Merry Christmas, Y'all!

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of hosting a Christmas dinner for some precious friends. One of these darling gals lives way up in Virginia, and I haven't seen her since last year. Even though my week was very hectic, I slowed down and made time for these wonderful women of faith. We laughed, ate....and ate some more, and simply sat in the presence of each other for hours talking and planning our next marathons. We never did decide on one that we could all run together. One is planning her daughters' weddings (yes, 2!). Another is busy teaching high school. One is very involved in her church work. And another is working around her son's senior year in high school--prom, graduation, etc.

Everyone is in a busy season it seems these days. How many errands can you run before lunch? How quickly can you get in and out of the grocery store? How many loads of laundry did you wash and dry today (folding them up doesn't count!!)?

How many times did you talk to Jesus today? How many phone calls did you make? How many prayers did you lift up to the Lord before bedtime? How many texts did you respond to?

As Christmas approaches (and I am NOT done with my shopping or baking, thank you!)
I encourage you to stop. Sit. Pray. Listen. Take out that Bible and turn to Luke 1. Slowly read the words, one at the time. This is not the time to speed read! Let the meaning sink in. Ponder the words that God has placed before you. What does He want you to see, to hear, to remember? Enjoy this Christmas time. He has given us the most wonderful Gift ever. The gift of Jesus...who loved us so much that He died for our sins so that we might spend eternity with Him. Now that, my friends, is the best Christmas present ever.

Sending all of you hugs and love from my little corner of SC.
Merry Christmas!

Sweet Blessings,

Christmas Gift Ideas!!!

Hey, y'all! Is it cold enough for you? Mercy! It's freezing down here in the south! I don't do this kind of weather!

Hope that some of you have thought about Christmas presents by now! There are only 19 days left until Christmas. I should be in a panic because I only have a few purchased. But, I refuse to let it get to me ( call me on the 24th, and we'll see if a panic attack has set in or not!)

Ok, time to share some fun gift giving ideas for those of us on a Bu-Jay. You have less than a week to find something really cute and fun and special for some of your closest girlfriends. You have wracked your brains out trying to come up with an original idea...you have done the Bath and Body Works lotions (which I LOVE!!!), candles, ornaments, etc. You need something new...vibrant...exciting. Are y'all getting the picture? I need some ideas!! Quickly! But this is something that we can all benefit from!

List two or three items under 20$ and the store where they can be purchased (online stores/etsy are great options!) Let's see what we can come up with that will relieve a little stress. On your mark...get ready... go!!!

1) Half of a pound cake on a nice plate from Target, Marshalls, etc.
2) A plug- in from Scentsy and some bricks to go with it in a cute drawstring pouch (Contact your nearest Scentsy rep.)
3) A new cookbook (You know where to get these! Church ones are the BEST!) and a cute Christmas spatula( Cracker Barrel, Target)

Ok--your turn! Impress all of us with some really cool ideas...quickly!


Sweet Blessings!

Sweet Shot Tuesday--Fall and Thanksgiving!

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it..." Psalm 24:1

Ok, I promised a few fall pictures from sunny South Carolina! The two shots of the leaves....mercy! I just wish that I could truly figure out how to enlarge these photos for you to get a better glimpse! But.....I will focus on the blog post at hand and not dwell on my limited computer skills. God amazes me with His beautiful colors! The last one is not one of my favorites! We are on a suspension bridge above a waterfall at Raven Cliff Falls....way far up,and I do NOT do heights! Yes, Hubby and the boys were making it swing with me on it prior to this shot! You see that I am the only one hanging on!

We arrived at the falls at noon, so the sun was perfectly overhead and gorgeous...but with not the best photo shooting opportunities. But, I was with my boys, and that's what mattered.

It's going to be a busy week and a half ahead, so I won't be posting again until after Thanksgiving....I know myself!!! We will be celebrating at our house this year with my side of the family. This will be the first Thanksgiving without Daddy, and he will be greatly missed. The peace that we all have with where he is gets us through each day. Praise the Lord! It's one of the many blessings that God has given us.

So, bloggyland friends, what are you most thankful for? I would love to hear. And, what are your plans for Thanksgiving? A precious friend of mine and her family are going to serve Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless. How wonderful to be the hands of Christ!

Join me at Darcy's for Sweet Shot Tuesday for more great photos! And, Happy Thanksgiving, my sweet friends!

Hugs!

A Chapter Closed

Child #2 getting "painted up" at State!

Last Saturday's temps were in the 30's when this picture was taken! Mercy! Cold JV kids!


Child #2 and Child #1--both of which are taller than me!!

Both varsity teams placed well in the top ten in South Carolina 4A teams (4A schools have over 1500 students and more. Our high school is around 2500.)

I am alive, people! I have been away from my computer--which had a virus a few weeks ago! It is healed! Mercy, it was a pain though!

Thanks for your great recipes!! And, Sassy, I appreciate all of those websites!

Cross country season is over. Another chapter in Child #1's senior year has been completed. As he crossed the finish line at the State Championships last Saturday, I felt my heartstrings pop a little! I was walking to the area where the team was after they finished, and I felt the tears start. I looked at another mom walking beside me. I told this sweet girl, "I'm having a moment here!" She gave me a hug. As I got closer to the team, I saw my child and his smile through the sweat and dirt on his face. I had to smile right back at him. Hugs and kisses--even though he was pretty nasty--were given he bid farewell to this sport that he absolutely adores. Track is around the corner, but XC is where his passion lies.

My passion has also been with running, as most of you know! And, of course, my precious family! But, when the Holy Spirit nudges you in a different direction, you follow. My passion is for Him. I look forward to spending time first thing in the morning with Him as I snuggle under a blanket in my Jesus chair! After getting the kids out the door for school, laundry started and the breakfast dishes loaded in the dishwasher, I'm out the door to get my run in for the day. If I don't spend time with my Lord first though, it makes a difference!

So, what's your passion? It may be one thing or several. I would love to hear what's on your heart!

Y'all have a great weekend! Our family spent last Sunday as our worship time hiking the beautiful trails of SC. God was right there with us in His sanctuary, and His palette of fall colors was awesome! I'll post some of the pics next week!

Sweet Blessings!

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,