Project Scarves. Operation Christmas.

I love to give gifts.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  It let’s your friends and family, or maybe even complete strangers, know that you are thinking of them.  Why not give a little?  The reward you will feel on the inside is way better than anything you can receive on the outside.

However, gifts at Christmas time is a different story.  Don’t get me wrong… I still love to give.  I just don’t love to forget what the holiday is all about, ya know?  Like the Savior of the whole world’s birth.

So this year to save some moolah (we do have two mortgage payments right now) and to minimize the gift hype, I decided to make infinity scarves for all the women in my life.  And there are a lot of women in my life… so it took a few nights at the sewing machine.

In the end, I was very pleased with how the turned out and even a little inspired to sew other things.  We will see…

Merry Christmas!

I love getting Christmas cards… like a lot.  It doesn’t really make sense that I don’t send them myself.  The only excuses I have are:  stamps are 44 cent a piece, and nobody wants to see pictures of just Nate and I.  So, maybe when we are blessed with a little one, I will bite the bullet and spread some Christmas cheer ;)

Anyway, here is the “digital Christmas card” I made this year.

"I found out what the secret to life is--friends. Best friends." --Fried Green Tomatoes"

Even Frankenstein said, “Alone.  Bad.  Friends.  Good.” 

I have learned these two statements to be nothing but the truth.  I am so thankful for the wonderful friends that Nate and I have made through our twelve years together.  Some have lasted a short time, and others will last our entire lifetime.  And, in some cases, even enduring the test of living four hours apart.

Great friends quickly become like family.  It is always a great time when you can hang out.  When you don’t get to see each other, you miss your times together…. and when you do see each other, it’s like you were never gone.  Birthdays and holidays are shared.  Hugs are given in times of need.  And lots of prayers are lifted up as you go through life together.  Friends.  Just don’t know what I would do without them.  I have never had such great friends in my life and I am super thankful and blessed with all of you :)

For our birthdays this year, a few great friends surprised us with an awesome cake and a fun gift that we got to bring back to OK and enjoy.  It was super fun and I thought I would share.

This picture of Nate was just too cute.  I love that man!

Incase you couldn’t read the envelope here is a close up…

 

Our sweet friends Carmen & Andew, and Cassie gave us these two “dates.”  We weren’t allowed to open the envelope until we were actually ready to go on a date.  So…. here is what was inside date #2….

I know…. you’re jealous of our super great friends, right?  This was great for us because Nate was wanting to see that Moneyball movie.  It’s about baseball.  You know the one about the Oakland A’s with Brad Pitt.

Anyway… We went to see it and there wasn’t any yogurt close so I got this…

An icee as big as my head. haha

It was a great time and we really enjoyed the day together.

Thank you Carmen & Andrew, and Cassie for this stinking awesome gift.  You guys are among my closest friends and I love you dearly.

Thanksgiving ~ Twenty Eleven

“In all things, give thanks…”

Thanksgiving came fast and was over just as fast this year.  We were able to get together with one side of my family before going to Texas to see Nate’s family.  It was at my cousin’s house this year, and she likes to take pictures….

*Disclaimer*  I know I look like I may, in fact, be with child… but I am not :)  All these holiday goodies have not been kind to my waste line.  Come January, things will change!

Me, Nate, and Crystal

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Nana and Pops!

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Tommy and Pops

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Mom and Dad

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Me and Tommy…(missed getting to see Brain, Kim, and the boys this year)

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Nana and I

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I cannot stop thinking about how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family.  I wish that we could get together a lot more than twice a year, but I guess that’s life.  With all the distractions out there… good and bad… take some time right now and thank God for your family.  And, resolve to thank God more for the people that mean the most to you this holiday season.

He holds my lot.

Have you ever found yourself in a place where you felt the enemy was totally there seeking your slaughter?  Have you ever felt like your prayers aren’t being heard?  Do you find yourself asking God why?  Are you going through such a hard time, that there seems to be no end in sight?  Are you impatient?  Unwilling to step out on faith?  Or just plain tired of life?

Thankfully, I have gone through the valleys before and have learned how to not get depressed or stressed…. and to totally put all my hope and faith in The One that can get you through.  Nate and I are, yet again, going through one of these times right now with the sell of our car/house.  God has already shown us how His hand is all over this situation and I totally expect Him to do something amazing in the next couple weeks.  I choose to believe that November 2011 will be a great month for us.  But, if God’s timing is not now…. He is still God and He is still good! 

Psalm 15:5-6 was mentioned in our Beth Moore Esther Bible Study and I love this so much I wanted to share.  We learned early on in the study about casting lots…. which is basically a gamble.  In these verses think of your portion as your destiny and your cup as what you are going through right now….. In other words:

God, You know my future and You know what I am going through right now; You take the dice of my life and make it land where You want…. There is no gamble with You… You make my life safe and give me peace.

Isn’t is comforting to know that God is already on the other side of every situation.  He is in control.  There is no need to fear or worry.  He will sustain us and if what we think should happen doesn’t….. there is another way for things to work out.  Beth Moore hit the nail on the head when she said, “when all is said and done, we will see that the portion God assigned to us was good.  Right.  Rich.  Full of purpose.”

So, when you find yourself in a dark place.  Stop, rest easy, and find wonderful peace and comfort knowing that He is in control.  He holds your lot. 

“Oh, that we would wake up to the goodness of our God and the crushing defeat of our enemy!” –Beth Moore

Happy Birthdays

Our birthdays for 2011 have come and gone and we are one year closer to 30.  Yikes!  We didn’t do anything special, but nights at home have become what we crave… so it was great.

Something that was kind of crazy this year is how many cakes we got.  It really made me feel really loved… probably because my mom has always said, “everyone deserves birthday cake on their birthday.”  First Carmen and Cassie made us one in Rogers… Then a sweet lady here at church made me a cake and Nate some mini pecan pies…. Then my awesome friend Melissa made me one and surprised me at church… Then my mom brought us another…. Nate’s mom gave us one (the same one as my mom, but we didn’t tell here that ;)... And finally the youth workers got together and gave us a huge cake on Wedesday night.

To say that I am and have been on a sugar high for the last couple weeks would be an understatement.  And… I don’t plan on skipping out on the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving…. Hope I don’t gain back those 30 lbs.  That would be bad.  I love this time of the year sooo much, but my waistline will thank me when January gets here and I get my “healthy hat” back. ha

Anyway… years 26 & 29 look to be great ones and we are excited to see what God has in store for us!

 

The Power of Being Positive

Why hello my favorite month.  I absolutely love November.  The weather is cooling off but not freezing… There is a great family holiday in the middle… It’s Nate’s birthday… It’s my birthday… It’s one month before Christmas!

Last week we went to clean up our AR house, so it was a week full of cleaning and painting.  We got home, went to sleep, and immediately got up and went to Falls Creek with some church people to do the same thing there.  We were soar and exhausted by the time Sunday rolled around….. but, I will say that we got a ton of things done.

I was a little upset when I caught my breath on Monday night because I wasted a whole week of my favorite month cleaning. Ugh.  But now, I am in my full November happy place…. as I sit here at work wearing my uggs and a fleece…. and have resolved to think positive. 

When we met with our new realtor to re-list the house (for the third time), we got some bad news.  We knew it was going to be bad, but weren’t prepared to hear that we are going to have to bring around $12,000 to the table when our house finally does sell.  I went through a crazed panic phase, a pitty party, a “why are you letting this happen, God?” phase, and an all out ugly cry when we drove away from the house a week ago today…. but since then Nate and I have really stepped back and remained positive.  I keep telling myself that November is going to be a great month.  Keeping positive about everything is key…. I learned this from the mission house.

We have resolved not to stress about this situation and just go through it.  We still have each other and as my dad says, “It’s just money.”  Our positive attitudes have been great this week (we’ll see about the next few) and it has really made a difference.  Control your mind… control your emotions… control your situation.  Beth Moore reminded me this week to make decisions out of information, not emotions. I need to etch that in my brain somewhere deep ;)

I have personally been teaching myself to wait on God for a while now and am adding this house situation to the list.  Even after all of the mess with this house the past two years, I still love it.  It will always be our first home together and we can’t wait for someone else to be just as blessed by it. 

This is a picture of us being positive :)

We are confident that God is in control and that He will come through for us…. and that November is going to be a great month!

Livin' on Love

Welp... If it's not one thing, it's another, right?  The family that was supposed to buy our house in Rogers.... they have been renting to own for the last 12 months.... lied to us.  They have been continually lying to us for all of these months and refuse to answer our calls/texts. 

We made the decision to kick them out last week and haven't looked back.  They should be out on the 31st and we will be there (with the police) to make sure that happens.  Then the cleaning up non stop for a couple days will comense and we will get our cute little house back to "selling shape." 

Surprisingly, Nate and I are at complete peace with this decision.  Even though paying two mortgages is as close to impossible as we can get, we are optimistic about the upcoming months.  We will totally be living on love... and Ramen noodles :)

This house brought us soooo much joy and will always be a happy memory for us, so it makes me really sad to think about it being such a head ache now.  But, God will provide and we will make it just fine.  We have some plans about how we are gonna make it.... I will work at a daycare after my job at church, we are canceling our cable and internet next week (after Project Runway is over), maybe set some tombstones for my dad on the weekends, sell some crafts, and if it comes down to it.... refinance or sell our vehicles.

It should be an adventure for the next few months.  Hopefully the house will sell super fast and we will have another story about how God provided just when we needed Him.  Like I explained in my last post, I can be brave... even in this situation... which has been a fear of mine for a year now. 

Fill in the blank with your fears....

IF ________________, then God!

No matter what happens.... No matter how you fill in the blank, God will get you through.



What has God been showing you lately?

For the last six weeks I have been going through Beth Moore's Esther Bible Study with about 25 ladies from church.  I have learned a lot in these weeks, and enjoyed every minute. It has been challenging, but great at the same time. I have come face to face with my insecurities…. and at the same time feel God’s comforting peace. A couple of my favorite things have been in the last two weeks.

Many of you know that I have lost two dear friends very suddenly. Back in June of 2008 when Courtney died, I can pin point the night that I let fear take over. Since then the enemy has been using this against me. I have been fearful of everything…. Sure there were times when I let my faith lead me through the valleys, but really… I was a scared little girl inside. In session four, Beth Moore said some things that really opened my eyes to this bondage. She encouraged us to be brave and courageous, saying we are only one decision away from the most important step. We don’t deny our fears, we just deny it’s power over us. She continued the idea of having freedom from fear, teaching us about conditional faith…. It’s not enough to believe that what we fear the most will never happen.

I needed to hear this lesson in the worst way. I have been praying constantly that God would increase my faith and decrease my fears. I want to make decisions out of wisdom, not fear. God offers us His very presence… so I can be convinced that I am brave and courageous. Courage is not the absence of fear… It’s knowing that there is something so much better! Take that! Take courage! Do not give in to vain imagination.

The second thing that I just loved and have been thinking about every minute since she said it on Monday is the concept of waiting on the Lord. I have heard this sooo many times… It was even read at my wedding… but it never clicked like this before. Session five was about the importance of knowing when it’s time. We all get impatient and things in our society just keep pushing immediate gratification, BUT if we cannot wait on the Lord, we will not fulfill our destinies.

Too many time we are waiting on the thing. Right now I am personally waiting on several huge things in my life. Our strength will just continue to expire if we continue to wait to the thing…. We wait on the Lord. The longer we wait on the Lord, the more our strength is renewed. Exalt God to the position to fight for you, humble yourself, and live a life full of passion and patience.

What has God shown you lately?  Please comment and let me know!
I have also shared this story at our women's ministry blog.

Pulled Pork

So…Nate loves pulled pork.  Since I don’t have time to cook during the week days, I have been trying out several new crock pot recipes that I found on pinterest.  I am obsessed with that by the way…best thing since sliced bread.

This was my first attempt ever to make something with pork and I can’t believe how easy and great it turned out.  The pork was a little on the expensive side for two people, but we will probably eat it for like 50 meals (that makes $14 go a long way).  I will definitely keep this in mind for when I have a crowd of people over.

(don’t judge on the paper plate, ok?  I don’t spend my 45 minutes at home doing dishes)

Pulled Pork

4 lbs of pork roast

2 white or yellow onions (I buy the already chopped kind and just dump them in there)

2 cups of apple cider vinegar

2 cups of apple juice

2 tsp of liquid smoke

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp brown sugar

1/2 bottle of regular/classic BBQ sauce (about 9 oz)

Put it all in a crock pot on high for 4 hours or low for 7-8 hours.  Stir to shred the meat and enjoy.  If you choose you can drain… add crushed red pepper flakes for a hotter taste… or more brown sugar for a sweeter taste.

Bon appetite… Or since this is kind of a southern recipe, I guess I should say… Come get it y’all.

Happy Birthday Pops!

Lately, I have been so franticly busy every day and every evening.  Something about being at the church for so long, or not being home at all, just does something to your psyche.  So, Nate and I took a…much needed… night off from outreach and went to my cousin’s house for my Papa’s birthday.  It was great to get away from the church building for one night and see my family. 

  

My Nana and Papa are some of the greatest people you will ever meet.  I need to get my priorities straight and see them more often.  It is hard to find time in the day to take a shower, but family has got to come first!  I guess we still aren’t used to living closer….

Just wanted to remember this night and share some pics. 

Brendan is getting big!  Love. My. Nephews.

 

Crystal and Kim… Annoyed Loving that the camera was out.

Tommy, Me, and Brendan

Landry and cousin Emrie.

Family.

 

Lord, Increase my faith and decrease my fears.

Last weekend, Nate and I took the youth on a little service project to THE REFUGE in downtown OKC.  It was one of the most eye opening service days we have ever had.  It is always nice to pull a few weeds and work up a sweat for a good cause, but this place was just awesome.  And by awesome, I mean… I left there knowing how little faith I have.

The Refuge is an old apartment building in the middle of downtown Oklahoma City.  This building used to be THE place for drug deals and prostitution.  In the ally behind the building something like 3,000 drug deals an hour went down.  In the rooms prostitutes were turning tricks with the pimp and drug lord a few doors away.  Basically, the worst things you could imagine were going on there every minute of every day.

With nothing but a strong feeling of urgency from the Lord, a man named Tim and his wife and two small children left California to come to good ol Oklahoma.  They had a vision and a heart to see the metro area come back to Jesus.  They sold everything they owned and some how bought this apartment building.  Tim went day after day and prayed over the people.  He had some “gnarly” stories about things that happened.  He says that in that one week, he experienced more Jesus than in his whole life at church.  The only answer he could give for why he wasn’t killed, or why giant drug dealers would come to him crying, was that “Jesus is taking this place back.”

After Tim fully acquired the building police went in and cleared everyone out…. Tim’s family moved in.  They literally live where a satan-worshipping prostitute used to do her thing every day.  Since then, about 50 more Christians have moved into The Refuge.  They live together in genuine community and work together like the New Testament church.  Their mission is to clean up the streets one inch at a time and just love God and love people. 

Tim said that God has showed him how to love people and that is all he is doing.  Selflessly loving people everyday in the midst of inner city warfare.

The Refuge has amazing stories about praying for things and the next day receiving those things… like windows, or a fridge, or a house.  They recently prayed about a property they wanted to buy two doors down from the drug lord, and got a call from a gentleman in Florida that handed them the keys.  Since moving into The Refuge and cleaning up the streets surrounding, all the drugs and prostitution have moved several blocks south…. so The Refuge will be moving that way too.  Tim and his family (now three little children) and one other family will soon be moving into the newly acquired house.  Did I mention that was two doors away from the drug lord…. the guy that kills people without blinking an eye.

I left there in awe of the wives of these men.  They are raising their kids in the worst part of OKC possible, and letting their husbands risk their lives to “love people.”  Were they not scared to sell everything they owned?  Were they not scared to let their husband talk to drug dealers?  Are they not scared someone is going to get murdered? 

How much faith does it take to live like this?  How do they let their fears fly out the window?  They are there, in the trenches… every day.  Since my visit there, I have been praying for God to increase my faith and decrease my fears.  I am naturally a scared person… like I jump across the room when I see a fly.  I can’t imagine being so fearless.  I can’t imagine having sooo much faith.

The Bible says, “faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountains.”  I would say that the community at The Refuge is a lot closer to that mustard seed than anyone else I know.

Lord, increase my faith and decrease my fears.

Pointless Post

Today I am so out of it.  I am oober grateful to have the job I have at the church, but some days I just lack any kind of motivation.  I have plenty to do, but can’t bring myself to WAKE UP!  Plus I haven’t really been feeling the greatest with all these Oklahoma allergies.  Anyway, I have a few blogs to update, so I decided to get going….

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Nothing of great importance has been happening lately…. Just living at the church from 8 to 8.  Today we decided that we feel like we own a business.  In a lot of ways I think a church should be run like a business…but that’s a whole different blog. ha

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I did get in a few crafts and made this sign for some of our friends.  Hollie is die hard OU and Zack is die hard OSU, so this was my funny version of “a house divided.”

In other news, we keep trying to eat healthy.  Being at home for like 45 minutes a day isn’t much time to cook a great meal…. plus I just want to sit down on the couch with the remote clean up the house.  So, my crock pot is becoming my really good friend.

Look at me cutting up veggies…. and eating them…. and liking it.

Incomparable Beauty

What's the first thing you think about when you hear the word.... beauty?

When you google it tons of pictures of "beautiful" women pop up.  The image below caught my attention.  Does it make you feel good to know that all those models have on tons of make-up and are all airbrushed and stuff... or is it just me??

I am going through Beth Moore's Esther Bible study with the ladies at my church right now.  The scenario from week 2 is still on my mind, so I thought I would type it all out.... for myself, and anyone else that ever struggles with the same insecurities.

I have found, that it doesn't matter how beautiful a girl is, there is always something they want to change... there is always something more they want to fix.  The outside things we do to beautify ourselves are in no way bad, but who are we trying to impress?  Who's eyes do we want looking at us?  Beth Moore put it this way, and I love it...

There are women that.....

 ...want all the other women to think they're beautiful. And they are miserable.

...want all the men to think they're beautiful.  And they are dangerous.

...want nobody to think they're beautiful.  And they are depressed.

...want a select few to think they're beautiful.  (like your parents and/or husband...) And they are on the right track, but still need to remember these verses.

^"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority"

~Col. 2:9-10

"I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me." ~Songs 7:10

"And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do."

~Psalms 90:17

I need to remember that there is a beauty that is not comparable!

And, that is the beauty we have because Christ is in our lives.  Esther was no doubt beautiful on the outside, but what made her different from the other girls... how she won the favor of all those around her... how she became the queen of Persia... is because of the beauty our God gave her on the inside.  She was humble, likable, endearing, obedient, wise, patient, and beautiful!

He has clothed us with salvation and righteousness (Isaiah 61:10), and He makes us holy & clean (Eph.5:25-27).

May we all strive for the incomparable beauty of The Father to shine through us.

Hi. I'm Whitney. It's been a while...

Wowser. It is now the end of September and I haven’t blogged at all. My sweet friend Kaylie keeps reminding me that it is time for an update… (Love you Kaylie!) So, basically here’s what’s up….

church. work. church. women’s ministry. youth. church. work. Bible study. Football. LOST. church. Running club. church. friends. church.

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Over Labor Day we went to see Nate’s grandparents. It was a great trip! We had never been just the two of us, so we were able to get in a lot of great one on one time with Mamaw and Papaw.

We spent a lot of time in the car in those three days. We drove down there and the next day we drove around Whitney, TX for a while. And then Nate’s aunt went into the hospital so we went to see her in Ft. Worth… got caught in traffic for, umm, ever. Basically we were in the car for like 20 hrs in a 3 day period. It was fun though.

Nate and I both wish that we lived closer to these precious people. It was hard to leave them and we are already looking forward to Thanksgiving…. won’t be too long!

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After our little mini vacation, we have been super busy at church. Since we are without a pastor right now, Nate has been doing a ton of extra stuff…. He has always had a heart for the entire church, and has always gone above and beyond for the church (as a whole and not just the youth). Lately, that has gone to the extreme and he is planning churchwide outreaches, events, bible studies and other things, on top of media and youth. And as for me, my right hand has been cut off here in the church office. Kerri had knee surgery and left me here for 6 weeks by myself. I’m doing fine, and everything is good… It just kinda seems like Nate and I are running the show.

I mean we basically live here because we work here all day from 8-5 and then we also have church on Sunday night, Bible study on Monday night, outreach on Tuesday night, and collide on Wednesday night. Then we have running club (at the church) on Saturday mornings. That’s right people… We only have Friday to ourselves…. And, even then we end up at a church function, or high school football game.

I thought that life would settle down and we would feel relaxed after summer stuff ended and school started…. that hasn’t happened yet. Dare I say… It’s. Even. Crazier. Nate and I live for the weekend…. But doesn’t everyone that works?

I did manage to find some time to get a good hair cut… Got like 6 inches cut off and two people noticed. That’s how it goes every time I think it's way dramatic… Oh well.