Dignity and Sanctity of the Home

Do you love and value the people that are living in your home?  What kind of home environment do you have?  Is it an environment that promotes peace and love?  I have mentioned on my blog before about a book that has been very helpful to me called The HOME Experience by Devi Titus.

I purchased this book several years ago and went through it, to be honest, sort of half heartedly I am ashamed to say.  Recently, I came across some youtube videos that Devi has put out that go along with her book The HOME Experience.  I was delighted when I found these videos! It's as if Devi is right in the room with you, speaking to you personally and sharing the truths of God's Word to encourage you to be a better wife, mother, friend, and ultimately be a better servant to God.

I pulled my copy of The HOME Experience off of the shelf and have been going through it whole heartedly this time.  I would highly encourage you to look at Devi's videos and purchase a copy of The Home Experience. You can purchase a copy here.  Check out Devi's website The Living Smart Journal.  I think up to this date of my blog she has 9 videos on Youtube that you can view on this topic of the Dignity and Sanctity of the Home.  I have been greatly encouraged and I know you will be also.  Start today making your home a place of peace and love.

The Adventure of Moving

Well we have packed up and moved.

Now we are in the process of unpacking.

  The process of moving is not my favorite thing to do.  It is hard work to get all of your belongings in boxes and move it all to another location then unpack it all. BUT I was reminded the other day of what an ADVENTURE moving can be.  It's an opportunity to experience a new place and new things and meet new people and make new friends.  It's also an opportunity to grow in our relationship with the Lord as we trust Him to lead us along the way.

We now have a new backyard to explore. It is so lush and green.  We have a deck that the kids like to shoot their bows and arrows from.

There are lots of things to explore in our area, like a local horse barn that offers riding lessons and a girls horse club. There is an opportunity to learn something new while making new friends at the same time.

My daughters headed to the barn

 The girls have taken up riding lessons at the barn.  It is a beautiful place not too far from our house.

First Riding lessons

The boys are even interested in learning to ride now that they have seen their sisters do so well.

So even though the packing and unpacking is not that fun if we view the move itself as an adventure it will help us to adjust to the change easier.  Check back to see what other new things we uncover & discover in the days ahead.

I am still alive. Just been too busy to sit long enough to write a blog post.  I have been busy with getting our house on the market and preparing a move while homeschooling the children.  Lately things have been so hectic that I am beginning to think that I need some therapy! For me therapy involves SEWING! I decided that for my own sanity I need to spend a little time here and there in my sewing room.  Here is the pattern I have chosen to work on.

You can get it here! 

I will let you know how it turns out.

Tea Time!

My daughters and me

The ladies of our new church hosted a Tea this past Saturday to welcome my daughters and me to the church.  We had a great time and felt very embraced by the ladies.

I got to bring and use one of my own favorite teacups that my oldest sister gave to me.  It's my favorite Old Country Roses pattern.  There were many beautiful and unique teacups.  I enjoyed hearing from the women who brought a favorite teacup, the story behind why it was a favorite teacup.

Each lady that came was also just as unique and beautiful as all the different teacups. They looked so gorgeous wearing their hats and gloves.

The music minister's wife also read from the book If Teacups Could Talk by Emilie Barnes which is one of my favorite books. I am a big fan of Emilie Barnes who in this book encourages readers to embrace and pass on to others the gifts of friendship, tradition, comfort, celebration, and imagination...all with a cup of tea.

As we shared tea together and began to get acquainted with one another I felt very blessed to have the opportunity to serve alongside this group of ladies.  I am so grateful for the gift of friendship and the wonderful friends that I have made over the years in the churches that we have served.  I am excited about the new friends and church family that I have now and am looking forward to getting to know and love them.

I first heard about Sheri Rose Shepherd while listening to an episode of Focus on the Family.  This episode was the most listened to that year on Focus.  I was so amazed at her testimony and obvious love for Christ that I have been a big fan of hers for years now. Sheri Rose is a popular speaker for women's events and an author.  I have purchased some of her books and cd's and have shared them with friends over the years who have needed some encouragement.  Can you believe this woman is 50 years old!!!

Sheri Rose Shepherd photo from Bible Life Coaching.com

I am presently participating in an online kitchen coaching series that Sheri Rose is doing and I am really enjoying it.  She will be doing another session in March and you may just want to check it out.  If you struggle with making healthy choices with your eating the online coaching will definitely help you break that habit and change your way of eating. She makes it easy for you!
Here is another resource from Sheri Rose that I highly recommend. I have my own copy and have referred to it over and over again through the last few years.

Fit for My King: His Princess 30-Day Diet Plan and Devotional By Sheri Rose Shepherd / Revell In Fit for My King, Sheri Rose Shepherd, bestselling author of His Princess, shows women how to win the diet war once and for all. This 30-day diet and devotional journal brings you 30 days of life-changing devotions, heartwarming stories, creative cooking, and a daily dose of Scripture. Transform the way you see yourself forever as you discover God loves you! Hardcover.

Thrive

One of my favorite bloggers over at A Cultivated Nest shared a great post about the new year and how she picked a focus word for the year. Head over there and check her blog out. She always encourages me and inspires me with her blog posts.  Anyway, I was delighted with her post because I had also picked a word to be my theme or focus for 2012 and that word is THRIVE.  The definition of thrive is to grow vigorously!

Psalm 1:3 says "He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers."

Happy New Year!

My husband & Me

It’s a new year! How exciting! I have so many dreams and hopes for this year. How about you?

It is with great anticipation that my family and I walk into 2012.  Did I say walk? It felt more like sliding into home base!!! Our lives have been in a tailspin for the last several months. (Hence my lack of blog posts.) Along with the busyness of the holiday season beginning with Thanksgiving, my husband was also candidating for a senior pastor position.  Needless to say, life has been a bit hectic as well as stressful as 2011 came to a close.  However, as always, God’s faithfulness to provide, guide and direct us has led us into the year 2012 confident that He is working His plan out in our lives.

On Dec.18 my husband was voted in as the senior pastor at an SBC church in a neighboring state.  Let’s just say I will still be a CAROLINA GIRL even though we will be leaving GAMECOCK country. I will have to get used to saying I’m a CAROLINA fan and that meaning the USC Gamecocks because where we are headed CAROLINA does not mean USC.

We are beyond excited about our new place of service. We look forward to embracing our new church family and to being involved in their lives. We know that God has great things in store for us all as we seek to put Him first in our lives and serve Him.

My family is such a blessing!  We have been enjoying being together with the college boy home on Christmas break and the college/working girl through with exams. Even though we have been busy with various activities, it's been great to all be together.

Our family

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love the Christmas season!  It really is a wonderful time of year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We start celebrating the weekend after Thanksgiving with decorating the house and setting up the Christmas tree.  Each of our children receive a new ornament every year which they put on the tree first.  Then we pull out all of the ornaments and I just let them hang them wherever they want to put them.

Decorating the tree

 The activities of Christmas are in full swing now with various events, performances, and parties. Two of our children participated with the church youth handbell group and rang bells on the riverwalk.  It was a beautiful evening out with the riverwalk lit with luminaries. Our daughter is on the end with the teeny tiny bells.

Ringing on the River

 This past week started out with our youngest receiving his TENDERFOOT badge for boy scouts.

We continued with the youth ringing and singing at church. Here is our middle son on the right end with the big bells.

 Our oldest son was invited to play with the college praise band at a downtown activity called Gifts for Giving.

 He is in his element when he gets a guitar in his hand.  I love to see him shine!

Oldest son 

 The girls and I enjoyed an evening at the ballet watching "The Nutcracker".  It was such a beautiful performance.  Our oldest has been dancing off and on since she was four and was in the Nutcracker as a cherub when she was little.  She's back doing ballet again and after seeing the Nutcracker tonight she has hopes of performing in the ballet next year.

Our daughters at "the Nutcracker"

 The girls and I enjoyed our evening out at the ballet. I love spending time with my children!

Me and my girls!

There are so many things going on this time of year. I hope you take some time to enjoy the activities in your community this Christmas season.  A lot of hard work goes into planning events and parties and celebrations. Get out there and enjoy the activities with family & friends. It might provide an opportunity to make some new friends & you might just have the opportunity to tell someone who doesn't know that Jesus is the reason for the season!

Lies Young Women Believe | What's The Big Deal About Giving Thanks?

There's a great article over at the blog from Revive Our Hearts about giving thanks.

Lies Young Women Believe | What's The Big Deal About Giving Thanks?

I love to have all my children together at the same time.  We have enjoyed so much our family time the last few days with college boy home on Thanksgiving break and college/working girl off for a few days. We decided that while every one was home at the same time we had better try to get some family pictures. I took this one of our children today at a local park.  It's hard to get a photo of all of them smiling, eyes open and all looking in the right direction but this one was pretty good!

Our Children

Children are a gift from the Lord and I am so thankful for each one of these precious gifts God has given me.

Christmas, the "Gift Giving Season" is just around the corner. Some of you may have even completed all of your Christmas shopping & have your gifts already wrapped, waiting to be put under the tree after Thanksgiving.  I wish that were the case with me.  Every year I say I am going to have my shopping done before November so that I can enjoy doing the other things I want to do during the season. Things like baking Christmas cookies with my children,

Image from Joy of Baking

caroling, going to the Christmas parade and church activities etc., 

without the worry & hastle of fighting the shopping crowds. However, another November is flying by and I have not purchased the first Christmas gift.  Oh well, there's always next year!

Thinking about gifts and giving and loving on others, I was reminded today of an analogy that I heard many years ago from author and speaker Florence Littauer.  She says  

"Our words are to be like silver boxes with bows on top that we give to others".  

     I was listening to a recent podcast of Living With Joy which aired a 3 part series of Florence speaking on this subject.  Please, please, please click on the link and look for the past programs at Living With Joy and listen to the series.  Florence is such a gifted speaker and you will be greatly encouraged by this series.  You will laugh too if you listen to her!
Our words are so powerful.  The tongue has been described as the most powerful muscle in the body.  Our words can either build up or tear down.
 I don't know about you but I want to be a builder-up-er!!!  I want to give out little silver boxes with bows on top all day long!!!!
We have such tremendous potential to build people up and help others become who God wants them to be.   Start today!!!

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers . Ephesians 4:29

Veterans Day

Honoring all who served.

Veterans Day Graphics

A True Friend

"A true friend is someone that knows the song of your soul, and sings it back to you when you have forgotten the words."- Anonymous

Jasmine &; Me at the Women's Enrichment's Fall Fling

I love the quote above! True friends are hard to come by.  I am blessed to have some of those "true friends" in my life.  My friend Jasmine is one of those true friends.  She and I have been friends for almost thirty years!!!  We met at Baptist College (now Charleston Southern University) in Charleston SC.  We've come a long way since the '80's!

Jasmine & Me at Baptist College

Jasmine has been that kind of friend to me that knows the song of my heart and reminds me to "tune my heart to sing His praise".  When I am negative, she helps me see the positive.  When I am stressed out she reminds me to focus on the One who calms the storms.  

And to top it off, she loves my children! They've started calling her "Aunt" Jasmine!

Jasmine & my youngest child

I hope you are blessed today to have a friend or friends like that in your life.  If not, try being that kind of friend to someone else.

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Thinking about friends and friendship, here is a cute video!  We might just have to do this routine!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbo4OYSLTdI

Thought provoking video about the future of theological education.


Re-Imagining Theological Education | 3DM from 3DM on Vimeo.

Missing the College Boy!

I am missing the college boy so much!  I know we are supposed to raise them to leave one day & I am so excited that he is in college and doing well but goodness gracious I miss him!

Child #2 "College boy" performing at an outdoor concert

And no, that's not a wedding ring on his finger, it's a purity ring.  He is a young man of God who makes it clear he is striving to live out his faith.  He loves to play the guitar and lead in worship services with the praise band. He has also had a chance to do some recording with the group below called "True Vine".

Child #2 playing with the group "True Vine"

He's on the pre-med track in college and staying really busy studying (too busy I think!) But he's coming home this weekend, so Mama's gonna make sure the college boy has a good time at home and spends some time laughing and having fun with his family.

Already looking like a doctor

CHILDREN #4,#3,#2

I can't wait for him to come home this weekend and crank up the electric guitar. Oh, and I will be fixing up one of his favorite meals, Shrimp & Grits. Y'all come on over!!!

Fall Festival

We enjoyed helping out at the Fall Festival & Trunk or Treat last night at church.  Child #3 helped to make sno-cones.

Child #3 assisting with sno-cones

Middle son helped with one of the games.

Child #4 & #5 playing a game

All while our youngest son helped himself to several sno-cones.

Child #5

Thankfully the sno-cone operators refused to give him a third one.

Child #3 & Mrs Christy

We had a good evening with friends & got to see some really adorable little ones in their outfits! Sweet!

Cute as pie!

The Benefits of Blogging

I started blogging several years ago not to necessarily become a "Blogger", but to develop my writing skills and for a way for people that know us from all over to keep in touch with the things going on in our lives.  I never imagined all the good that would come out of my rambling posts and unprofessional photographs. Here are a few amazing things that have come as a result of my blogging.  Some of you may know that I was very distressed about the state of disrepair and abandonment of Laurelwood Plantation that belonged to my family for almost a decade.  See, I really am a true southern belle!

Laurelwood Plantation

 In 1994 the house was sold after it had been in my family since 1908.  Not sure exactly what happened with the new owners but the house & property became neglected and eventually abandoned for years.  The Palmetto Trust acquired the house in an effort to save it as it is on the National Register for Historic Homes.  I contacted the Palmetto Trust with concerns about the property which led to the director asking me if I would consider writing a blog about the house.  I really didn't realize at the time that his hopes were that my blog would attract a buyer.  I just began writing about Laurelwood and hoped that my love and passion and memories of the property would be relayed to the readers and that they would catch the vision for what a special place Laurelwood is.  Well, Laurelwood now has a new owner and I couldn't be happier. In fact he told me recently and I quote the new owner as saying to me "in reality the only reason we went to look at Laurelwood was because of you and your blog".   I can't tell you how good that made me feel, just knowing that I branched out in an area I was a bit quite uncertain about but tried to share my thoughts anyway and that it made a difference.  Of course, I am in no way responsible for the sale of a house or the saving of Laurelwood I am just glad to know that in some way, I made a difference.  The day the house closed we had a gathering at the house that connected descendants of the original builder and first owners to my family and the new owners. It was great! You can read about it here.  

   Also as a result of blogging I have met family members that I did not even know that I had.  We

I'm on the right holding the painting of my Grandfather

have been connecting and getting to know each other and it has been GREAT!  Last night some of my

 

"new" cousins and I had dinner together and Florence who found out about me from my blog presented me and my cousin Becky paintings that she painted of our grandparents. My Grandfather and Becky's Grandmother were brother and sister. Florence's husband was the grandson of another sister of my Grandfather's. Florence is in the middle and Becky is holding the painting of her Grandmother.  What a blessing!!!! I certainly have benefitted from blogging.