Oh Christmas Tree....

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.....i'm gonna stare at you every night!

Ok, so that's not exactly how the song goes, but if I happen to disappear sometime in the next few weeks, it's likely that you'll find me sitting in the dark in my living room with a warm cup of joe, Christmas music playing in the background, and this beauty gleaming before my eyes...

I'm not even being biased when I tell you this picture doesn't even do it justice! You're all welcome to stop on by for some warm coffee (or hot chocolate) perhaps a Christmas cookie or two, and of course some warm fuzzy time of gawking at our masterpiece.

Just another holiday favorite that makes me smile...

Family, Food, Freaks and Football...

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! So many fun memories - here's a quick recap of my weekend...

First, it started off with our usual massive family Thanksgiving lunch. In the words of Buddy the Elf, my family is kinda "ginormous"...so we all gather at the FBC of Smyrna for our traditional lunch. Homemade dishes as far as the eye can see, Turkey and desserts galore...we're all stuffed when we leave there, ready for an afternoon nap!

Then, it's on to my sister's house for our annual shopping extravaganza/slumber party! My sisters, my cousin Julie and I all spend Thanksgiving night together every year, watching Christmas movies, eating leftovers, and getting ready for our early morning shopping rush on "Black Friday" with all the other crazy shoppers! This year we hit the Mall of Georgia, and we were not disappointed. When we hit the parking lots at 4am (yes, I said 4AM)...you would have thought it was the middle of the afternoon...it was packed!! If you ever want to get in some GREAT people watching, head to any local mall the day after Thanksgiving. It's sure not to disappoint - and you might find a good deal here and there too...if you get there early enough!

After 12 hours of fighting crowds, being silly and burning a hole in our checkbooks, it was time to unload our SUV that was busting at the seams, and head home to collapse. I made it home just in time to drop my bags and pass out on the couch...needing to rest up for Saturday's big tailgate!

Saturday morning brought cooler temperatures and the anticipation of an afternoon full of exciting football! We all decked ourselves out in our respective team colors (GO DAWGS!) and headed downtown for a little friendly rivalry fun. It was a great afternoon of hanging with friends and cheering my boys on to victory! And we even got to witness a Tech fan relieving himself off the side of the bridge onto the interstate....uh, yeah....gotta love those college kids.

And...to wrap up the weekend with a big red bow, we watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation last night while eating cookies by the Christmas Tree. I have so much to be thankful for always, this perfect weekend was yet just another reminder!

Ahhh....let the Christmas season begin!

Monday, Monday...

Day 18: Today I am thankful for Mondays, clouds and Christmas music!

It's Monday and it looks like it's going to rain....YES!!! Normally, that is not a prognosis that would make me overly excited, but today I can't help but smile. Why? First off, because the Lord knows that we need the rain desperately...bring it on! And because even though it is Monday, it's the Monday before Thanksgiving - which means a three day work week, followed by time spent with my extended family eating myself silly with the best home cookin', shopping till I drop with my girls, followed up by some good ole fashioned Georgia football rivalry...can it get any better?

Yes, yes it can. I have come to the conclusion that it is practically impossible to be in a bad mood while listening to Christmas music. I know, I know, i'm not supposed to "officially" listen to it until after Thursday, but I just couldn't help it. And I don't care how many people cut me off this morning on the way in, they still can't put me in a bad mood! (and it probably doesn't hurt that i'm breaking in a brand new pair of heels today too...girls always love a new pair of shoes!) Just trust me, the cure for the common Monday: Christmas Music. Unless you're scrooge, try it...it'll ad a little extra pep in your step - I mean really, can you be in a bad mood singing about kissing someone under the mistletoe? ;)

Happy Monday!!

Ho, ho...huh?

Check out this crazy article I just read:

"In the latest blow to the no-longer-holy holidays, Santas in Sydney, Australia are being urged to say "ha, ha, ha," instead of "ho, ho, ho." Recruitment firm Westaff (NASDAQ: WSTF), which contracts with hundreds of Santas, sending them to stores and social appearances throughout Australia, has re-vamped its training. It's telling would-be Santas that the "ho ho ho" phrase "could frighten children and could even be derogatory to women," according to an Australian newspaper."

In the words of Schroeder from A Charlie Brown Christmas...."GOOD GRIEF!"

Road Trip Fun!

Just some random fun with my camera last weekend...

Beauty

Sorry for my absence...i've been sick the past few days. Yet another thing i'm thankful for - cold medicine. :)

Day 8: Today I am thankful for beauty.

Yesterday I was blessed to experience one of the most peaceful, beautiful drives i've ever been on. There's something freeing about driving across 4 states by yourself. I took the seven hours to just relax, and enjoy some quality time of solitude...something I haven't had in large quantities in a while. As I drove through the Tennessee mountains and on into Kentucky, what I witnessed before the sun went down was nothing short of breathtaking. It was mile after mile of rolling hills and mountains painted with the most amazing hues of amber, yellow, burnt orange and crimson that i've ever seen. And then I thought about something that my roommate reminded me of the other day - the leaves are changing color because they are dying. God could have chose to just make the leaves fall off the trees in a dreary way, but instead - He made it a beautiful process that we get to admire and enjoy.

Thank you God for giving us beauty, even in death.

Silence is golden

Day 3: Today I am thankful for silence.

For the past two weeks, we have been teaching our high school students about being still. We've talked about what it looks like to fully halt the busyness of our lives and completely be still as a means of communicating with God. To let Him do the talking, for once. I encouraged my girls to carve out some time each day to get away from everything and just be silent: to take a moment to focus on what God is trying to tell us, and not worry about what we're trying to tell Him we want.

Conveniently in the middle of all of this, I lost my voice.

All day, I couldn't talk on my phone because noone could understand what I was saying. I couldn't sit and have a face-to-face conversation because it hurt my throat (and surely the other person's ears for having to listen to my squawking attempt at speaking). All I could do today was be silent. And not for just the few minutes a day that I had committed to with my girls. ALL day long. It was refreshing and difficult all in the same token. But it made me realize that I should do that more often. I think it's in our silent moments that we find our strength. When we listen for God's whisper into our hearts rather than trying to do His job ourselves.

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength...
-Isaiah 30:15

And so i'll extend to you the same challenge that I have given to my high school girls and myself:

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psalms 46:10

That's it. There's no intense study, there's no parable to analyze. Just take this week to stop in the midst of the busyness of your life and be still....remember that God is our God - one who loves us and is with us every step of the way...no matter how hard it seems. We don't have to do life on our own...in fact, it's when we try to do it on our own that we feel the overwhelming burden of our personal limitations. Talk to God, but more importantly, LISTEN to Him. In your prayer time this week, don't say much - let God do all the talking.

You just might be interested in what He has to say...

20 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 2

Day 2: Today I am thankful for healing.

One of my best friends lost her grandmother today to cancer. A reality that hit pretty close to home. When I got the text message from her this morning with the news, the first thing I did was pray. I asked God to comfort her family during this time, but I also thanked God for healing her grandmother. Not healing in the way we typically think of it, but healing in His way - the wisest way. I thanked God for allowing her time of suffering here on earth to be brief, as she was diagnosed with cancer not long ago. Only because i've recently walked through this in my own family, did I understand the signifigance of God's timing and His will.

The view of healing through God's eyes can sometimes look different than our own. But our desire for healing is often a self-driven desire. We don't want to watch those we love suffer. We don't want to suffer. We want to be over him. We want to be over her. We want to move on. We want to be at our best. We find ourselves praying for healing from a variety of things:

Healing from an illness
Healing from an injury
Healing from a broken heart
Healing from being hurt by a friend

We also find ourselves sometimes angry at God if He doesn't "heal" the way that we visualize healing for a situation. I can remember 13 years ago, as a freshman in high school, getting angry with God when He didn't heal my grandfather of cancer. I could only comprehend that He took him away from me, and it hurt. Bad. Looking back now, I realize how incredibly long my grandfather suffered through treatments and radiation, sickness and pain - and now, years later, I can thank God for taking him home when He did, and not making him suffer any longer. It took me watching my other grandfather struggle with every breath, just a few short weeks ago, to understand that.

Then there's times when we don't understand why God doesn't heal our broken heart immediately after it's been crushed. Another painful lesson i've had to learn first hand. But again and again the words of James 1:2-4 keep ringing in my head- “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” John Woodall described it so perfectly not too long ago when he said that God often wants to break out hearts because that is the only way we can minister to the brokenhearted. We have to suffer to be able to connect to their suffering. In other words, the more we suffer and persevere, the more we become like Christ. I have experienced this first hand in my own life - God has completely taken moments of absolute heartbreak and healing, and allowed me to share them with others who where enduring those same struggles. For that reason, even though it is painful, I gladly welcome suffering into my life for the glory of God.

Why? Because I know in the end, He will be the ultimate healer of ALL things....all pains, all sickness, all hurt, all heartache. All in HIS perfect will and timing. And ALL for HIS glory.


O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.
Psalms 30:2 (NIV)

Giving Thanks

Halloween's over...time for Christmas!

Wait....what? Yep, that has been the retail trend for the past few years - before the kids have even come down off the trick or treat sugar high, the Christmas decorations are already on the shelves! I'll admit I, myself have been caught up in the early bird Christmas spirit. In fact, i've already listened to a few Christmas songs on my ipod, and watched Elf for the first of what will be many times this season. I love wandering through the malls watching people do their shopping! I'm like a kid, well....at Christmas! (no pun intended)

But even with all the anticipated excitedness of Christmas just around the corner, I can't allow myself to bypass the wonderfulness of Thanksgiving. I have so many things in my life that I am incredibly thankful for. So, as a means to remind me of that, and keep from going into Christmas overkill, i've decided to have the "20 Days of Thanksgiving." (not at all like the 12 Days of Christmas...this is a completely original thought. Well, not really....) I've prayed that God will lay on my heart something specific that I need to be thankful for each day for the next 20 days...and i'm going to share those with you - I encourage you to do the same. I was reminded of the first thing just the other day while having coffee with a friend...

Day 1: Today I am thankful for grace.

I love it when God shows up in the smallest and strangest places to remind us of the most important things. Back in the spring, I had found my heart wrestling with acceptance. I know that my identity is firmly and deeply rooted in Christ's love for me, but every now and then the enemy tries to taunt me with self-condemnation. Even though I know that Jesus has fully forgiven me for my past sins, I find myself occasionally struggling with receiving that forgiveness. Consequently when this happens, the enemy will use that as a tool to make me feel broken - telling me that noone will ever want to love someone who has made such prodigiously unwise decisions as I have in the past.

Fast forward to Memorial Day weekend. I spent 4 fun-filled days at the beach with about 25 of my closest friends. On the way home we stopped for our traditional breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The wait to seat our group was about an hour, so we proceeded to wander aimlessly through the cute little country store in the front of the restaurant playing with toys, smelling all the candles, and basically just goofing off to kill the time.

At one point, I stood at a table full of useless knick-knack toys. I picked up this cute little wooden bird, which would balance on your finger like a perch. I placed it on my finger and jokingly showed my new pet to my friend Jessica, who was standing nearby. As I laughed and turned to put it back, it fell from my finger, breaking into three pieces. i instantly felt like that kid in the glass store who just knocked over a set of dishes. I picked it up and immediately started towards the cash register, prepared to pay for my blunder. However as soon as I stood up, one of the Cracker Barrel greeters stood directly in front of me, smiling with her hand outstretched in my direction. Apparently she had witnessed the whole thing. I apologized profusely and told her that I would immediately pay for my fault. She just smiled at me (visibly missing quite a few teeth), took the bird out of my hand and said "honey, if I made you pay for that i'd have to make every single child that comes in here and breaks something pay for theirs too...it's ok." And with that, she walked off to put it in the back room.

As she walked away, I felt so sheepish. Even though she told me it was fine, I couldn't help but feel guilty for being so careless and silly. And then I noticed something. As she walked back out of the storeroom, I noticed the name that was embroidered on her apron.

Her name was Grace.

I was overcome with emotion - I stood there and just teared up right in the middle of a restaurant, right in front of all my friends. And in that moment, I felt God whispering to me. I knew that I was the "bird," broken...but still forgiven. I got it. It amazed me to see how God could use some petty experience in a restaurant to calm my heart over what I had been fighting. I resisted the urge to go and hug the nice lady, for fear that she might think I was nuts - she had no idea how God just used her in my life in such a big way.

As we drove home, I just kept thanking God over and over for using something so small to remind me of something so big - that He extends us ALL grace so that we may freely receive it and live fully redeemed in His power of forgiveness. No, we don't deserve it, but He loves us so much that He gives it to us regardless. And I thanked Him for allowing me to hear his whisper, even in the middle of a busy restaurant lobby.

What are you thankful for today?