just a glimpse of my heart

During our evacuation two weeks ago (thanks to Hurricane Matthew), we took some friends up on their offer and headed to North Augusta to take shelter! Even though it wasn’t a planned trip, we had a fantastic time with them. Seth and Amy graciously opened their home up to us, our kids and our pets! 

Since they are youth pastors as well & that is how we met several years ago, we usually only get to see them at youth events. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing them at conventions, events, and fine arts every year. However, you can only do so much hanging out when you are also responsible for a van or two of teenagers!! So, this time was really special for us. We really enjoyed our time with them. (And don’t get me started on their adorable Pinterest-decorated house!!!) 

Amy has come to Charleston for a little day trip a couple of times. She always jokes that there is nothing to do in Augusta and so she will just keep coming to me for our little visits.

She lied. (haha- love her) ❤️

I told our kids on the way there that this was not a vacation. I explained to them that we were evacuating and that this trip was about staying safe- not doing fun stuff every day. Well, Amy is a teacher and her school was being used as a shelter so she had the time off with us! Somehow, Seth was also off because of the storm. We ended up with four full days together! (Silver Lining for sure).

They have a 15 passenger van that they bought to use for church events. That came in quite handy!! We all piled into that van and they drove us all over town!

Our first afternoon, they took us to the North Augusta Living History Park. It was a great little community park that had a small colonial town and garden. 

Then we went to a different part of town and walked by the Savannah River. During every van ride, Seth was also giving us a driving tour and pointing out historic spots. Otis is very much into that sort of thing- he loved it!

Our next stop was Brick Pond Park to see if we could spot any alligators!

The next morning we drove around Downtown and went to the Riverwalk.

We also went to the Augusta Museum of History. I was glad to go because #1) that is where Seth and Amy held their wedding reception and I wanted to check it out and #2) now I can count this as a field trip day in my homeschool lesson book!!! Not that I needed reasons beyond learning about the actual history of Augusta! We learned lots about James Brown and golf carts!!!

This place was my favorite place of the entire trip. We went to the Augusta Canal. This place even had a bridge where people put locks like the bridge in Paris!! I loved it and wished that we would’ve bought a lock!! 

We had a wonderful Sunday as well! We went to church with Seth and Amy. If you follow me on IG, you know that I teased Otis for being the only worship leading evacuee that ends up on stage at a church the he has never been to singing with the worship team! Thus, the birth of the hashtag: #onlyOtis!!!

We finished the day with lunch after church, a little chill time, laundry, and dinner with Amy’s parents. We came home that night and got things organized to leave the next morning.

We had so much fun despite the circumstances! Our kids now want us to vacation in North Augusta and visit again very soon! 

This has been a stressful and crazy week for most of the people that I know. We had Hurricane Matthew come at us and disrupt our schedules, routines, work and even our fun. Life is just starting to get back to normal and so I feel like now is the time to share a little about our week. We were watching the storm on Tuesday and I absolutely hate that portion of time when you can’t tell if it is coming or not. People start to panic and the community is running out of gas and water and bread. Charleston becomes crazy  town.

Anytime a storm is coming it makes me remember a hurricane that came the year that we were married. I panicked. I was an official married grown up. I was worried about a storm coming and destroying all of our stuff. All of our new stuff- the stuff that we had just gotten for our wedding and the stuff that we did not have money to replace. I packed up everything- EVERYTHING. I had boxes and tubs in both bathtubs and in our cars.  Every wedding photo…who am I kidding… every photo period. The most painful part was that I literally packed up all of our dishes and silverware. Wrapped every single glass and plate in newspaper. I was trying so desperately to protect the life that we were just starting.

Guess what happened next? The storm turned and never even came to us. I spent hours upon hours unpacking and putting our house back together. I decided right then that I would not leave in the future unless they were sure a storm was coming.

Hurricane Matthew was projected to affect us. We wanted to have a plan in case we had to leave.  We searched for hotels and came up with nothing. Either they were all booked, were not pet friendly, or were way too expensive. We searched numerous cities- anywhere that would get us far enough away. I sat at my laptop trying to have a regular school day with the kids, while searching for a place to go. I was constantly sending texts to Otis trying to get us organized. In the midst of this craziness, a friend text me and said that if we needed a place to come that we could come stay with them. I jokingly told her that we were trying to find a place and not to tempt me because finding a hotel wasn’t going so well. She assured me that we were more than welcome, I text Otis and it was set. I did laundry like a crazy person and we packed up. While we were packing, we had another couple text and offer us to come stay with them. We thanked them and told them that we had a place lined up.  We loaded up our cars with luggage, keepsakes, pets, and groceries and headed to their house on Wednesday morning. We were not even out of our area when Otis called me and said the news stated that the storm had turned away. We went back home and decided to wait one more day.

The indecisive storm turned again and we were loaded up and headed out of town for the second time on Thursday Morning.

We spent four full days in lovely North Augusta. There will be another post later about our time there. This post is about feeling blessed and overwhelmed, remember?

We came home Monday to no damage to our home and we came home to power, which in itself is a huge blessing.

I am feeling exceptionally blessed and overwhelmed that we have such amazing friends. We loved these people before, but man staying with someone for 4 days with your kids and dog is an entirely different story! 🙂 We are forever thankful to Seth and Amy for being there for us. That other couple that offered their home as well….Daniel and Kelsey…they ended up taking in some other friends that were also struggling to find a hotel. I literally had tears in my eyes as I thought about how blessed we are.  Both of these couples are youth pastors that we have met through camps and retreats. Otis and I both had and have our fair share of “family issues”. Sometimes it really hurts. I tend to take a lot of things personally and cannot fathom why people would not want to be an active part in the lives of our  beautiful kids! (however that is also another post for another day).

Family are those people that love you and are there for you because they choose to be. I am so very thankful that God has blessed us with such an amazing family like Seth, Amy, Kelsey, and Daniel. My heart is overwhelmed. These people are all dear friends that have held us up in prayer numerous times. They have encouraged us and been there. This week they just happened to also literally put a roof over our heads. We are truly framily.

Don’t ever doubt the impact that you can have on the life of someone else. All relationships start somewhere. A stranger today might just be your closest family in the future!!

P.S. Check out Amy’s blog-  lifewithsethandamy.blogspot.com

Happy Fall! I exceeded my goal and was able to actually complete four books this month. I have been trying to really get in the habit of reading a chapter before school and then some at night before bed. So far, so good.

These are the books that I read-

Lioness Arising   By: Lisa Bevere-  Love her and every book by her that I have read so far. I just received the copy of Uninvited that I ordered and am excited to hopefully read that next month. She is encouraging not only through her books, but also through her social media presence. You should follow her if you don’t already! Here are a few of my highlighted lines from this book-

“Sometimes positioning yourself to be heard is more than half of the battle.”

“Lionesses are fiercely protective of ALL their prides young. A lioness will not endanger another lionesses cub any more than she’d endanger her own. Lionesses don’t just hunt together, they mother together.”

“We are truly frightening to our enemy and that  he has done all that he can to contain us. He cannot get close enough to capture and chain us if we are fully awake and mobile. To counter, he sedates us so that we might not do the things God has called us to do.”

Clear the Stage   by: Scott Wilson & John Bates- This is the second book that I have read by these two authors. This is a wonderful reminder of the power of the presence of God. Sometimes we can all get so “busy” with good stuff, that can be taking away from the intimate time with the Lord. Here are some of my highlighted lines from this book-

“We are a fallen people who live in a fallen world, but we have a connection with the greatest love, the greatest power, and the greatest purpose the world has ever known.”

“You aren’t the keeper of the flame; you’re the lighter for everyone else’s flames.”

“We can only see a billionth of what God is up to, but even a glimpse is enough to encourage us.”

Lead So Others Can Follow   by : James T. Bradford- This book was another purchases from our Kentucky trip for the NFAF. This book took me the longest to read, but it wasn’t a difficult read at all. It covers many helpful ideas to grow leaders- whether full time or volunteer. It covers so many topics and areas that may not always be talked about when it comes to serving in ministry. Here are a few of the lines that I highlighted-

“If we take care of the depth of our lives, God takes care of the breadth of our influence.”

“Who people are is far more influential than what people do.”

“One of the greatest mysteries of the relationship between Christ and the church is that He involves us in His purposes.”

the THIRD CHAIR   by: Joe Phillips-  This book was purchased at a retreat that we attend every year for youth & children’s pastor/leaders/workers. We had heard Joe Phillips share before, but had never read his book. We bought it this time. It was a super easy read that had some important truths about change. Here are some of the lines that I highlighted while reading-

“People who are connected with God will walk with Him, even when the plan sounds impossible.”

“The pain of remaining the same must be greater than the pain of the change.”

If you are looking for your next book, maybe one of these caught your eye. I started including quotes, because that usually helps me when choosing a book. I want to read the back and flip through it- I want a sense of it.

Happy Reading!

I am not a football person. I went to a small, Christian high school with no football team. I have never really been around it all that much.  In college, I did attend a handful of games. That is the extent of my exposure.  I have just never been that into it, and honestly I don’t understand it. I don’t know the rules or the terminology.  We go to parties and cookouts for games– I take a book. It’s fun to socialize, hang out, and snack together. No doubt about it though, there always comes a time when everyone is super into the game and that is when I am just sitting in a corner somewhere bored out of my mind or playing on my phone!

Otis has been involved with the football team at our local high school for the past five years. I have never been able to go to any games with him because of my work schedule.

This year I have been to more football games than my whole life. Seriously. We have been in the stands supporting him and the team. I even found myself clapping last time. Let me rephrase that- clapping as soon as something happened, not clapping once the rest of the crowd starts clapping. I guess I am catching on. 😁

I am so happy for this season of my life!

On another note, hello to fall!! This is my favorite season ever! I love when the weather is slightly cooler and we can pull out the scarves and boots! Even though it is still pretty hot here, we started putting up a few decorations. We made these cute little candles to use as the center piece on our table.

I bought the three candles from Walmart. I bought a pack of leaves and the twine from the dollar tree. It made for a very easy and inexpensive fall addition!

I cannot wait for our weather to get the memo and adjust to Fall as well! 🍂🍁

I had seen this idea on Pinterest and even saved the pin. For some reason, I was hesitant to dive in and give it a try. This week I saw on social media that someone I knew had done this in her home and it turned out great! So, that gave me the courage to go ahead and go for it!

Here is a hard picture for me to post…. This is our “before” pic of our fridge. I will never understand how refrigerators can get so nasty, but ours was overdue for a scrub down and organization. This before pic is before everything- before cleaning, before organization, and before our makeover!

No judgement please-

This is real life. 😃

I went to the dollar tree and bought 3 rolls of contact paper. I ended up quickly recruiting Otis to help after I attempted to line the first shelf and it looked terrible. So, I removed the shelves, cleaned, and dried. He measured, cut, and installed the contact paper! It took us a few hours, but we are very happy with the result!

This was the finished product-

Who knew that a $3 investment could make such a difference!! 

I was able to actually  get through a couple of books per month this time!! On a side note,  I am going to work really hard to make these “reading” posts monthly instead of just whenever I get a few books finished.

These are the four that I completed this time-

Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado– This was my absolute favorite author when I was a teenager. When Otis and I were dating, he would often buy me a new Max Lucado book for Easter, Christmas, or any holiday/special event. This was one of those books that I had read already, but wanted to revisit. Here are a few of the lines that I highlighted while reading-

” First thought in the morning, last worry at night- your Goliath dominates your day and infiltrates your joy.”

“You see your Goliath. The question is, is he all you see? You know his mocking voice, but is that all your hear?”

“David majors in God. He sees the giant- he just sees God more.”

Let’s  Do Family Together by : Gary Smalley – This was a book that I purchased while in Louisville at our NFAF and I read it while we were there. This book was a pretty easy read and had lots of personal stories. Here are a few of the lines that I highlighted while reading-

“If we don’t fight together against the attacks on the family unit, we are going to keep experiencing the same cycle of painful results. Instead of dysfunction passing through generations- why not health, honor, and love?”

“Honor recognizes that everyone has faults, blind spots and ‘logs in their eyes’. ”

“Almost all anger comes from unmet expectations.”

Spread The Fire by: Scott Wilson & John Bates– This book had a lot of history and facts about the Holy Spirit and beliefs of the AG. Since I have grown up in this church and heard all of this my entire life, it seemed like a long read for me. I am not trying to downplay the vast amount of information given in this book. I would imagine that it would be extremely educating to someone that is new in the faith or has questions about the Holy Spirit. Here are a few of the lines that I highlighted while reading-

“After a while, people can lose the passion and vision, and they settle for administrative order.”

“Speaking in tongues engages our spirit and bypasses our mind. We are able to pray without interference from our souls, our natural desires and attitudes, so our prayers are in accordance with the Spirit of God and the Father’s will.”

“God opens doors to people at the pace they choose…the speed of their obedience.”

Thriving Youth Groups by: Jeanne Mayo–  This was a great book filled with personal examples as well as plans that you could easily implement into your own ministry.  Here are some of the lines that I highlighted while reading-

“People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be.”

“Christ did not give His life on a cross so that we could minster to empty chairs.”

“Andrew brought people to Jesus. He didn’t try and solve their problems. He knew that if he got them to Christ that it would all work out.”

I would recommend any of these books and hope that if you are looking for your next read, that you would consider one of these!

At the beginning of this month, we traveled to Louisville, Kentucky for the National Fine Art’s Festival and National Youth Convention.  I know…I know…I’m kind of late with this post. We have been a little busy over here!

This trip was almost a week long- Monday thru Saturday. We were all pretty tired since we left the morning after a weekend long youth event. We made the long drive and arrived at our hotel. We stayed at the Galt House, which was a beautiful hotel that is right downtown and also connected to the convention  center. It made getting around during our time there very convenient!

The late night smoothies didn’t hurt either!

We took two youth that had qualified for the national level of competition.

Kyra presented her short sermon.

Allie presented a piece of her artwork.

This was the first time at Nationals for both of these girls. We are so proud of them! They both scored excellent and we couldn’t be more amazed at the amount of hard work that each girl put into their entry.

National Youth Convention gave us the chance to attend awesome services with amazing speakers every night. We heard from Assembly of God leadership and were led into phenomenal times of worship by Emmanuel Live.  We were excited to attend a Blanca and For King & Country concert. All of the services really were great. There is always something special about the energy of worship when the crowd is that large!

We were also able  to spend some of our off time exploring downtown Louisville.

We went to the Louisville Slugger Museum. This place was way more cool than I expected. It has a lot of photo ops with wax figures and a dugout. There are also batting cages and a factory tour. I was expecting the factory tour to be  more of a behind the scenes peak, but it was a legit factory. Like- no pictures allowed/don’t cross the yellow line/employees are on the clock and actually working  right now tour! The best part was that at the end of the tour, each person was given a mini bat. I am all about free souvenirs!! The kids loved it- in fact, we all did!

We also went to the Muhammad Ali Center. 

Part of the center was closed off due to them updating an exhibit, but it was quite educating. I am not much of a sports person, but I can imagine that someone that was a fan could easily spend all day there. The center was several levels and included a theatre, timeline of his life, tons &tons & tons of footage from fights. (is that the right term? or is it matches??), and collectable items from his career. There was also a interactive section that had a cool shadow boxing area…..

and a ring for kids (and dads) to play!

We had a great time and made lots of memories!! We are always thankful and honored to be a part of trips like these!

The Stand is a youth conference that we host every year at our church. This was our sixth year hosting this event. If you have been following my blog, then you probably read about last years event as well!!

We had a great time again this year. We brought in Pastor Jayme Montera as our guest speaker. He spoke in our Friday night & Saturday night service as well as in the Sunday Morning main service.   We met him last year when we were in Orlando for our AIM mission trip and general council. He was one of the leaders that helped organize that week and the convoy of hope outreach. He is someone that our students talked about throughout our time serving. His enthusiasm, passion and high energy are very memorable!! Otis reached out and contacted him about The Stand not long after that trip.

We once again had a couple of other youth groups join us- one for the very first time. Friday Night we had a taco dinner, followed by service with glow worship and Pastor Jayme. We had free time after that where they could hang out, play basketball, buy snacks, eat dinner leftovers, or play video games.

Saturday Morning started off with showers and breakfast. Showers always take a small chunk of time since you have so many students sharing 4-8 showers. We also always seem to underestimate how long they will take! 🙂 We served a pancake variety for breakfast, including regular, chocolate chip, and blueberry. We had a short morning devotion  and  then we went to a nearby field for some activities.

We attempted to play dodgeball, but honestly the majority of students did not want to play since it was so hot! They stood around and tried to get in some shade while waiting for the main event. That’s right, everyone was waiting for the color war to begin. This was our second year including a color war in our weekend. If you read my post from last year, you remember that we worked every single night the week before the event to get all of the color finished. Yes, we make it ourselves! This year since we knew exactly what the process entailed, we started months before. We worked one or two times a week for a couple of months to get all of the color made. It was great!

After the color war, we headed back to the church and served a simple lunch of sandwiches. Then started the long process of everyone getting cleaned up for service that night. We had another powerful service with Pastor Jayme that ended with some intense altar time. God is faithful. Lives were touched and changed by His presence.  We always try and end Saturday by giving away a prize- this year we have away two pairs of shoes- and honoring all of our volunteers. We have such an amazing team around us week after week, but a large event like this always calls for some extra help. We have extra help in the band, sound department, kitchen, and security.  I am a big fan of giving honor where honor is due and you don’t have to do much to show some appreciation! (thank you  pinterest)

We also had a great  Sunday Morning in our main sanctuary and many of the adults in our congregation were impacted! We are already planning for next years weekend- for real, you might be surprised if you knew how much we had already done! We take this calling very seriously and consider it an honor and privilege to have any type of impact on the lives of these students.

On a side note, after weeks of preparation and a wonderful (& exhausting) weekend….we packed up and headed to Kentucky the very next morning for National Fine Arts and National Youth Convention! We really are crazy and committed! haha! There will be a post on that week coming very soon!

I am not sure where or when I heard this phrase. It could have been a podcast or video or in a book. I just don’t remember. I do very clearly remember hearing this phrase and it cutting me like a knife.

We are not supposed to live our life in survival mode.

When I think of survival mode, I think of those especially difficult first couple of weeks after you have your first baby. Life as you know it changes completely. It does not matter what you have planned or how many books you have read. Nothing can really prepare you for this phase of life, except going through it. It’s a day by day, hour by hour kind of existence.   The baby is happy and fed right now, so lets enjoy this time of cooing and smiles. It can flip so quickly and you can spend the next few hours doing everything and anything you can think of to try and get even half of a smile back. Sometimes it seems like the crying and fussiness will never end. You might have plans to venture out as a family and be as put together as you have been since giving birth, one spit up or worse- bad diaper- can send you right back home.  It does not matter if you have eaten take out all week or not slept for more than 2 hours or not showered in 3 days. It is all about survival. You are just trying to make it through the day.

It is only a phase. As you adjust and the baby adjusts, you find a rhythm. Sleeping and eating schedules are established. Before you know it, you are feeling good. You’ve got this parenting thing down. You can pack a diaper bag in your sleep and have the necessary supplies in the trunk of your car to handle any situation that could happen. You are prepared.

We all go through unfamiliar seasons in our life. Sometimes these times can almost seem scary. The unknown can bring pressure and fear. These times are supposed to be temporary. We are not supposed to go through life in a fog of anxiety and fear.  We are supposed to be living life- not barely making it. What kind of life is that? That is certainly not how the Lord intended for us to live life.

One of the oldest songs that I remember singing in church when I was a kid is based on this verse-

Psalm 118:24- This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Think about those words. Do we really rejoice in each day? Do we see potential in each day? Are we just going through the motions?

Survival mode equals stress. I spent too many years stressed out all of the time. I was not stressed by any particular situation or circumstance. I was stressed just from trying to keep up. My hours were crazy and I wasn’t getting proper sleep. I was going through the motions in a daze and no one was getting my best. I was trying to desperately just get through the day. Sadly, that was my mindset pretty much every day. Be careful because days turn into weeks turn into months turn into years.  That’s not living. That is certainly not being glad in every day. My to-do lists grew to a unfathomable length as I pushed myself to do better and be everything to everyone. My  motto was fake it ’til you make it.

Ecclesiastes 11:8- However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all…

I thought that once I quit my job, that my house would be spotless all of the time and laundry would never be backed up again. Boy, was I wrong! One of my big thoughts when I stopped working was that I wanted to improve the atmosphere of our home. Nothing was necessarily wrong with it. My family is amazing. I love them and they love me and they were always understanding of my schedule. I just felt like as a mom, that our home was cluttered and chaotic. I wanted it to be warm and welcoming and peaceful. It is- at least I feel like it leans more towards this than when I was working. However, that does not mean it is always perfect. Life is messy and life is busy. There is a definite difference in being busy and being in survival mode.

You can have a crazy life and still be rejoicing in every day. You do not need a pinterest perfect house to be a wonderful place for your family or friends. You do not need to give yourself a 82 item to-do list every day just to feel like you are keeping up.

Take life as it comes. Seasons do not last forever. No matter how dark or cold the winter might seem, summer will come eventually. Realize that each day is not something to just make it through. Each day is a gift with beautiful possibilities.

John 10:10- The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Is your life full? I don’t mean full of problems and bills and stresses and worries? Is your life full of love and friends and memories and possibilities? Life can be messy and busy and beautiful all at the same time. God wants us to enjoy life as we serve Him and rely on Him for guidance. We do not have to do it all on our own.

He has you. Trade your to-do list for His calling and your stress for His peace. Life is so much better when it is being lived and not just survived.