Country Boy

Remember a while back I told you about my country boy?
Well, I finally caught him on video. He says it several times!
Sorry about the sick hubbie in the background, hopefully he'll be better soon!

God's plans vs. mine

This morning, I woke up with about a million and forty things that I needed to get done today. This Friday evening and Sat. morning, our church is hosting a "Loving Well" retreat and I am basically the organizer.
We found out yesterday afternoon, that Steven's uncle passed away suddenly. Please pray for his sweet wife, Edna, who is probably one of the most faith-filled women I've ever met.
I so hope this doesn't sound harsh but with this death, I knew that Wed. and Thurs. will be filled with being with the family and attending the funeral. Which in turn meant, that I could try and get as much accomplished today for the retreat or I could take my chances and wait until Friday and have to spend the day in a rush. I opted for the first. Because even though I'm the organizer of the retreat, I still want to enjoy it! Silly me. :)
So I dropped the kids off at school and headed back to the church. Picked up the things I needed there and then headed to Wal Mart. My intention was to purchase the food for the rereat, drop it off at the retreat cabin and probably get back in time to pick up the kids from school.
FYI- My kids' school is about 30 minutes north of where we live. Walmart and the retreat center are about 40 minutes south of us.
On my way to Wal Mart, I got a call from a friend, telling me that another friend had been admitted to the hospital and had suffered a miscarriage. I immediately knew that God was asking me, "Are you going to stay focused on your plans, or are you going to take the time and reach out to this friend?"
When I hung up the phone, I said this prayer out loud,
"Lord, give me your priorties today."
I let go of all the things that I felt like I just had to do and let the Lord guide my steps.
I was able to visit my friend, please keep her in your prayers.
I was able to get to Wal Mart and purchase the things we need for our retreat. Caleb took me out to lunch. And as we were headed back home, I was thinking, "we'll get home and have to head back out to get Emma and Dougie in less than an hour..... it's raining.... Caleb soooo needs a nap....."
Then I hear......
"my chains are gone, I've been set free" (that's my ringtone btw!)
And I hear the sweetest words from my hubbie,
"I'll pick up the kids from school."

A man's heart plans his way,
but the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

Too funny!!!

Welcome to motherhood!

For those of you who don't know, Caleb is my hubby's first biological child. So this journey into toddlerhood is a brand new experience for him. But it's so nice when things like this happen so he (Steven) can get a glimpse of what I experience every day. Caleb is starting to become very attached to his daddy (which is so precious). He is beginning to follow him everywhere and is constantly asking for "dada." This was the scene that just took place a few minutes ago:
Let me set the stage:
Steven walks through the kitchen towards the bathroom, Caleb is close behind. When Steven nearly reaches the bathroom door, he turns to Caleb;
Steven: "Caleb, Daddy's going to the bathroom, you can't go with me." (laughing and joyful)
Caleb: stands there in silence, a stunned look on his face.
Cheryl: spoken as if Caleb is saying it: "Why not daddy, I always go into the bathroom with mommy."
Steven: "Well, ok." Caleb and Steven proceed into the bathroom together.

End of scene.

WELCOME TO MOTHERHOOD, DADDY!

TA-DA!!!

Here it is!

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, then read my post from yesterday.
The pie turned out beautifully and tasted de-LICIOUS!

Sure wish you were here, 'cause I'd love to serve you a slice!

Pioneer Woman, I am not...

If you've never checked out the Pioneer Woman, it is a must! She has some incredible recipes and for visual learners like me, she includes photos! Last week, I even made this and it turned out great! It was a true family pleaser! (Next time, I will cut the amount of salt.) Well, when I saw the recipe for her chocolate pie, I couldn't wait for the opportunity to arise for me to attempt it. And today is the day! We are hosting a mission conference this week and tonight I'm cooking dinner for our guest speaker. I threw a good ol', never fail, roast in the crock pot and I could hardly wait to start on the pie! (Just a side note, if you ever eat a meal at my house, I almost always try a new recipe on my guests! guinea pigs........who just don't know it!)

I baked my pie crust just like the PW told me to and it turned out well.

Now in the PW's exlanation, she very clearly states that you really need a stand-up mixer to successfully fix this recipe. Well I don't but I sure wasn't going to let a little thing like that stop me. I mean, surely, I could hold my hand mixer, add the egg, scrap the side of the bowl and set the timer to make sure I mix it for 5 minutes, all at the same time!

This is what happened when when I tried to prop my handmixer (while it was still on) to set the timer! I'm sure you'll never see a photo like this on PW's website!

And I promise, the beaters never touched the floor!!

The pie is in the fridge as I am typing this and I'm just praying that it turns out!

Oh, and I even made homemade whip cream AND I made the chocolate curls!

Go me!!!

Fit Friday, Valentine's

It seems like my "Fit Friday" has become a catch-up time!
So here's my report:
Mon.- walked 2 miles
Tues. gave blood, couldn't do any strenuous exercise, oh darn!
Wed.- renewed gym membership. 30 mins. of cardiovascular between
the treadmill and elliptical machine.
Thurs.- I think it's like against the law to workout on
Valentine's, isn't it?
Fri.- 30 mins. on the elliptical machine and lifted weights (very light weights!)
Check out Kelly, I was one step ahead of her today! I believe in strength training exercises!

Just wanted to take a moment and brag on my wonderful hubby. He made yesterday such a great day for me. It started with him getting the kids up and getting them ready while letting me sleep. When I did get up, he had cooked breakfast! After eating the scrumptious meal, he and the kids gave me the sweetest cards and some yummy chocolate. Last night, we took the kids to a dinner theater that was being put on by our youth group. And though it wasn't 'romantic', we had a great meal and laughed our heads off! And when we got home about 8:30, we couldn't wait to get the kids in bed so we could..................watch LOST!
What.....how dare you?! :0 What kind of blog do you think this is, anyway!
I'm a preacher's wife, for goodness sake! LOL!!!

I am so thankful for the wonderful, loving husband that God has given me! I am truly a blessed woman.

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day filled with love!

my little country boy

There is really nothing relevant about this post but I just wanted to share. This morning after going to the gym, Caleb and I ran to Rite-Aid to pick up a few things. While I was pushing him in the buggy, he started saying "no", which is something he is doing more and more lately. But the funny thing isn't that he was saying "no", it was the way he was saying it. I don't think I can phonetically write it the way it sounded but put as much emphasis as you can on the "o" sound and then drag it out to at least two syllables and then you'll have some idea of how it sounded! And the more I laughed, the more he said it. It was just too cute and soooo south Georgian country! (Don't you like that neat little crossed out text, I learned that this morning thanks to Britni!)
I'm going to try and catch him saying it on video when he wakes up from his nap!

some pics from the past few days

Me, Tony Nolan, Caleb, Steven
Emma and Dougie


Tammy and me


Emma rocking to Skillet


Emma and Brandy


Dougie just couldn't make it!
Thanks Aaron for being a great "big brother."


Mercy Me. They were the highlight for me!


The assembly line!


Dougie, the delivery boy!

Playing catch-up

My goodness! Since Thursday night, we have been on the go and haven't stopped...........until now. I'm sure so many of you (ok, only 2 of you but who's counting)have been waiting anxiously for my Fit Friday report. Well, there's nothing to report. We made an unexpected trip to my parent's this week, so that knocked out Tues and Wed. And then on Thursday, I was busy running errands and when we picked up the kids from school, we headed straight to Augusta for Winter Jam. The concert was great and we got to meet up with Tammy and Tony Nolan. I took some pictures but I don't have the energy to load them up yet! We didn't get home from the concert until midnight!
Then on Friday, I was so busy getting things ready for the chicken-q, that I just didn't have time to exercise. Now you may find yourself wondering, "chicken-q", what did y'all do that for? Well, I'm so glad you asked! Steven is leading our church on a mission trip to Costa Rica this summer, (the first overseas mission trip for our church, Go God!) and we sold chicken plates to raise money. We sold almost 750 plates, yes you read that right, seven hundred and fifty! And those plates not only had chicken but green beans, potato salad, bread and a slice of cake. After cleaning all the chickens on Friday night and putting all those plates together on Saturday, it would be fine with me if I never see another chicken again!!!! But we raised over $3000 dollars to go towards the cost of this trip and we had 17 people who made a definite commitment today to go on this trip!!!
If the Lord brings us to your mind, please lift us up in prayer! Here are the names of the people who are going:
Steven, Cheryl, Kayla, Jenna, Anita, Matthew, Kelly, Benji, Penny, David, Aaron, Debbie W., Jordan, Debbie D., Lois, Tammy and Rachel.
Sorry this has been so scattered and probably hasn't made a bit of sense but I'm going right now to lay my head on the couch and have me a little "baptist hour."

Love Y'all!

One more thing, pray for Kelly (Fit Friday), she lives in the area that was hard hit by the tornados. Her family is ok, but many of their friends have been devasted by the storms.

Some serious bedhead......

When Caleb woke up from his nap this afternoon, he had some serious bedhead! I promise you, I didn't touch, make it stick up, add gel to it or anything. This is exactly how he looked when I picked him up out of his crib!




Here's the side view:



Daddy says that with this look, I could be a part of Winter Jam!

My Salvation Story

Our church is in the midst of planning our first overseas missions trip to Costa Rica. In preparation, each person going must write their testimony of how they came to know Jesus as their personal Savior. So I thought, why not write it on my blog for all the world to see? So here it goes.....
From the time I was a very small child, I attended church. My family was faithful and we were at church every time the doors were open. Around the age of 8 (I think), after my parents put me to bed one night, I remember telling my mom that I didn't want to die and not go to heaven. I remember her calling my dad into the room and I vaguely remember praying with them. Sometime right after that night, I was baptized and became a member of the church.
As I grew, our family continued to faithfully attend church but I really don't remember being taught that Christianity it is about a daily relationship. It was probably being taught but I didn't get it. I really believed that you got saved and that's it. You're safe, done deal. I lived my life, grew to be a teenager with no real change in my life at all. I wasn't a bad kid but I wasn't living a life for the Lord.
Around my second year in college, (I was attending a jr. college and still living at home)our church called a new pastor, Donald Pope. He was and still is best friends with Johnny Hunt. Pastor Donald's preaching was nothing like I had ever heard before. He talked about things like spiritual gifts, quiet times and living every day for Jesus. I began to question, was I really saved? Did I really surrender my life or did I just get a "fire insurance" policy? I began trying to prove that I was saved. I made a public rededication, I went to college Bible studies and I was even a part of our church's Christian Witness training program. During one of our CWT classes, I remember Bro. Donald stopping the class and saying, "I think we need to stop and pray because there may be some in here who don't know the Lord." I knew at that very instant, IT WAS ME. I prayed the sinner's prayer and surrendered my life to Christ. Before Bro. Donald told us to open our eyes, he challenged us to be bold and stand to show our decision. "Wait!", I thought. My mom is sitting right next to me, my dad is across from me. My sister is here, all my friends, church members I've known my whole life! If I stand, they'll know I've been faking it for so long! But in that moment, I said to myself, "It doesn't matter." At the end of the prayer, I boldly stood and opened my eyes. I was crying when I made eye contact with my pastor and then I turned and standing with me was my precious sister!

Of course this only part of my testimony. A testimony, by definition, is an open acknowledgement; a public expression of religious experience. And in every area, every season of my life, I can give testimony to how God has worked for me and through me. Maybe someday, I will share more but not today.

If you have never meet my friend Jesus and would like to know more, please go here. I am going moderate the comments for this post, so if you want to contact me privately, you can do so!

Upward with Grandma and Paps!

Our Saturdays for the last few weeks have been consumed by Upward basketball. Another church in our community built a new gymnasium and started the program this year. It has been wonderful. This is Emma's 4th year in Upward and Dougie's first. But today was extra special because Grandma and Paps (my mom and dad) drove 3 hours to see them play! Emma and Dougie both played well and had lots of fun. If you're not familiar with Upward, check this out. It is a Christ-centered program and is a great way to reach out to your community. I was especially proud of my 2 today because they both received the white star, which represents "most Christ-like." And isn't that what it's all about?! Here's some pictures. Sorry about the blurriness, I'm definitely not a sports photographer!

Fit Friday and other stuff

Ok, so here's my report for this week.
Mon.- walked 2 miles
Wed.- completed the entire Tae-Bo video
Fri.- Tae-Bo video (not all) but since it's stopped raining and it's beautiful, I'm going walking this afternoon!
Check out Kelly's tips on healthy snacking. This is an area where I need some serious help!

Now on to a more serious topic.....who watched Lost last night? I'm not going to give any spoilers, cause Angie asked me not to but this is going to be an exciting season!!! Just one question, who do you think the Oceanic Six are? I'd like to hear your theories!!

I hope you have a great weekend. Steven is headed, with 15 other men from our church, to the men's conference at First Woodstock. All together, there will be about 7,000 men in attendance. Join me in praying for these men that they all leave changed for God's glory!

Not sure what the kids and I will do tonight, either stay home, eat pizza and watch movies or go eat mexican with some friends.........we'll see. Have a great weekend!