NYC

I love New York City for several reasons.... (in no particular order)

1. I will never tire of the theater. I love seeing plays! My favorites: Jersey Boys, Moving Out and Wicked (Fact: All 3 I have seen with Mary Kneeland.)

2. These two precious girls live there.... except for KK

3. I could eat a cupcake from here, everyday. Mmmmmm.....

4. I LOVE Redeemer and Tim Keller, if you don't know what I am talking about or do, read this. One of the best articles I have read lately.

Today (or yesterday for her) is...

This girl's birthday!

At the moment she is on the other side of the world, so I am not able to share in her birthday festivities! I have been very sad this week about not being there and in person to make her feel special. She sure does deserve it!

I love her for a number of reasons: she has a really great sense of humor, she shares my loves of games, she can speak difficult words of truth to me that I don't like to hear from anyone else, she has already been named my desired favorite aunt name of "mommasissy", she needs very little... to live well, she is a real life portrait of a Godly woman, she is a wonderful wife- one whom I would like to emulate, she doesn't like the word "the", she isn't afraid to speak her mind, she is an intentional friend, she is the best friend a girl could ask for... I MISS YOU!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Anne... happy birthday to you!

Working on the Weekend (Thankful Monday #3)

Most are working FOR the weekend... not me.... I was working on the weekend. However, there is not much to complain about. I was able to make it to the Georgia game while working. Great start, rocky middle and terrible ending, that about sums up the game. This guy went with me and was a great help. He can hand out drinks and heard people with the best of them. I told him, I think he has a future in event coordinating someday... ha ha. We rode in with the team... this is the view of Tiger Walk from our bus. It was a great experience!

However... the highlight of my weekend was hanging out with these girls.

Courtney and I meet with most of them on Sunday nights for a little prayer, Gospel Centered Life, and hang out time. Last night the Beach House had a group of girls over for Thanksgiving/ Christmas Dinner complete with decorations and a roaring fire. We were so honored to be included. We had a BLAST! Theses pictures are worth a thousand words...

It definitely made Court and I miss those great college days. **Disclaimer: This is not our average Sunday night! We missed our friends and all being in one place. It made me THANKFUL for all the sweet memories we made and the innocence of just being in college. Life was so simple. Food on the table, money in the bank, maybe a few classes and a drawer full of Nike shorts and t-shirts. While we were screaming at the top of our lungs, "All I want for Christmas is you!" I was looking around for a wooden spoon, Daddy Beas and someone from Lupton.

PS... if you don't just love this girl... something is wrong with you...

Pretty

My home is full of these yummy fall colored arrangements... no they are not my work. My precious and very talented Mom came for a wedding this weekend and left her mark all over my house. I LOVE fall and fall colors and more importantly, I love my mom!

A family friend of ours was married at Camp Marannook this weekend and I was able to reap the benefits. I had a whole weekend of my mom to myself and she brought lovely gifts of oranges, pinks, reds, and yellows that now cover my home. Thanks mom for an absolutely beautiful weekend of quality time, quality talks, and lots of laughing. I am so blessed by your friendship!

Fall is here... and so are mid-terms for the students I meet with, we are deep into football season and therefore just weeks away from Thanksgiving and Christmas. Where does the time go? I just can't believe how quickly time passes. Next weekend we (Court and I) are welcoming into town some very beloved friends and a full weekend of plans. I promise to have some more substance to the blog here in the next couple of weeks... more than sparsely written Thankful Mondays. Pictures of pretty flowers will have to do for now...

Thankful Monday #2

Today I have been almost giddy... T-48 hours and I will be looking at this over my balcony!

I have worked the past 5 Saturdays in a row and this Saturday my friends... I will NOT be working. I will be at the BEACH!!! For my sanity, my health and to salvage my soul and my brain I have to leave Auburn for a short time. The first few days will be just me and Mom. Oh how I cherish our time and this will be no different. Mom is going to teach me to smock! Some of the other things we will be doing while we are there: reading, sleeping, eating, sleeping, time in the word and did I say sleeping?

Dad, Trey and Kat and maybe Court (please, pretty please) will join us Thursday night! I plan to consume lots of seafood, a mojito from Bud and Alley's, Manicotti from Angelina's, and that's just to start the week. My excitement about this trip is slightly over the top. I have never been so ready for a vacation... work sure does put vacations into perspective!

So, on this drab rainy Monday I am thankful for rest, relaxation and the ability and the means to go to the beach!!!!!!!!!

God is so Good.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." - Psalm 100:4-5

This morning I have felt the overwhelming presence of the Lord and his faithfulness. The Lord is so GOOD! I don't really know why or what sparked it... but He is good! My life these past 5 weeks have been needless to say BUSY. I prayed all summer for people and more work and things to do and goodness did he answer my prayers, tenfold. However, amidst the overwhelming days and nights, He has been so faithful. People ask me all the time, "What is like to live in Auburn? I would love it!' and "Don't you just love your job?'" The answers to both of those questions are YES! It's not that's its easy to live in Auburn as a single adult... by the way people, it's not game day 24/7, but I love that I get to meet and share the gospel with students EVERYDAY!!! Yes, I do love my job! It is really a lot of fun, but its not the job that gets me out of bed each morning, its the people I come in contact with and those whom I get to share with about Christ. I love the privilege of being a disciple for Christ!

I don't know what really led to this post except the blog is a little empty and I think I just needed to tell someone how truly great our God is... all the time... no matter what! Students lives are being changed in Auburn... I am loving having a front row seat watching Him work! Please continue to pray that the Lord would bring students to Himself, that He would use those of us "Old Folks" that are still here to raise up laborers for Christ and that He would be GLORIFIED in all that we do and say. God is working and moving and for that I am so thankful! Thankful He is letting me be a part of it all!

If you want to hear some cool stories of what He is doing in Auburn... go here and here. These people truly are the hands and feet of Christ!

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." - Matthew 28: 18-20

Thankful Monday #1

Mondays are just plain hard. The phone never stops ringing and my e-mail by 9:00 a.m. is overloaded. Somehow the lunch "break" turns into a sandwich at my desk. They are long, hard, and totally overwhelming. However, they are another beginning! "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23) Not only do we start anew every morning; we start anew every week.

So that I will hopefully be more dilligent about posting and updating this thing... I will have "Thankful Mondays." They may be hard and difficult, but what a blessing the Lord has given us in another day!

Today I am thankful for... Blake. I was pondering what my first "Thankful Monday" would be about... there is MUCH to be thankful for today. He immediately came to mind. I LOVE being in Auburn this year with both of the boys. I especially have enjoyed adding Blake to the mix. He and I are pretty much the same person, just 6 years a part and different genders. He is my heart! He LOVES being a freshman and is soaking it all up... or has for the last week. I am most thankful that he is finally well. He was pretty sick for the first 3 weeks of school. One ER trip per an ambulance, two trips back home to Mom and Dad and several prescriptions later he is well!! I know this whole freshman year (and really most of college) is trial and error, however, I hope and pray the Lord will use this precious boy is big ways! Blake (and Trey) I am so thankful to be in Auburn with you and I cherish this time!