Thunderstorms

I met Jenna at the florist this morning for her last florist appointment before the wedding!  So fun!

This gave me a major sad face.  Always will miss my daddy.

Apparently Lucy didn't want the light in her eyes :)

First wood sign for the wedding complete!

Stopped by the grand opening of the largest Kroger in Kentucky.  It's ridiculous and its 5 minutes from my house.  Yay for constant fresh produce!

A thunderstorm rolled in right in the middle of my nap, lol.  I love a good thunderstorm.  I lit candles all over the house just in case the power went out.

I got a Keurig!

How cute is this, wonder if I could make something like this myself....

I wanted this so bad but I reasoned with myself that I should probably make some cake pops before I go buying something to put them in.

I though I better not buy this since I'm already considered the cat lady. But now I wish I had.

A miracle happened at Meijer today.  I had to buy a Keurig for a United Way Raffle Basket.  It was very difficult to buy one and then hand it over.  So I was shopping for some K-Cups and mugs for the basket and I stumbled upon this on an endcap.  50% off a Keurig?  The kind of Keurig that wanted?  And there was nothing wrong with it??  OMG!  What!  It's mine now.

And I love it!

I got to see this little sweet love muffin today.  Wesson is getting so big!

And so is she!  Kelly and I went to De'Yana's to paint the nursery the nursery for Eric and De’Yana’s daughter who will be here sometime in the next month or so!  It was fun to show up and surprise her, she had no idea we were coming.  We got to spend some time with them and got to work!  Erin is getting so ridiculously big!  She turns five on Thursday.  I asked her if she was excited about her new baby sister and she said yes, but that her sister always kicks her when she’s next to mommy’s belly.   I told her that she used to kick me when she was in her mommy’s belly so maybe they would be a lot alike.  So excited to welcome that baby into the world!



Icing on my Cupcake

My weekly Friday trip to Abby Girls Sweets came early this week because I'm off Friday!  Whoop whoop!  Labor Day weekend here I come!  This cupcake was so delicious!  Cotton candy icing on a yummy vanilla bean cupcake.  I can't get enough of their cupcakes!

It's game day at Paul Brown Stadium.  Last pre-season game of the year!

Beans and Rice week at Crossroads carries on!  A member of my small group made us some yummy enchiladas to eat during our discussion of Timothy Keller's book on Galatians.  So good!

Sitting by the fire at bible study.  Love.

Well that's terrible news, lol.  What kind of book...

I so love my new cupcake box!

Shorty is ready for bed time.  She waits there while I read

LW

I always love the sunrise, although it's way better on the beach...

Today we had an ice cream social at work.  Not exactly sure what for but I don't ask questions when there is Graeter's ice cream, caramel and cherries involved.  Yum.

There's a storm rolling in!

I almost didn't go to Last Wednesday service at Crossroads tonight.  I had a few erronds to run, had to run home and shower but I made it right at the end of the beginning music.  I snuck in the back and sat all the way in the last row in the corner and I kind of loved it.  It was nice to just sit back by myself and enjoy the service.  No distractions.  I'm going to have to start doing that every once and a while.  Maybe just for LW services.  Great Service!

Five Fold Survey

Click here for the Five Fold Survey

At church Sunday we were given the website for the Five Fold Survey.  The survey asks multiple questions that give you and idea of what your ministry gifts are.  I took the survey today to prepare for service and here were my resluts:

So it looks like I'm supposed to be a teacher, which might explain why I can't stop listening to information and reading books about faith:

One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it (didaskalos). The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.
◦Biblical example—Apollos in Acts 18.

◦Jesus’ example—He was often referred to as Teacher or Rabbi. His “students” often remarked that his teaching was different because he taught with authority.

◦Mature Teachers enjoy reading and studying the Bible and helping others to understand it.

◦Secular examples—lecturers, trainers, school teachers.

◦Core question Teachers ask: Are the people of God immersing themselves in scripture and incarnating it?

◦Characteristics of an immature Teacher: The good thing about Teachers is their profound love of scripture. The bad news is that scripture can be the end rather than God. Immature teachers tend to forget that scripture is a thing that brings us to God. Scripture isn't the point. God is the point. They can suffer from Bibliolotry where they idolize scripture and put it over their relationship with the living and breathing God that we come to know by means of reading and incarnating scripture. There are few things more beautiful than watching a Teacher learn from a Prophet because their ability to teach goes to a new level as all of their teachings drive people to the arms of the Father. Also, immature teachers can rely on their own intellect to "wow" people rather than the authority that is given from scripture and from the Holy Spirit. People's comments about Jesus were that his teaching possessed an authority that they didn't see in the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. Likewise, the writer of Hebrews says, "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith." A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life. An immature teacher will often forget this.



Who will do that work?

This is the video they showed at church on Sunday about what the additional money given to our church is doing in India.  This is the mission trip I am working toward being a part of. 

The unhappy cat lady

Saw this book at target.  Love this book so much.  Must read.

And this book too

Today I was supposed to start with a new community group at Crossroads but it was cancelled so I decided to go to target to try and find something I could use to put together a basket for the United Way.  I walked away with these two things and I laughed at the checkout at how ridiculous my purchases looked.  An unhappy cat lady.  Lol.  I can laugh because I know the truth.  But this is funny.

Future Family: All the Fixins

Click here for the message.

This is a great message for people who have strife in their family.  Whether it be with a parent, sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, anyone whom is considered family.  How we reach out to them no matter what because that's what Jesus has done for us.  We clear all paths for them to get to us so that day when they decide they want to reconcile with us the door is open. 

Made me think about my dad.  Sometimes I wonder where he was in his faith when he passed away.  I remember him wanting so bad to reconcile with one of his family members.  How it broke his heart that he didn't feel he was able to do that but he felt he had done what he could to open the door.  It made me think about how much God may have been opening his heart.  How much maybe his faith in God was driving his actions in the end.  It gave me some peace about that.

Go India



This trip has been on my heart for a long time.  Moments will come and go when it's strongly on my heart and then moments will pass.  I feel like God keeps putting it on my heart to go.  To be the church where it's needed the most.  To get out of my comfort zone and to do things for His purpose instead of always keeping myself in my comfortable little bubble.  Spending money on things that don't matter instead of on people who do. 

I've been reading the book Radical by David Platt which is a huge wake up call with how far the American Dream is from God's plan for us.  Reading the book has been challenging, when Platt named the book Radical he absolutely meant Radical.  The book talks about how God calls us to radically abandon ourselves to Him.  When we are bapitized we totally die to ourselves.  In Matthew 10 Jesus tells his dicipiles "“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."

Sounds radical right?  Jesus was absolutely radical and he calls us to be the same.  Following Jesus doesn't mean I get to sit in my comfy house and watch HGTV and play on Pinterest whenever I want.  It means sacrifice.  It means hard work and hard times, but trusting in God through it.  It means I should be doing whatever I can to spread the gospel to those who need it the most.   I realize how challenging this is.  I can not tell you how many time I put my defensive hat on while I was reading this book.  In the end, it challenedged me.  Made me face some real truths about my life.  And if it makes me change a few things and take a few mission trips, touch a few lives then I think it's served it's purpose.  What I hope it does in the end is make me radically abandon all that used to take up so much useless space in my life and replace that with a thirst for bringing comfort, healing and Christ to those who need it the most, no matter where they are geographically.  I hope to start with India 2014.     For more information on Go India: Click here. For David Platt's book Radical: Click here. 

Starting Point: Sea of Glass

Click here to hear the message

I decided not to summarize these anymore because that makes me miss half the message.  I loved this sermon.  What if, like Abraham, all we have to do is trust God to be righteous in His eyes?

Genesis 15:6  Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Wesson Day!

I so loved today.  I went to church and loved seeing the FI team!  I also got to meet with one of my favorite people that comes to Crossroads.  There's this little old man who always says hello to everyone, and makes converstaion with everyone.  So while he was busy talking to everyone at the info center I introduced myself to his son.  I learned that he is going through the FI training course next week to be a volunteer with us.  I'm so excited about it.  I am certainly going to try and get him to be a part of our team! 

After church I went and spent the day at my aunt and uncle's house so I could see baby Wesson and fam and take his pictures. 

That sign actually says Wesson Michael, he was excited that the sign could also be for him.

Sweet baby Wesson cuddled up with his momma!

I think he was sick of me taking his picture :) love this face.

not so happy :)

We decided to have a lazy Sunday at least once a month so I can get pictures of him and we can all hang togehter.  It'll definitely be something I look forward to every month!



Future Family: Power Down

Click here for the message- Future Family: Power Down

I absolutely loved this message!  This is a must hear message for everyone, because most everyone has a family and this can be useful for anyone and everyone.

There is a tension between what is real and what is ideal.

This sermon explores the verse: Wives submit to your husband.

Although men like to use that as a way to say their wives are not obeying the rule was really given to everyone. The verse has more context:

Ephesians 5:21-33- Instructions for Christian Households

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church

This verse is not about wives being obedient to a man who orders her around, this verse is about mutual submission. For reverence of Christ, not for each other.

When Jesus discovered he was all powerful he immediately washed the feet of his Disciples, showing them that he was there to serve them with everything that he had. Whether you are mom, dad, sister, cousin, aunt, you should be using your power and your resources to lift each other up. No one puts themselves above the other. He was setting an example for us. We do that for other people because Jesus did that for us. Not for that person but for Jesus because we are following his example. Best family dynamic, relational dynamic.

Always ask your loved ones: What can I do to help? What can I give you to benefit you?

Happiness does not equate to getting everybody to do everything you want them to do all the time. Leverage all of yourself to your family. You don’t get happy when you control everyone around you. You get happy when you give yourself to the people around you, just like Jesus did for you.

The reason why Jesus is the head of the church is because he gave his life away.

Romans 5:6-8: 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What does love require of me? Jesus’ greatest command was Love.

Mason Jars Galore!

 Morning cuddles with my Shorty cat!

I love love love a lazy Saturday morning and cinnamon almond pancakes. 

Jenna's wedding is in ONE MONTH, we spent the day decorating mason jars for her centerpieces.  They're going to be so cute!

Here are a few of them

I just love this farm.

I was so excited to get my new books in the mail today.  Only problem was the mailman used some type of witchcraft to get the box inside my mailbox.  Seriously.

Yeah I have no idea how it got in there.

But I just opened the box while it was still in the mailbox and ta-da!  Books for my bible study.  I'm excited to get into this book!

I had walked up to my mail box (which is up the street) to cut out my books and on the way back I noticed all these horsies!  I have lived in my condo for over 4 years and I had no idea these were here.  I always hear a rooster in the mornings so I figured there were some type of farm animals near by.  How awesome!

Type O's do not have more fun

At Crossroads Grill n Go that took place a couple of weeks ago myself and another woman were getting eaten alive by mosquitos while everyone else happily chatted and didn’t seemed to be phased a bit. I talked to my mom about how people say that people with certain blood types get bit more than others. Apparently I have blood type O which is the type of blood mosquitos love. Lucky me. I googled it and came across Blood Type Diet studies. Apparently there are certain foods that are better for you to eat if you’re a certain blood type. Makes sense, but, who knew?! So I thought I’d explore mine a little bit and I have to say I was a little bit disappointed in what I found. Apparently I am supposed to be a huge carnivore.

“The success of the Type O Diet depends on the use of lean, chemical-free meats, poultry, and fish. Type Os don't find dairy products and grains quite as user friendly as do most of the other blood types.”

I LOVE dairy. So now what am I supposed to do? This reminds me of the Brian Regan skit where he’s told he can’t have dairy anymore. “And no more happiness”

I find all of this very interesting. I started trying to eat whole grains because, well, because I read they were good for you right? Common knowledge. This said something different:

“The initial weight loss on the Type O Diet is by restricting consumption of grains, breads, legumes, and beans. The leading factor in weight gain for Type Os is the gluten found in wheat germ and whole wheat products, which interferes with insulin efficiency and slow down metabolic rate.”

What?! Okay so no more whole wheat products. Check. Didn’t really like those anyway.

Here’s the worst part though:

The third factor in Type O weight gain is that Type Os have a tendency to have low levels of thyroid hormone or unstable thyroid functions, which also cause metabolic problems. Therefore it is good to avoid food that inhibits thyroid hormone (cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, mustard green) but increase hormone production (kelp, seafood, iodized salt).

Cabbage? Cabbage is one of my favorite foods, cauliflower I LOVE, greens LOVE. I hate hate hate seafood. So. None of this news is what I wanted to hear.

Oh but it gets worse:

Type Os should severely restrict the use of dairy products. Their system is not designed for the proper metabolism.

So here’s the breakdown:

1. Thrive on intense physical exercise and animal proteins
2. Do not do well with dairy and grain products
3. Hardy digestive tract
4. The leading factor in weight gain for Type Os is the gluten found in wheat germ and whole wheat products.
5. Type O have a tendency to have low levels of thyroid hormone and unstable thyroid functions, which cause metabolic problems and weight gain.
6. Type O have high stomach-acid content, can digest meat easily.

Here is all the happiness that has been taken from me today:

1. BACON
2. Ham
3. DAIRY PRODUCTS
4. Yogurt
5. Peanuts
6. Corn
7. Bread
8. Noodles
9. CABBAGE
10. Cauliflower
11. Mustard Greens
12. POTATOES
13. AVOCADO
14. Oranges
15. STRAWBERRIES
16. Pepper
17. Cinnamon
18. VANILLA
19. Ketchup (really????)
20. PICKLES
21. BEER (yeah right)
22. COFFEE (now you’re just getting ridiculous)
23. Distilled Liquor

The only silver lining in this is that I’m allowed to have wine, Chocolate, and steak and that’s exactly what I’m eating tonight, a lot of it.

I found all of this information on Dr. Lam's (the fun sucker) website.  Click here to see a table of fun you can not have.  (I'm sure Dr. Lam is really quite lovely in person.)