Worship Wednesday

As you all know, this last Sunday was Chris and my last Sunday at Saint James. The last song of the worship set Chris sang. I cried. He sang. I cried. It truly is all about surrendering to God and it was moving for him to sing it as He really is living that out. Enjoy this today...

 

"I Surrender"

Here I am
Down on my knees again
Surrendering all
Surrendering all

Find me here
Lord as You draw me near
Desperate for You
Desperate for You

I surrender

Drench my soul
As mercy and grace unfold
I hunger and thirst
I hunger and thirst

With arms stretched wide
I know You hear my cry
Speak to me now
Speak to me now

I surrender
I surrender
I wanna know You more
I wanna know You more
[x2]

Like a rushing wind
Jesus breathe within
Lord have Your way
Lord have Your way in me

Like a mighty storm
Stir within my soul
Lord have Your way
Lord have Your way in me

Like a rushing wind
Jesus breathe within
Lord have Your way
Lord have Your way in me

Like a mighty storm
Stir within my soul
Lord have Your way
Lord have Your way in me

Like a rushing wind
Jesus breathe within
Lord have Your way
Lord have Your way in me

Like a mighty storm
Stir within my soul
Lord have Your way
Lord have Your way in me

Lord have Your way
Lord have Your way in me

I surrender
I surrender
I wanna know You more
I wanna know You more
[x2]

 

Coming to a close...

This Sunday will be our last Sunday at St. James. Wow. I cannot believe I'm even typing the words. I've been doing a lot of reminiscing lately about the memories, the laughs, and the relationships that have been formed through the years. When I look back, I realize I really grew up during my time here. St. James truly prepared both of us to go out and do God's work. Thank you for all of those who poured into us, ministered to us, loved on us, prayed for us, fed us, and more!

To the media department- thank you for being the first to welcome me and help me find my place at St. James. April, Lisa, Jacob, Chap, Cyle, Dianne, Shanna, Lamar, Mike, Rachelle, and Randy- I have so many wonderful memories with each of you that I will forever cherish. As you all know, we can probably give Jacob the credit for most of the laughs. I met Chris in that media room and will forever be grateful.

To my sweet friend Rachel that predicted Chris and our marriage. You will always be part of our St. James family to me.

To our first small group at Steve and Lil's house. Thank you for being those extra sets of parents who we could rely on. Lil and Steve- you truly are family. (That includes you Cyle, Joanie, Eleanor, and Nate, Mac, and Milly)

To the people we have said goodbye to in our time at St. James- Jeremy and Christy, Jonathan and Amanda, Jacob, Kristin, Lester and Janeese, Brad and Rachel, Trey and Abbey, Woods~ thank you for teaching us what it means to "go" when the Lord calls you. You set us a great example.

 

To my Esther's Group- thank you for the bond and truly showing me what Christian fellowship looks like. You have changed my impression of what a "small group" really is.

 

To all who took part in our wedding day. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for the scriptures, the planning, thank you for the flowers, thank you for the musical talent, thank you for the song, thank you for the act of marrying us, thank you for handing out programs, thank you for the love.

To the worship team that supported both Chris and I through new jobs for me, our engagement, our wedding, my pregnancy, Huttons' birth. You have been there for it all- we love you so much.

To Vaughn, thank you for teaching Chris how to lead. Thank you for being that Godly example and supporting him. Thank you for giving him opportunities to grow. Thank you for the love, prayers, friendship and so much more.

To the Women's Leadership Team I served with. Thank you for the friendships, the fun, the laughter. I loved serving God alongside you and watching women grow closer to the Lord. Janeese- thank you for your example and leadership- it has been such a blessing.

 

To the women who have set such Godly examples of what it means to be a ministry wife- Janeese, Stephanie, Christy, Rachel, Abbey, Cindy- I will always treasure the models you set for me.

 

To our small group for our first two years of marriage- thank you to Bradley and Ann and Steve and Michelle's leadership. Thank you for the openness and the bonds that were formed. Small groups truly are second family.

To the people I have both seen and served alongside of in our youth ministry. Thank you for getting me involved, thank you for trusting me, and thank you for pairing me up some of the most wonderful girls.

 

To the women I spent a beautiful four days on a retreat with back in March of 2011. Those four days will never be forgotten and I love yall and the bonds we formed.

 

To my senior girls small group. Words can't even describe how much I love yall. This is not the end for us and we will keep up through this year and as you go on to college. I'm so proud of yall and will continue to pray for you daily as God rises you up to be strong women who serve HIS kingdom!

To the people who have cooked and served us dinner on Wednesday nights, thank you for giving me that night off, thank you for your smiles, your laughs, your love, and your friendship.

 

To all that loved on us and supported us during my pregnancy and the birth of Hutton. We will always tell him stories about his first church home and the love he received there.

 

Lastly, but not at all least~ to all the people who have been my friends. A girl to chat with, a shoulder to cry on, a lunch buddy, a shopping buddy, someone to vent to. You have shown me what true friendship is. I love all of you and treasure the friendships I have formed.

To everyone else for the smiles, the hugs, the prayers, the laughs, the pictures, the memories, the stories, the bonds, the worship time, the tears, and everything in between. It has been quite a ride and it is bittersweet to jump to the next one God has planned for us. Know we will remember you in our hearts, prayers, and stories forever. You will always be family.

 

I could never list everyone but thank you to those who have made our time at St. James more than we could have ever imagined....

Worship Wednesday (on a Thursday)

  I know its Thursday. Busy week ok? Tuesday night we went to Hillsong with a huge group from our church and what a night it was. To say it was an awesome incredible night of worship would be an understatement. I loved every song as I knew it was because we sing so many and I have all of their albums so knew every word by heart. Today's song I have heard before but it didn't quite affect me the same as seeing it live on Tuesday. What a beautiful, awe-inspiring, chills, goosebumps moment. I pray that you can experience the same listening to it today. There aren't many words but simple, real and beautiful.

 

You gave me hope

You made me whole

At the cross

 

You took my place

You showed me grace

At the cross where you died for me

 

And His glory appears

Like the light from the sun

And age to age He shines

 

Look to the skies

Hear the angels cry

Singing Holy is the Lord

 

10 things on Thursdays

Today is Thursday, which means tomorrow is Friday! Woohoo! I thought today I would list the 10 things I'm the most looking forward to this weekend!

They are in no particular order!

10- The My Kids Attic Consignment Sale! My sweet friend Melissa got me a preview pass so I get in tomorrow at 4! Woop woop!

9- Auburn Game watching and eating with my friends Adam and Amanda. I haven't seen either of them in SOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo long so I can't wait to catch up. I know that laughing will be in store because Adam is hysterical.

8- My husband comes home!!!! We have only been together 5 hours (they were all sleeping hours) in the last week and we've never been away from eachother that long.

7- I'm teaching Middle School Sunday School this week. Now sometimes you have to pull words out of those middle schoolers to get them to talk but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.

6- Youth Small Groups start back! I'm rocking my third year with the same group of girls. They are Seniors this year and I cannot express how much I love them and how proud of them I am. Love you Bailey, Caroline, Kathryn, Emily, Becca, Taylor, Alex, Kelsey, Carlie and Morgan!

5- Dinner with my Mom tomorrow night! I haven't seen her much lately so I'm very much looking forward to a free dinner and catching up.

4- Delicious family dinner Saturday night in honor of my husband's return! I'm not even sure what I'm cooking yet but I think I'm going to pick up some shrimp at the store and go from there. Any suggestions?

3- Sitting through a sermon at St. James with Chris. Between sicknesses, vacations, bachelor parties, bachelorette parties and more we haven't sat through a sermon together in over a month.

2- My dog not barking in the middle of the night. Anytime Chris is out of town Jacks goes on high alert. This means that any noise from the hours of 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. he barks at OUT OF CONTROL! For me it means, no sleep, dark circles, puffy eyes, tired employee!

1- Family walk! I have to admit, I am not a huge walker. I should be I know. But, Jacks loves them, Hutton loves them, Chris loves them so I'm determined to learn to love them. Plus- I love being with all of my boys so if they all want to walk- then I'm up for it!

Worship Wednesdays

  This is such a beautiful song by Bryan and Katie Torwalt that I believe my sweet friend Melissa is singing this coming Sunday at St. James. If you're in the area come and listen! You will definitely be blessed!

There is nothing worth more
That will ever come close
Nothing can compare
You're our Living Hope
Your Presence

I've tasted and I've seen
Of the sweetest of loves
Where my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone

Your presence Lord

Holy Spirit You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory God is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence Lord

Your presence Lord

There is nothing worth more
That will ever come close
You are our Living Hope

Your presence Lord

I've tasted and I've seen
Of the sweetest of loves
Where my heart is set free
And my shame is undone

Holy Spirit You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory God is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence Lord
(Repeat)

(end)
Let us become more aware of Your presence
Let us experience the glory of Your goodness
(Repeat)

Lord
Holy Spirit You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory God is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence Lord

Celebration and bittersweet events...

  I'm up super early this morning getting ready to head to a conference in Birmingham for the day. For some reason it just breaks my heart to leave my baby early in the morning before he's awake. I started thinking about it and getting a tad bit emotional about it and that brought me to thinking about the upcoming week. I feel like it is a week/weekend of happy and bittersweet events ahead of me.

Tomorrow we go to one of our last small groups for the year. I can't say for certain but I have a feeling that this small group won't be the same next year. This may not even be the small group we're in next year. I already know of some people who will be moving around and I am so thankful for this group. In reality when we switched to this group I was not happy about it. We were in a group full of couples that could probably be our parents but loved every moment. It was like having 8 extra Mom's and 8 extra Dad's. I will forever be grateful to God for those people in our lives. Because of that group I came to know one of the most wonderful women I have ever known and now she is definitely like my adopted Momma! The group we have been in for the last two years has also been amazing. Our host and leader couple are definitely two people I would encourage any couple to learn under. Their knowledge is incredibly vast and they are so transparent about issues and I couldn't love them anymore. I'm so thankful for their spiritual wisdom and friendship over these last two years.

Then the most bittersweet event of all comes. Friday night we get together with a group of friends to have a send off party for our dear friends Brad and Rachel Goode. I could talk about this for days but I'll make it quick. God has blessed me with some amazing friends over my lifetime. Some of us have grown distant and I miss them and will always love them. Rachel is one of those friends that I already knew before Chris but dating Chris brought us even closer. I can honestly say I have never met anyone like her and she is one of the most amazing friends God could have blessed me with. She has so much wisdom, she is definitely a blast, so very stylish, beautiful inside and out, will cry with you, laugh with you, or be mad with you if that is what the situation calls for! But at the end of the day she also somehow always knows what to say. I am beyond thankful for our friendship and know that this is just a new step in it. I could write a whole blog about how much I love their whole family so maybe I'll do that after the party.

Saturday morning we head off to Huntingdon's graduation where I get to watch my sweet friend Luv graduate. Luv has become like a little sister to me. I honestly can't even tell you how we became close but now I can't imagine us not being close. She has such an amazing future ahead of her and I cannot wait to see what God does through her!

Saturday night comes some excitement as we head off to an engagement party to celebrate our friends Clay and Melissa. This is such a special night and I remember Chris and my own engagement party. What fun! It really kicks off all the wedding festivities! I can't wait to celebrate with this wonderful couple!

Sunday morning we will head to church to hear Brad's last sermon at St. James. I'm sure in typical Brad fashion he'll have his normal table up there to preach. Brad's been at St. James longer than most every staff person there and I know it will definitely be a bittersweet day for him. They are headed off to Mobile where I am so confident in the amazing things God has for them but still sad for us!

So there goes my preparation for the week ahead of me. I'll just pray that God gives me the energy to get through it all and a smile on my face for even the events that make me a little sad.

Mission Day - Great Day of Service

   This last Saturday, our church participated in the Great Day of Service. Methodist churches all over Montgomery spent the morning helping others with all different kinds of things. Some did yard work, some did home maintenance, and so much more. St. James collected bags of food that would feed a family of 4 for 4 days. The members of the church collected over 2 tons of food and we spent Saturday morning distributing them. Our small group and another small group took about 150 bags to Reality and Truth and distributed the bags there. It was so much fun being able to talk to those people and their excitement over the food.

Our bag set up outside Reality and Truth

Two men taking away their bags

Part of our group (including Baby H) near the end of the day!

Each of the bags essentially had the same things but they would have different types of snacks included. Some had Chips Ahoy, some had Oreos, some had Cheese Nips, and there was this one special bag with Nutty Butty Bars in it. There was this lady came up that didn't have one of the pre-distributed tickets but we assumed we'd have extras so we asked her to wait for a little while so that we could give all the bags out to those who already had tickets. Well wait she did! She had her bag hidden near the back so she could get those delicious Nutty Butty bars! What a joy it was to see her face when she got the bag that she wanted so much. It is no different than when we go to the grocery and are so excited to get that special bag of chips and bring them home and open it! Praying they felt some of God's love for them through us and their full bellies!


We took Hutton out and had a great time and of course everyone commented on the beautiful baby boy! I'm not sure he'll remember his first ever mission day but we will and can't wait until the days when we can tell him about it!

Happy Happy New Year!

  So yes I must admit I was a total slacker on the whole blogging throughout December thing! It just got the best of me and was so busy that I felt like I never had time to catch up and actually blog. Well now its January and a new year so on the 3rd of December I will start it off right!

I thought I would start the new year off by recapping what a year 2011 was by listing 11 of my highlights of 2011 in no particular order...

1- 1st Anniversary... Well we did it :) Chris and I finished out a whole first year of marriage. We beat out Kim Kardashian. No seriously though, you do go through some adjustments that first year and I am more in love now than I was the day I married him. We got to celebrate by spending a long weekend in St. Simons. Perfection!

2- Becoming a family of three... I bet you all thought I was talking about finding out I was pregnant! Haha, actually on January 18th we welcomed in our Havanese Puppy Jacks and yes I count him as a full on family member. I cannot tell you the amount of joy he has brought us over the last year.

3- Finding out we would be a family of four... Okay here is that finding out I was pregnant part! This was quite a surprise as many of you know but we have truly discovered over the last 29 weeks since we found out that God's timing is perfect. We can't wait to welcome sweet Hutton into this world in 7 weeks or less :)

4- Wizarding World of Harry Potter... Yep- I'm one of those. Now I don't want to get into any type of conversation whether Harry Potter is good or bad. All I can say is I grew up for it and take it for what it is, fictional books and movies that just entertain me. In March, Chris took me on a short trip to Orlando and I got to do the whole Harry Potter world and had a BLAST!

5- Bahamas... In early March even before Harry Potter world I went with some sweet friends and spiritual mentors for a long weekend in the Bahamas. I can tell you without a doubt I've never felt God's presence more in a place than I did those few days. I'm not even sure how to explain it but I came back a better wife, worker, friend, daughter and feeling more renewed than ever before. Hmmm... return trip? I'm so thankful for those sweet friends that experienced that with me.

6- Roughing it... Well, it doesn't really count as roughing it but in February we went with our friends Clay and Melissa up to Mt. Cheaha for the weekend. It was just a relaxing weekend of a little hiking (maybe an exaggeration), food, fun, music, and Catch Phrase! Now 2012 will bring their wedding and we can't wait to share in that excitement with them!

7- Highlights for some sweet people in our life... Some of our friends had some really special moments in the last year that we were able to enjoy with them. My precious friend Aletha married her high school love Bo Mann and they are enjoying married life together! Our friends Brad and Rachel brought home their long awaited and prayed for second daughter Amelia home from Uganda in February. What a special blessing it was to have their family of four together! We also had some other friends JW and KC bring home their sweet little second daughter Zoe home from Ethiopia! Two sweet friends Ty and Kimberly got married in October and we were able to celebrate in that occasion with them! On December 21st, our sweet friends Matt and April Damato welcomed their little boy Lucas into this world! There's more... two of my Melissa friends got engaged and will be getting marred in 2012! Congrats to Clay and Melissa and John and Melissa! And in December we also found out some exciting news that is still a secret :) I think that is all... if I missed anything please please forgive me!!

Aletha and Bo in their coffee shop in St. Simons- Wake Up Coffee Co.!

8- Together... In April of this year the women's ministry of our church put on an exciting event to bring the women of our church together. It was called Together... Pray Love Act. I was in on the planning for this event and had a blast helping plan it as well as seeing God's faithfulness as it all came together. They are also planning another special event for this year and I pray that God will give the women of St. James an incredible experience and reveal himself to them in new ways!

9- 25th Birthday... Trips are always fun, trips with friends and your spouse are even better! We spent a long weekend with our friends the Goode's and the Freeman's at the beach for my 25th birthday. It is just extra special because you get to be with both your spouse and some of your besties all at the same time!

10- Paseo... Chris and I spent our actual anniversary weekend at Paseo which is a spiritual retreat. I really can't go into detail about the experience except say that it started out slow but ended up really blowing us away :) If you are interested in learning more or going yourself... let me know!

11- It's a Boy/Baby Shower... I will combine these so that I don't take up so many things with info about Hutton! Well we had two fun parties that involved Hutton this year. Late summer we found out we were having a BOY and threw a gender reveal party at our house to announce the news that Hutton Whatley would be joining our fam. Then in December, a sweet group of friends threw an amazing baby shower for me. I was honored by all the people that came to support us as well as so blessed by the beautiful gifts they gave. A special thank you to my sweet friend Mary for opening up her home!

Okay, I said I would only do 11 things because it was 2011 but I had to add 1 more. I also started an awesome new job in August that I love! I am now the Director of the Montgomery Area Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy which is a project of the Gift of Life Foundation.

2011 surely did bring us many blessings and I have a feeling 2012 has some awesome things in store. On Thursday, I'll tell you about my excitement and ideas for 2012!

Ten things on Thursdays

Defend the cause of the fatherless... Isaiah 1:17

Yesterday, I mentioned that at Saint James on Sunday we are having a service for Orphan Sunday. Today I was looking on the Orphan Sunday website and came across a perfect list to work for my blog post.

Ten Ways Every Christian Can Care for the Orphan and Waiting Child

1. Pray for them

Tape a waiting child’s picture to your dashboard and pray for the child every time you’re in a car.

Organize an evening prayer vigil at your church and pray for children in foster care or an orphanage overseas.

2. Speak Up for them

Carry a waiting child’s picture and show it to other believers. Ask if they, or someone they know, would give this child a home.

Become a court appointed special advocate for a child in foster care.

3. Provide for their needs

Give sacrificially to a reputable orphanage. Financial gifts can be designated for specific items and aid needed by orphans.

Organize a drive in your church to collect school supplies for children in foster care or shoes for orphans overseas.

4. Support those who support them

Mow, baby sit, or organize meals for a week for foster parents. Pray with them and tell them you appreciate what they do.

Encourage a family adopting by hosting a shower for them.

5. Protect them from harm

Become a foster parent or emergency foster parent.

Raise money to build a children’s home to help remove children from the streets.

6. Visit them where they are

Go on a mission trip to an orphanage as an individual or family.

Take dinner to a foster group-home on a regular basis.

7. Give sacrifically to them

Support reputable orphan care organizations on a regular basis.

Contribute generously to an adoptive family to help offset their costs.

8. Encourage them to press on

Sponsor a child, support them financially, and encourage them through your letters.

Become a mentor or tutor to a teenager in a foster group-home.

9. Adopt them into your family

Give a child a home through international, domestic, or foster care adoption.

Adopt a young adult who has aged out of the system.

10. Mobilize your church for them

  Be a catalyst in your church for starting a sustained orphans ministry.

If your church already has an orphan ministry, get involved!

Worship Wednesdays

 

  I'm not going to lie, I almost forgot it was Worship Wednesday! My days are off from being out of town but I love the pleasant surprise of it being a Wednesday. Today's song is special to me! This is one of the first songs I ever remember hearing Chris sing at church and therefore it has always been a personal favorite. So why am I sharing it with you today you ask? Well this Sunday are Church is having a special service for Orphan Sunday as November is National Adoption Month. It is going to be a special time I know since I have some dear friends who are in the planning process of it because Adoption is something they are super passionate about! More on them a later today because they are an AMAZING family and you should know all about them. Well, this Sunday Chris is leading worship at our church for Orphan Sunday and will be opening up the service with this song... Marvelous Light. Enjoy and remember that God does love you and has taken you out of any shame or darkness your sin may have produced and brought you into his unending love and light.

 

Into marvelous light I'm running
Out of darkness, out of shame
By the cross You are the truth
You are the life, You are the way

I once was fatherless
A stranger with no hope
Your kindness wakened me
Awakened me, from my sleep

Your love it beckons deeply
A call to come and die
By grace now I will come
And take this life, take Your life

Sin has lost it's power
Death has lost it's sting
From the grave You've risen
Victoriously

Into marvelous light I'm running
Out of darkness, out of shame
By the cross You are the truth
You are the life, You are the way

My dead heart now is beating
My deepest stains now clean
Your breath fills up my lungs
Now I'm free, now I'm free

Sin has lost it's power
Death has lost it's sting
From the grave You've risen
Victoriously

Into marvelous light I'm running
Out of darkness, out of shame
By the cross You are the truth
You are the life, You are the way

Lift my hands and spin around
See the light that I have found
Oh the marvelous light
Marvelous light

 

Worship Wednesdays

 Some of you may know that worship is a pretty big part of Chris and my lives. Being involved in worship at St. James is actually how we met. I will save that story for another day but you may know that Chris plays and sings in our praise team at church. He plays both acoustic and electric guitar and has an awesome voice! Yes, I completely understand that I am bias but in reality, he's really talented. Anyway, worship consists of so many different aspects but I'm starting something called Worship Wednesdays that will consist of me posting a praise song every Wednesday that really speaks to me or something I see going on so that I can share it with you. When I decided to start this I knew exactly what song I would use first. Jesus Culture is one of our favorite worship bands out there and we love their cutting edge style. When I first heard this song it spoke to me in so many ways which I will explain below.

Here inside Your presence
Taken by the wonder of You
Here inside Your glory
We give our lives fully to You

We cry Holy, Holy are You
We cry Holy, Holy are You

Your love it burns inside
Our hearts are satisfied by You
Your love is our reward
It’s why we ask for more of You

We cry Holy, Holy are You
Our hearts are burning, burning for You
We cry Holy, Holy are You
Our hearts are burning, burning for You

We are Your burning ones
We are consumed by You
We set our lives apart
We are consumed by You

So let this love be like a fire
Let our life be like a flame
Fill our souls with Your desire
Let our passion bring You fame

So much of those words speak to me as I desire to be more and more consumed by God instead of the things that we allow to consume ourselves. I made that last line bold though for a reason. That line has always stuck out to me since the first day I heard it. What if I was like that? What if you were like that? What if we were so consumed and so passionate about God that we truly brought him fame.

Fame: The condition of being known or talked about by many people, especially on account of notable achievements.

Now, God definitely does fit this definition. He is talked about by many people and talked about because of what He has done. However, when I think of fame what comes to my mind is Hollywood! Those people who you want to go pick up the latest People magazine to read about their lives and what they are up to. The people that fill up an hour of Entertainment Tonight or E! News daily. God is definitely talked about (mainly on Sundays) but I don't see people RUSHING out the door to hear the latest story of what He did in someones life. I pray that we can all live this way- that our passion truly does bring Him fame.

Fall Festivus

Happy Halloween! I hope you are each having a great Monday morning! I just have this feeling it is going to be a great week and I'm looking forward to it. We had such a great weekend with friends that culminated in the Fall Festival at Saint James last night. I loved seeing some of my favorite kiddos dressed up in their different outfits.

Abbey and her little gnome Lilly Broox!

My Goode girls!! Caroline (butterfly) and Amelia (strawberry)

2/3rd of the Pemberton crew- Norris (nerd) and Mary Blake (rockstar)

It was so much fun watching the kids run around so excited, it was nice to not have to worry about putting a little one to sleep after all that sugar but I cannot wait to be there next year carrying Hutton around for his first Halloween! Chris and I decided this morning we think we want him to be dressed up as a frog! It was a sweet end to the night as I ended it with my favorite 3 1/2 year old sitting on my lap sharing her candy with me - Rachel you taught her well! Hope everyone enjoyed their Fall Festivals and enjoy Halloween tonight with their own little ones or borrowed ones like we do.

In addition, yesterday my sweet friend Emily went and registered for my baby shower with me. Let me tell you, we were a hoot since neither one of us are moms yet but we had so much fun. A huge thank you to Emily for doing that with me!

Hands and Feet...

As Christians we're called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Serving has been thrown at me constantly since we returned from Hawaii. We got back and Saturday morning our church had a Mission Day where about 350 volunteers went out and served in different areas of our community. Chris and I went out to Common Ground- speechless is the word. I had heard about the Ministry, met the founders before and heard them talk, heard about tons of people going out there. I had never actually gone out there myself until Sunday. It was incredible, the ministry is awesome, the kids are incredible, and it has been on my heart ever since. I urge you to go to their website and then check out the links that take you to some of the staff member's blogs- they are truly incredible!
Common Ground Montgomery

Then, Sunday our Pastor Lester preached on a book by a local well-known Pastor John Ed Mathison. John Ed's book is entitled Treasures of the Transformed Life and this week the topic was on "Giving a Drink to Others." Lester spoke about the different opportunities we have to serve and remembering that we are called to serve. He had people in our church who had passions in different missions come up and talk about their missions and how to get involved. I heard ya God- we need to be servants. We need to be your hands and feet.

It only continues and this is what got me the most. My small group at church is reading a book called Radical by David Platt who pastors a church in Birmingham, Alabama. Incredible book that pushes you and makes you look at things in a completely different light. The chapter I read last night was also about Serving. It took on an interesting debate about whether people all over the world who have never heard the Gospel go to Hell since they do not have faith in Christ. He went at it from every different answer and left you with the call to go. There are 1.5 billion people in this world who haven't heard the Gospel and don't know the love of Christ. Wow. Most people reading this heard the Gospel sometime between 1 and 5 years old and then who knows how many times after that. It just left me thinking, what can I do? How can I make a difference? What can I sacrifice for someone's SALVATION? What is bigger than that? A better question, what can I NOT sacrifice for someone's salvation?

I don't have the book next to me at the moment to quote this exactly; however, one of the most interesting points to me was this... God is above all, he is the ultimate healer, giver, he is powerful, he is strong, he can do all. So he could put the words of the Gospel written across the sky. That isn't what he chose to do though. Instead, he called us to share His word and share His love. What good are we as Christians if all we do is sit around with other Christians and learn more about our Faith when there are so many who know nothing about it?

I know that was all serious, but at the same time it is just some interesting thoughts.

Blessed...

Think back, do you remember those feelings when something happens and you just know that God did that for you and you were taken care of? This morning we had our 3rd of 4 Pre-Marital counseling sessions with our Senior Pastor Lester Spencer and his wife who is another one of our pastors, Janeese. These sessions were just meant to be, I leave them completely filled with joy and encouraged about the life Chris and I have ahead of us.

Any couple could go to Pre-marital counseling with Lester and Janeese and I'm sure have a wonderful experience and learn a great deal because they are two very very wise and Godly people. However, I'm not sure any two people could have the experience that Chris and I have. Lester and Janeese have characteristics about their relationship that run very parallel to Chris and I and they have been such a blessing and encouragement to us throughout our engagement period.

As the divorce rate continues to rise I think it is so important that couples go through this. Saint James is adding a new program for couples that are about to get married that is a Mentoring Program. Very cool program especially since one of my Role Models in life is heading it up (I love you Lil!)! Couples will be matched up with an older married couple and will meet with them throughout their engagement period and then follow up and meet with them after the wedding. Now, we didn't go through this program since it is just getting started but I can promise you we have PLENTY of couples at STJ that we feel are our mentors. I could spend a whole blog just listing those people who have watched us throughout our whole relationship and we love each and every one of you more than you know. I think that program will be so cool though because who can help you out more in preparing for marriage than those that have stuck it out through the thick and thin and learned from it. Very cool! I pray that this new mentoring program will be a blessing for both mentors and young couples involved in it and hope that one day Chris and I will be that older couple mentoring a young couple who is standing where we are today.