Red Letter Christians

Family Reunion

This past weekend we all ventured up to visit our Mimi & Aunt Gayle.

I am so thankful to God that the entire family was able to take off work.

For whatever reason, I did not get many pictures... which I of course regret. :(

I didn't even get any pictures with Mimi or Aunt Gayle.

I guess we just stayed busy getting everything together for the family/friend reunion.

Mimi's beautiful entrance

and cute chicken house.

Dad and Mom

Chrissie joined the band :)

Happy Birthday Brittany!

We were so excited to find
this really neat coffee shop

Matthew the statue

The family that I am so grateful for!
Yes, even my silly husband there on the end. ;)

Offensive & Attractive

Mark Driscoll writes:

The curious paradox of the atoning death of a bloody Jesus rising above the
plane of human history with a mocking crown of thorns is that he is offensive in
an attractive way. It is the utter horror of the cross that cuts through the
chatter, noise, and nonsense of our day to rivet our attention, shut our mouths,
and compel us to listen to an impassioned dying man who is crying out for the
forgiveness of our sins and to ask why he suffered. Tragically, if we lose the
offense of the cross, we also lose the attraction of the cross so that no one is
compelled to look at Jesus. Therefore, Jesus does not need a marketing firm or a
makeover as much as a prophet to preach the horror of the cross unashamedly. (Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, 33, emphasis added)

Celebrating Early

My little sister, who is the baby of the family, will be turning 19 years old on Friday! It is hard to believe! Since we all have plans for this weekend, we decided to celebrate her special day a little early. Per her request, mom made chicken fettucini with steamed broccoli, salad, and garlic sticks with marinara dipping sauce. Mom also made a Ho Ho Cake!! Always yummy!!! I thank God for the baby sister that He gave to me at the age of five. May we continue to grow closer to Christ and may our friendship be strengthened with our years on this earth.

(Mom preparing the yummy alfredo sauce!)

(Clean-up. Clean-up.)

(Sisters!)

(Brittany being silly!)

Established Steps

Saturday, we had plans to meet up with some others at the Crete Myrtle Festival in Angier, NC to share the gospel. We arrived there around 12:30pm. We started to walk through the festival, in search of our friends booth. It was very, very hot! And the festival was very, very small. Haha. I think we walked by all the booths at least 4 times in search of our friends; but they were no where to be seen. And we didn't have their phone number. :( Apparently, there had already been several booths to leave for the day because of the heat, our friends obviously being one of them (and I don't blame them!). We were able to pass out some gospel tracts and verbally share the gospel with a couple guys. We also had the privelage of meeting a like-minded brother by the name of Tim! He was such an encouragment. Around 2pm, we decided to try and find our friends house. We had only been their one time, so I prayed that God would bring back the directions to Tony's memory. And sure enough, God answered that prayer! I was so excited!! We pulled up to their house, rang the door bell, and nobody answered. :( So we got back in the car and started our hour ride home. I felt sad and just thought it was the wierdest thing that we weren't able to meet up with our friends. I kept reminding myself that God was in control. About 15 miles from home we stopped in at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. As we stepped out of the car, we heard someone say "Tony!" It was one of Tony's old friends, whom he hasn't seen since highschool. We were able to speak with him (and his mom) for several minutes. We also gave his friend a gospel-centered music CD, that we pray will open his eyes to the Truth of scripture. As we walked away from the conversation, we realized that if we had found our friends booth at the festival or if they were at home, then we would not have been at Wal-Mart at this specific moment. God is good!! I am so glad that HE establishes our steps!