Time to Get Up

Due to a phone call, I was up over an hour ealier then normal. I stood on the front porch for a few minutes and watched the effects of the sunrise. Reminded me of the below words written in my journal ... little truths jotted down while listening to this sermon last Saturday. After a few minutes on the porch I walked into my kitchen and started making a bigger than normal week-day breakfast for my kind and generous husband. Biscuits with gravy, dip eggs, and freshly brewed coffee.

As Christians, we are engaged in the work of the great commission, which consists largely of waking people out of their beds "Christ is Risen; It's Time to Get Up!" Some nations got the word earlier, and some haven't got the word yet. But our task is to get everybody up because Christ is shining on them. This is an announcement, not a campaign. We are not getting them up to get up and vote so that it will be daylight, so that Christ will rise from the dead. No! Christ is already risen! It is daylight, therefore they should get up. And Christ is not just the "sun" at which which we stare. Christ is the light in which we see everything. He is the light in which we see economics, the light in which we see marriage, the light in which we see our parenting, the light in which we see our business, how we entertain ourselves, he is the light in which we see to mow the lawn, to drink a beer, in which we make love to our spouse, in which we discipline our children ... all of those things. Everything. There is no place in this world where the Sun's effects are not at work.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. Psalm 22:27-28

a ONE-of-a-kind DAY!!!

Thanking God for the cool crisp air this morning...I love Fall!!
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Tony & I went to Herman park Saturday morning. There were several people there for what appeared to be family get-togethers. We set up near the gazebo and Tony started to sketch. It is neat how people just come over to look and see what we're doing. We were able tohand out some tracts and talk with a few people concerning the gospel. May God be exalted!

From there, we met my mom, Brittany, and Chrissie at Y'alls Pizza for lunch. We had a great time and laughed quite a bit. Chrissie played a great prank on Brittany by sending her mystery text messages. ;) I also recieved a message from Chrissie that said "I have a BIG thing to say... but I can't until tomorrow when Joey is with me." Hmmm... I wonder what it could be.

Tony & I headed home and the rest of the day was dedicated to school work - 9 essay questions and an exam. Ecclesiastes 12:12 is so true, "...much study is a weariness of the flesh." Our brains get so tired after studying a Management book for hours on end. Needless to say, we were both so happy when Tony finished all his assignments and we were able to relax and go to sleep.

Notes from Sunday's sermon: James 2:1-13 Pursuing or denying a relationship with someone based on how it will bring the most benefit to us is showing partiality/favortism. This is an evil, ugly, vile sin. This favortism (of the rich, a certain ethnic group, looks, tradition, etc) reveals what we really value. Jesus is the glorious one; not man. May God enable us to reflect his character. May relationships be pursued with pure motivations. May this sin not be taken lightly. What a glorious gospel - Christ died for my sin of distorting the gospel; for misrepresenting God. Jesus - that is where my hope lays!!

We chatted with folks for a while after church, then Tony & I went to lunch. First stop was subway - their credit card machine was down and we didn't have cash; so then we went to the Cheese Factory - only to find out that it was closed for a private event; we finally ended up at Anthony's Italian restaurant. haha. We sat in a booth and shared a greek salad and white cheese pizza. Amazing food! and Amazing fellowship with my husband!! ;) From there we picked up a few "specialty" items from Harris Teeter and went home.


At home Tony studied for his upcoming CLEP exam while I crocheted/cooked/cleaned. Then around 6:30 we went to my parents house for dinner and a made.by.Joey.&.Chrissie dessert. :)




Dinner was great! Then Joey & Chrissie served everyone a piece of their Apple Coffee Cake. And said this:::

There were many tears of joy and much rejoicing!!! :) We all sat around the table and listened to Joey & Chrissie talk about the proposal and how they announced it to her parents. Oh, and God led Joey to the most perfect ring for Chrissie. It is a circle of little diamonds surrounded by a row of 22 black diamonds .... 22 representing the day they first started dating "August 22nd." It's beautiful! I am so thankful to God for my brother and future sister-in-law!!! God has done a great thing in bringing the two of them together!!! :)

Brittany made them this really, really neat cake!

Wonderful weekend

Friday evening was filled with plenty of school work for Tony. While he sat in front of our desktop computer, I sat on the floor close by and finished a crocheted piggy for our niece who turns 4 this week {she was in her mommy's belly at our wedding; a miracle she is}.

Saturday the alarm clock went off early and we made our way to a meeting in Wilson. Afterward, we sat at a little table and shared a $5 veggie sub, then did a quick visit to Ollie's and Books a Million. We were back home around 2pm. I went to my parents house to drop off some made.by.me menus and decor for Joey & Chrissie's special dinner {they celebrated one year of togetherness on Saturday!! Joey surprised her with a very nice made.by.mom meal at my parents house, turning one of the spare bedrooms into an Italian Cafe'; Chrissie was so surprised and absolutely loved it! Her and Joey even made mom and I receipts and left us tips. Sweet!!}. Most of the afternoon/early evening was spent studying for a test... and then Tony taking the test. We praised God for the "A" he received!! That completed his school work for the week; always a good feeling!

We then got ready in a hurry and made our way to the last Raleigh Downtown Live for the Summer - a rain or shine event. The crowd was visibly thinner because of the rain, but there were still lots of people there. We stood near one of the exits, Tony wore his sandwich board sign (over his poncho) and I stood there with my umbrella. Something funny happened... I was standing there, staying mostly dry, when all of a sudden my umbrella collapsed and water splashed on top of my head. I wasn't expecting that at all. Haha. It made for a good laugh. Apparently, I had hit the "close" button. :) We passed out some gospel tracts. A couple guys joined us and open air preached there on the corner. The truth of the gospel was proclaimed. And one particular lady listened for a long while. I ended up talking with her for several minutes there at the end. She professed to be a Christian, but didn't agree with everything we were saying - mainly that people only need to hear about God's love and grace. Of course scripture states otherwise. One will not understand how amazing God's grace is, until they understand how wicked their sin is before a holy God. There must be a balance of wrath and grace when presenting the gospel. We reasoned about that and toward the end of our conversation she said she was very grateful that we were out there, that Tommy was preaching, and that she knew God sent us all there for a reason.

We stayed on the corner for about an hour, then we went on a **date** - Tony & me. ;) We chose Olive Garden; chicken parmesan for Tony and a personal veggie pizza for me. Endless salad and breadsticks of course. Oh, and we were excited to see that they had October fest in stock - so that accompanied our meals. It was a wonderful time of togetherness. Causing me to love my sweet husband all the more!!

Yesterday morning, Pastor Jonathan continued in our study of James chapter one. I must realize my lack of wisdom in the midst of trials and seek God for wisdom. To what or whom is the first thing I turn to? "In ________ I trust." Honestly, many things can fill that blank - google, friends, books, my husband, pastor, etc. My heart is such an idol factory! I am to ask God - He alone gives wisdom generously without reproach. It is by the grace extended to me through the cross of Christ that enables me to say "In God I trust"; blood bought wisdom, that is not deserved. May I ask God for wisdom with no doubting and boast in the grace of God who humbles me and causes me to realize the vanity of my riches apart from King Jesus! Amazing grace!!

We shared lunch and conversation with a lovely couple after church, then went home sweet home. Last night we hung out at my parents house, mostly talking. I praise God for the family that God has given to me. Tony & I ate leftovers from Joey & Chrissie's special meal ~ stuffed chicken marsala, angel hair pasta, bread, salad and chocolate lava cake with homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. ;)

Grain Overload & God's Grace

This past Thursday we received our first bucket of wheat berries - forty five pounds of it. :) In the past few days I've made biscuits, flour tortillas, chocolate chip cookies, and even bagels {which I think I need to boil a little longer next time as they were more "bready" than "bagely" - if that makes since. :) } So if you can't tell already, I have really been enjoying the new addition to my "maid staff" - the grain mill. She sits beautifully amongst all my other modern day appliances that make life just a tad bit easier. Which reminds me of a radio broadcast with Nancy Leigh Demoss titled "No Mundane Tasks" -definitely worth reading or listening too! Actually, that entire series on Proverbs 31 is edifying!! God has taught me so much through Nancy's teaching.

Work and school have been keeping Tony pretty busy! I am so grateful for the time we're able to spend together - even amongst all the studying. :) I do not always take on the task of helping him study joyfully ... it is not my most favoritest thing to do. But I know that even these moments are a gift from God and by HIS grace, I resolve to take the future times of helping my sweet husband to study with much delight!! Over the weekend we were able to spend some mall money we recieved for Christmas, take a three mile walk in the nice winter air, visit with our family, walk through the farmers market, enjoy a plate of sweet & hot chicken wings, have a Sunday afternoon nap, and eat Tamale's made by my dad. Sweet memories of togetherness!!

Sunday morning we ventured to the Sovereign Grace Church of Apex to hear CJ Mahaney speak. He spoke from James 4:1-2 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. Everyone can related to this passage of scripture because everyone is all too familiar with relational conflicts - particularly married couples. These conflicts are much worse, much simpler, and much easier to resolve than we think. We tend to trivialize and minimize our times of quarrels and fights ... but James uses some harsh language that proves otherwise - this is a serious sin against our Creator. The source of all conflict comes from within you!! (I would underline that word more than once, but blogger don't offer that feature). Your passions are at war ... You desire and do not have ... You covet and cannot obtain. You fight because you do not get what you want - whether that be affection, attention, power, vindication, comfort, a hassle-free life, etc. Cravings underlie conflicts!!!! Our sinful, selfish cravings! Oh how true this is! We are to examine our souls and by God's grace identify our sinful cravings and apologize. Humble yourself before the Lord and HE will exalt you. God's grace is much greater than our sin. If you confess your sins, HE is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The ultimate conflict is between us and God and this is resolved by Jesus Christ's substitutionary death on the cross. What sweet hope and comfort this gives to the Christian! How kind of the Lord to give us this wisdom!

Thorns & Thistles

((( Men and Masculinity by Mark Driscoll

When the man sins against God, He doesn't just curse the man, He curses the ground under the man. That means that everything under the mans dominion now starts to fight against him. There are now thorns and thistles; man has a lot of work to do. The ground being cursed is God's grace. When the man is working his ground (yard, house, family, finances, job, etc) it always fights against him. Why did God curse everything under the man? Because He *loves* the man! When the man tries to cultivate his ground, and it all fights against him, doesn't that teach him about God? The ground is doing to the man, what the man is doing to God. Man rebels against God. So the man starts to understand the gospel while he's working.