Auburn Rules

War Eagle fly down the field, ever to conquer never to yield, War Eagle fearless and true, fight on you Orange and Blue, Go Go Go! On to victory, strike up the band, hit 'em high, hit 'em low, Go tigers go! War Eagle win for AUBURN, power of Dixieland!

Monday, January 30, 2006

Bragging



Ok, bragging is in order. I have never received many flowers in my life, but tonight I received a rose from Chris which was completely unexpected. He gave it to me just because which I completely loved. So, without being too gushy....thank you so much Christopher!! Muuuahhh!

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Well, I had long ago promised some pictures from Christmas, and I am finally at home with time to post them. So, here are some pictures of mine and Chris' family during the break and the last picture is a more recent one.
This is a picture of my family on Christmas Eve


I think you all have heard the Patrick is a good sith.....
Well, he finally defeated Uncle Chris

Patrick, Uncle Chris, and Papa watching Chris play Ages of Empires

Patrick has lots of cool costumes and masks that we were able to play with!

Here is a great picture of Patrick and Uncle Chris

Here is a picture of me and Chris on Signal Mountain overlooking the Tennessee River.

Here is me and Lauren sporting her new sunglasses. What do you think, are they me??

Forgiveness

What is it? How does it work? How do you make it last? I have been talking with several people about this in the past couple of days and weeks. From my study of the word, forgiveness is a gift that we give someone. We cannot fully accept forgiveness from someone or successfully give it unless we come to fully understand that God has forgiven us. God has called us to forgive, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 5:32). Have you thought lately about the forgiveness that Christ has given to you? He gives it, and we mess up time and time and time again, yet when we go to Him and repent, we are still forgiven. Do we treat others like this? I know I haven’t in the past. Are we called to continually forgive time and time and time again? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. Is it necessary for the edification and sanctification of the body of Christ? Yes. Even if you are to forgive someone who isn’t a Christian, by you forgiving that person, it allows you to be closer to the Lord because you do not have that unforgiveness in your heart that separates you from God. Many people have a difficult time forgiving someone who has hurt them in their past. There are people all around us who have had abominable sins committed against them, if they are a follower of Jesus are they still called to forgive that person who committed that sin? Yes. Is that counter-cultural? Absolutely. Another question is raised once we come to the point where we can forgive. What if the other person is not repentant of their sin and yet we are ready to forgive them? What does our relationship look like after the forgiveness happens? Do we just go back to the way things were before they hurt us? I don’t think so. I think the Lord can give us discernment in how we are supposed to treat that person and how much of an influence they can have on our lives. An example would be if your child was molested by a close family friend. It could possibly be a long and difficult path to forgiving that person, but once you have done so, the Lord will give you the common sense to not ask this person to baby-sit for you! Forgiveness is a tough thing to do, and making sure that when you do forgive that it is lasting is that much more difficult.

I am not saying it is easy and I am definitely not saying that I have mastered this mandate, but these are things that I have learned. Tell me your opinions and/or experiences.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Infuriated

Ok, I am livid! I read an article on the Baptist press news that you can find by clicking here. This is an article about Al Mohler's interview on CNN in regards to the movie "Brokeback Mountain". Unfortunately, this movie has won at least one if not more Golden Globe awards. Dr. Mohler does an EXCELLENT job of standing up for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and proclaiming that this move is an abomination to what marriage was meant to be. I am infuriated with this movie, but what I am MORE infuriated with is that in the interview that Dr. Mohler did, there were also other panelists who were interviewed. One being Chad Allen who plays Nate Saint in the upcoming movie "End of the Spear". Nate Saint was a missionary who died alongside other missionaries so that lost people may have the opportunity and privilege to know Christ. Turns out that this actor who plays Nate Saint is gay! Ugghhhh! Here is an exerpt from the interview on CNN.....In response to Mohler, Allen, who plays Christian missionary Nate Saint in the upcoming movie “End of the Spear,” said his homosexuality is “a beautiful gift from god.”
Let me know what you think.....

Monday, January 09, 2006

Congrats to Anna and Michael

December and January have been the "wedding months"! I have been to four in the past five weeks. This past weekend Anna Hawthorne and Michael Postell were married. They are the sweetest couple and I treasure their friendship and I am honored to have a small part in their celebration. I have seen their relationship grow from the very beginning. It has been a joy to see a truly Christ-centered relationship unfold before my very eyes. I wish them all of the luck! I am so totally sad that Michael and I arent neighbors anymore but we will still have to get together and watch college football next fall. Michael and Anna making a run for the car after the reception
I am standing between the two hottest girls at the wedding besides the bride, sorry girls the bride is always the most beautiful!

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Back to work

Alright, well, I am back from the holidays and we had a wonderful time, but for some reason my computer at work wont let me post any pictures and since I sit at a computer 8-9 hrs a day five days a week, it is highly unlikely that I will post some from my home computer. But let me give you a run down on my vacation.

I arrived at my dad's house in Chattanooga, TN at 2a.m. on Christmas Eve morning. I slept in a little, but I had to get up and wrap gifts that morning because the rest of my family was coming over at about 1:30pm to open gifts and have a Christmas meal together. We had a SPREAD of food! Thanks to my step-mother, we had anything and everything one would want to eat and lots leftover. On Sunday, we got up and went to Church to celebrate the birth of our Lord and then did what all people should do on Sunday afternoon, S-L-E-E-P!. I always, always take a Sunday afternoon nap. I am not talking about a cat nap, I am talking put my p.j.'s back on and get under the covers and sleep for a minimum of 3 hours. Ummm, it was wonderful! The next day my boyfriend Chris arrived on the mountain to stay with us for a few days. We had fun showing Chris all of the sites on the mountain and taking him down a very treacherous road that leads you off the mountain. Folks, they call this road the "W" road because that is how the road is shaped, it has three very sharp hairpin turns and it is scary I tell you! Then on Tuesday I had the pleasure of meeting the infamous Big D! That is right ladies and gentlemen, I have met the funniest man alive. We had a wonderful time eating BBQ at WayCrazy's on the mountain.

On Wednesday, Chris and I traveled to Gainesville, GA to meet his family. I had heard so much about them from Chris that I felt like I knew them already. It was a great time of getting to know one another and playing Batman and Star Wars with Patrick. His family fed me so well and gave me some really wonderful Christmas gifts! We both had a great time. I was able to see the wonderful sights of Chris' hometown and see the school where he used to teach. It was a great town and I am sure a wonderful place to grow up. We flew back to TX on Friday afternoon just in time to go to a wedding. Since then, we have been resting from our vacation. I am still tired and I am so looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday.

Thanks goes to both families for making our Christmas most enjoyable.