Thankful Thursday

A few things I'm thankful for today...

-my Thursday morning Bible study...ladies, you rock. I love that we're all so different, yet somehow the same. I love that it's raw, fresh, real and chock full of Jesus.

-PC's Allstar team...every Sunday, your enthusiasm and faithfulness amazes me.

-ball season...baseball, softball, I love it!

-the church planter's conference last week...it filled my tank. i'll be posting some about that soon.

-old friends and new friends, both have refreshed me this week.

-Super Suppers...fun night out with the girls and I'm doing something for my family

-my community group...we love you guys!

-flipflops! i hate closed toe shoes, and it's almost flip-flop season...my toes will be free once again!

-early morning snuggles and watching cartoons

-bagels

-did i mention that it's baseball season?

What are you thankful for?

Old Friends

What is it they say about old friends?

I can't remember the quote I'm thinking of...
but there is something about catching up with an old friend that fills my heart.

It's like there's a little place that they've carved out
a long time ago,
and when you go a long time
without seeing or talking to them,
you don't feel the hole so much because life goes on.
But then, many years later, out of the blue,
you reconnect.
You pick up where you left off.

And your heart is full.
God gave me that today.
My heart was encouraged
to hear of the journey...
We caught up today.
It's been 4 years
Since we've seen each other
Life has changed...
The friendship remains.

I still can't find the quote I'm looking for, but I found this one worth sharing:
When we hurt each other
we should write it down in the sand,
so the winds of forgiveness can make it go away for good.
When we help each other
we should chisel it in stone,
lest we never forget the love of a friend.

E-mail to God

All of my daughters e-mails go through my inbox for monitoring. It is precious because she often writes e-mails to herself and characters from the books she writes or reads. I love to see how her mind works. Jer and I were in Atlanta over the weekend when there were some bad storms at home. When I returned and checked my e-mail, this one brought me to tears.
She e-mailed God.
I love her heart!

dear God,
hi,thank you soooooooooooo much for us not being hurt in the tornato and God please keep my mom and dad safe and for them to have a good no great time at there little thing.Thank You so much for mema and God please help her rib to heal fast.Thank You again for Ms.Kimmy and God keep her and her house safe.Then I pray for the ones that did get hurt or their house damiged in the tornato for them either to get well or if their house is damiged for them to find a house.

And God help me bring others to You!!!!!!!!!!
Your friend,
Kenzie

The Many Faces of Kenzie

Wow! Kenzie has started 2008 off with a bang! She has already accomplished so much this year. I'm so proud of her, the choices she is making, and that she gives 100% to whatever she goes out for. I can't wait to see where she lands in the end...what will be her true gift.
Here's what she's done in the first six weeks of 2008...

She memorized one of Aesop's Fables...

and recited it in front of the entire school!

She played Upward Basketball (and loved it!)...

She played "Susan" in the Chronicles of Narnia...

And she continues to sing on Praise Team at PC...

And softball tryouts are tomorrow! Whew! What a gal!

Colton's Perspective

Last Sunday, Colton decided to clean out his tithing cup and take it to church on Sunday. He had a pocket full of money, and he was so proud. I told him to be sure and give it to his Coach (small group leader) at AllStars. He said, "No, I'm just going to give it to Mr. Durden and Mr. Whitworth because they're the money counters." Then he paused for a moment and asked, "I know the men take the offering, but how do they get it to God?"
Love him!

I've been tagged (part 2)

I've seen these "meme" things before, but not quite sure what they were, so my buddy Kerri enlightened me. When you tag someone with a set of questions or a list or a game, they respond in their blog, etc.

Here are the rules for this one:
Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating!)
Find page 123
Find the first five sentences
Post the next three sentences
Tag five people

The closest book to me was Same Kind of Different As Me, which is a complicated book and page 123 makes no sense if you just pick it up, so next one down is my favorite and I'm going to post from that one.

The Barbarian Way by Erwin Macmanus

...The brokenness of a lost and unbelieving world is not enough to inspire the painful changes necessary to make the church relevant to the world in which we live.
One of the tragedies of a civilized society is that no one wants to get involved. What becomes appropriate is to mind our own business.

Oh my! Every time I open this book, my world is rocked. My heart's cry is that I will truly live The Barbarian Way. It has been huge for me. His message is passionate and challenging and uncomfortable.

Now, I'll tag Cindy, Lanier, shane and steph, Shannon and John. Whatcha readin?

I've been tagged (part 1)

I've been tagged by a blogging friend of mine. That's the cool thing about blogs is that it has reconnected me with people from my past who stumbled onto my blog. Kerri is a friend whose husband was a youth pastor for a while at our church in Texas. God later called him away to pastor and now they are adventuring into the world of missions. I love to see the way God works.

In this last year of feeling very discouraged and maligned by people we served with and trusted, God restored to us three lost relationships. Three families that served with us on staff in the past came back into our lives this last year. All through different circumstances, all contacted us in a different and surprising way. I believe it was God whispering to Jerry and I that He was still there and reassuring us that God had blessed many relationships with staff and leadership, and it could be that sweet again, when He is in it. Over this last year, I was able to reconnect with three couples who had served the Lord with us in the past, and God has taken us each on different paths now, but the sweetness of those relationships were immediately restored.

Anyway, Kerri and Robert are now seeking God, preparing for the mission field, hoping to leave sometime next year. She blogs, but it's set to private so I can't link you to her. As soon as their mission status is public, maybe you can read of their adventure too!
She tagged me and now I need a new post to do participate because this one has gotten too long and I got off task.

Wordless Wednesday...Anyone relate?