Perspectives
I've been taking this class in McKinney with my sister and my friend Jenna from church. It is like a college course with tons of reading, homework, and a big research project but it is totally worth the work......yes, even days when I feel crazy overwhelmed and frustrated like I can't get my brian to work or make myself be motivated to delve into the deep theological questions. (been happening more often the last few weeks)
But then we go to class and hear the most amazing speakers present their stories and information and examples from lives they have lived doing these things we are learning about and I sit there with tears welling up in my eyes and say to myself "yes, this is worth it and I will not leave here unchanged". Sometimes we just learn and hear so much and we feel the burden of all that needs to be done and it is a task no person could accomplish and it is a rush of exhiliration flooded by helplessness and disorientation and then you just feel dumbstruck by it all and don't know what to do so you shut down for a while and try to process it and figure out where to go from here. I have to remind myself that each of us are on our own unique journey through this life and that we were not meant to multitask, super-mom and out-christian ourselves by single-handedly making the gospel known among 7,000 unreached people groups, while raising our own children, working a regular job, being a stay-at-home mom, volunteering at every organization that crosses our path, serving as room mom in our kids classroom, making our own homemade food from scratch every meal, pinning and making DIY cleaning supplies, running marathons, working out at least an hour a day, keeping up with a blog, facebook, twitter, texting and e-mail, attending every Bible study offered, leading home group, buying all organic, going on short term and long term missions every year, or picking up and moving to a foreign land to minister to a different culture, and wearing Toms (or whatever other fad comes along) to "support the cause". Do you ever feel like "oh my gosh, I just can't handle this" and it's like you just want to sit and drift off into an imaginary world reading some fiction romance novel and do nothing at all?? I'll admit I have had those days a lot this semester. It's easy to become bogged down by unrealistic self-imposed standards and goals that have nothing at all whatsoever to do with living the life God intended me to live. At these times when it is hardest to see clearly, I have to tell myself to remember that following Christ is a clear and simple command to surrender and love Him completely with all my heart, soul and mind in everyday big or small things that are a part of life and all other things will fall into focus.
Girls Weekend
An acquaintance from church invited me to join a small group of ladies on a little roadtrip to enjoy a weekend in the mountains at Beavers Bend in Oklahoma taking in the glorious splendor of God's creation. We had quiet time exploring, worship together, fellowship and food. We did some Bible study and made new friends. The place was incredible and I would love to go back someday. I'm glad I got to go. My sweet acquaintance has now become a very dear friend and we have since had a few playdates for our youngest girls who are only a few monts apart in age. Thank you Torrie.
FCA
Jeremy took on the role of being the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) sponsor at the high school and we have had a great opportunity to get to know some really great high school kids. We have had them to our house for a fall dinner party/Bible study. We made a big light-up homecoming sign for a competition and won first place. We took a bus load of FCA kids to one of the loudest experiences of my entire life.....a Christian concert in Arlington featuring christian rap artist Lecrae, and several others. It completely rocked our world. Let me just say I'm glad my friend Meredith brought extra earplugs.....especially since we had tickets to be on the floor down in front of the stage area. When the music started the speakers that arched from the floor all the way to the stadium ceiling in two huge rainbow shaped sculptural masses sent out sound waves that boomed through every pore in my body making my bones and my hair follicles vibrate. You could literally see the sound wave as it knocked us back a step. The videos, performances and music were entertaining. But the best part was hearing each artist give their testimonies between acts.
Halloween
We didn't really do decorating for halloween but we did put out all of our fall decor early to enjoy with a bunch of cool pumpkins in the mix. I love all the textured and different colored pumpkins and gourds that you can find this time of year. Nana and Papa bought the girls new halloween costumes when they visited. We had rain the night our church was suppose to do "Trunk or Treat" so that got cancelled but the next night we walked with friends through our neighborhood and came home with two bags full of candy that should last the next few months!
This year Jodi and Chris moved out to their lovely new house in Whitewright close to Chris' parents. Todd and Michele moved to their huge new house in Allen. And Mom put her house on the market (fell and got a concussion and went to the hospital) and moved in with us.....whew! Let me take a breath. You could say there has been a lot going on around here. Thank the Lord mom is doing well. She had just put her house on the market on November 14th and that evening started feeling ill and got up to get a drink and passed out in the kitchen, hitting her head on the floor. Long story short, she was out for a while, made it back to bed, waited till morning to call me. We took her by ambulance to the hospital. They ran a ton of tests and kept her overnight and when all things checked out she came home with us and moved into Zoe's room (which totally worked out great since Zoe sleeps with Carley every night anyway). It has been such a blessing having her living with us (just hate she had to hit her head to do it sooner). We have been praying and talking about selling our homes and getting a place together for a while now. So, hopefully mom's place will sell soon and then we will put ours on the market and look for a new place close by that will be a good fit for all of us.
Thanksgiving
For the past several years we have hosted Thanksgiving at our house and we have loved it. This year we got to do something special and new. Since Todd and Michele had a wonderful large space for entertaining we did our gathering at their new home. And several of Michele's family came into town to be there too! It was great to meet some of her family we have never met before. I was sad that Monika didn't get to come though since she was feeling sick, yuck. Poor Monika. She and Tim have been working so very hard and such long hours and I hope they will be able to have some rest soon. We had a yummy meal and ate tons of food and reflected on all the blessings we have to be so very thankful for each day.
Mom and I worked on crafty projects during our Thanksgiving week (can't say too much on this one cause I don't want to give away any secret gift information.....but it's pretty exciting stuff)
And we traveled to the Austin area to see Brent and Traci, Tyler and Jorden and their lovely new home. Brenda and Monte were there also and we all enjoyed a fun weekend together. We took the kids to see Frozen which was awesome!!
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