Thanksgiving. A. Few. Words.

Road Trip. Cola-Town.

Cooking. Cooking. Cooking

Turkey. Mashed Potatoes. Sweet Potatoes. Green Beans. Macaroni and Cheese. Apple-Carmel Pie. Carb Coma.

Family Love. Bonkers.

Nap.

Cowboys. Yay! Texas A&M. Boo.

Haribson. Traffic. Shopping. Boo.

Lunch and Dinner with Kelly. Words from Jesus.

Shopping for Bollman kids. Playing Santa. Woo!

Christmas decorations. Walnut! (long story)

Gamecocks. Boooooooooo!

Congrats Tigers. Wait. Till. Next Year.

Thank. You. Jesus.

Wonderful. Life.

Favorite Thing Today: This album completely changed the way I view Christmas.

Beautiful 05

Please check out these two incredibly powerful moments from week five of the Beautiful series at NewSpring.

Perry challenged everyone from John 8.

And this happened....

http://www.willrodes.com/blog/2008/11/18/beautiful-05-videos

Let grace, truth and conviction fall.

Ghetto Gospel

Oh, how this makes me miss home!  You Columbia peeps have seen it a million times, but for those who aren't a part of FBC, this is for you!

Yes, I am proud to say this was my home church in Columbia.   

And yes, they are hilarious.  I should hear you laughing from here.

Enjoy.

Favorite thing today: I'm ordering this shirt from Forever 21.  And drooling over this dress from Anthropolgie. 

Dear old, unredeemed self

Dear old, unredeemed self,

You showed up yesterday like a long, lost relative knocking at the door unannounced.  And you chose to stay a while.

You look like me.  You sound like me.  You have the same family.  

But you are not me.  

In fact, I don't even really like you all that much.  Or at all.

But yesterday you took over my life.  All my conversations.  All my interactions with friends and strangers.  All my thoughts.  

I could not shake you.  You would not leave me alone.  I asked you to leave, nicely at first, but you would not budge.

So you asked for it....

You are dead.  You have no power.  You cannot sustain me.  You cannot be trusted. You will not speak louder than the truth, and even if you chose to scream, I will chose not to listen.  Your old ashes are no match for the new beauty inside of me.  You do not exist any longer.

The same power that conquered death lives in me and I happen to know this terrifies you.   

So this serves as notice that if you chose to show up here again, the door will not be open for you.  You are not welcome.  You cannot stay.

In fact, here's the door.  And I'm not asking nicely this time.

If I Marry

In the midst of a pile of papers I purged while recently packing, I found these words (thanks Kelly--You gave this to me years ago) written by a 17 year old Ruth Bell Graham as she was on the USS McKinley on her way to Wheaton College from her life as a missionary child in China.  Wheaton is, of course, where she met Billy, who fits the criteria quite nicely.  

It has been around a while, but I pray this will fall on fresh on some ladies today.

If I marry, he must be so tall that when he is on his knees, as one has said, he reaches all the way to heaven. His shoulders must be broad enough to bear the burden of a family.  His lips must be strong enough to smile, firm enough to say no, and tender enough to kiss.  Love must be so deep that it takes its stand in Christ, and so wide that it takes the whole lost world in. He must be active enough to save souls.  He must be big enough to be gentle and great enough to be thoughtful.  His arms must be strong enough to carry a child.

Or Psalm 112, all of it...

Favorite Thing today: The new ESV Study Bible is seriously rocking my world.  Seriously.

Material for Sacrifice

It is 6:30 pm.  I am sitting in my den, looking out the window at the lake.

Lake Hartwell.  Not Lake Murray.

This was not how my Fall was supposed to go.

Most of you faithful, beautiful friends know that I am now a resident of Anderson, South Carolina.  I left Sophie, Kim and my family behind and moved last month.  There are still things in boxes.  My TV is on the floor and not hooked up. 

In August, I was planning on co-teaching a Wednesday night Bible study for college students. Genesis is the topic (hope you guys are soaking up the Word!).  Fall Retreat was to Kentucky this year.  Tailgating was in full swing.  

But then God stepped in and blew His spirit wind in the most perfect and disruptive way.  

And He changed me.  

I love my new job.  I love NewSpring Church in a way that I did not think I could.  I am so humbled to be a part of the way God is advancing His Kingdom.  Humbled that God would look on this, as Brennan Manning would say, "unsteady disciple whose cheese is falling off their cracker," and allow me to be a part of His greater work.  So humbled.

 

I do miss Columbia, my home and safety.  But it is, as Elizabeth Elliot has so beautifully phrased, "material for sacrifice."  Sometimes we have to let go of something or someone before God can fully use us as He intended.

I prayed for a year that God would wipe the slate of my heart and life clean.  It was a prayer that took nearly every ounce of courage in my feeble little heart to pray.  I was not even sure how much I meant it.  But clean He did.  And now He has scripted new challenges, burdens and ministries.  All undeserved.

So friends, this is only the beginning for all of us.  Our lives are not our own.  I pray that you will swim so deep with Jesus today that nothing is too extraordinary.  

And you all have a place to stay when you visit Anderson.  

Because you will all be coming for a visit.

Favorite Thing today: Because the aforementioned TV is still not hooked up, this site has served up my Biggest Loser, Chuck and The Office fix.