christmas memories

it seems like children and christmas go hand in hand. there's something about the holiday that makes us all feel like we're five again and anticipating the big day. during our second go round of christmas presents, i snapped this picture of reid. there's something about the expression on his face that i love. please forgive the blurriness of the picture. he's two and a half and does not sit still. (and yes, that's chocolate around his right eye)

christmas card

on this day three years ago...

....we went to NYC to cheer on the bulldogs and see the city at Christmas. We had a blast!!

9 things to know before you turn 30

the golden egg

PIX_#58.jpg, originally uploaded by lalmsu.

The trophy's in there, i promise.

all smiles after we beat ole miss

Happy girls

Thanksgiving photos

my beautiful cousins, meg and kate, who are more like my sisters than cousins
Me and Kate
Reid
me and my little cousin Meg

Egg Bowl 2005

real vs. fake

For the past couple of years, I have worn a fake pair of diamond earrings. I thought that they looked a little bit like the real thing. In fact, a few people have even asked me if they were real, and I have always told them the truth. Recently, I inherited my grandmother's real diamond earrings that are about the same size as the fakes. As I held up the real ones to the fake ones, I could see that they were incomparable.

That got me thinking about our Christian lives. With nothing to compare our lives to, no one can see that some of us are living a fake Christian life. It's only when we get a closer look at people do we see the gross difference between real vs. fake.

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Christ...." (Phil. 1:27) That verse kept ringing in my head. Whatever happens. If we try to conduct ourselves in a real and genuine way, no one will accuse us of being fake.

the oregon crew

i found this picture on the facebook that the gold-card carrier took when we were in the pacific northwest three years ago. what a fun trip that was. if only i had not gotten altitude sickness.

what were you doing at age 18?

an 18 year old was recently elected mayor of a michigan town. when i was 18, i was a counselor at summer camp.

. . . fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ . . .

I'm going through the Oswald Chambers devotional "my Utmost for His Highest" and today's lesson really spoke to me. It talks about how if we have our own interests at heart instead of God's, we cannot be aligned with God's interest. Click on icon to read the whole article.

toilet humor

No way this happened twice

life is hard, but God is good

This week, I 've really been struggling with some issues in my life.

#1. I hate the fact that I hate my job. At first, I started my job thinking I was making a difference. Now, I think I am enabling people to stay poor. I have been thinking about possibly moving from Starkville, the place I love, and maybe starting fresh somewhere. I had only been thinking this in my head, and last Friday, I voiced these thoughts to two girlfriends of mine. As soon as I said it out loud, I had doubts. Then, in my devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers had this to say " a Christian worker has to learn how to be God's noble man or woman amid a crowd of ignoble things. Never make this plea- If only I were somewhere else!.....Never choose to be a worker, but when God has put His cal lon you, woe be to you if you turn ro the right hand or to the left" (that's the Oct. 25th entry)

#2. Like most people I know, I have been struggling with sin. I know, I know, its just human nature, but it's so frustrating when you fall into sin. I had really been down on myself about a particular sin of mine, and I began to think about one of my biblical heroes, Paul. Paul said in Romans, chapter 7, verses 15 and following " I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate to do...(v19).... for what I do is not the good i want to do; no, the evil i do not want to do,- this i keep on doing"

It is so amazing to me that God hears the cries of our hearts and gives us the strength to get through all of our trials, no matter how trivial they are.

we are so bad

PIX_#57.jpg, originally uploaded by lalmsu.

What losing looks like. the home side is empty.

rush....asleep

PIX_#55.jpg, originally uploaded by lalmsu.

Exciting game. wish i had slept through it.

picture from lee and emily brewer's wedding

just playing around

this was in 2004, the day we beat florida

my first blog post

Okay. My first blog post. I wanted to start to do this as an attempt to share with other people some of the things that I have learned. I am reading my favorite book of the Bible right now, James. There are verses in that book that nail me to the wall. One of particular interest is in chapter 3, verses 9 and 10:

" with the tounge we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be"

Ouch! Since we are right in the middle of football season, and I cheer for a team that is no good, alot of good and bad things come out of my mouth. For instance, I get up in the morning and say my prayers before a game. I ask God's blessing on the food that I'm about to eat at the tailgate. Then, not too long after, I'm cursing at the opposing team, the guy in front of me that's smoking, sometimes I even curse at the people that I am with. The Bible says that this simply should not be. God is holy, and I should not talk to him using the same mouth that I curse with.