Friday Favorites!

Good morning, and hello, Friday!  It's my favorite weekday again, and I am linking up with Momfessionals.

This week has been loooooooonnnnnnngggggggg.  (Don't you love a great exaggeration?)  As excited as I am about having a brand new kitchen (!!!), it's been more than a little pain in the rear.  Because my kitchen and dining room are messy, my bathroom downstairs looks like this.

Measuring cups and bowls soaking galore.  Not to mention the usual spread of bottles of nail polish that are always littering that counter top.  ;)

Despite all that, I have had some favorites from this week.

One.

These two images from Monday are tied for first place.  Todd started getting really sick Sunday, so he actually stayed home on Monday.  It is a rare day that this man of mine stays home from work over a sickness.  Needless to say, Crash was thrilled that he was here all day.

And I love this proverb I found on the internet.  Truth.

Two.

On Tuesday, Graham and Jonah went to work with Todd.  At one of Todd's customer's office, Jonah got to try on this air force helmet.  I am pretty sure that made his week.  On the same day, one of the most precious couples of all time celebrated their seventieth wedding anniversary.  Seventieth.  And I kept on coming across one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

Three.

 Wednesday found me finishing up my Bible study homework for the week.  I love the quiet times I have that catch me unaware.  On this day when I realized the boys were all busy upstairs, I sat in my recliner and did this.  Using the new pens that I love.  :)  And I found this really cute little girl on Google images.  My thought for that day was that if it had to be as cold as it was (which I LOVE), I really felt like it should be Christmas.  

Four.  

My favorite moments  from yesterday were texting with my mom over some fabric that I like.  She told me she would make me some new curtains for my kitchen, since it's being redone, that are a little more modern.  I love the gray and white chevron print in the first picture.  Another favorite moment from yesterday was going to my in-love's house for dinner.  We got there before them, so when they got home, I had made coffee for them, I had started dinner and had lit some candles.  And we ended up having an impromptu pajama party when they saw that I came dressed up for them~because I dress up the most for those I love.  ;)  And last night on the way home, while Graham was driving us, we saw this.  My boys will never outgrow their love of seeing police car lights at night.  Or anytime, for that matter.  ;)

Five.

I'll make my last favorite an actual product.  I gave myself a manicure and pedicure yesterday, in all of the sitting I did.  I love this color!  It's by OPI (duh) and it's called Wooden Shoe Like To Know.  It's a light taupe brown color with fun sparkles.  I love it.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about some of my favorite moments from the week.  I cannot wait to show you my newly remodeled kitchen!  Hopefully it'll be finished today and I can put it all back together over the weekend.  (After it all dries.)  Happy Friday to you and love to all.

My Testimony and Bible Study

I adore studying the Bible.  I never in a million years thought I would so love it, in fact.  I used to be the gal that thought the Bible was boring and totally irrelevant to today.  That was when I was a lot younger and dumb.  Seriously, I was dumb because I had no knowledge of His word.  Hosea 4:6 says that God's people are destroyed because of their lack of knowledge, and I was fast on my way, on that path to destruction.

But then life happened and when I was at my wit's end, I had nowhere else to turn but to God.  At the time of all this, I was twenty-eight and in the choir at Memphis First Assembly of God.  We went on a choir retreat and I can remember a sweet lady named Ana grabbing hold of my face and telling me, "It's okay.  Whatever you have done, whatever is in your past, it's okay.  Jesus loves you and wants you to come home."

And I did and never looked back.  (How horribly sad that I was that old, but it was all part of God's plan.)

I underwent a massive change from the inside out during and after that weekend choir retreat.  I was a smoker and immediately quit, cold turkey.  God totally took away my cravings for cigarettes when I asked Him.  I found K-Love and listened only to that radio station.  I started a Bible study, my first ever, right away when we got home.  I will never forget that study and that precious group of ladies.  We did Beth Moore's study on Daniel.

And to this day, that was one of the most difficult studies I have ever done.  How funny that it would be my first, but looking back in that book and on the notes I took, I know that God gave me the wisdom during that time.  I had zero knowledge on the word of God~sure, I knew certain memory verses from when I was a young girl, but other than that, that was all I knew.  Therefore, what I was able to complete in that study, was all given to me by God.

That study changed the rest of my life.  I was hungry and thirsty for the word of God.  I literally could not get enough of it and was constantly reading my Bible.  My kids began to witness that change in me, and I am thankful~I also believe that the Lord erased what memory of me they might have had of the "old me".  And yes, I believe God can do that.  My choir director and his wife became my spiritual mentors and some of my dearest friends.  They sensed a change in me as well and took me under their wing.  Kathy led me in Bible study and Kent began to mentor me by suggesting books for me to read, along with my Bible.  One of my most prized possessions today is from them~it's a beautiful leather bound copy of a book by Beth Moore.  Kent encouraged me to come to Tuesday night prayer meetings with just a handful of other people and he put me into a leadership role in choir.  He also totally surprised me one day by telling me that I was going to sing on the worship team that morning~how he even knew that I could carry a tune was beyond me, because I never even sang for him until two or three years later.  And that was back in the days before practice took place for Sunday mornings.  We would meet in the choir room, pray and afterward, he would look around at who was there to determine who would help him lead worship.  He believed in me, though, Kent, and he put into action the plan that he saw God had in my life.

I was heartbroken when they moved to California, but thanks to social media, I can still keep in touch.  This is that one part of heaven I look forward to~when we see all our old friends from the past, the ones who sharpened us and meant so much to us.

Now, a full decade later, I have retained my love for the word of God, and I am always currently in a Bible study, thanks to our homeschool group, Renewed Moms.  When Renewed Moms is on break, I do a study on my own.  I still love to do Beth Moore studies~nobody else paints pictures for me with her words like this woman of God and I love when I get to hear her speak at an event, like the one this past August.  But I have also come to love a new way of studying the Bible, and that is by doing a Precept Study by Kay Arthur.  There is no comparison between these two types of Bible study, they are like night and day.  I do love both kinds and I don't believe one is any better than another, but the Precept study is way more difficult.  Instead of being brought to a certain truth in the homework time, the Precept way makes you find that truth on your own, through other passages of Scripture.  (The picture below was me this morning, spread all over my comfy chair, completing my Bible study homework before we start back tomorrow.)

Like I said, I love to study God's word both ways and will continue to do both.  Any time spent in the word of God is valuable, and I know that His word never returns void.  It accomplishes in us exactly what He wants it to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11).  If you desire to get to know God through the love and reading and studying of His word, ask Him for it!  I cannot tell you how many times I have made this verse my prayer: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God."  That is from Psalm 42:1.

If you have never been a part of a Bible study before, I would love to encourage you to start one.  If you have a church you call home, start with them.  If you don't have a church home and are local to me, try mine.  I just got an email from our womens department telling of all the options there are this semester.  I go to Collierville First Baptist Church, and there is a day and a time for any and every schedule known to man.  Google the website and check it out for yourself.  If you don't have a church home and are not local to me, try a church near you!  Just a word about churches though~make sure it's Bible believing and that nothing they say add or subtracts from the word of God.  And lastly, if you want to do one on your own, there are many options from Lifeway Christian bookstore.  You don't have to watch the video sessions that go with them and you don't have to be in a group to study.  A word about that, though, as well~a group setting provides accountability and sweet fellowship with like minded people.  I would encourage you to find a group.  Some of my best friends have come from meeting them through Bible study.

If you still need help or suggestions, email me at allboys@gmail.com.  I would be more than happy to point you in the right direction.

One last word of encouragement~think about your testimony.  The above is not all of mine, there were many events that led me to the point of complete surrender that I left unsaid, but this was the gist of how things went in my life.  After you have thought about your testimony, write it down!  I have written this down so many times I have lost count.  Think about it often, because it strengthens and builds your faith, and it can point others to wanting the same thing in their lives.  I pray that mine does that for someone~that they want what I have in my relationship with Jesus.  I pray for that person, that the Lord would draw them to Himself and that all this would be for His glory.  Everything that I am today is because of Jesus.  Without Him, I am worse than nothing.  After you've done all that, share it with someone.  If that's me, well then, I would be honored.

I pray that your mind is stirred and that the Lord inspires you to do the same.

Love to all.

Show & Tell Tuesday

My favorite mom blogger is starting a new link up every other week, and I thought it would be fun to join her.  This one is called Show & Tell Tuesdays and each segment is on something different.  Today's is all about new year's resolutions.  Even though I don't really do those, I do have goals that I would like to work towards.

One.

I shared the other day that because I have developed the habit of reading my Bible each morning, I promised the Lord that I would read His word every single year of the rest of my life.  The more I read it, the more I know Him and the more like Him He makes me.  I have no idea what that will look like each year, but I am reading through chronologically again this year.  But in the New Living Translation.

Two.

I also shared that I am memorizing Scripture.  One verse at a time, two a month.  I am not going to set myself up to fail at this by doing too many verses at one time, like I've done in the past.  I am not.  I will succeed in this, so I can hide His word in my heart.  Because I struggle with anxiety issues, I NEED His word in my heart.

Three.

I aim to be more active this year.  After a year of non-activity due to the health problems I suffered with for so long, and then with the recovery of that surgery to have those issues fixed, I grew way too used to not being active.  I am changing that this year.  I have already started.

Four.

My word for this year is "Surrender".  I am aiming to live a life more surrendered to God.  Let me explain.  I have issues with anxiety sometime, and can tend to get worked up over no reason.  It's totally pointless for me to get worked up over those kinds of things, so I have decided to surrender those issues to the Lord.  I have done that before~surrendered it all to Him~but then I don't live out that life of surrender.  So two times in this past week, when I have felt myself starting to get worked up over things beyond my control, I have whispered to Him, "Lord, You are in control, and I surrender this to You."  It works.  Every single time.

Five.

I WILL get our attic cleaned out this year.  And along with the attic, I will get rid of everything that I own that we don't use or that isn't handed down from grandparents.  Some things I won't part with, like my late Grandma Lloyd's rose dishes.  I will have clean cabinets and cleaned out drawers and our attic will be full mainly of Christmas decorations and clothes waiting to be given to my boys.

That is all I want to list, because too many things that I want to achieve are too many things I might possibly fail to achieve.  What are you working toward this year?  Do you "do" resolutions?  Do you have word for the year each year?  Leave a comment and tell me all about yours!

God bless you and love to all.

I am linking up with Momfessionals.

the weekend and today

Things have been kinda slow and boring around here.  Well, maybe just depending on who you ask.  We had a few errands to run Friday night, so we did all that, and in somewhere in between all our stops, we stopped for dinner, while Crash waited for us in the truck.

It's a rare occasion for all of my boys to agree on a place to eat dinner.  On this night, the magic happened, and we decided on Taco Bell.  Do you have any idea how much I love their tacos?  I do.  And I could almost drink the taco sauce.

We decided to paint our kitchen cabinets.  !!!  Well, we hired someone to paint them.  So on Friday night and all day Saturday, I decided on which color.

Goodbye, yucky old oak cabinets.  Hello grayish white.  :)  I decided on a color called Full Moon.  And just today, we decided to also have our counter tops redone.  The same lady does all of it, even though we have warped spots on a couple of areas on our counters.  She can make it all look brand new.

I can't wait to show you the before and after pictures.

I ordered some amazing colored pens off of Amazon, and they came in on Friday.

I love them.  I posted this picture on Instagram and Facebook, and several of my friends have ordered them.  Who in the world knew so many people loved colored pens?!  I for sure did not know that.  But welcome to the club.

Jonah and Noah had their first lock-in Friday night.  And we decided Jonah is never allowed to stay up all night again.  He turns into a monster the next night at midnight, and we didn't want any part of that.

On Saturday, Todd, his dad and Graham went to Georgia to see another Bronco.  And it was another no go.  I was alone with Drew, Jonah and Noah, so I invited my best friend over to hang out.  We ate pizza, we talked and got all caught up with one another, we laughed, we might have cried and we painted our fingernails at the same time.  You cannot beat that kind of a relationship.

Todd and Graham got home and we went to bed shortly thereafter.

Yesterday was spent at church or doing church activities.  At about three, Drew said he was going to go hammock with his friends.  Two hours, they all rushed into our house, claiming they couldn't feel their fingers and warming their hands in front of the space heater.

I warmed them up with hot chocolate.  Don't you love Drew's look?  Goofball.  After this we all left for church and community groups.  We claimed that my car was always the party car.  :)  I love nothing more than to hear kids having fun together.

Today Todd stayed home from work.  And I was incredibly lazy.  And our cabinets are no longer oak colored!  I would show you a picture, but she took my doors home to paint them.  I can't wait to see it all when it's finished.

Crash was happy to have his favorite person to himself all day.

I found this last picture on Facebook today and was struck with the truth of this statement.  It makes you think about words doesn't it?  And trust me~I am preaching this to myself.

It's been a wonderful Christmas break, but I am ready to get back to our routine.  I am looking forward to trying some new things with the boys schoolwork this semester, and I am excited at the thought of us spending more time reading together.  I would also love to have your prayers for us~January is a rough month to homeschool.  It's kind of a letdown month, after Christmas, and it's hard to remain motivated.  If you could help me pray for those things, I would greatly appreciate it!  And you can add good attitudes to the list.  For all of us. I love teenagers, but mine are pushing my buttons.  Extra prayer never hurt anyone.  

Thanks for reading!  Love to all.

What's on your nightstand?

I am always curious to know what people are reading.  As a book lover, I am constantly thinking ahead to what I want to read next.  I'm pretty particular about what I read, too.  I can't just pick up any book and start it and finish it in a few days.  It has to be really good from the first few sentences.  And I have authors I love and some I don't.

I am ready to branch out and read some books I might not normally pick up.  I do seem to read the same type of book over and over again.

I have two books going, three, if you count the one I started and don't want to pick back up.

On New Year's day, I started reading Feathers From My Nest by Beth Moore.  It's an easy and quick read that I've had on my Kindle app for quite some time.  It's a memoir, of sorts, from the days of when her girls were younger.  It's definitely a book that will be more enjoyable for moms.  I love her writing, and through all of it so far (I'm on chapter six or seven), I have laughed out loud.  I love to hear her speak, and her writing style is no different.  

I also started reading The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks on that same day, because I like to have one non-fiction and one fiction going at the same time.  Anyway, the book is not good, at least in my humble opinion.  I don't know if it's me that has changed or if it's his writing.  His books are all kind of redundant now it seems, and I had a hard time making it through even one chapter.

So last night I bought a book that is on the New York Times best selling list.  It's called Big Little Lies, and it's by Liane Moriarty.  I bought it as I laid down in bed last night (for $3.99) and just like that, I had breezed through three chapters.  I love books like that, so it seems as if this one is off to a good start.

I normally wouldn't buy a book for that price if I'm not sure about it, but I am tired of reading the same kind of books, so I took a chance and thought I would branch out.  We'll see how it turns out.

Now it's your turn.  What are you reading right now?  What do you want to read?  Are you a  fiction or a non-fiction reader?  I'd love to hear recommendations for both.  Is there a particular author that you love and read over and over again?  Share the love and leave a comment.

Love to all.

Friday Favorites

It's my favorite blogging day!  It's a good thing it's Friday, because if not for that little tidbit, I would be seriously disappointed that it's raining here.  Again.  I feel like I live in the Northwest.  I have felt that way for the past few weeks, because it has rained more than it's been sunny.

But on to my Friday Favorites from this week.  

It's actually going to be just one moment that I loved most this week, and it took place last night.  

I took Graham and Drew and some of their friends to the local ice skating rink.  Before I go any further, I have to tell you that when I was a young girl, I loved hanging out at the ice skating rink.  We had this mall in Memphis, called (quite appropriately) The Mall of Memphis (the teenagers laughed at me when I said this to them last night), that had an ice skating rink.  While I never loved the actual sport of ice skating, I loved going to watch other people do it.  And here's where I sound mean: my dad and I would do this with my childhood best friend Stacy, and we would laugh our heads off at people who fell.  I know.  I have a problem.

Anyway, last night did not disappoint in that department.  I still laugh.  Every single time.  I can't help but watch their faces as they are about to go down.  I mainly laughed at my own children.  Graham, especially, this one time almost fell and he kind of jumped when he was trying to catch his balance.  I about died.  He did recover, though, and never actually fell.  

Here are the few pictures I got.

This one, though, fell quite a few times and was covered in ice.  Right after I took this picture, he skated past me and fell.  He didn't just fall~he fell and slid forward ten feet.  

I still love to watch the Zamboni make the ice all smooth again.

Left to right: Katie, Drew, Kathryn and Andrew.  Drew tried to let go of the wall to put his arm around Kathryn, but he almost fell.  He decided that maybe he should hang on instead.

I did get this one Graham.  I was proud of him for not giving up, which he tends to do, when he's not great at something.  Like I said, he never fell in the two hours they skated.  By the end of the night he was able to skate without holding on to the rail the whole time.  They all could, actually.  I was pretty impressed!

It was such a fun night.  Drew and his friend Andrew set all this up, and while I hadn't originally intended on going, I ended up having fun and was glad I did.  Especially because of the big game that came on last night (Alabama and Ohio).  My husband likes to "coach" the football players from our living room.  

I would love to hear about your favorite moments from this week!  Especially if they brought you joy.  There is something so therapeutic about laughter.  I had a great time with some pretty great teenagers.  They continually amaze me.  And speaking of being amazed, I cannot believe that tonight Jonah and Noah are attending their first youth lock-in!  It's at Incredible Pizza.  When did they grow up?  

Time needs to slow down.  

Thanks for reading.  Love to all!

(I'm linking up with Momfessionals for this post.)

HaPpY nEw YeAr!

Twenty fourteen was ushered out last night with some good company.  We were invited to a friend's parents house to help ring in the new year.  We had a great time of talking, eating, laughing, playing crazy competitive games and watching fireworks.  And at twelve thirty a.m., we consumed a huge amount of breakfast food~eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, chocolate gravy and cinnamon rolls.  I don't think I've eaten that late (early?) since I was a teenager.

It was lots of fun.

I thought I was going to sleep really late today, since I didn't go to sleep until three a.m., but that was not the case.  I was awake at 8:20 and reading my Bible and drinking a cup of coffee by 8:30.  :/  I suppose the days of sleeping in really late are gone.  Because I don't consider those times very late.  I might take a nap after I write this.

Yesterday I finished reading the Bible!  I love the ending of Revelation.  And today I started all over in the same chronological Bible.  My dad and I are going to swap versions tomorrow.  I read the NKJV in 2014, so this year I want to read the NLT.  :)

And today, other than being lazy, I have been reading in my new Bible and praying a lot.  I am committing to read the Bible every year for the rest of my life, or until Jesus returns.  I don't ever want to be caught not in God's word again.  And making the time each and every morning is crucial to my well-being, both spiritually and emotionally.  The more I read His word, the more like Him He makes me.

Truly.  If you don't believe me, try it for youself.

I am also committing to memorizing Scripture again this year.  One verse at a time.  I have been reading the Bible today and praying about what it is God would have me memorize first, and He gave me two verses, that I will make my first two verses of the year.  (I plan on memorizing two verses a month, but I may later change that to one a week.)

2 Corinthians 10:17 an 18 "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.  For it is not the one who commends himself  who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends."

These verses are a wonderful reminder for me to not ever boast.  So I prayed that the Lord would keep me humble throughout this year, and in the writing of these posts on my blog.  The only reason I am even writing about this is because I have had people ask me what my new year's resolutions are this year.  And the above is my answer, even though I don't consider those to be resolutions.  I don't really believe in those, anyway.  I feel like that by making them, I am setting myself up to fail.  I know not everyone is like that, though, and if you do make new year's resolutions, I would love to hear about them.

I consider these things to be more like goals that I am striving to achieve.  All to the praise and glory of Jesus.

So that's been my new year's day.  It's been glorious, and I have enjoyed spending much needed time in the word of God.  My niece who writes a beautiful blog calls this week her "exhale week".  I like that, and would have to agree with her.  After the hustle and bustle of Christmas, this is the perfect time to relax, take a deep breath and evaluate how you want your year to go.  I have spent time praying about all that today, and know that because of God's goodness, this year and what it brings, will be amazing.  No year spent with Jesus is ever anything but.  Love to all.