Exhausted...

Whew! What a busy day! This morning Grammy Sandy and I took the kids to Monkey Joe's for some play time (i.e. "wear them out" time) with a couple of friends. If you've never been to Monkey Joe's or something of the like, you must take your kids! It's a great place to let the kids run off some energy indoors without having to worry about keeping an eye on them every second. After that, we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then home for naps. Apparently, Ivey and I were the only ones that wanted naps because after an hour of listening to Gavin play, sing, yell and cry in his crib, I finally went up to get him thinking that he just couldn't fall asleep. I told him that he would have to sit with me for a while because Ivey was still asleep. So, Gavin and I sat down in the recliner and he was asleep in about 2 minutes. So, both of us enjoyed some "lovey" time while snoozing. I can't remember the last time I held Gavin while he slept...probably when he was an infant. It was nice, but not something that I want to make a habit out of. After he and Ivey woke up, we went to pick up Morgan since he has been with his dad since Saturday and I took the kids to the lake house. (Since Chris was going out with a friend tonight, I had to find something else to do!) Morgan went fishing with Grandaddy and Papa while Ivey, Gavin, Grandma and I hung out at the house. We got home about 9:00 and I practically dumped the kids in the bed because I'm about to fall asleep myself....zzzzzzzzzz...good night!

A good day

Today was a good day. I managed to get the laundry done today - which is quite an accompishment I might add! I also took a break to take the kids to the park. I was supposed to meet a friend there this morning, but it was a little chilly and windy. But, I had already told the kids that we were going, so after mailing our payment for taxes to the IRS (Ouch!) we went fto play for a little while. I warned them that we may not stay very long, but the weather ended up not being too bad. After that, we came home and ate lunch. I bought these TV trays at a consignment sale this Spring and the kids love them. After Chris got home we went to the gym and then ate dinner. Not an exciting day in the Smathers' home... by the way, Happy Spring Break to those of you who are on vacation this week from school and I hope all is well with everyone!

P.S. I added a picture that Ivey took of me, she's becoming quite the little photographer!

Can't wait til tomorrow... more transparency

I'm finding that writing the blog is extremely therapeutic for me. I'm glad that I can record these thoughts and activities and will, hopefully, one day make them into a scrapbook. Anyway, this afternoon I have been extremely grumpy and have let the small things really get to me. After all, I just told Chris yesterday, in a very loving way I might add, that I can't stand it when he grabs things off the hanger and then leaves the hanger dangling above the other clothes...it looks messy. I also felt overwhelmed today because no matter how many times I clean the kitchen, put toys away, or pick up clothes the house continues to look like a tornado went through it. I know this is part of reality with having a family of five, put can't they help me every once in a while?? Chris and I have been married almost 7 years and I still have to remind myself that he doesn't see messes. I'm not sure if it's a guy thing or not, but clothes on the floor, things out of place, a dirty floor... it doesn't even phase him. If I ask him to clean up something or do something, he'll be glad to, but I have to constantly remind myself that he doesn't see things the way I do. Anyway, I got a little bent out of shape about the house being messy, but before that I reamed Ivey about making messes in the car. I allow the kids to eat and drink in the car, so any mess they make is technically my fault. But nevertheless, she spilled some ranch dressing and some water while I was driving today and you'd think by the way that I reacted that I was driving a Rolls-Royce. After I had to pull over to clean up the mess, I tried to breathe deeply and say to myself "Is this really a big deal?" No, it isn't, but I still couldn't shake the anger. I thought to myself, am I always going to be driving a toy-filled, grass-everywhere, red-juice-stained-carpet, dents-in-the-leather-seats-from-car-seats kind of car? No, I'm not, and, from what I hear, one day I'll look back and relish these days. I sat down this afternoon while the kids were asleep and wondered why I'm getting so bent out of shape. I know what it is, I just don't want to admit it. The reason - I haven't had my quiet time in two days. And even before that, I wasn't having a consistent one. I hadn't spent quality time with the only One who will never disappoint me. And as a good friend of mine put it, I was walking around to my husband and to my children wanting them to fill my cup. I wasn't letting the author and perfecter of my faith fill my cup until it overflows. I hadn't opened the love letter from the One who loves me no matter how unloveable I am. It instantly brings me to tears and I have to grab my bible and hide. I have to start praying and reading. Telling God that I'm sorry I've failed him once again. I ask him why there's such thing as a spiritual roller coaster, why does it seem so un-natural to spend time with my creator, why does my heart have to be so evil, why do I get so engulfed with life that I can't see past the end of my own nose much less where someone might spend eternity if I don't tell them about my Savior? He reminds me that I have a sin nature and brings to mind when Paul talks about doing things he doesn't want to do and not doing things that he does want to do. I confess my sin and I know that God loves me no matter what. I know that he died and forgave my sin once and for all and that He has never moved away from me, I only moved away from Him. All I have to do is turn around and walk back to Him. I am so joyful about that... and who cares if the car smells like ranch dressing?

Spending time with Morgan

Last night we took Morgan to the Lion King show at the Atlanta Civic Center. It was a wonderful show! Unfortunately, our seats were third row from the back, but we were still able to see almost everything and it was great! The show was supposed to begin at 8 PM, but because of really bad storms and traffic they didn't start the show until almost 8:30. We finally left the theater at around 10:45 when the show was over. It was a long night but the show was fantastic. I think Morgan enjoyed it, too, although he was ready to go about 30 minutes before the end. Chris and I decided at the beginning of the year that we would try to do something special with Morgan at least once a month. Either one or both of us takes him somewhere just to spend one-on-one time with him. Since he is so much older than Ivey and Gavin, Morgan usually gets stuck doing things that they enjoy since they can't usually do the things he would enjoy. Plus, with him getting closer and closer to the teenage years, I wanted to start a tradition early of going out with him just to spend time together and talk. In January, I took Morgan out to dinner to a nice fondue restaurant and in February he wanted to go to Chik-Fil-A (typical! - Morgan has never been a real "flashy" kid. If you tell him that he can pick any where to eat, he'll usually say McDonalds!) Last month, Chris and I took him to a local arcade for a little while and out to eat. We just want Morgan to know that he is special to Chris and I. We understand that the little kids take up most of our time and attention, but we love him and we know that he wants to do big-kid things sometimes.

Exciting news!

No, I'm not pregnant! The exciting news is that Chris and I both are running the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on July 4th! The Peachtree is a huge deal in Atlanta and we are so excited that we got in! We had to fill out and send in our applications as soon as they came out in the AJC newspaper. They only take the first 45,000 entries and then the final 10,000 entries are chosen by a random drawing. This may sound like a lot, but usually a couple hundred thousand people apply. It'll be absolutely crazy running with 55,000 other people in the middle of summer, but we're excited. It'll be both mine and Chris' first 10K (6.2 miles). Of course, we'll be near the end of the line since the better, faster and more serious runners go to the front - like the guys from Africa that can run like 6 miles in 5 minutes!! But that's okay, we don't mind being at the end, we're just there to have a good time and to burn some extra calories before participating in gluttonous eating frenzies the rest of the day. If you're in town, it would be fun to see some of you on the sidelines cheering us on! After all, I'd have to keep running if I new my friends and family were going to see me.... I wouldn't want to embarass myself. :-)

Thursday night treats

We had a good time last night just hanging out together. We went to the gym first because Chris and I wanted to try a new class called "Boot Camp". Holy cow! About 5 minutes into it, Chris said "I sure am glad that our date night is on Thursday." See, we normally go out for a date night every Thursday, but we're taking Morgan to see the Lion King tonight so we decided not to go out last night. We all went to the gym and then we went to one of our favorite restaurants called Frosty Frog. Gavin calls it "Froffy Fwog." It's a small local restaurant that serves sandwiches, salads and icecream. He's been asking to go there every day, so we decided to go last night for dinner. After we eat there, we normally get dessert and I usually get a chocolate chip cookie. I was extremely disappointed that they didn't have any, so we got some icecream to go for Ivey and Gavin and went over to Publix to buy some chocoalate chip cookies for Morgan and I (of which I ate 3 at about 11 PM last night - so much for the work out!) So, the night went by fast and now it's already Friday! The week just flew by. And, yes, you guessed it! Since I bought the new bathing suit, I did win the bet with Chris about who could run the most miles by April 1st. He finally forfeited because he "hurt his knee" and I was too far ahead for him to catch up. I'm not sure if he hurt his knee or not, but I won!!

I did the UNTHINKABLE...

Yes, I did it!! I bought a 2-piece bathing suit! I figured...what the heck. I've been working out harder than ever, I have the best body that I've had in a LONG time and since realizing that I am only getting older by the minute...I figured it's now or never! Of course, being the approval-seeking person that I am, I made sure it was okay with my mom first. I know, it's weird...but for some reason I've always needed to know that if I'm going to do something big, it needs to be okay with my mom. And, yes, buying a two-piece bathing suit is BIG! You know what I mean. You've seen "those" moms walking on the beach in a two-piece, saying to yourself "Why didn't someone tell her that she shouldn't be wearing that?" I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying... So, I asked her, "Mom, do you think I'm too old to wear a two-piece bathing suit?" She kind of smiled, maybe she was trying not to laugh, and said, "No, I don't think you're too old to wear a two-piece bathing suit." So, I did it!! I bought one and love it. And I'll wear it proudly while I can!

A beautiful day

Today is such a beautiful day... sunny and high around 75. This morning Ivey, Gavin, and I went outside to play and to do a little yard work. I worked on pruning the rose bushes and cleaning up the yard a little bit. The kids played, rode on their bikes and "helped" me. The only thing bad about today is that Chris is at work and Morgan is at school, so we can't enjoy the day together. It would be an awesome day to take a picnic and go to the park. Maybe Saturday will be as beautiful. Now we're off to get Ivey's hair trimmed and to eat lunch with Chris. Then tonight, we'll be at church for the evening. Have a wonderful day!

On to another subject, God provides

Ok - well, I think I'll go back to talking about family and "fluffier" subjects for a while in hopes that my last two posts haven't run off all my friends and gotten me excommunicated from the church. :-) Today has been a rather normal day. I went to the gym this morning, fixed lunch and had naps this afternoon, ate dinner around 5:00 PM, played with the kids and now it's almost time for baths. "Normal" is good. That means there are no sick kids, no major fusses to referree, no broken bones and, especially, no crisis to manage. I do have another praise. Since we found out last month that our mortgage payment was going up $600 PER MONTH because our escrow account was sorely miscalculated when we bought the house, I'm ecstatic to tell you that we have enough money to feed and clothe ourselves this month and even some extra money for some family treats. I knew that God would provide for us even if it was exactly what we needed and no more. It'll be a month to month process of paying bills since we're always balancing medical bills, dentist and orthodontist visits, and other things that come up unannounced. You know how it is... But God has, does and always will provide.
Matthew 6:25 - 34 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear... Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?...But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Still chewing...

So, still thinking about Las Vegas and after having a conversation with a good friend of mine this evening about drinking alcohol, I really began to think about whether or not drinking is a sin. To be quite honest, I do not have any problems with enjoying a drink with family and friends on occasion. However, I must clarify that I've never been drunk in my entire life and I never plan to do so. So, if drinking is a sin, is it a sin at the moment of consumption or does it only become a sin if/when it's taken too far? Maybe I'm opening up a can of worms that I'm going to regret, but here goes... I know that the Bible clearly states in Ephesians 5:18 to not become drunk with wine; however, Jesus drank wine not only at the Passover but on other occasions yet never became drunk. Jesus was perfect and never sinned, never! So, this leads me to the conclusion that the act of consuming alcohol is not a sin. So, why is it so frowned upon within the Baptist church? Is it because it's addicting? Well, so is caffeine yet we serve coffee in Sunday School. If you say, "Well, that's stretching it a little bit" then try not consuming any caffeine for a day or two and you're headache will tell you that your body wants caffeine! And not only is caffeine addicting, but so is smoking. Yet, we have many people in the church, some of whom I know to be strong in their relationship with Jesus Christ, and many of whom are also deacons in the church who smoke. So, why are they not frowned upon or afraid to say that they "occasionally enjoy a smoke with family and friends" because it's taboo? I, personally believe that it's okay to enjoy a drink on occasion, but not to the point of excession. I also believe that if someone I'm with has a personal conviction about drinking or has personally struggled with drinking in their life, then I won't consume alcohol while in their presence - 1 Corinthians 10:32 says "Do not cause men to stumble." But here's where I'm stuck - just one verse above that says "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Can I honestly say that when I take a drink of wine or other alcoholic beverage that I'm bringing glory to God? No. But neither do I bring glory to God when I drink a grande coffee from Starbucks, eat a burger and fries at McDonalds or enjoy chicken fingers and mozzerella sticks at TGI Fridays. But do I still do those things? Yes. Do I think twice about it? No. Should I? Possibly. So, what's the answer to my question - Is drinking alcohol a sin? I don't know...I'm still chewing on that one.

Easter picture

Time for transparency

We are now back from Las Vegas and we're so glad to be home. We had planned a longer trip so that we could visit the Grand Canyon, but once we got there we decided that we didn't want to squeeze it all into one day. So, we ended up not going to the Grand Canyon, but we did get to see it and the Hoover Dam from the airplane on our way home. So now it's time for some transparency... I've really debated about whether or not to post this, but here goes...To be honest, I sort of felt a little guilty (I guess that's the right word) about going to Las Vegas because I know or assume what people think about it. I mean, come on, it's nickname is "Sin City" but, ultimately, I didn't really care what anyone else really thought. I knew that we would have a great time and I was SO looking forward to seeing the awesome shows. Since I've never really felt conviction about gambling - we had a set amount of money to use and no more - I wasn't sure why I felt so weird about going to Vegas. In my opinion playing games/cards is a way of entertainment and is not any different than using your money to go bowling or to the movies. Anyway, I had taken some gospel tracts with me and was looking for opportunitites to hand them out. Every day I was hoping for an opportunity to dive into a conversation about the saving grace of my Lord and Savior. Needless to say, either I didn't see the opportunity or I chickened out. I did leave a few tracts on the subway and in restaurants, but I couldn't bring myself to leave them at the casinos. I also couldn't bring myself to enter into a conversation about Christ while playing next to some drunk guy at the roulette table. Why? Because I looked and acted no different than anyone else there (except that I wasn't drunk). After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I couldn't bring myself to tell someone about Jesus at the casinos because how would someone look at me and see Jesus? I knew that in order for me to have any credibility with people, I needed to be different - not "better" than anyone else, just different. I also learned that gambling brings out the greediness in people and especially in me - "Just one more nickel slot and maybe I'll win lots of money" - it rarely happens. I'm still processing what God is teaching me through this, but I'm certain that it'll be a long time before I visit Las Vegas again. I must say, though, that I had no problems with and quite enjoyed laying by the pool in the sun not having to worry about little ones for a few days. Also, Blue Man Group and Cirque Du Soleil were incredible!! Maybe we'll go to the beach next time...

Off to Las Vegas, Baby!

Well, we're off to Las Vegas until Saturday! We went last year for the first time for Chris' 30th birthday and had a blast!! So, we decided to go again this year with Chris' brother Matt and his wife, Georgianna. This is Georgi's Spring Break so that's why we're going to early. This is technically a trip to celebrate my 30th birthday (in May) and Matt and Georgi's 10th anniversary. So far we have plans to see The Blue Man Group and Mystere from Cirque du Soleil. I think we may even ride some of the hair-raising rides on top of the Stratosphere - Holy Cow! We're going to have a great time and I'll update when I get back!

Pretend Play

Ivey is the BEST at pretend play! She is always talking to herself and pretending different things. Sometimes they are a little more random and out there, but today I caught her playing with her "family" of stuffed bears. She found as many small chairs and stools as she could so that each bear had a place to sit at the table. The "baby" bear even sat in her lap - just like a real mommy! I don't know if it's a girl thing or not, but Morgan never did this kind of stuff and Gavin rarely does - he'd rather throw a ball or push a truck. She was pretending that they were out to eat at a restaurant and she was ordering for all of her children. It was so funny because she would ask them, "Do want chicken with applesauce or french fries?" and then proceed to tell the pretend waitress what each bear wanted to eat. She even scolds them when they are misbehaving - it's hilarious because who does she sound like??? ME!! She sat at the table with them for about 5-10 minutes and when they were finished with their "meal" she packs them all into her grocery cart and heads to the carpet for a picnic (I'm not sure why since they already ate) and to read books. She continues on like this for about an hour, until she gets distracted by someone or something. I love to just sit and watch her because it reminds me that she watches and REMEMBERS every little thing I say and do, and it just makes me appreciate her for who God made her to be. I don't know what God has in store for her, but she has a very "mothering" personality. She'll probably grow up to be a stay-at-home-mom with lots of kids and that'll be just fine!

Precious

Today was Ivey's Spring Sing at preschool, so, of course, Chris and I were front and center. I love going to these events because the kids are absolutely adorable and I know that before I realize it...my kids won't be in them anymore. So, while it's still cute for them to pick their nose or misbehave (to a certain extent) in front of everyone, I'll continue to take pictures of their cute little Springs Sings. Sometimes, I wish I could just freeze my kids right where they are - particularly ages 2-4. But, I know that growing up is part of life and I'm excited to see all the new things my kids can do and what they learn as they get older. I must confess though, it's a little depressing. Sometimes, it's saddens me to know that my babies aren't babies anymore and that I'll probably never have another one. Since Gavin is the baby, he definitely gets treated like one and will probably have that "Baby Syndrome." In fact, I still rock him before his nap in the afternoon and at night before bedtime even though his feet come down to my knees. I think of that book "I'll love you forever" when the mom goes in to rock her son even when he's a man. I could go on and on, but I'm starting to tear up even as I write this. I love my kids and always will. Now I know what my mom meant when she said, "You'll always be my baby." Morgan, Ivey and Gavin, I love you with all my heart and you'll always be my babies! xoxoxoxoxoxo

Goofing Around

I was browsing through some of my old emails and came across an email from Chris last summer. He had brought home a mac computer from the church to work on and we were playing with it. It has some sort of feature where the camera on the computer morphs (sp?) your face - we were rolling because we were laughing so hard! We had the best time just doing funny things. It's really trivial, but it's something I remember because we were laughing so much! Here's a few pictures - you'll see... I think the one of Chris is the funniest and the one of Morgan makes him look like an alien. I also wanted to say "Thanks" to all of my blogging friends who have inspired me to return to blogging not just so family and friends can keep up with us, but also to have the memories. When else would I sit down for 10 minuetes to scrapbook. Maybe I won't scrapbook anymore...maybe I'll just have my blogs turned into scrapbooks!! I have lots of things I want to blog about, but I'm trying to stick to just one a day...I'm really digging this blogging thing!

"Friendly" Competition

Well, Chris and I decided a couple of weeks ago to have a little "friendly" competition to see who could run the farthest total miles by April 1st. (You know what I mean by "friendly" - neither of us are good losers so this could get ugly!) So far, I'm ahead but I'm not sure by how much. Anyway, it's pretty fun because it's getting us both to the gym to exercise not to mention that we like to talk smack to each other in the meantime. The funny thing is that we can't cheat because we both have the Nike+ chip that goes in our shoe and sends our accomplishments to a receiver in our iPods. I proudly post my runs on our bathroom mirror using an eyeliner pencil just to make sure that Chris knows I'm not backing down, but Chris is a little more sneaky about his accomplishments. If I win the competition then I get to buy a new bathing suit for the summer, although I may decide to buy something else instead (Hello?? Who wants to try on bathing suits?!). Maybe I'll buy a new pair of shoes. If Chris wins, he gets to pick a Saturday to go play golf. Last week I ran 12.5 miles and this week my goal is to do a little more than that. Hopefully, Chris hasn't caught up to me, but we'll see. It'll be interesting to see who wins...

Anybody want a popsicle?

One of Ivey and Gavin's favorite treats is popsicles. One day, while at Walmart, I decided to buy a box of those really inexpensive pop-ice popsicles. They are loaded full of sugar - I know, I'm a great mom aren't I? Anyway, I let them both have a popsicle each day either after Ivey gets home from preschool or after Gavin gets up from his nap. Gavin is so funny because on the days that Ivey is at school, he'll say "Ivey...home...popsicle!" When he talks, he only uses the important words in a sentence. It's really funny! He'll say "Moon...sky...night-night." Anyway, the popsicle gives them something to hold them over until dinner and it makes me the best mom in the world - to them! They are eating their popsicles right now and I wish I could post a picture; however, Chris accidentally lost our camera card so we have to buy a new one very soon. It's okay, Honey, I forgive you.

Back to blogging

OK - so after a sabbatical to blogging...I'm back! I guess I'm not really the type of person to share all the details of my life for three reasons: 1. I don't think I'm that interesting, 2. Who really cares? and 3. I'm not a good writer. But, I think I'll give it another whirl and we'll see what happens.

I am so happy about the warmer weather!! I just feel so much better and I love to be outside with the kids when the weather is warm and sunny. I almost love Spring as much as I love Autumn, however the Fall brings something that Spring doesn't have...college football!! So, that's why Spring is my second favorite season. With the warm weather I decided that I would try to run my first 5K. In January, one of our friends, John, challenged Chris to a half-marathon at the end of March. Through that, God has implanted this love for running in both Chris and I. It really is a God thing because before January, the only time I ran was if someone was chasing me! So, anyway, Chris ran his first half-marathon on March 2nd, I signed up for my first 5K to be run on March 8th. Well, the weather wasn't exactly warm for my race...in fact, it was snowing outside!! HOLY COW! So check out the picture of my mom and I running our first 5K. I am signed up to run another 5K on April 19th at Mt. Pisgah United Methodist. I'll run that one by myself because I want to aim for a personal best. See what amazing things God can do!

P.S. Never mind the 8-year old running past me... :-)

I'm thankful for...

FRIENDS! Chris and I are so blessed to have the friends that God has put into our lives. I can remember about 4 years ago praying that God would send me some "best" friends. Someone that I could call at any time for any reason, show up unannounced and know that no matter what, we would always be friends. God has put those kind of people in my life. We know that in the lowest of the lows or the highest of the highs, our friends will always support us and love us. They are funny, compassionate, caring, generous and just plain cool! To our friends - WE LOVE YOU!

I CANNOT believe how fast time is going by! It's already THANKSGIVING! The past few months have been extremely busy for us. First, both of my boys broke their left legs within one week of each other. That was quite an experience!! Second, I thought I was going back to school to be a nurse, but after three weeks of class I realized how much I love being a stay-at-home mom. The bottom line was that my little ones aren't going to be little for long and I didn't want to look back in a few years and regret being away from them. Anyway, I dropped my classes and love taking care of my kids everyday. I still have moments that I want to pull all my hair out, but I'll take that any day over being away from my kids if I don't have to. I wondered why God worked out all the details for school, only to have me quit 3 weeks into it. But, I truly believe that he wanted me to realize how much of a blessing my children are.

(The dates on the pictures are wrong. That camera was messed up and finally ended up breaking a few weeks later!)

Sometimes I get very brave and allow my little ones to do something very messy. This time, I let them paint...with washable paint of course! I put Daddy's old t-shirts on them and set them at the table with a pallet of paint and a large piece of paper. At first they really did try to use the paint brushes, but then it became more fun just to use their hands. It was fun to watch although it didn't last very long. They had a great time and I got a few cute pictures!

This is a picture of Laura, Richard, Amos and me. The four of us, Calae, Fay, Pastor Jerry, our translator, Christopher, and our driver, KB, made up team B. These two guys in the picture are unbelievable! They go to the Bible College in Penai, India, that Global Harvesters started. These guys carried and set up and broke down our equipment at each of the schools that we went to. They are work horses!! They wouldn't even let me carry my guitar! But, there's one thing about India that's very different from the US. They are never in a hurry. Time is of no value in India. Which can be quite frustrating if you need to get movin'! So, even though I needed my guitar quickly sometimes, they still wouldn't let me carry it. They are very sweet and never complained about any of the work we did. And I truly enjoyed meeting them, working with them, and hopefully I'll get to see them again soon.

Sometimes it's hard for me to see how I've grown spiritually over the last couple of years. I know I definitely have, but sometimes it's hard for me to articulate the changes. But, tonight I had the pleasure of taking my sister-in-law out to dinner. We talked a lot about going to church, about God and about growing spritually. I think the dinner was as therapeutic for me as it was for her because I could talk out some of the things I've been trying to put my finger on. For instance, over the past year these are a few of the things I've learned or done:

1.) God will stop at nothing to make me more like his son, Jesus Christ.
2.) The reason God allows trials in my life include, but are not limited to, exposing the weak areas of my spiritual walk, belief and/or trust in Him
3.) I have studied in depth Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians and Colossians with my accountability group
4.) I have begun reading the Bible in its entirity for the very first time in my life (I've been a Christian since I was 8 years old and I've just now read things in the Bible that I've never read before!)
5.) I pray so that God will change me, not so that I can change Him

I'm not saying any of this to impress anyone. I'm just saying that I am beginning to realize how God is using me and that he can and will use me if I allow him to. I have grown in knowledge of our Lord and Savior but, more importantly, I've grown to trust him more. I challenge you to see how you've grown spiritually over the past year and if you can't think of anything...you might want to go have dinner with a Christian friend!

That's me on the far side playing the guitar. I just received the guitar from my husband for Christmas, so I haven't been playing very long. But, I really enjoy the challenge and I love to play praise and worship songs. So, I decided to take it with me to India. Boy was I S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D!! I was so nervous because I was THE only guitar player on our team and I received the music on Sunday night before going to our first school on Monday morning! I did pretty well...at least I hung in there! It's amazing how God uses us the most when we're out of our comfort zone. "O, O, O, O, O, O, Heaven is in my heart!..."

Wow...it's been a very busy summer! The month of July was pretty much taken up with preparing for and going to India for 16 days. It was an absolutely amazing trip! The purpose of the trip was to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as we possibly could in a short amount of time. We went into schools, elementary through college, and did a short program at each one. The program consisted of several songs, a skit and a very simple gospel message. Between our 3 teams, we were able to share the gospel to around 110 schools, speaking to tens-of thousands of students. This trip was my second trip to India. I think I was able to enjoy this trip a bit more than last time because the culture shock wasn't as great. The sights and the smells absolutely overwhelmed me the first time, but this time I knew what to expect. Don't get me wrong, this was certainly not a vacation by any stretch of the imagination. Going to and being in India is very difficult. It all starts with a 24-hour journey just to get there...two plane rides of 10 hours each! But, like I said, we were able to share the gospel with thousands of people...so what's two 10-hour plane rides, really?

...to be continued...

I would like to encourage you to take part with me in "Operation Neighbor." It's something that the Lord has laid on my heart...that we as Christians need to pray for our neighbors. You can pray for their health, safety, family and jobs, but most importantly, their salvation. Each week I pray for three of my neighbors and on Saturday I leave a note in their mailbox telling them that I've been praying for them that week and how to get in touch with me if they have any specific request or need. This is such a simple idea and I'm sure that I'm not the only one that's ever thought of it! However, our good intentions and what we actually do are often two different things. So, I'm challenging you, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, to join with me in praying for our neighbors. Prayer is more powerful than we can even imagine and I know that the Lord will bless our efforts. Go, "Operation Neighbor"!

It's been a while since I last wrote a blog. As you can see, we've been at the beach and we also went to visit Chris' brother and his family in Charleston. Now we're just hanging out at the pool and doing fun summer stuff. I'm trying to mentally and spiritually prepare for the mission trip to India that I'll be going on from July12 - 28. Please pray for me...Satan is attacking me with all the "what if" scenarios. I'm trying so hard to find my strength and peace in Christ and because of that I will rest assure knowing that He is in control.

All I can think about right now is my absolute favorite song: "Who Can Satisfy?"
We sung it in church this morning and these are the lyrics:

Who can satisfy my soul, but you?
Who on earth can comfort me
And love me like You do?
Who could ever be more faithful and true?
I will trust in You, I will trust in You, my God!

There is a fountain
Who is the King
Victorious Warrior and Lord of everything
My rock, my shelter, my very own
Blessed Redeemer, who reigns upon the throne

If you can get your hands on this song, it is absolutely amazing! You can't help but to lift up your hands in praise and worship to our King when you sing it.

Grandma Jane, Sandy, Ginger and myself took the kids to "Imagine It!" museum in downtown Atlanta last week. We had a good time, so I wanted to post some pictures of the kids. The museum is like a huge playroom on steroids. It's really cool for kids and moms, too!

Days like today make me so grateful for good health. I often take good health for granted, but God reminds me of how blessed our family really is. This morning Ivey woke up complaining of a stomach ache and I just thought that maybe she just needed to eat some breakfast. I don't have much compassion on stomach aches because my mom never did with my sister and I. Unless we were actually vomiting or close to death, we went to school or whatever else we were involved in. So until, I see my child actually throwing up, I don't pay much attention to their complaints. AND... after having three kids there is A LOT of complaining so I often just don't listen unless one of them is in great distress. Well, I was pulling in to the parking space at the gym and Ivey threw up all over herself in her car seat. Oh, well. So much for the rest of the day!! She threw up a couple of more times after that but now she's feeling much better. She's pretty much back to normal which is wonderful. I just wonder how it makes God feel to hear me complain. I really don't have anything to complain about. I have a wonderful family, good health and many more blessings. But, even if I didn't have those things I still wouldn't have anything to complain about! The Bible says that we have peace that passeths all understanding and a joy that is pretty much unexplainable. I didn't say "happiness", I said joy. Thank you, Lord, for loving me and dying for me. Thank you for loving me and calling me your own even when I complain about absolutely everything that doesn't even matter. And thank you for not waiting until I'm in complete distress before you decide to listen. Even though, that
is when I learn the most about you. I love You!!!

There's not much going on here. We've had a pretty routine Monday...I went to work out this morning, came home and played with the kids, did laundry, took the kids outside and, of course, we had nap time! It has been such a beautiful day today and the temperature is absolutely perfect! I love to go outside everyday and check on my flowers. I've planted quite a few flowers in the front and I can't wait until they're all blooming. For some reason, having a yard with lots of flowers lifts my spirit. Speaking of lifting my spirits, this week is one of my favorite weeks of the year. This week is Mother's Day, my birthday AND my anniversary. This year I'm turning 29!! Only one more year to go before hitting the big 3-0! Chris and I are celebrating our 6th anniversary and I can't wait for the next 6! School is winding down so Morgan doesn't have much homework which is a huge stress relief for me and him! Chris and I will be getting ready to go visit Matt and Georgianna next week and then we'll be at the beach for a week. My absolute favorite place to be is at the beach. I can't wait! This time of year is so much fun!

Well, my 16-year old niece told me that if I'm going to have a website it needs to have more "pizzazz." I'm not sure what her idea of "pizzazz" is...but I'll do my best. I'm posting a picture of my new tattoo. I can't believe I actually went through with it, but I did and I'm so glad I got it. The tattoo is three flowers. Each one is the birth flower for each of my children. Starting from the left is Morgan's birth flower, a calendula. In the middle is Ivey's birth flower, an aster. On the right is Gavin's birth flower, an iris. So am I the coolest aunt or what?!

Is it really May 4th already? I can't believe how the time just flies by. I don't really have any great spiritual insight today...just feeling like regular 'ole me. I do have kind of a funny story though. I have really been praying about being more disciplined in my quiet times. I got up early Tuesday morning to have some time to myself to read the Bible and pray and wouldn't you guess...I had no more sat down and started praying before I heard Gavin crying! I just kept praying because I knew that Satan didn't want to spend time in the Word. Anyways, I had gone all day yesterday without having a quiet time and, honestly, hadn't really thought much about it. I was getting ready for bed last night and wanted to watch TV in bed before going to sleep. I was searching and searching for the remote control in our bedroom and couldn't find it anywhere!!! I even had Chris helping me look forward and we never could find it. So, I decided that I should probably spend some time reading the Bible and praying anyway! I read in the Bible and studied a little bit and then went to turn off the light. After I got back in bed, I reached down to grab the covers and I grabbed the remote control! In the dark!! I just laughed to myself - God really does have quite a sense of humor.