Worship Wednesday

 Worship Wednesday is a little different this week. One of my favorite worship songs is "Hosanna." It is one of those that never gets old to me. I think I've used it on here before. This past Sunday we had a special visit from one of my old small group Senior girls Caroline. Caroline is going to be a freshman at Samford this Fall. She joined our worship team for Sunday's service and sang a beautiful version of Hosanna that her Dad caught on an iphone video. I thought I would share it with you today.

Enjoy

"Hosanna"

I see the king of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

Hosanna Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on our knees

Hosanna Hosanna

Hosanna in the highest

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

Hosanna in the highest

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....

A letter to my 16 year old self

Some of you may know that I lead a small group of Senior Girls on Sunday nights. I look forward to these nights all week long. I'm so proud of each and everyone of those girls and can't wait to see the ways the Lord works in their lives as they venture into college and beyond. Well as with most people when you spend a lot of time around teenage girls it gets you thinking about your days as a teenager. I started wondering what I wish I had done differently, or wish I had known, or wish I had done that I didn't do. You've seen a lot of these around this thing we call the internet but here is my own version...

Dear "16 year old me",

You're a pretty girl and you don't need to lose weight. Trust me, you're the smallest now you will probably ever be.

 

Try to stay out of catty girl drama. The more you involve yourself, the more your words will probably get twisted.

 

Wherever you want to go to college, go there! Don't focus on where your friends are going!

 

At this point, don't let boyfriends/crushes bring you down. Enjoy this time with friends and only give boys time who treat you great in public and in private.

 

Remember your values, hold on to things sacred.

 

You're never too cool for any church event. If you want to know the people who will really care about you- you will find them there!

 

Be sweet to your parents, you will regret it if you don't. It's better for everyone in the long run if you just stay respectful.

 

Go on and start trying to overcome your circumstances. Beat the odds. Don't blame mistakes on the hand you were dealt.

 

Trust God. He loves you. SO. MUCH.

 

Don't worry if other people have nicer clothes/cars/jewelry than you. Nobody will remember and you will probably be making fun of the clothes you used to wear one day.

 

Whatever you do, do it with everything you have! Take ownership of who you are and be proud of that!

 

Keep in touch with those people who want to invest in your life. They really do care, and you really will want them involved later on.

 

Try new things. You never know where your gifts may lie.

 

The truth about being busy...

 I'm going to be uber honest for a minute. I get a little frustrated when people tell me how busy they are. I know I know- people have things going on, life is CRAZY! I'm telling you ~ drives me nutso. Then I remember that I'm about to delve into a blogpost about how busy I am. Ooops, forgive me please.

 

This is our life...

~We both work full time~

~We don't pass up on play time with our little buddy~

~We wash 5 bottles a day~

~We cut our own grass, do our own laundry, clean our own house, wash our own cars~

~We rarely turn down an invite to enjoy a meal with friends~

~We both spend about 10-15 hours a week at church~

~We both have hobbies we wish we had more time to explore~

~We try not to pass up the opportunity for weekends with friends, family, and even work commitments~

 

I say all of this not to tell you how busy we are or for you to respond and tell me how impressed you are that we keep it all running. I write this to tell you the truth about our "busyness."

 

~Yes there are days when we just want to stay curled up in bed~

~Yes there are plenty of days I wish I worked part-time~

~Yes there are times I feel like a complete failure that I have this sewing machine and embroidery machine and can't carve out the time to use them~

~Yes I waste too much time trying to measure up to other females and moms with different circumstances~

 

But...

 

 ~We wouldn't trade it for anything~

~Even when we're tired and exhausted, the time with friends and family is worth every minute it takes away from chores or sleep~

~Doing our own chores around the house and yard is fulfilling and we're always pleased with the result~

~Spending those hours at the church listening to sermons, fellowshipping in small group, worshipping, leading small groups is our privilege and honor~

 

And this I know

~It is impossible to stay so busy and stay rested without relying on God to help us through it~

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!

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!

Time for a Christmas game?

  I wanted to share a fun game with you that I created for our Small Group Christmas Party on Sunday and they seemed to enjoy it! Let me know if you need the answers!

Christmas Music Trivia

1. What do the treetops do in a white Christmas?

2. What is Rudolph going to go down in?

3. What kind of fire do chestnuts roast on?

4. What did your true love send you on the fifth day of Christmas?

5. What can we build in the meadow?

6. What two things are all you want for Christmas?

7. Where will our troubles be if we have a Merry Little Christmas?

8. What do bells on bob tails do?

9. Even though the weather outside is frightful, what is the fire? 10. What type of gifts do we bring to lay before the King?

11. Where did Mommy tickle Santa Claus?

12. Outside when the snow is falling what are friends calling? 13. What kind of nose did Frosty the Snowman have?

14. What do shepherds quake at?

15. What color Christmas will I have without you?

16. What do the angels sing?

17. What does the weary world do on this Holy night?

18. What type of joy do we repeat?

19. Jesus was born on Christmas Day to save us from whose power?

20. What are the three kings bearing gifts following?

21. The angel brought glad tidings of what?

22. What did they go tell it on the mountain?

23. Good King Wencelas looked out on the feast of who?

24. What was the little Lord Jesus asleep on?

25. What will you hear on every street corner?

26. How many times is Santa checking his list?