Friday Night

If you know me even a little, you know that I love to read.  I was introduced to my favorite author ten years ago, by my mom-in-love.  That author is Karen Kingsbury.  Her books are called Life Changing Fiction for a reason.  They are books that make you examine your own relationship with God, and when you see it lacking, you pray to change that.  Life changing.

If you don't know about her and think you might be interested in her books, I'm going to give you a link to her website.  She writes many books in series form, so be sure and read them in order.  Click here to visit her website.

She started a tour with her family recently and when I learned she was coming to Memphis, I was interested in going, but not sure about paying the money and what it would be like...those things can be kinda hokey, and I am careful about where I spend money.  When my friend Missy texted and asked if I would be interested in going and volunteering to get in free, I said yes.  So, this is us from Friday night.

Left to right are Missy, Lori, me and my mom-in-love.

We got to sit in on a question and answer talk from her and her family, which was really sweet, and only Missy and I were needed to volunteer.  We passed out packets for Compassion International during the five minutes before intermission.  The event started with worship led by her son, son-in-love and another son playing the drums.  It was so good!  And then she just spoke from her heart.  She is honest, funny and completely God honoring in how she speaks and tells stories of their life as a family.

I think we all left with the same opinion of the event~we were all impressed by how good it was and we all left feeling very encouraged in our stages of life.  I am so thankful that we were able to go, and it was fun spending time with these sweet ladies.

Happy Monday to you and thanks for reading my blog!  Love to all.

Friday Favorites

It's hard to believe that Friday has rolled around once again.  Especially when I can't remember what I did last Friday.  Seriously...I cannot think of a thing!  I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals for this post.

It's been a really fast week around here, since I feel like we're still playing catch up, but I am always thankful it's the weekend.  I love having a couple of full days of my family, when we're all (mostly) around the house.

That being said, here are some favorite moments from this week.

One.

This bible verse is one of my very favorites.  I pray it every morning for my husband and my kids and myself.  This was an image that is from Lisa Harper's newest bible study, The Gospel of Mark.  I look forward to going through this on my own this summer.  Yes, I am already looking ahead to summer...it'll be here before we can blink!

Two.

My favorite moment and night this week were from Monday night, when Mom, Trish, Missy and I went to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.  It was a great movie and I loved how funny it was.  I highly recommend seeing it, if you're a movie goer.  Even if you're not, like me, I still highly recommend it.

Three.

My favorite quiet time this week was when I read from Psalm 51.  I love that passage in the bible, and I love that God would have me read it exactly when He knew I needed it most.  He is so good that way.

Four.

And speaking of how good God is, I posted this picture on Instagram last night.  I'll sum up what I said in the picture.  My friend Denise gave me these coasters for my birthday, back in December.  She bought them for me, because she immediately thought of me when she saw them...she knows that it's a pet peeve of mine when people say that God is good when a situation turns out the way they had hoped.  To them, I say that God is always good, in the good times, but especially in the bad times.  When things don't turn out the way we hoped, He wants us to rely on Him in those moments...and He will carry us through.  He refines us through our struggles and hardships and the discipline that we sometimes receive from Him.  He wants us to place all of our hope and faith and trust in Him and let Him do what He promises to do~He sustains us.  His word tells us that we are to rejoice in ALL circumstances.

I love these coasters, needless to say.  And a thoughtful gift like this is my very favorite kind of gift.  I'll always think of Denise when I see them, and her kindness in giving me these.

Five.

Last, but not least, is one of my favorite moments from the past week.  Drew turned sixteen on Sunday, and today, at eleven a.m., I will be sitting in the waiting area of our local D.M.V. waiting on him as he takes his driving test to get his license.  I honestly did not know if my nerves could take a year of this one driving, but praise God!  I made it.  He started out rough, I won't lie.  Like the day he accidentally put my car in neutral while driving, because he thought it was the blinker.  And the time that I yelled at him and he got mad at me and put the car in park and got out for me to drive.  He has come a very long way since then, though, and even if he's not as confident with his abilities as Graham was with his, he is a really good and cautious driver.  I just got done praying for him and his nerves as he takes his test today and for safety once he leaves me as an independent driver for that first time.

You might want to also say a prayer for him.  We would appreciate it greatly!

Well, I must go for now and get started on laundry.  Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!  Love to all.

quiet time

This post will be simple and to the point.  Last night in Bible study (we're studying the Sermon on the Mount by Jen Wilkin), Jen said something so very profound to me.  That is, that sin starts in our hearts.  

I've noticed that I've been a bit in a slump the past couple of days, and I honestly didn't realize this until a sweet friend texted me about it last night.  Even though I didn't pick up on it, she did and she took the time to ask me about it.  That text led me upstairs to my bedroom floor, where I just laid down on the floor and poured out my heart to God.  (Sometimes praying leads us to complete submission to God and how better to do that, than to lay prostrate on the floor?)

It turns out that I hadn't been having my morning quiet time.  On both Monday and Tuesday, I had to be up and out of my house or ready earlier than usual, and because of that, I hadn't spent time with God.  

As I reflected back on all of this, God convicted me again on how I spend my time.  So before bed last night, I asked Him to forgive me and to help me to honor Him with my time more, starting with today.  It was much easier to get out of bed this morning, and the time I had with Him was sweet.  

I read from Psalm fifty and fifty-one this morning.  How fitting chapter fifty-one was, especially.  The title of that chapter in my bible is "A Prayer for Restoration".  I'm just going to write it out...wondering who else needs to read this chapter.  God doesn't do anything by accident. 

Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithful love; according to Your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion.

Wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.

For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.

Against you--You alone--I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight.  So You are right when you pass sentence; You are blameless when You judge.  

Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

Surely You desire integrity in the inner self, and You teach me wisdom deep within.

Purify me with hyssop, and I will clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.

Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt.

God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to the joy of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit.

Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways, and sinners will return to You.

Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.

Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. 

You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.  God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.

In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem.

Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.  

Sin starts in our hearts.  When we don't daily seek God and pray and read His word, our hearts quickly become hardened.  We must continually ask Him to give us soft and teachable hearts, to keep them broken before Him.  I don't want to give too much credit to our enemy, but he is definitely at work the most when we are apart from God's word.  He wants us to be too busy, too tired, up too late the night before...because when we are not properly rested, he operates much more easily than he does when we are awake and fully aware and spending time with God.  

One thing I ask often of God, is that He will convict me when I sin and that He will always give me a teachable and repentant heart.  I want Him to show me my sin, because I always want to be aware of when I'm walking down a slippery slope.  Though I recognized none of this on my own yesterday, God used my friend to reach out to me.  He has actually used her a few times in my life, for similar circumstances, and I thanked Him for her friendship this morning.  

I wrote all that to challenge you...God doesn't do anything by accident.  I pray that, like my friend's text last night, that God uses these words to speak into someone's heart.  Thanks for reading.

Love to all.  

Monday

Last night, all the boys in the house had an event at church that they went to, leaving me at home alone.  Except that I ended up not staying home, when I remembered they were all going.  My mom, my sister Trish, Missy and I all went to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

It. Was. So. Good.  

I love, love, love going to a movie and laughing, and that is what I did the entire time of the movie.  It was a spin off of their lives from the last time we saw them, with their daughter a teenager now.  It was so closely tied to the first one that it seemed like you were just picking right back up where the last one left off, except several years later.

I don't usually go to movies much anymore (except with this one above and teenage girls), because I hate paying the price for the ticket, especially if I don't know how good the movie is.  There's nothing like going and then being disappointed.  This one was clean (for the most part).  There was a little bit of sexual humor thrown in, but the ones making the jokes were married, so that makes me not mind it as much.

Have you been?  Are there any other movies you've seen lately that you loved?  I never go, and don't even know what's playing right now.  

There's a movie we're wanting to go see with some teenagers, coming out in July, called The Secret Life of Pets.  We laughed ridiculously hard during the trailer.  

Love to all!  

(And yes, I'm back to being a brunette.)

weekend catch-up

The weekend went by so fast...and I know this week will as well.  Does anyone else have that issue with time and it moving with lightning speed?  I really would love for it to slow down.

On Friday night, we went to my dad's for dinner and so that I could spend more than five minutes with my sister Terri.  We had a delicious dinner and enjoyed sitting around talking.  My niece (who is in similar age to me) and her husband and their daughter (my GREAT niece!) were all there as well.

Is that not the sweetest sight?  Sweet Claire and all these boys.  They all adored her.  I love seeing my niece~she is only a few years younger than me and I have adored her for as long as I can remember.  I'm pretty sure I used to pretend she was my little sister.  We have always lived away from each other, so it's a rare occasion that we get to catch up in person.  And I am so mad that I didn't get a picture of us.  Here's one from last summer, though!  I got to see her when we went to high school camp near the town she lives in.

We tried to get a sisters and daddy pose, but then Drew happened.

The nerd.  He loves to photo bomb a picture.

On Saturday, Todd, Graham and Jonah went and took the Bronco to a muffler shop to get something worked on, and in that process, had Flowmasters put on for Graham's birthday.  (He helped pay for it.)  It sounds all loud and rumbly (and awesome) now.

He is in heaven.

While they were gone, I worked on Colossians three that I'm memorizing with Abbey.  I made a video of me saying it so that I could text it to her, but it was too long.

I was still in pajamas and just kept the video focused on my bible the whole time.

I cleaned and straightened up a little and watched a Hallmark movie, then that night while Todd worked, the boys and I all met at my mom's and stepdad's house.  They had been at a soccer game and met me out there.

And then yesterday was not only Drew's sixteenth birthday, but church!  It was so good being back at church, y'all.  I hate missing, and I missed TWO Sunday's in a row.  A group of their friends and my mom and stepdad all joined us at his favorite Mexican restaurant.

We succeeded in embarrassing him.  Here's a little picture collage I made yesterday for him.

It was a great day.  I had to be back at church at three for choir, then I joined the junior's at their community group that night to hear about their spring break trips.  Then we all went to church to say goodbye to our kids' pastor Austin (and his wife Amy and their sweet family).  I didn't actually say goodbye....because I hate doing that.  I said it to him last Wednesday night and will text them again before they leave.

It was a great weekend.  I am so looking forward to tonight, though!  While my hubby and kids go to a guys thing at church, Missy, my mom and sister Trish and I are all going to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2...and I am so excited about that.

Thanks for reading!  Love to all.

All About Drewby

Today is Drew's sixteenth birthday!  I cannot believe in just a few days, I will be releasing him out on his first venture as a licensed driver.  (You may want to steer clear.)  He gets his license on Friday.  

I thought I'd share a few things about him since today is his special day.  

He has ALWAYS made us laugh.  Ever since he was a baby.  And he was always such a little ham.  

He was so proud of himself when I took this picture.  This was the day I thought I'd lost the babies, because he hid them so well in that cabinet you see him sitting in.  I don't know what he did to them to make them be quiet, but it worked.  I seriously thought they had gotten out of my house somehow.

He has always been a little daredevil and will do anything that someone dares him.  This still makes me nervous.  

He loves to embarrass me.  

He loves to make people laugh, and he loves to laugh and have fun. 

He is smart and good with kids and he lives a life that is above reproach.  People love being around him.

He is extremely self-motivated and I never have to tell him to do things.  Usually he just does the things that he knows need to get done.  He is a really hard worker.  He will do anything for food, and decides what his plans are some nights, according to what I am making for dinner.  He has the kindest heart of anyone his age that I have ever met.  

When he was in second grade, his teacher gave him the character award of joy.  To this day, that still fits him perfectly.  I've never met anyone as full of joy as my Drew.  

He can go to sleep at the drop of a hat (anywhere and anytime~he has been known to sleep during a NASCAR race.)  

I am so proud of this boy of mine.  He towers over me nowadays and takes great care of me when I'm sick.  I know that someday he will make an amazing husband and father.  

I love you, Drew!  Happy birthday, sweet boy.  

Love to all.  

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals for this post.

This will be short and sweet, because we haven't done too many things this week.  I've been catching up on housework and such, the boys have been catching up on schoolwork, and we've only been to one place collectively (church).

I mentioned in the last post that our eleventh grade girls won a trip to Tupelo for Winter Jam, and we did that last night.  I am so thankful that the weather was almost perfect the entire way.  Especially because my boys and some friends were driving themselves.  We stopped to eat at Sonic, then got to the concert only a few minutes late.

It was awesome!  The lineup was Newsong, Lauren Daigle, Red, Matthew West, Crowder and For King and Country...and maybe some more that I'm forgetting.  My favorite was Matthew West, but I loved Crowder and For King and Country.  It was a fun night, and here's a pic of those of us who were able to go.

That was, by far, my most favorite thing I've done all of this week.  We didn't get home until a little after one thirty and I am currently on cup of coffee number three.  (I usually only drink two.)  I feel like I'll need the extra boost today.

Thanks for reading!  Love to all.