Facebook

Facebook. Wow. We have a LOVE/HATE relationship with one another. I loved Facebook when it started out for people in college who could reconnect with their high school friends. It is always so fun to see someone on Facebook who you haven't seen since you graduated.

Then it allowed everyone to be on it. I can honestly say that there are some days that I just want to delete my account and be done with it. People can be SO mean and use it as a tool to get back at someone.

It has happened to me a few times. (by the same people..) I can't tell you how childish it is. Especially, when it is someone who is extremely close to me.

I wish I didn't wear my heart on my sleeve and let my feelings get hurt so easily. I've always been the sensitive one in the family who cries at the drop of a hat, and I think makes me an easy target at times.

But this time, I'm not letting this get the best of me. I am tired of worrying about what happened today. Because, what happened was STUPID and didn't even make sense. And I honestly didn't do anything to deserve what happened. SO silly.

I am going to stop focusing on facebook so much and use that time to focus on the Baby that is in the Manger. Because nothing else is worth my time right now. I wish that everyone could get that....

Merry CHRISTmas everyone

Heartbroken...

Tonight I sit here with my heart broken into a million pieces. So many questions we will never have answers to. How could someone do something so heartless?

Early this morning Heaven got a special angel. Courtney went to be home with her Mom and Jesus.

You may remember an earlier post I had about Sara Stevenson. Well, Courtney was the daughter of Sara. She also has the beautiful little Grace that I babysit when Mrs. Stevenson was to sick to take care of her.

Courtney and I really reconnected as I saw her a lot while babysitting Grace. We went to youth group together and then lost contact when we graduated, but over that summer I began to know Courtney and we became Facebook buddies. I had just chatted last week with her about what kind of camera she was getting so that she could start up her photography business she was so excited about.

Courtney was involved in a horrible crime. She was shot at her home last night by her ex-fiance. I can not imagine what good it has done to kill her. He took away a MOTHER to a beautiful little girl over something that was so petty. Poor Grace will now grow up dreading the holidays because her Mom was killed a week before. My heart breaks for the Stevensons.

I know that Courtney is in Heaven seeing her Mom again, what a blessings. But, there are so many here who just don't understand why this had to happen.

To Courtney, I will always remember you. I am so sorry that something so heartless happened to such a sweet, sweet person. You will always hold a special place in my heart. And Grace. Well, Amazing Grace will always be reminded what a wonderful mom she had. Until I see you again...

Hebrews 13:2

Hebrews 13:2, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it..."

Tonight, Christmas came a little early for me. I am home with my parents through the Holidays. :) So they invited me to go with them to the adult Christmas party at Lakeview UMC. I feel old going to an "adult" dinner. HA.

But anyways, we were getting ready to walk in the doors at church and I look over to my right and there sat a homeless man. I couldn't help but just stand there, kinda shocked to see him to be honest. The doors were locked to the church, because we were a bit early.

Of course, my first thought was so judgmental. What we HE doing there? WHY was he there? Was he going to hurt us? I didn't give him the benefit of the doubt..

My dad began to talk to the homeless man, whose name was George. George had been traveling from Centerpoint and trying to get to his brother in Gainesville. He had been on the streets since Friday.

He told my dad that he was extremely tired and hungry. He had been sleeping under the interstates and on the side of the road for the past few days. With hardly anything to eat.

My dad invited him in and to sit and have dinner with us.

My dad asked him if he would like him to take him to the Greyhound Bus station and buy him a ticket to Gainesville. I wasn't really surprised because my Dad would give the shirt off his back to anyone.

But, I couldn't help but think of how odd it was that George was there. I couldn't help but think it was a test from God to see how we, as a Church, would react to him. My amazing father didn't miss a beat. He didn't think twice about it. George took Dad up on the offer and off they went.

Still in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but freak out that my Dad was in the car ALONE with a strange man we had never met. I kept looking at my watch and thinking to myself, what if he tries to hurt my Dad.

About an hour or so later, my Dad came back in. I was very relieved to see him. I asked him a lot of questions on the way home. The first being, "WERE YOU NERVOUS AT ALL?" And Dad replied, "No, not at all." He just kept saying, he couldn't let him get back on his bike and ride and ride. He probably would have never made it there.

I have to thank my Dad over and over again for what I saw tonight. Dad didn't hesitate for a second. He didn't think twice.

Here, I have been so concerned about Christmas gifts, and my own petty problems. And then there is George. Who was living on the side of the road. Hungry, cold, and alone. It definitely reminds me to COUNT my BLESSINGS on a daily basis.

So, thank you, Daddy for being such an example of Christ tonight. What you did tonight, will forever be in my heart. I love you...

Blessings and Peace,

Thanksgiving Recap

Jon and I are finally getting settled back in Madison. We were gone over a week, so I have LOTS of laundry to catch back up on. YUCK. :)

We had a great Thanksgiving week. Mom and I began cooking on Tuesday morning. I love watching her cook and learning new secrets from her. :) We got everything made on Tuesday and that way all we had to do was throw them in the oven and cook them. :)

Jon and I had a wonderful lunch at his Moms house. Everything was great. Jon loved the Mac and Cheese so much, that I am going to attempt to make it tonight. Should be interesting. :)

After we had lunch with his Mom, we scooted back to My parents because we had a Baby Shower planned for Rachel. (Just family.) She got LOTS of cute PINK things. I can't wait to meet Miss Blakely for the first time. Not much longer now! :)

It was great having everyone around for Thanksgiving. There was one person who was missing and I missed him greatly. Pat, I can't even begin to tell you how much you were missed. I can't wait to see you. 26 more days!

After everyone left Mom, Kelley, and I began to go through the ads and plan out our day of shopping. We invited Kelley to go with us. She was a good sport considering she had to be at work at 3:30 pm- AT LEAST 11:30 pm that same night. We got up and headed to Target around 5 am. BUT, the line was so long to get in, we just left. It was WAY to cold to wait in that line. There was nothing we needed badly enough to stand in it! haha. We decided to head to the Summit and check out Belk and a few other stores. We went to Belk and racked up. I got some really cute boots that were only $20! Mom got Pat's Christmas gift in there as well. We decided to take a break and eat at Cracker Barrel for a quick Breakfast. It was yummy.

We then headed back to the Summit to finish up our shopping. As always, we got lots of great deals. And, we have a new place to shop the day after Thanksgiving. NO one was there! It was great.

We went back to Moms and slept until the IRON BOWL came on. We watched for a bit and then decided that Bama was making us to nervous so we left! We took Kelley to work and then we went to Target. BUT, it seemed like every where we were going the game was following us! So, we decided to go back home and finish watching the game. I can tell you that I was FREAKING out. I even went upstairs and took a bath because I didn't want to see the ending. Jon watched the game with a friend and kept texting me. He was SOOOOOO annoying. I hate dealing with him on Iron Bowls. HAHAHA. :) BUT, we all knew what happened in the end. CHAMPIONS ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO WIN!!!!! ROLL TIDE! ;)

Anyways, I have some laundry that I need to finish up on!

Have a great week and ROLL TIDE ROLL! Lets kick some FLORIDA TAIL!

Rammer Jammer....

I've got three words for all of you...........

RRRROOOOOLLLLLL TTTTTTIIIIIIIDDDDEEEEEE RROOOOLLLLLL!!!!!

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

I always look forward to Thanksgiving each year. Not only because of the good FOOD, but because its always a time when the family is together.

This year will be hard because it will be the first year that Patrick won't be there. I would love nothing more for him to coming walking in and surprise us all on Thanksgiving. But, the likely hood of that is pretty slim. We ALL will miss you, Patrick. Can't wait to see you December 28th! Counting down the days. 38 to go.. :)

This year Jon and I have LOTS to be Thankful for. We are getting a new start at life in Huntsville, a new job, new church, and time to restore broken relationships. I am FOREVER THANKFUL for all of these things.

We will spend some of our day at Jons moms house, then the rest of the day will be spent at my parents. It is always SO hard for Jon and I to balance the day out. Trying to be at 3 different places in one day is tough. We tried it one year and it was horrible. We were at each place for like an hour or 2. We didn't even get to enjoy ourselves. (Not to mention we ate so much we made ourselves sick. Haha.) So, we decided from then on that we would have to pick and chose where we would be. Rotate it each year. :)

Another reason I love Thanksgiving is..................

BLACK FRIDAY!!!!!

Haha! SAD but TRUE. I love nothing more than sitting next to the fire Thanksgiving night, looking through the ads and scoping where I will spend my day. Last year, Mom and I made the BIGGEST mistake by going to Wal-Mart. I was seriously having anxiety attacks. Mom decided to SPLIT up from me and go get something she wanted. I can remember calling out, "MOM" and about 50 women turned around to see if it was their child calling them. HAHA. SO, I told her I can't do Wal-mart again. Unless she wants me to have a SERIOUS, SERIOUS melt down in there. HAHA. I think this year we will be going to Target, Big Lots (who always has GREAT deals), Hobby Lobby, and Michael's. We are usually DONE shopping by 10 am. :) We can seriously get some good deals! :) I HOPE to be completely done with my Christmas shopping by then!

Well, I hope you all have a VERY VERY Happy Thanksgiving. :) We ALL have LOTS to be Thankful for! :) And I am THANKFUL for each one of you who read my blog. :)

Blessings and Peace,

Jesus Freak..

So, I decided to come "home" a few days early and help my mom with the kiddos while Natalie works Christmas Village this week. I was SO glad to see Kemp and Daisy. I have missed ALL of my nieces and nephews so much! :) Of course, they were more glad to see Mr.Wiggles than me. Haha. :) Kelley, Pat's new girlfriend, came over and helped with the kiddos. They instantly fell in love with her. She was SO sweet and good with them. :) Kemp asked mom before she came over, "Is she good with children?!" HAHA. I love that. He is a funny little duck to say the least..

Anyways, on my way home I heard a song I haven't heard in years. It made me instantly think..

Who remembers the song, "Jesus Freak" by DC Talk?? I use to listen to it a lot during youth group, but haven't really heard it since then.

Here is the chorus of the song:

What will people think if they hear that I am Jesus Freak

What will people do if they find out its true

I don't really care if they label me a Jesus Freak

There ain't no disguising the truth

These lyrics REALLY made me stop and think. I had to think about how many times I may not have shared my Faith with someone else because I was afraid of what they may think of me.

I have finally allowed myself to "get lost" in the worship at church. To lift my hands and cry out to Christ. I had always been too concerned with who may or may not be watching me and make fun of me for raising my hands. But, I have finally gotten to the point where I don't care. I want to worship my God and I finally feel comfortable doing it.

Just recently I have learned there are some people that I know VERY well who aren't Christians. They believe that Christians aren't even real. They believe that Christians only believe in Christ because thats what their parents taught them.

That REALLY breaks my heart and makes me mad to be honest! Because, I KNOW that there is a God. There have been WAY too many things in my life that could never have happened without God.

I couldn't imagine not having a relationship with Christ. He is someone I can ALWAYS talk to. Even when no one else is there, I know He is always right there with me.

I feel like in the past year I have become so much stronger in my walk with Christ. I feel a lot of that is to do with me being married. I am so thankful to have a hubby who believes in the same beliefs as I do. I couldn't imagine not having a hubby who wasn't a Christian. That was ALWAYS something that was FIRST on my list for even dating someone. I would have had a really hard time dating or marrying someone who didn't believe in Christ.

I pray that I can really show my Faith to these people who are not Christians. Show them that I am a JESUS FREAK and I am NOT afraid to prove it. :)

Blessings and Peace,