Gearing up for the Holidays

Being on Thanksgiving break has afforded me the opportunity to blog a bit earlier today...so nice :)  

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I've got a question; what kind of feeling do you get when you see this picture?

I know for me, it brings a nostalgic feeling that reminds me of cinnamon, warmth, jingle bells, Christmas songs, red and green, hot chocolate, snow, sitting by the fire in my pajamas reading a book, and the smell of Christmas trees. 

I don't know what it is, but this year I just absolutely can not wait for the whole Christmas season to start.  

Actually, I take that back....I think I do know why.  Over the last 2 years or so, amidst all of the craziness, God became a reality for me, and you know what is crazy?  After thinking (and I mean really thinking) about whether I believed what I said I believed or not, I came to realize that for the longest time, I had been riding on my parent's beliefs and not making them my own.  Yes, I knew all of the right answers to the Shorter Catechism, and Bible stories, but I think that's all they were to me; just stories.  Ya know, that word, stories, can get to you after a while - you can almost start to think of truths as fables.  I did without even realizing it.  

Well, I had always heard that at some point in your walk with Christ, you would have this moment when you come to a crossroads that made you decide to either follow Him fully, or follow the world. 

I guess I was expecting a huge defining life crisis that would bring me to this point, but that's not what happened with me.  

It really has been a gradual process within the past 2 years that God has been super kind in taking me through.  It's a cool thing to be able to say:

"I am not the same person that I was even 2 months ago."

He continues to sanctify me daily (and let me clarify something.  None of this is because of anything that I've done....it's God waking up my dead heart!)

and so that is (the long version :) why I think that I am looking forward to Christmas this year more than ever before.  I believe that I am finally beginning to understand and be thankful for the this season of celebrating Christ's birth.  

Oh!  Haha.  Why am I talking about Christmas, when Thanksgiving hasn't even come yet!?!  (some of my family members would shoot me....NO Christmas until after Thanksgiving type of thing....)

SO, I want to end this post with Thanksgiving.  I've got a huge list of things that I'm thankful for, 10 of which I'll list here:

1. Salvation

2. My family 

3. That group of guys from our Church who came over this past weekend to help us work on our basement

4. Christmas

5. My new iPhone that I got for 99¢ (whoohoo!)

6. All of the family that will be coming over for Thanksgiving (can't wait guys!)

7. Cozy, icy, gray weather like this

8. Friends

9. The chance to relax and think about plans for the future

10. The fact that I have never been in any REAL need of anything.  

In America, we are blessed more than I think we'll ever know or truly realize.  

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Log Cabin Weekend

In our Church, we have a Titus 2 woman who has been super good to a group of us girls in teaching a Bible study on Romans over the Summer which has benefited us all so much!  

This past weekend, our study group went up to one of the girl's families cabin and kind of did a recap on the study, sharing what had impacted us the most, as well as spending time with each other, hiking and so forth :)  

I'm so grateful for this group of fun, but solid people who get together to both enjoy each other and keep one another accountable!

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

~Provers 27:17

Breakfast - best meal of the day....orange juice, hot chocolate, eggs, Pillsbury Doughboy biscuits, sausage and fruit!  Can you get any better than that?!?

 Sitting on the porch in PJ's to talk until lunch time...

Hiking up to 'the bald' on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina.

In our Bible study, we divided the book into 5 main sections: 

Sin, Salvation, Sanctification, Sovereignty, and Service.  

sooo, this is us on top of a mountain, demonstrating the 5 different sections in Romans:

What can I say?  It was awesome!!!  

:)

Trust

As Christians, we tend to hear the expression "trust in the Lord" a lot, but like the popular saying goes, "familiarity breeds contempt." 

Not that trusting God becomes necessarily contemptible, but often when we are used to hearing something everyday, it sometimes tends to get blown off. 

In my devotions, I've started to explore more about the whole concept of trust, and what the Bible's definition of it is, so I wanted to share something that I found to be really thought-provoking that I came across while I was studying:

Using Job 13:15 - "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.  Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless man would dare come before him!"

Matthew Henry commentates:

"Trust in God, though He slay us, that is, we must be well pleased with God as a friend even when He seems to come forth as an enemy, we must believe that all shall work for the good to us even when all seems to make against us.  We must proceed and persevere in the way of our duty, though it cost us all that is dear to us in this world, even life itself.  We must depend on the performance of the promise when all ways leading to it are shut up.  We must rejoice in God when we have nothing else to rejoice in, and cleave to him, yea, though we cannot for the present find comfort in Him.  In a dying hour we must derive from Him living comforts; and this is to trust in Him though He slay us."

Actually, someone wrote a song based on that verse....super neat:

~

Had a photoshoot with these two gals.  So much fun!  

:D

Sweet dreams everybodeeeee!

:)

Well, Tuesday is already gone (hey!  life happens...) so I might as well just put a 'Picture of the Week' up just to say that I did something!  :)

But yet again, iPhone pictures (that I didn't even take) will have to suffice.  (It's not the most convenient thing to lug a big ol camera up a mountain....I'm always worried that I might drop it over the cliff or something :P )

We went hiking this past Sunday afternoon with a group of kids from our Church up to Table Rock - nothing like hiking in Fall weather, eh?  :D

~

Keep Calm and Tuesday On - Concert at Smokey Mountain Center for the Performing Arts

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of accompanying Mom to the Smokey Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin, NC.  She is the background vocalist in Lori Sealy's new CD, 

'Be Gone Unbelief'

They were doing a benefit concert for the Smokey Mountain Pregnancy Care Center, and I must say . . . it was a super good one (as always)

The next group to perform there will be Third Day - pretty cool, huh?

The place was legit!  With the big light bulbs surrounding all the mirrors in the women's break room, and everything!  It all felt so professional :)

Mom, Lori Sealy, and Charlie (the percussionist)

I'm so proud of my family :)

Keep Calm and Tuesday On - Carowinds

Heeellllooooo everybody!  Man, I have been just pumped full of energy today; I don't know what is up with me????  I can't seem to sit still for very long, and so consequently this post is not going to be very profound ... or lengthy.  :P 

All I've got for youz guys this week are some iPhone pictures from our trip to Carowinds this past Saturday, which was a blast!

Poor Ben....This was his first time to ever ride a big roller coaster.  He looks kinda sick.  

:P

{But!  He ended up riding almost every, single coaster in the park for the rest of the day.  Such a trooper}

For lunch, we had an all American meal of hot dogs, fried chicken and beans....not the best idea for going on loop-the-loops afterwards, but anyways... 

{Uummm....what other kind of ketchup is there????}

And then for dinner, we ate Chinese.  

Best part of Chinese food is the *Fortune Cookie*!!!

{What a letdown}

What a good weekend that was!

Now I've got a whole new week full of school, apple picking, birthday celebrating, and brothers coming home from a big fishing trip with even BIGGER stories, to look forward to :) 

I couldn't ask for a better week!

Keep Calm and Tuesday On - Absence Explained . . . Oops..

So, how did it happen that I missed out on 2 Tuesdays worth of blogging?  Well...lemme just tell yas... I've been in Colorado!

Apologia flew us out to work the CHEC homeschool conference, and while we were there, they graciously let us stay an extra week to visit some of our cousins who live up in Winter Park and Pueblo.  :)

If I could live anywhere in the US, it would most definitely be CO - in a HEART BEAT!

Explanations being made, I'm back home now after enjoying myself immensely out west, and am ready to settle back into a {somewhat} normal routine here at my home sweet home.  

Planning for the Summer - HERE I COME!

  {Best friends}

Winter Park

Some of our cousins live on an old retired dude ranch out in the middle of a canyon in Pueblo...pretty cool.