thirty-one

Hey, y'all! Happy Halloween and stuff! I just noticed that the title of my post corresponds with the date! How cool is that? And, it has nothing to DO with October 31!

This Thursday, a sweet friend of mine will be at my house sharing the fall line of thirty-one. Thirty-one is a neat, Christian based company (did you know that Mary Kay is too???? :) that sells things that help you stay organized--and I need all of the help that I can get! From pocketbooks to organizers to carry-alls, they have it. AND--you can get 99% of it monogrammed!!!! I love my monogramming for my "stuff!"

I recently attended a party and saw this really cute, cute pocketbook with an adorable "skirt" on it that had ruffles! How southern can we get here? Precious! So, instead of buying it out and out, I signed up to do a Par-tay and get adorable ruffled pocketbook for only $10.00!!!! That is a bargain! At least I think so! Sweet hubby is not so sure! He just feels like I will spend a little bit more than that $10.00. But, it does mean a clean house before Thursday night!

I will be serving light snacks--sausage and cheese balls, chips and salsa, etc. Do you have any absolutely wonderful snackies that you've made for things like this or tailgating, and you had no leftovers? I would LOVE the recipes/or websites! Would you please share these with Runner Mom as she is SO not a cook? You are just all too, too sweet!

Make sure to take a peak at the catalog! I wish that y'all could all come to my par-tay, but I think that delivering your purchases might drain my checking account!!! Looking forward to your great ideas!

Sweet Blessings,

My Bucket List

This morning on the radio, the DJ's were talking about what their "bucket lists" would include. As I meandered through the high school traffic taking child #2 to school, I pondered this as well. If you are not familiar with the movie, "The Bucket List," it's about two grown men--not in the best of health--developing their friendship and imagining what they would like to do before they die The sky was the limit. It's a pretty good movie--if you can handle Jack Nicholson's language! Anyway, I started thinking.

And thinking......................................

And thinking......................................

Y'all, I don't have a bucket list! Mercy! I need to start one! I'll probably never do half the stuff that I put on it, but it would be fun to at least have one! How about you? Do you have one? If so, what are some of the items on it? What would you like to do at least once in your life---no money strings attached--if you were given the opportunity? Share it right here on my little blog, please! You might give me some ideas!

Hmmm.....travel to the Grand Canyon with my family and hike to the bottom???

Have lunch with Beth Moore and then go shopping? (Heehee!)

Visit a third world country and love on little ones who have never heard about Jesus?

Have the opportunity to take pictures in locations that have never been photographed?

Ok, so I'm thinking! Come think with me!
Sweet Blessings,

Faith....period

And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over." Mark 5: 34

But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid. Just have faith." Mark 5:36

These verses were part of my Bible reading today. I've read them many times before. But, today, the word faith caught my eye. As some of you know, I'm reading through the Bible in a year with P31 Bible teacher, Wendy Pope. Wendy did some digging into the word "faith". According to Strong's (4102), faith is conviction or truthfulness of God. It is assurance and belief. The first verse is about the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. In faith, she reached out and touched the hem of Jesus' robe. She believed that if only she could touch a part of Jesus, she would be healed. And, she was.


The second scripture refers to Jairus, the leader of a local synagogue, whose 12 year old daughter was about to die at home. He rushed to find Jesus so that He would heal her. By the time Jesus finally got to Jarius's home, the little girl had died. The scripture above is how Jesus responded when this daddy heard the news that they were too late. Jarius also trusted and was assured that Jesus would still heal his daughter even after death. And, He did.


Faith...it means different things to different people. Have you examined your faith lately? Does it align with the definition above? Or, are you in a different place in your walk? Are you even walking with the Lord? Sometimes, we really stray off that straight and narrow path. We have to cry out to Jesus to pull us back on the road less traveled and continue our journey with Him. I encourage you to dig into the Word and see where the word "faith" appears! You'll be reading that wonderful Book for quite some time!


In the picture above, the sweet dog in the wagon has cancer. He is weak and is not expected to live much longer. He was rescued at the local humane society. His owner brought him to our church Sunday afternoon. We had our very first blessing of the animals. She had faith that hearing the Word of God prayed upon the animals and their families would give her peace about what will soon happen. Her prayer was for her pet to not have to suffer much longer. Y'all, it was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. We had over 50 dogs, 1 cat, and 1 mouse. It was reverent----really! I've never seen anything quite like it, but I hope that we'll have it again next year.

Faith...Assurance...Belief....Conviction...Truthfulness.....are you walking in it?

Sweet Blessings,

gIRL Getaway!

(Robyn and I were truly focused on the weekend and not that our college teams were playing each other and that her mom kept texting us the score!! )

This past weekend, I had the privilege to take off to beautiful Black Mountain, NC for a gIRL(girlfriends in real life) get away. These girls are some of your bloggy friends whose posts you read on a regular basis. And what do we all have in common? Our love for Jesus, our Lord.

Over the years, I have been on many church retreats, women's retreats, youth retreats, etc.! I have loved them all and have taken away nuggets of Truth from each. When Elaine called me about this one waaaayyyy last spring, I thought, "Hmmm....another retreat. Well, maybe. At least I would get to spend some time with a few girls whose blogs I regularly read. And, it's not far from my house. And, the price is right. Ok...I'll go."

Fast forward to last Friday. I got to Black Mountain just in time to do lunch with Beth, Lisa, and Karen. We talked and laughed as if we had known each other for years. Beautiful! Then, we headed up to our cabin to check in and get to know some of these ladies who were ready to just love on us and who were so filled with the Holy Spirit! People, God was SO in control of this entire weekend! We truly gave Him all of the glory and praise for this time.

We laughed, cried, worshiped, studied the Word, and prayed. And, prayed some more! And then some more! I'm talking truly authentic praying. Loved it! The sweet aroma of the Lord permeated throughout our cabin. We prayed that we would take it with us to the rest of the camp and then home to share. Because of beautiful weather, we were able to worship outside in the amphitheater. Simply wonderful!

So, if you see a gIRL getaway near you, sign up right away! Y'all, this was such a God-filled weekend! (And so incredibly fun! )

Enjoy the pictures! More on FB. I didn't list all of the gals who were there (and they were just PRECIOUS!)--so see if you recognize them from the pics. Do you all know how long it would take to do links to everyone's blog??? Call me lazy--but honest!

Sweet blessings,

God's Plan, Not Mine!

" Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. "

Hebrews 12:1

I loved how the sun was at an angle where you really needed a hand above your eye for shade so that you could see what's ahead. Child #2 was running the race that had been planned on a course that had been well-marked. When we are unsure of our plan and our course, we have the tendency to look to ourselves or others for the answer. Having faith is what's needed--and relying on that faith to see us through those twists and turns when the sun is keeping us from seeing what lies ahead is what's needed. If you've never read the book of Hebrews, especially chapter 7, I encourage you to do so. So many examples of faithful servants are found there.



Last Tuesday, I posted about needing a pumpkin patch. Y'all, I prayed all week about that and had others praying as well. By yesterday at noon, I still had not heard a thing from the one church that I had contacted. Obviously, it was not God's plan. A couple of friends had suggested that I try another pumpkin patch on the other side of town. It was actually the one that I used last year.



When I spoke to their youth director--the pumpkin patch is a mission project for the youth--she was quiet for a second. I thought, "Oops, this is not the one either Lord!" Then the words flowed, and I stood in amazement of our Holy Father--as did she! She told me that they had been praying about having a photographer come and take pics of the children and families in the patch! Coincidence? No way!!! It was God's way in His timing--I was just a week early with the first attempt! We were so excited to see His hand in this entire plan! I love how He can simply blow us away sometimes! Mercy!


Pumpkin patch pics start next week!!!


Join me at Darcy's for more pictures to enjoy for Sweet Shot Tuesday.



Sweet blessings,

The Most Sincere Pumpkin Patch....NEEDED

I love pumpkins. I love fall. I love the cooler weather that we are FINALLY having at night.(I love running in the cooler weather too!)

These pictures were taken last year at a church pumpkin patch. Some of my first shoots actually! I love the excitement of the little boy exploring the pumpkins and finally, the exhaustion after choosing his one little pumpkin. It took him quite a while to make up his mind!

Join me at Darcy's to see other wonderful pictures.

Last week, I sat down at the computer to research the charities that our high school is going to support in the winter during Spirit Week. One was very near and dear to my heart. A precious friend of mine--running buddy and sister in Christ--and her husband adopted a darling little girl a couple of years ago. They noticed that her speech was a bit delayed, but that is nothing new with overseas adoptions. One thing that they did notice was that she loved noise....banging empty plastic coke bottles was her favorite thing to do. Time passed, and things had not changed, so they took action. After observations from doctors, therapists, etc., it was determined that she was autistic.

We have a school not far from here that is just for kids with autism. It is a wonderful place, a place of hope. When I watched the video online, my heart was filled! I could feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to do something. I wasn't sure what, but I knew that in His timing, the Lord would let me know! And, He did!

After much prayer and research, I want to use my photography as a ministry to help raise money for Project Hope. I want to have mini sessions of pictures in....you guessed it!! A pumpkin patch! All of the sitting fees will go to support this ministry.

Yesterday, I sent a letter to a large church in town that has an awesome pumpkin patch. I explained who I was and what I wanted to do (borrow their pumpkins!). And, since they use the proceeds of the pumpkins to support missions, everyone would benefit.

Just one little thing.....I haven't heard back from them yet! That's where y'all come in! Would you mind praying for the Lord to provide a pumpkin patch for these photo sessions? It might not be the one that I contacted yesterday. But, October is "a comin', " and I need a field of lovely orange pumpkins. So, if you wouldn't mind, I would greatly appreciate it!!! I'll let you know when God lets me know.

Sweet blessings,

Labor Day weekend

Hello bloggyland friends! Hope you all are enjoying this weekend. Our weekend began early yesterday with a cross country meet not too far from home. That made it nice! The weather was lovely, and the team did well. They were entitled to a meal at the BEACON restaurant in Spartanburg afterwards! If you are from SC, you know about the BEACON! It's one of those southern icons! One man has worked there for over 30 years! If you love "greasy" chili cheeseburgers and fries and ice cream, this is the place for you. My boys thoroughly enjoyed it!

I had tried to put a XC picture at the top of my post, but, the computer and I are having issues! So, I'll just post it another time! I only have 10,235 cross country pictures on file!! Can you tell that I love that sport? Instead, you get to see my butterfly and coneflower :).

I saw this beautiful butterfly in the yard last week and had so much fun simply observing it. Of course, I grabbed the camera on the way out the back door! We have had some lovely ones in the past few weeks. I am in delight mode! I love the little surprises that God gives us each day if only we will slow down a bit to notice.

I would LOVE to hear about your plans for the weekend. We have several friends who headed to the beach and to the lake. What about you? We're just chillin' at home now. It seems that we are always going somewhere. Home is a nice place. I might even fold and put away some laundry....but not until tomorrow. I am embracing the "no work on Sunday/Sabbath" policy!!

Wanted to thank you all for the prayers for Elaine. The surgery went well, and she is recovering. Thanks so much for those continued prayers for her and her sweet family. God is good!

Sweet blessings,