Wednesday, April 28, 2010

How Beautiful Are Your Feet?

Our church held its missions conference (Global Impact) over the past two weeks/weekends.  The first weekend was focused on our local missions partners, and this past weekend was a Missouri/USA/International focus.  Of course, as the Lord would work it, the lesson we taught our students in small group this past Sunday morning focused on a passage that was our Global Impact theme a couple years ago.  

8But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
 14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"  (bolded by me)
                                                                  Romans 10:8 - 15




The question we were challenged with before and that the girls and I challenged ourselves with this week:  How beautiful are your feet?  We're called multiple times to go and share the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.  But, are we going?  And are we sharing Him in our own backyard?  As the passage above says perfectly, how can they believe in Him if they aren't told (and shown, so our daily living is a party of it)?  One of the missionary couples that spoke this weekend has been working with a people group in Africa.  Before their work, there were no known believers in this people group.  Because of their obedience to the Lord, they have been used to lead people to Christ and they shared numerous stories evidencing God's work there.  Their feet are beautiful, are they not?  I was definitely challenged (and convicted) over the past couple of weeks as I reviewed my own life.  My prayer in sharing this with you is that you, too, will be challenged.  Do you go?  Or are you just comfortable where you are?  


I encourage you to ponder and pray:  How beautiful are your feet?  


And, if you don't have a relationship with the Lord, I implore you - He loves you and wants to save you!  Surrender to Him today, and you'll never be the same.  Leave me a comment if you'd like to discuss this further.


Blessings to each of you!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Belated Birthday Post to My Beloved

Oh my goodness!  I can't believe I didn't get a post on here for Daniel's birthday - it was last Tuesday, the 20th!  Sorry, honey!

We did have a great time together for his birthday, though.  We gorged at Cheddar's (it's ok because it was his birthday, right?) getting the amazing spinach dip and even topping it off with a yummy cookie monster. Seriously, we hadn't had a cookie monster since before we got married so we enjoyed every bit of it!  Then we followed our tradition of walking it off across the street at Best Buy and the neighboring stores.  :)

I'm so thankful the Lord brought Daniel into my world.  Every day, I love him more and more as we continue to learn and grow together.

Happy belated birthday, sweetheart!  I love you so much!


"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him."  Genesis 1:27a

P.S. Daniel also happens to share a birthday with my grandma, my mom's mom.  Happy 80th birthday to you, Grandma!  I love you!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Soccer 101

My nephew, Kyler, is playing on his first sports team this spring and we're all excited it's soccer.  So fun to watch the little guys run up and down the field!

Fun facts from the first game:  Ky went to the middle of the field and started doing push-ups - his coach thought it was great.  He told my mom she needed to yell, "Go, Kyler, Go!"  I watched the video my mom recorded, and believe me, she listened to him and yelled for him the entire time!  :)


I wasn't there for the first game, but I made it to the second so that's where these action shots are from.





Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Then & Now

I told you while I was home over Easter I got to see some people I hadn't seen in a while.  So, I thought it'd be fun to do a then and now post.  Now remember, the now pics are of the day we all got up early for the city-wide yard sale (early for a Saturday, ok?). :)

In the order I saw them:

1.  My wonderful friend, Ashlee, a great friend since gradeschool.  I was hoping to find one of those gradeschool pics of us, but I didn't think I'd be able to get to it for a post this week!  I know which tub of photos they're in, I promise! :)




2.  Cameron - I love this little girl! (I guess she's not so little anymore :) )






3.  My cousin, Shelby.  She lives in Oklahoma and I used to go stay with her and the fam when she was little.  Now, it seems like I'm lucky to catch her every two years so this was great!







Friday, April 9, 2010

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Horsin' Around







Tuesday, April 6, 2010

A Weekend at Home

I know, home is really here in Ozark now, but I'm pretty sure I'll always say, "I'm going home" when I head back to good ol' Van Buren.  Since Daniel had to referee soccer Friday night, Noah and I headed to Van Buren by ourselves.  Besides the fact that the ENTIRE drive back was in the rain, it was a perfect weekend.

Saturday morning:  Got up early for the city-wide yard sale in VB.  Got to see lots of people I hadn't seen in ages and it was even Jolly Cone's opening day for the season!  So, I got my strawberry, vanilla Mountain Dew at 9:30 in the morning. :)  (I don't normally prefer Mountain Dew, but these are awesome!)

Lunchtime:  Mom, Dad, me and some family friends went to a local restaurant for some great food.

Early afternoon:  Dad and I went for a great horse ride together!  I'm embarrassed to say it'd been years since I last rode a horse, so this was way past due.

Later afternoon:  Mom and I went for a run to prepare for our 5k coming up in 10 days.  We went to a nearby lake (loosely called a lake, but whatever) and it was a beautiful run!

Evening:  Drove through Taco Bell on our way to my grandma's (mom's mom) to see my younger cousin that was in from Oklahoma.  Quick visit but well worth it!

Later evening:  Got home about 9:30 and sat up watching videos of my nephew's first soccer game and his Michael Jackson performance for my mom and the video camera.  Lots of laughs!  Crawled into bed for some rest at about 11:30.

Sunday morning:  Got up to get ready for church.  We joined some of my Dad's side of the family for their special Easter service.  Through drama and music, they did a beautiful job of reminding us of the cross and the resurrection.  It was powerful, to say the least!

Afternoon:  Now to my grandma and grandpa's (dad's parents) house for dinner with the family.  We sat outside in the beautiful Spring weather, watched the kiddos play in the dirt, and just enjoyed each other's company.  It was lovely!

Early evening:  Got home to pack, get Noah ready, and head into VB on our way out.

Last stop:  Jolly Cone for supper!  I wanted to see my aunts that live in VB, so Mom and I met them and a family friend at the Jolly Cone for a quick bite before I hit the road again.

Whew!!  It was packed full of goodness and blessings!!  Thanks, Mom and Dad for a great time!

Don't worry, pictures to follow! :)

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Because He Lives

Rejoice with me today! An old hymn says it perfectly:
"Life is worth the living, just because He lives!"

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Not So Fast Friends

As I said, Noah wasn't so keen on Kobe being a permanent member of the household.  He wasn't jealous, he was just anxious and totally freaked out by him.  He's finally figured out Kobe is just another dog and loves to play as much as him.  Yay!!  They crack me up, too.  Noah loves to paw - always has - and he doesn't get that Kobe is so little that when he paws at him he throws him to the ground.  So, I still have to keep an eye on them to be sure they're playing fair.  I always knew that Noah would enjoy having another doggie friend in his life, and I'm super excited he and Kobe are going to make great brothers! :)



Friday, April 2, 2010

Grandmotherly Love - Nothing Like It

We were so blessed to have my grandma (my dad's mom) in town to visit us last weekend.  My grandpa went to Kentucky to fish with the boys so Grandma came to Ozark/Springfield with my mom.  Friday I was able to meet them for lunch at Red Lobster and then Mom and I took Kyler to a rodeo while Katie and Grandma rented a movie and stayed in.  Then Saturday, she got to go to Ky's first soccer game.  What a blessing she got to be here for that!  We shopped a little and then Mom and I took her to see the beautiful Branson Landing.  We walked around, enjoyed the view of the lake, ate some BBQ at Famous Dave's and then headed back home.  

You're probably sick of me saying this, but I'm so thankful for the blessed family time Daniel and I have had with each of our families lately.  We don't take a minute of it for granted! 

2 Timothy 3:15, 16
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousne
ss.




Thursday, April 1, 2010