the girls entertained us playing Rock Band, which was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of our time sitting around in the kitchen snacking and chatting. I was thrilled to get to know each of the girls a little bit better. My daughter, Emma, brought 3 of her friends from Mt. Juliet this weekend so I was able to get to know them better too!
The weekend consisted of 3 sessions of worshipping God through the music of the band, "24," and being taught by Brent Gambrell. I have to say that I learned a lot myself! We had breakout sessions to discuss what he taught. We had a few hours of fun at Laser Quest downtown. Lots and lots of food!! And we finished up by worshipping together at church on Sunday morning. Our own band (Dallas and Daniel Caruth, Andrew Hall and Nick Walker) led our worship which was fabulous!! Then Bro. Joe preached about Christ Centered Community, which really went right along with the weekend's focus. To top it all off, Bro. John's Sunday evening message came from the same scripture passage that Brent taught from on Saturday evening! How awesome is God!
I would like to finish up by saying please, please keep these teenagers in your prayers. There were decisions made and lives impacted this weekend. I know just in the group of girls I hosted that there are several family struggles that really need prayer. I believe that we also hosted a couple of girls that have not had the opportunity to attend and be involved in church. Join me in praying that God uses this past weekend in a mighty way in those girls' lives as well as the lives of everyone that had the opportunity to be a part of DOXA. Thank you, Bro. Tom for all your hard work in getting this weekend pulled together. To borrow words of wisdom from a favorite coach of mine, "Let's build on this!"
Friday, January 16, 2009
No School for What?
Yesterday as my husband and I were taking Abby to school, she asked if they ever cancelled school for cold weather. Being the SMART mom that I am, I told her that I didn't think so unless the heat wasn't working or something like that. Well...school was cancelled today due to the cold weather. Goddoes have a sense of humor! TODAY, I had plans to clean the house. To finally get the Christmas tree down and everything put away. To get my house back in some kind of order. Maybe you think that the kids being home shouldn't stop me-HA! Somehow, my kids equate school closure with going out to lunch, going to the movies, or some other thing that requires me to be the planner and facilitaor of. You know, an impromptu vacation! What's even better is that the kids are out of school on Monday for MLK day, and I did have plans to do all that stuff with them then. I guess they got 2 days worth of vacation and I still have a Christmas tree standing and a not so clean house. But I did get an extra day to spend with my kids that I wouldn't have had otherwise. Sometimes I just have to remember the blessings in the interruptions. And that God's plans trump mine...
Thursday, January 15, 2009
I must begin this blog with a warning...I am not a writer. I started this blog as an outlet for myself, kind of to take the place of a journal (face it, writing causes hand cramps). In being a wife and a mom, I sometimes feel as though I have lost my identity. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my husband and my children with everything that is in me, but I really want to find me.
I’ve joked for the last few months that this birthday I will be a teenager three times over. I’m going to be 39 in a few days and it has weighed on me a little bit. Not that I am worried that I have a year before I turn the big 4-0 (really if you think about it, your 40th year is when you turn 39), but that I have lived almost 40 years and what is it that I have accomplished? Once upon a time, I had dreams of being a teacher. I registered for college, went for a year, registered for my second year, got sick and spent months in and out of the hospital and ended up quitting school. (I wonder how much money I lost? At 19, that’s not something you worry about since it’s not yours to begin with.) Somehow, I got sidetracked, married and spent 3 years living in a foreign country. I want to call that marriage a mistake, but how can you when it produces a child? That child helped me to become the teacher I dreamed of being. Once you become a mother, you instantly become a teacher.
Another dream of mine was to be happily married FOREVER (apparently that was too long for the other party involved) and have lots of children. You know, once you bring a child into the world, your focus completely changes. It’s not all about me anymore. This tiny person depends on me for everything!! As this tiny person grows, I wonder what he will want out of life? What will this child that God has blessed me with accomplish in his life?
I’ve also had another dream- to be a nurse. I even went back to school to go into nursing. That lasted all of 1 semester. Not the dream, just the school. Again, it’s not about me anymore. I have a kid, remember? Little did I know that this kid was going to make sure that I was not a quitter. I didn’t have to go through nursing school to become a nurse. Life was my teacher and, again, this child gave me my degree.
This will be my year to ponder. I want to look back and see who I have become and learn all I can about what has made me who I am. I’ve realized that, yes, once I had children, my focus did change from me to them. But that doesn’t wipe me completely from this world. I am still a person, and I still have dreams. I haven’t lost my identity in my children or in my husband (I found one that sees forever like me!).
I’ve joked for the last few months that this birthday I will be a teenager three times over. I’m going to be 39 in a few days and it has weighed on me a little bit. Not that I am worried that I have a year before I turn the big 4-0 (really if you think about it, your 40th year is when you turn 39), but that I have lived almost 40 years and what is it that I have accomplished? Once upon a time, I had dreams of being a teacher. I registered for college, went for a year, registered for my second year, got sick and spent months in and out of the hospital and ended up quitting school. (I wonder how much money I lost? At 19, that’s not something you worry about since it’s not yours to begin with.) Somehow, I got sidetracked, married and spent 3 years living in a foreign country. I want to call that marriage a mistake, but how can you when it produces a child? That child helped me to become the teacher I dreamed of being. Once you become a mother, you instantly become a teacher.
Another dream of mine was to be happily married FOREVER (apparently that was too long for the other party involved) and have lots of children. You know, once you bring a child into the world, your focus completely changes. It’s not all about me anymore. This tiny person depends on me for everything!! As this tiny person grows, I wonder what he will want out of life? What will this child that God has blessed me with accomplish in his life?
I’ve also had another dream- to be a nurse. I even went back to school to go into nursing. That lasted all of 1 semester. Not the dream, just the school. Again, it’s not about me anymore. I have a kid, remember? Little did I know that this kid was going to make sure that I was not a quitter. I didn’t have to go through nursing school to become a nurse. Life was my teacher and, again, this child gave me my degree.
This will be my year to ponder. I want to look back and see who I have become and learn all I can about what has made me who I am. I’ve realized that, yes, once I had children, my focus did change from me to them. But that doesn’t wipe me completely from this world. I am still a person, and I still have dreams. I haven’t lost my identity in my children or in my husband (I found one that sees forever like me!).
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