From Him All Blessings Flow

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We started out in Birmingham on Wednesday night spending the night with my grandmother. Enjoyed Thanksgiving lunch with my Dad's side of the family and than ventured to the farm Thursday afternoon. We arrived just before dark in time for fried turkeys and they were delicious thanks to Uncle Richard. I know you are going to think I'm weird but I am just not a big Thanksgiving food person.....yams, dressing, ham....not really my thing :) Don't worry I still ate plenty.

Anne Wesley sat with me and we played for 30 minutes!

I was happy to get some time with her!!

We woke up Friday morning and took the Jones' family Christmas card.

I love this picture of Jill and AW - she's precious.

We anxiously waited for the Alabama/Auburn game. My mom and dad came out to watch the game at the farm. The men stayed outside to watch the game and I was glad there was a TV inside (AWAY from the boys!!) I am glad that Alabama won! Trust me, it would have been a BAD night at the farm if they had lost.

Luke probably had the best time of all! His cousins Bear and Dixie were there. They played and played and played!

There is so much that I have to be thankful -Richard, my parents, sisters, in-laws, my job, our new home, church, freedom, a full pantry, creation, best friends, and the list could go on and on - God has given me everything I have. From Him all blessings flow.

On Saturday we went to Dothan to spend time with my cousins on my mom's side. We had more fun than I ever imagined! I'll post on it soon!

Happy December!!

Thankful...

for this little man. He brings so much joy and laughter to my life and my family. I'll love him forever.

Good Book

I am in the middle of this book From Fear to Freedom. would highly recommend it.

"Faith and presumption look alike because both qualities are characterized by confidence, but faith begins in the recognition and acceptance of our total human weakness. It relies solely on God and his gracious willingness to empower us. Presumption, on the other hand, is a reliance on human moral abilities and religious accomplishments, on visible securities. It ultimately relies on human will power to serve God and people." Rose Marie Miller p.16

Learning a lot. Thankful for grace.

Catching Up

Looks like I am not good as keeping this blog going. Life has been busy! I can't believe Thanksgiving is here and Christmas is right around the corner. I am super excited to spend the holidays with Richard and our families.

Here is a little recap of the past month and a half. Primarily, it has been full of youth!! I love them dearly. I am also tired :)

The pictures below are from our Senior High Fall Retreat. We were all about good fellowship, pumpkin carving, fireworks, taco soup, movies, and staying up late.

On November 4, we had "Youth Night" at church to showcase the Youth Ministry - Blake and I introduced ourselves, student testimonies, Blake explained our philisophy of youth ministry, and we played the most popular "Adam's Family" game. You should know that for the past few years Trinity Church has been building a new addition. This marvelous addition includes a fellowship hall, new offices, classrooms, choir room, and a youth wing!!! The name of our new youth space is "The Frith." It is a scottish term meaning security, refuge, friendship, loyalty, kinship, and a clan upon which one depends to face the evils of the world. It is different but I love the name. I made t-shirts for all of us to wear for youth night.

For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100:6

Twenty Four

So I turned 24 today!! I have felt completely loved today by my family and friends. It is crazy and at times hard for me to believe that the Lord loves and celebrates over me and you every single day and every moment of our lives even in our ugliness. He rejoices and celebrates over his children. Thank you God for calling me to you and for rescuing me.

Rich and I went to Birmingham this past weekend to spend Friday night with my grandmother. I got to see some of my favorite people!!:) Tonight, we celebrated with my family at Sommer's Place! It was delicious!

I requested a fruit pizza for my cake this year! Tripp helped me blow out the candles. If you have never had a fruit pizza, you HAVE to try it!! I will be more than happy to share the recipe!!!

Thank you all for making today special!! Love to all.

Surprise Surprise!!!

A normal Wednesday night for me looks like this:
5:00 - Ultimate frisbee with the youth at the park
5:45 - devotional time at the park
6:00-7:00 - Chick-fil-a with youth
7:30-9:30 - hanging out with Rich before bed.

Yesterday, my Wednesday was pretty normal UNTIL I walked into my house at 7:30 and found this......

Which was made by these amazing girls...

Kathryn, Chatty, and Erin came to Montgomery to surprise me for my birthday!!

I was super SURPRISED!!! Some people hate surprises - not me!! I absolutely love surprises!

When I first walked in the door everything looked normal until I saw this black bag on our TV stand. I seriously thought someone was in our house. I was freaked out until I heard sweet voices singing "Happy Birthday to you."

We ate cake, laughed a lot, and talked about life. I love spending time with my best friends at my house. God knew excatley what I needed - it was perfect!!

Thank you Erin, Kat, and Chatty!

My Baby Got Me a NEW........

DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I couldn't be more excited!! Who knew I would ever be excited about a dishwasher? Not me. So excited I am even writing a blog about it and to brag on Rich :) We did not have a dishwasher in our old house. It really was not a big deal to wash the dishes just caused a few disagreements every other night about who was going to do the dishes! No more of that!!!! We both agreed that a dishwasher was a high priority in our next house.

Richard spent all day yesterday installing the dishwasher. I sure am blessed to have such a handy husband!

He had to cut an opening in the cabinets.

And go under the house to do the electrical wiring.

There it is!!!

I am thankful for the new dishwasher and the ease it will bring, but as I write this post it is crazy how much I expect to have certain amentities to make my life easier when so many people are without daily needs.

Praying for a giving heart and heart that puts others before myself.