I am going to go ahead and apologize for anything that doesn’t make sense, is unreadable or misspelled in this note. It’s pretty late, I’m up with a sinus headache and tons of random thoughts going on in my head. But, I truly believe the Lord has laid some burdens on my heart for a reason and I’m pretty sure He wants me to share. Although, I can’t be certain if it’s He that wants me to share, or just myself. I’m trusting that it’s Him.

If you know anything about me (and you must know a little bit if you are reading this note since we are “Facebook friends”) then you know that I am totally and unashamedly a follower of Christ. I hope that I haven’t hidden that well. I have put my entire mustard seed of faith in the authority of Scripture. I believe that what the Bible says is Truth. In that, I guess you could say, I have no doubt.

Ironically, I only begin to notice doubt creep in – when I struggle to share my faith.

I know that makes me sound like I’m completely contradicting myself. But, if I’m being honest… sharing Jesus is easy, if I’m inside a church or talking with someone who understands the words “salvation, grace, redemption, repentance, atonement, and everlasting life.” But, it’s not so easy when they don’t.

I never want the message of Christ to become so redundant to the point where I don’t even believe myself when I speak it! And unfortunately, I’ve felt that way at times. So, I’m determined to change this pattern of speaking and teaching and sharing Christ with others. I want to lead them to Truth – not with flattering speech, but with an authentically, changed life that could have only taken place through the power of something greater.

And just like John the Baptist in Matthew 11:3, when my faith and doubt collide, I’ll be holding on to the words of Jesus to remind me…

“The blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.”

…it’s always been about changed lives, anyway.

Thanks to my lovely sister, Courtney, I have a new favorite song. I just love the melody, lyrics and most of all the singer is amazing! Beautiful vocals by JJ Heller. It’s the type of song that gives you a feeling of peace all over when you listen to it. Beautiful. Take a listen to “Your Hands” below.

p.s. that’s her husband on the guitar. how cute is that?

I just found the neatest thing! I came across it while reading one of my favorite blogs. It’s a cool program by Flickr that allows you to choose as many colors that you would like, and then it finds a bunch of random, interesting pictures that match that color scheme! How cool is this?

I have been searching for paintings/photos of a certain color scheme to go on a bare wall in my kitchen/dining room for months now. I think this tool may come in handy in finding some neat photographs to frame! Try it for yourself.

So, all of our friends decided to get married this summer.

Ok, well, not ALL of them… but a lot. Of course we do have a lot of friends that got married last summer and the summer before that (which was when we got married!), but this month there is a wedding every weekend. And Josh or I are in 3/4 of them. And then there’s all the weddings that we can’t attend, because they take place on the same day as the ones we are in.

Whew. Oh love… it’s such an exciting thing. This photo was from one of the recent Bachelor parties Josh went to. They made him this shirt and he had to wear it all over Panama City Beach. Bahaha.

There’s a lot going on.
And I’m not just talking about my personal life. I mean, in general.
Look around.
School, work, sports, papers, children, deadlines, entertainment, appointments…
It’s hectic.
And if we’re not careful, we may miss out on the only thing that really matters.

It doesn’t earn us a degree.
It doesn’t earn us a paycheck.
It might not provide us the entertainment that we’ve become accustomed to.
But it saves our lives…

A divine romance with the God of this universe.
Let Him completely satisfy you today.

Divine Romance – Phil Wickham
The fullness of Your grace is here with me.
The richness of Your beauty’s all I see.
The brightness of Your glory has arrived.
In Your presence God, I’m completely satisfied.

For You, I sing I dance.
Rejoice in this divine romance.
Lift my heart and my hands
To show my love, to show my love.

A deep deep flood, an Ocean flows from You
Of deep deep love, yeah it’s filling up the room.
Your innocent blood, has washed my guilty life
In Your presence God I’m completely satisfied.

We took the students to Panama City Beach, FL for the weekend. It was a wonderful time of spiritual growth and encouragement. I especially enjoyed the prayer time on the beach Saturday morning. Creation points us toward our Creator. So beautiful and serene.

Meet Heidi!

Josh’s puppy training…retrieving her first ball!

Finished recording vocals for the EP this week!! I am really excited about how everything is coming together! The songs are really sounding great and I can’t wait to share the music with everyone.

The title of the EP is going to be “New Day,” and I think it sums up perfectly the theme behind this whole project. The chorus of the title track says, “Chasing away, the memories of yesterday, living each day as a new day. We lay down it all, our burdens will fall, so that You’ll pick up where we left off…” The message I want to get across, is the idea of God being the source of our strength each day. God can handle every single burden we carry…and the coolest thing, is that He wants to!

1 Peter 5:7 says, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

We’ve had a pretty difficult year and half. Those of you who know us, know that. No need to dwell on the specifics. Yet, we are lifted up and given strength to make it through each day with the help of the Lord! His purpose is greater than what we can see. I wish tragedy on no one…but I also hope and pray that you’ll never get too comfortable with your life that you don’t realize your need for Jesus anymore.

People frequently ask me, after hearing of the trials and circumstances I’ve been through in my life,”How were you able to turn out the way you did? You seem to have things together so well.” And all I can say is, God’s grace…and being able to look at each and every day as a “new day.”

Three down, one to go! Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone, and New Years Eve will be the final holiday for 2009. I hope you all have enjoyed a wonderful year, filled with love from family and friends and memories that will last forever. I know I have.

Holiday’s are a bit different once you get married. Making an effort to visit both sides of our family these past couple years, we’ve traveled 4 hours from Alabama to visit my family in Florida, and then drove 8 hours from Florida to spend time with Josh’s family in South Carolina (double the love, that’s how I like to think of it). But, I’ve learned the meaning of sacrificing cherished time with family and the true value of holidays. You see, I come from a family of tradition. We had our Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years traditions. All which have been broken since I’ve been married and my sister has moved away to college. But, it’s been a wonderful realization to escape all the “festivities” and really contemplate on the reason we celebrate anyway.

Jesus.

Christmas, His birth. And Easter, His death. Even  Thanksgiving, for me, is a celebration of thankfulness for what Jesus did on the cross. But the world has tried to cover up the true meaning, adding the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause to offer to those who aren’t satisfied with the story of Jesus alone. “It’s more fun to believe in the Bunny and Santa,” I’ve heard people say. But not for me, it’s more humbling and amazing for me to remember my Savior. His love story is the best in the world! And I pray our eyes will be opened to that.

Of course, it wasn’t just marriage that made me realize this, but our 12+ hour car rides to visit family have definitely allowed me to ponder these things in my heart.

Tis the season…to sing a Christmas song!