Precious Girls

I have to just say my girls are so very thoughtful. They teach me so much about thinking and serving others. One of our favorite things every year is "Operation Christmas Child". I would love for one day our whole family actually go overseas and deliver these boxes face to face with the children receiving them. . . . prayerfully one day we will get to do that, if the Lord wills.

Meanwhile, we do get excited about shopping for them and filling them. This year my friend, Christina, encouraged us to do more than normal. We did 6, but next year I think we're going to bump it up to 12. She had great ideas about looking for clearance items at the end of the season and buying year-round for our boxes, rather than just one specific time of the year.

Well, I let the girls handle the dispersion, so off they went.

Thankfully this year, OCC had boxes we could just stuff rather than having to buy or wrap them.
Normally when I leave them to a task together, Ash takes charge and Hanna does as told.

What servants hearts they have.

I've been working ALOT . . .like 4:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ALOT. I've left the kids to fend for themselves for breakfast. I've actually let the girls cook pancakes unsupervised on the griddle. They are expert chefs. They can handle it. Well, look what they surprised me with one morning. The pancake is in a shape of a heart.
Aren't they just precious?

S-L-U-M-B-E-R P-A-R-T-Y!!!!

Sooo, a few weeks back Lydia and I planned a slumber party with our Sunday School class. We have roughly about 15 girls, and I was very excited when 7 of them showed up. One thing our youth group lacks is unity. .. and a lot of it has to do with catty girls, feelings hurt, exclusivity, etc. I was really praying that this night would bring about some unity. God was so faithful. It did.

After eating spaghetti and playing Kinect for a little bit I had the girls gather around the dining room table. We talked about the early church and how one of the reasons the early church met was to encourage one another. . . they were spreading the Gospel and were getting so "beat up", they would all meet together to encourage and build one another up. I asked them, "Do you feel more encouraged/built up by your brothers and sisters in Christ or by the world?" Their answer? The world. Then we talked about the "whys" of this. Funny thing is, sometimes its the same way with us adults, huh? This is a conversation Jon and I have had often. I went on to tell them it all goes back to love. We often think our "love" for one another is messed up. However, when we are loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. . . then everything flows naturally from that, then we shouldn't have a problem loving/praying for our enemy, turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, building up the body, humbling ourselves when we've wronged someone, etc. EVERYTHING we do should stem from our love for God.

Silliness at its finest.
The girls really opened up their hearts and there were tears. . . It was a very sweet time in the Lord. So, you see all that colored paper? Everyone had a piece with their name on it. We passed it around the table and each girl had to write something encouraging on it. I told the girls to please stay away from shallow things like, "Kat, I like your hair straight." To be real, sincere, and encourage one another with things that really matter.
I had Casting Crowns newest CD playing in the background.
LOVE these girls to pieces! Missing Jaimie though.
Lydia tried to hide. She and I were both so.very.tired.
We then all went to the family room and watched, "The Princess Bride". At midnight, however, I told everyone good night, and I headed up to bed. I didn't mind being the first one asleep. Ha!Ha!

I'm so thankful the Lord has given me the opportunity to invest in these girls. My prayer is that their hearts beat for Him and their driving purpose in life will be to know Him and to make Him known!

Starting to Get It

As I get older I'm starting to realize a few things.

1. Not everyone is going to like me.

2. Not everyone does like me.

3. Stop trying to make everyone like me.

4. If someone doesn't like me, then it's not my fault or theirs. . . we just don't click.

5. It's OKAY that not everyone likes me.

'Nuff said;0)

351 to 400

351. For this wonderful group of girls that Lydia and I get to teach God's word to each and every week. It is truly my joy and honor. I'm so blessed by them. 352. For Lydia teaching Sunday School with me.

353. For Lydia running with me.

354. For disciplining Lydia. What a joy and honor. I love her so much.

355. For Hanna asking Jon if he makes $400,000 a year or less.

356. For much, much less. . . otherwise money might control us.

357. For Faith.
358. For Faith's birthday.
359. For laughter.360. For Chick-fil-A's peppermint milk shake.

361. For father and son camping trips.


362. That God didn't make our world black and white.

363. For little country stores that are really huge on the inside.
364. For an amazing, sweet, loving husband to tell me about the little country store.

365. For Jon's dream of always wanting to catch a trout.
366. For a wonderful son that Jon can trout fish with.
367. For wearing shorts in the fall time of year.


368. For the one trout they caught.
369. For telling Jon it really looked like a sardine.
370. For my boys not getting attacked by a bear.
371. For a sweet niece to love on for three days.
372. For a sister who lets me love on a sweet niece for three days.

373. For a sister who really does know how to mother my new nephew and niece. . . although in this picture the expression on her face looks like, "Now, what do you do with this thing?"
374. For a son to hold his little cousin.
375. For the smell of a baby.
376. For being cured of baby fever. I love to hold them, but I'm so thankful I'm over and out of the baby/toddler stage.

377. For a mother hen.
378. For thhhuuuu baby holding the baby.

379. For an adorable dimple.
380. For sweet Hanna saving up her own money to buy her best friend, Kara, a pair of Tom's for her birthday.

381. For having a birthday the same day as sweet Kara Jane.

382. For Faith trying hummus again and loving it.

383. For dental floss.

384. For my Grandmama.

385. For Booher's texts before she has a test. . . to pray for her.

386. For Marty disciplining Alec.

387. For bedtime before 9:00 p.m. I know I'm old, but it is soooo nice to get 7+ hours of sleep.

388. For sweet Ash who spent her own money and brought home 3 milkshakes from Chick-fil-A.

389. For Jon's Garmin watch.

390. For chap stick with this cold weather.

391. For lotion for my dry, ashy legs.

392. For friends to run races with.

393. For my pillow that I take EVERYWHERE with me. And, if I let anyone in my family use it for the night. . . it is considered a great honor.

394. For warm blankets to cuddle up under.

395. For morning phone calls from my mom.

396. For morning "I love you" texts from my wonderful husband.

397. For my stepdad, James.

398. For James' laugh. It is truly contagious.

399. For deer meat.

400. For my newest book. I was going to order it on CBD. "Sermon on the Mount" by Martyn Lloyd Jones. It was 19.99. I get to church. They have one copy left in the bookstore. It is regular price $13 marked down to $7. Whoo hoo!

Rock N' Roll Baby!!!!!!!!!!!

A few weeks back Jon and I and our friends took off to run the Rock N Roll marathon/half marathon. I was so excited about this race. Normally the marathons we do are much smaller, but I just get so energized by all the people. Also, it was Jenn. S and Angela L.'s first half marathons, and I was super excited for the both of them.

Jon and Doug took the front. They were so funny. While all of us girls gabbed in the back, they played the truck game.

The 2 Jenn's.
Me and Ang. L.
I have to say though sitting in the back of the van made Jenn S a little queasy and at times I really could have joined her. Made me feel sorry for my kiddos having to sit back there. When we got to Sav., Jenn and I hopped up front. I wasn't sure what was going to make her more sick -being in the back of the van OR my driving. . . hee!hee!

I know it is hard to tell from this picture, but see the bridge. There are masses upon masses of cars on it - can you see it? CRAZY, I tell you.
Here we are checking in!
Jon and Chuck.
They had all sorts of fun stuff for us to play with. Here we are impersonating Elvis. Look at my hunka-hunka burnin' love.

Here are Doug and Ang. . . the king and queen of Rock N' Roll :)
Doug's face CRACKS me up in this picture. Man, was he really into it, or what?
The girls!!!!
Next, we saw a booth where we got to be rock stars. Oh this was so fun and we laughed oh.so.hard.
Waiting on Jenn. B to get her rock star gear on.
Pose 1. . .
Pose 2. Y'all, I'm telling you. . . so!much!fun!
Next, it was the guys' turn. Sad thing is, Doug looks like a natural.

Jon looks soooo unnatural. . . that's what makes this so funny to me.
The crew minus Pastor D and Ang H. They were at Carrabbas getting us all a table. They had been camping there all week, so went earlier in the week to get their race packets.
We all had dinner at Carrabas and if I wouldn't have been freezing my hiney off, I might've remembered to take a picture. We opted for sitting outside because we were so hungry and then had to drive an hour to John and Judy's to sleep. Oh well, despite being cold, we kept telling ourselves we were making memories.

Poor Ms Judi and Mr. John. I echo what my Jon said, "Man, I hope when we get their age, we are as much fun as they are." Then he chimed in, "Shoot, we're not that much fun now." Seriously, this is a wonderful couple who really invest their lives into people our age (married with children). We were so hoping to have more time with them, but we literally got there and got in the bed. It was 10:00 p.m., and we had to be up at 3:00 a.m.

We were trying to be quiet the next morning when leaving, and as we were about to pull out of their driveway, they both jump out from behind a tree. See how fun they are?
This girl right here normally doesn't even get into the bed until 3:00 a.m., much less wake up at that time. I was proud of her.
Ang is bright eyed and bushy tail. She's an early riser like me.
Not so sure about Doug???
We met up with the rest of the crew. Even my break wind friend was there who I ran with when I trained for my first marathon. That's before I knew most of these crazy runners. Notice what's in the background. Any runner knows WHY we were standing in front of the port a potties. Gotta go before you get to running or otherwise you're in trouble - hee!hee!
It was so freezing cold. I was glad for an excuse to snuggle up with my sweet husband. Seriously, we would just walk like this. Body heat really did keep us warm.
We all separated and went to our different corrals. Here are Ang H, Chuck, and I.
Start line.
I was feeling really good, so I needed to maneuver through the crowds and I had a great pace for like 20 miles. I was at 3 hours 1 minute at the 20-mile mark. I met back up with Chuck and Ang at mile 18. But I started cramping pretty bad and I was hitting a wall. I've done it before so I know the feeling. Chuck took off with Ang's and I's coaxing. However, I was losing steam and losing it FAST. Ang kept trying to stay back with me. I told her to go. After my prodding she did go. About mile 22 is when everything was really getting bad. The only way I know to describe what was happening to me is, have you ever been watching and movie and trying really hard not to fall asleep, but just could not fight your body. I was falling asleep while running. I wanted to walk. however, it hurt my hips to walk. My eyes kept closing. I would keep trying to wake myself up. I got very disoriented and even thought at times, "I could just go curl up on the side of the road and take a nap. Then I'd feel better." It took me 1 hour and 17 minutes to finish the last 6.2 miles with a final time of 4 hours 17 minutes. This was terrible. However, honestly, I'm really just glad I made it. My "spell" really scared me, and I think that is my last marathon.

But, here's my favorite part of the whole race. I've crossed the finish line amongst hundreds of people. I spot Jon's face in the crowd making his way towards me. He points to himself and mouths to me I.LOVE.YOU. I just collapsed into his arms and started crying. It was such an incredibly preciously sweet moment. Man, I do love my husband so.very.much. We just stood there. Jon really wanted me to go to the Medic. At first I resisted, but then I gave him so he wouldn't worry. We went to the Medic and they made me lay on a cot and put salt under my tongue. Also, Jon had to hold my legs up. I could literally feel my face getting hot. When I got home, both Melissa and Jon looked up what had happened to me. I think we all came to the same conclusion of dehydration. However, when I later found out a man died at the marathon, I really do think it's over for me. I think I'm going back to the days of 5K, 10K, and will now be a half marathoner. After all, I had a GREAT time at the half mark of this race 1 hour 53 minutes. I think I'm going to start focusing on speed now. I can still run with Ang. H. and Becky and will go up to 15 miles, but I think 6 marathons is enough for this girl.
Also, life is so busy now. . . The Lord has been laying on my heart about laying something down, letting go of something. Training takes so much time and energy out of you, so I really think that is what I'm laying down.
I'm so incredibly blessed to have wonderful friends to share common interests with. I'm also super blessed to have an amazing husband to do this thing called "life" with. He really is such a special gift.

Well, we didn't have shoe polish for the windows, but will dirt do? I think so.
Ang and I before getting in the van to head home.