Sunday, December 7, 2008

Facing My Fears!

So, this weekend I hosted my first conference at Crier Creek. It was the mother/daughter christmas craft. I was so scared because I had to get up and talk in front of everyone and make announcements, I am going to be honest, I was terrified. But, it ended up being wonderful. I got over my fear of being on the mike and I got to really see what Preston does. I have to admit that I did call Preston to tell him how much I appreciate what he does, because it is a lot harder than it looks! He is AMAZING! I am so glad that I got to trade place with Preston, and see what he does everyday! I think that I have come to the conclusion that I enjoy not having to get out of my pj's if I do not want to! It was a great weekend and I am very proud of my wonderful husband!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

No More Worries!!!

No words can describe this video...just watch!!



I guess this is great news! We are all going to be wealthy and successful!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Fall!

We had a great day yesterday! It is really fun trick or treating in a small town. People are so welcoming and want to talk forever. We went with our sweet friends Connor and Emily! It was a really fun memory! Here are some pictures of my "chick -magnet" and pretty ballerina!!!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A Great Read!

So I am reading "The Gospel According to Jesus" by John MacArthur, I recommend this book to any christian. This book will change your life, I promise! Here is an excerpt to wet you appetite:


" This book grew out of seven years of study in Gospels. As I immersed myself in the gospel Jesus taught, I became acutely aware that most of modern evangelism-both witnessing and preaching-falls far short of presenting the biblical evangel in a balanced and biblical way. The more I examined Jesus' public ministry and his dealing with inquirers, the more apprehensive I became about the methods and content of contemporary evangelism. On a disturbing number of fronts, the message being proclaimed today is not the gospel according to Jesus.


The gospel today holds forth a false hope to sinners. It promises them they can have eternal life yet continue to live in rebellion against God. Indeed, it encourages people to claim Jesus as Savior yet defer until later the commitment to obey Him as Lord. It promises salvation from hell but not necessarily freedom from iniquity. It offers false security to people who revel in the sins of the flesh and spurn the way of holiness. by separating faith from faithfulness, it teaches that intellectual assent is as valid as wholehearted obedience to the truth.


This "new" gospel has spawned a generation of professing Christians whose behavior is indistinguishable form the rebellion of the unregenerate. Statistics reveal that 1.6 billion people world wide are considered christian. A well publicized opinion poll indicated that nearly a third of all Americans claim to be born again. Those figures surely represent millions who are tragically deceived...


Why should we assume that people who live in an unbroken pattern of adultery, fornication, homosexuality deciet, and every concievable kind of flagrant execc are truly born again? Yet that is exactly the assumption Christians of this age have been taught to make. They have been told that the only creteria for salvation in knowing and believing some basic facts about Christ. They hear from the beginning that obedience is optional. It follows logically, the that someones one-time profession of faith is more valid than the evidence of that person's ongoing life style in determining whether to embrace him or her as a true believer. "

These are just a few parts of this book. I am not too far in but it is really amazing. It is definetly a hard read because it is convicting and full of truth, however, now more than ever do Christians need to be clinging to the bible and not to this world. It is not our place to be the judge, but we need to be presenting the most accurate gospel so that we are not leading people astray. I pray that each one of you would have a hunger for the truth and a desire to have a clear and precise understanding of the gospel!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Fall 08

Here are some fun pics this fall...








Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Tagged, (better late than never)!!

Amanda tagged me, but we have been out of town, so here it is:

Here are the tagging rules:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you are tagged, DO IT and pass it along

1. I was probably considered a nerd in high school. It's ok though, I was proud of it. I love to learn, I love school supplies, and why is it so bad to have your backpack packed for the next school year in week 3 of summer! Preston claims that he rescued me from my "nerdness", but it is still there!

2. I have a small obsession with "The Hills", DON'T JUDGE ME! It is a show on MTV about Lauren Conrad and her friends, Yes, it is a reality show about nothing! I can't help it, who does not want to be young, wealthy, and in California? Ok, maybe not all of you, but it would be a blast, for a little while at least.

3. I think that I might be considered an "art slut", I like all genres of art. I like sewing, drawing, painting, scrapbooking, making cards, doodling, photography, painting murals, anything that I can get my hands on I like to to do. I do not think I could just pick one and do it for the rest of my life.

4. I got braces when I was in the fourth grade. I am not quite sure what my dentist was thinking, since I had not even lost all of my teeth yet. Well, I do know what he was thinking, I sucked my thumb until I was 9. My mouth was so messed up. I had an enormous overbite and the only way to get me to stop was putting in a "gate". Which was placed in the top of my mouth and would not let my thumb rest there. This was done along with my braces... made for great pictures! The one thing I remember the most about braces, was "THE CHAIN" ! That was probably the most painful thing I have ever felt. It was a group of the colored rubber bands, but they were all connected so they brought your teeth closer together. OUCH!

5. I am reading "Same Kind of Different As Me". It is a great book, but it is really sad. I had to skip over some of it because I could not read it.

6. I am a Lion through and through. At Pine Cove, you have to take a personality test. There are Lion, Beaver, Otter, and Retriever. The qualities pretty much match the animal. Well, I am very much a lion:

Lion- This personality likes to lead. The lion is good at making decisions and is very goal-oriented. They enjoy challenges, difficult assignments, and opportunity for advancement. Because lions are thinking of the goal, they can step on people to reach it. Lions can be very aggressive and competitive. Lions must learn not to be too bossy or to take charge in other's affairs.
Biblical Example: Paul
Case Study: Acts 9:3-19
Strength: Goal-oriented, strong, direct
Weakness: Argumentative, too dictatorial
Limitation: Doesn't understand that directness can hurt others, hard time expressing grace


One of my biggest strengths/weaknesses is that I am a very critical person. It can be a good thing, ( I tend to have a lot of self-motivation and discipline) but most of the time it is a weakness. I seem to always find the bad in people, and I can be very skeptical. However, I know that God makes no mistakes and I am always praying that God would use those characteristics in me to glorify him!

If you want to learn about your personality type you can go to smalleyonline.com

I am tagging:
1. Jenn Crouse
2. Jessica Schmale
3. Tonya Leiva
4. Ashley Parks
5. Jenn Sapaugh (again)
6. Glenna Harding (again)

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Just a Thought!

I was just thinking...
I wish for the next debate, there would be NO talking, just the two candidates sitting on stage, and a list of all of their credentials would be posted on the screen. So that the American people could pass on all of the stupid comments, and we could see who we are actually voting for!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

HE CAN!!!!

Ok, I don't know if you guys have seen this, but it BLEW me away!



The story:
A son asked his father (who had a heart condition) if he would run a marathon with him. The father said yes and so they began to train. They completed the marathon and went on to run more marathons. Eventually, the son asked the father if he would run the Iron Man with him, and the father said yes. The Iron Man is a triathlon that consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and ends with a 26.2 mile run!
Here is their race:

I seriously can not watch this video and not praise our God with my whole being!! It is an unbelievable picture of a relationship between father and son and God's relationship with us! HE CAN!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

First Cardinal Football Game!

Last Friday we attended our First Columbus Cardinal Football game...
So before the game I tried to get some pictures...at first it did not go so well...








After some bribing with gum and candy...


Fisher's serious look...


Air Force One!!!

While I am out for a couple of days, I am going to try and catch up on some blogging...

About 2 weeks ago, we got the honor to visit Air Force One and to meet the President! What an experience... I have never been in the presence of so many guns and security! They would not let you take your camera onto the airplane, but it was UNBELIEVABLE! At one point Grace and I were sitting in the cockpit and I was holding her back from pressing the millions of buttons...We got to see all of his quarters and Grace touched "barnie" the dog! It was a memory that I will never forget...

Here are some pics of the day...

Grace and Fish waiting in the security line


Picture with my uncle



George and Laura getting off of the helicopter

Mingling

Photo with the Pres



The Plane



Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Nose Surgery!

Today, I embarked on a journey to fix my nose! I have had such bad sinus problems for the past 3 years and finally I could take it no loner...

Now is probably not the time to ask me if it was worth it!

Our journey started last night, Preston and I drove to Brehnam (we left Grace and Fisher at Preston's parents) and ate at Chile's for a very very long overdue date! We had such a great time, he is such a gentleman, he constantly reminds me of how much I honor and love him!
After dinner, we continued on up to College Station, where our doctor's main office and hospital is. We had a great night getting to hang out with some of the college staff from this summer and just spending some time together...it turned out to be a great date night...

That was the Fun part...

S0...we set our alarms for 5:15 and made our way to Physicians Hospital in College Station (very nice by the way) got all of the paperwork filled out and gave some blood... then we waited until about 6:45... and I got all hooked up to my IV and mentally got prepared to go under

Side note: it amazes me that after children how things make me so much more anxious. I was so nervous to have the surgery because now I am a mommy and there is so much more at stake for me. I have used this opportunity though to really press into God and conquer my anxiousness, he is SO faithful. I had specifically prayed for sweet nurses and doctors and God was so fatihful! They kept me so calm and of course Preston was my rock! He is so good at keeping you laughing and joking around that you forget what you are about to do. But the sense of peace I had could have only come God...

Anyways the surgery was the EASY part for me... I just laid there and talked to the anestisiologist about the Eagles' concert he was going to and drifted off into a sweet sleep...

I had three things done:

  • They placed two small balloons (one on either sie) of my sinus passages (which he said were so small it took like 15-20 min just to find them) and inflated them so that they would stay open and allow fluids to drain
  • Then they shaved some of a bone in my nose that was rubbing on my cheek bone I think and giving me constant headaches
  • Then they straightend my severley deviated septum

I woke up and proceeded (so I am told) to insist to the recovery room nurses that our pharmacy in Columbus was Walgreens...even though we do not even have a Walgreens, all we have is a Walmart...after a quick check with Preston, they figured it was the medicine talking...
We went to the post-op room and waited until I was concious enough to go home...

After the 2 hour car ride, we safely made it home...

Now comes the PAIN!!!

It is a really weird sensation, because my nose is constantly bleeding out of my nose and into my stomach at the same time, so all I can taste and smell is blood...YUMMY! Actually it has been a problem because any time I try and eat something, it makes me vomit, but I have not eaten all day, so I am also trying not pass out at the same time...

Oh yeah... it also feels like someone hit me upside the head with a two by four and then took a sharp knife and just scratched the dog out of the inside of my nose...

So, I am really hanging onto the doctor's words that, " I am going to feel like I am living in a whole new world!" But as of right now I am stuck in bed, hence the long blog...

Thursday, August 28, 2008

My ONE year old!!!

Fisher turned ONE last week! WOW! This year has been full of so many changes for Preston and I and we are honored to have been entrusted with our "Fishstick"!!!
Here are some pics of Fish and his first year...

Fisher day one: a little bluer than normal!
our Ethiopian child...

Christmas...

July...

August
ONE YEAR OLD!!!


Friday, May 30, 2008

"Ruin Me"

This past weekend we spent 3 days in Tyler for the Pine Cove Orientation and The JEff Johnson Band was there to lead us in worship! WOW! If you have never heard them, go to there myspace page and listen...
Anyway, they have a song titled "Ruin Me" and I can not tell you haw much I prayed these lyrics while we were up there. The chorus goes...

" Ruin my life the plans I have made
Ruin desires for my own selfish gain
Destroy the idols that have taken Your place
Till its You alone I live for,
You alone I live for. "

My heart just wept when I heard these lyrics...I started thinking about all of the things that I put before my God and all of the plans I have! When really, it is for him alone that I live! As they were singing this song I was surrounded by these amazing college staff who love God and are seeking his face and I just lifted my hands and worshiped God! I mean worshiped in a way where everything else disappeared and I felt my heart cry out to the Lord, it was an unforgettable moment for me! I could not even sing the words because I just felt so dirty and unclean and then I was reminded of the price Jesus paid FOR ME! Sometimes the thought overwhelms me, in the midst of all the crying, cleaning, and constant weariness, God died for me! I forget that all to often and am so thankful when God reminds me.

The next song that they sang was "From the Inside Out", if I was not already super emotional, the gates were slammed open...just then my heart fell out of my chest and was just lying on the floor open for everyone to see... I am still amazed at the power of worship!

Most of you know the lyrics but here are some of them...

A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out.

Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

WE serve an amazing God, and my prayer today is that he would change me from the inside out!!! I found two of their songs "Ruin Me and Glorious Day" on you tube! Please listen to them they are great!!

NOT SO "HOT" HOTDOGS!!!

OH MY GOSH! EVERY MOM HAS TO READ THIS!!!

I had recently that hotdogs that contained nitrates were not very good for our kids, but I kind of brushed it off! Well not any more, there will be only nitrate free hotdogs in our house from now on!!!

Read this:
"Three different studies have come out in the past year, finding that the consumption of hot dogs can be a risk factor for childhood cancer.

Peters et al. studied the relationship between the intake of certain foods and the risk of leukemia in children from birth to age 10 in Los Angeles County between 1980 and 1987. The study found that children eating more than 12 hot dogs per month have nine times the normal risk of developing childhood leukemia. A strong risk for childhood leukemia also existed for those children whose fathers' intake of hot dogs was 12 or more per month.

Researchers Sarusua and Savitz studied childhood cancer cases in Denver and found that children born to mothers who consumed hot dogs one or more times per week during pregnancy has approximately double the risk of developing brain tumors. Children who ate hot dogs one or more times per week were also at higher risk of brain cancer.

Q. How could hot dogs cause cancer?

Hot dogs contain nitrites which are used as preservatives, primarily to combat botulism. During the cooking process, nitrites combine with amines naturally present in meat to form carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds. It is also suspected that nitrites can combine with amines in the human stomach to form N-nitroso compounds. These compounds are known carcinogens and have been associated with cancer of the oral cavity, urinary bladder, esophagus, stomach and brain."

I found this on ghchealth. com, feel free to do your own research...


Friday, April 25, 2008

Laughing makes the world go round!

Cute video of Fisher laughing!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I can see the LIGHT!

Well... 7 1/2 months later, we are about to move our things to our new house! I hope... we are supposed to move some of our stuff this weekend. I am not sure if we are going to move all of it yet because Preston and I are going out of town on Monday. But after a long wait we are extremely excited! There are still things that need to be done on the outside of the house, but we are going to do those ourselves at some point! God has blessed us with a beautiful house and I am ready to enjoy it!

I have learned a lot of things in this process though...
I will probably never build another house again! (at least not for a while)
It is a HUGE blessing to have a dishwasher, a washer and dryer and a bath tub, I will never take these things for granted again!
God had blessed us with a very wonderful family!
I am very excited about having a lock on my door!
Next time we decide to make changes in our life, we are going to take it slower (we moved, had a baby, built a house, and lived with family all at the same time!)
I am blessed to have an amazing husband and children!

Thanks to anyone who prayed for us!

We will see what really happens...

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Last Couple of Weeks...

Like most of you, our lives have been really crazy the last week or two, but we have made a lot of memories that we would love to share...

First of all, because of Grace's extremely weird hair rubbing, we had to give up the suckie for GOOD! So all of Grace's suckies are "night-night" and Fisher's suckies are ok because he is a baby still and Grace is a big girl! (this is what Grace says) Because she did so good and really did not cry at all, she only asks sometimes where they are and I remind her how big she is, we got her a pink bike! She was so cute in Walmart, because she was so excited and knew what we were going to get...
Here are a few picks of the first bike ride...

Of course you have to get a kiss from daddy before you ride!
And get a bite of an apple...
We also got to go up to Preston's camp and play at the lagoon. I made Grace wear a life jacket the whole time because I was nervous about her falling in, which she did... so I was glad!
Grace trying to get some sun...(kind of hard with a life jacket on!)
Best Buds!
Cheesy Smile!

After such a long week with Family Day up at camp (Preston was home for one dinner all week), we finally got our daddy back and got to catch up on some much needed rest. Well at least some of us did...
Here is Preston and Grace sleeping in Grace's crib together while I was taking care of Fisher!
I had to pray the jealousy away...just kidding!
It did make my heart melt though!

Friday, April 11, 2008

We Need to OPEN Our Eyes!

For any of you out there who watch Oprah you have to watch this. It is so sad that someone with the best intentions could be so far from the truth! The bible is so clear that there will be false teachers and we must be aware!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

It's a "Horse", No baby, it is a "Goat"!

Last weekend we went to my mom's neighbor's birthday party! It was so much fun because he had a petting zoo there! They had pigs, goats, snakes, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, turtles, a bird and I think that is it. I guess all of our baby Einstein is not working, because Grace would not stop calling the goats, horses! She is a Dork! We had a great time, but above all else we loved getting to spend time with Paw-Paw and Ya Ya! Grace loves them so much and asks where they are everyday, to which she answers "They're night-night!"