Flight of the Bumblebee....A Capella!

Yes, it's Christmas and I know this makes me look sad, BUT I showed it to my family earlier today and we decided it was blog-worthy. Enjoy as you slowly surface from the mounds of goodies, gifts, family and cheer :)

Da, da-da-da da-da, Da, Da, Da

Did you recognize it?!? It's the opening brass line in the March of course! Josh and I are about to indulge ourselves and act nerdy...We're going to see The Nutcracker tonight!!! I am SO excited! Trying not to sound pitiful (or gloat...may be too late for that), I have almost begged to go see every year of our marriage.....and now I finally get to!

I LOVE Tchaikovsky and I LOVE ballet! It's on a long list of things I think every musician should experience!

I'll update later!

Passion and Patience

Josh and I just started reading Pilgrim's Progress together as part of our date nights. I have never read it (I know. I can feel your gasps.) and he just couldn't bear the thought of that as it's been so impactful to him.

Anyway, I have to say...I get why this is a classic! I already relate to Pilgrim and his struggles so much and people who know me well will attest to the fact that few things spur me on like true, raw honesty about where a person's heart really is...realness....and almost nothing turns me off more than a pretty, put together, rarely-struggles facade. It's just not real and it's not encouraging or edifying for anyone else. Sorry. Soapbox moment. So I'm loving the refreshing honesty in this book.

Today I read ch 2 (I read it without Josh...sorry, baby) and came to the part of the two children, Passion and Patience. This really got at where my heart has been misguided and distracted this Christmas season. It's my natural tendency anyway, but running from mall to mall, thinking of what things I will acquire and what things I will help others acquire does nothing to help my continuous fight against my own Passion.

Here it is:

Then I saw Interpreter take Christian by the hand and lead him into a little room where sat two little children, each in his own chair. The eldest was named Passion, and the other Patience. Passion seemed much discontented, but Patience was very quiet. Then Christian asked, “What is the reason of the discontent of Passion?” The Interpreter answered, “The Master would have him wait for his best things till the beginning of next year; but he will have all now. Patience is willing to wait.”

Then I saw that one came to Passion, and brought him a bag of treasure, and poured it down at his feet. He took it up, and rejoiced and laughed Patience to scorn. But he had soon wasted all away, and had nothing left him but rags.

CHRISTIAN. Explain this matter more fully to me.

INTERPRETER. These two lads are pictures; Passion, of the men of this world; and Patience of the men of the world to come. As you see Passion will have all now, this year, that is to say in this world; so are the men of this world; they must have all their good things now; they cannot wait until the next world for their portion of good. But, as thou sawest that he had quickly wasted all away, and had left nothing but rags, so will it be with all such men at the end of this world.

Then said Christian, “Now I see that Patience has the best wisdom, both because he waits for the best things and because he will have the glory of his things when Passion’s are only rags.”

INTERPRETER. You may add also that the glory of the next world will never wear out; but these are suddenly gone. Therefore Passion had not so much reason to laugh at Patience because he had his good things first, as Patience will have to laugh at Passion, because he had his best things last.

CHRISTIAN. Then I see it is not best to covet things that are now, but to wait for things to come.

INTERPRETER. You say truth; “for the things that are seen soon pass away, but the things that are not seen endure forever.”

One more...cause I can't help it

This time they bust out in gorgeous harmonies as a thank you to the people who served them chili cheese fries in Hardees. Man, fast food jobs have perks these days (but watch 12 days of Christmas before you watch this one.)

12 Days of Christmas....down in Africa

Few things entertain me more than a capella groups (except maybe an amazing brass quintet). My brother-in-law Chris just introduced me to this group and all I can say is WOW!!! Sit back and let these boys knock your socks off!

Out of the mouth of babes and infants...

Thank you to those of you who prayed for me. Last night was absolutely beautiful. The kids did such a good job and wowed their parents...hopefully leading them to worship our King that came as a baby. I hope to post a video clip as soon as I find out if it's legal :) This morning I've just been amazed (now that I have time to really think about it) at how God orchestrated every little detail - from sound equipment and projectors to the pretty poinsetta plants and sequine sashes - to come together when none of it was together a few months ago. I'm amazed once again at how He cares for us on every level...big and small.

So, I've been going through the Psalms again and this morning I read Psalm 8 about God's majesty. Here are a few definitions I found:

Majesty = regal, lofty or stately dignity, grandeur; supreme greatness or authority; sovereignty; the power and sovereignty of God; the greatness and dignity of a sovereign; Royal dignity; stately splendor; magnificance; supreme authority or power.

I don't think I've ever posted part of a journal entry here before, but I feel compelled. His care is just too good not to.

"O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? "(vs 1-4)

Lord, I really feel some of the greatness of this today. Just reading the definition of majesty - seeing Your name referenced in the definition (though You are not contained by our language or definitions!) and then seeing how You care for me with such love and understanding of who I am and what I need...such intimate and sweet care for my soul - I'm just blown away that You would do that! Who am I that You are mindful of me...that You would care for me?!?

"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!"

One down, one to go....

We did our first performance this morning and have the big one tonight. This morning went well with only a few very minor glitches (like one of the backdrops nearly falling on the cast). It actually did go very well. We performed for the upper school (grades 7-12). They're a tough crowd and they seemed to enjoy it.

Then back to normal life.....aaah. Well, sort of. Josh has two performances this weekend at HGBC North.

Say a little prayer for us if you think about it!

Let me count the ways...

Thanksgiving day was our 4th anniversary. We were with his family and this year they decided to go to the beach so I didn't get to post this earlier. Blogging has been slow around here anyway due to said Christmas production in previous post, but I didn't want this one to slip by. Too important.

I always have so much to be grateful for. I feel like God pours down buckets of blessings on us constantly, and so I'm a big fan lately of cultivating thankfulness in my heart...to both praise God for his mercy that I certainly don't deserve and also to keep my heart from becoming prideful and numb to how staggeringly good He is to his children.

That being said, this year it seems even more real how sweet God is to me as I think about the last 4 years of being Josh's wife. And though this list is far from complete, I want to try to capture some of why I'm so grateful for my precious husband.

--He has one of the most tender hearts I've ever known.
--He's gentle with me.
--He has eyes like two gorgeous little oceans and gave me a son with the same eyes.
--He can play the sax, the flute and the clarinet....like really play them.
--He makes me laugh at myself at the most inconvenient times (like when I'm really mad or crying).
--He truly has a heart for the Lord and makes me want to know Him better too.
--His love for digging deep into the Word is contagious.
--His love for theology translates into how he lives...it's not just knowledge.
--For as long as I've known him (10 1/2 years) he's had strong accountability from another man.
--He loves his momma!
--He's a cuddler (even more than me!)
--He still loves Tom and Jerry, The Little Rascals and Charlie Brown.
--He can fit a whole cheeseburger in his mouth....and a double decker moon pie (see pic).
--He fights hard to grow in areas he's weak in and asks for help from others all the time.
--He loves his little boy SO much (and that little boy loves his daddy SO much)!
--He comes home from a long day of teaching 12 yr olds math and wrestling to a frazzled wife and immediately asks, "How can I help you, baby? Here, I'll do it...go sit down."
--He genuinely loves jazz and can give anyone a passionate discertation on why Kenny G is not jazz.
--He loves my family dearly and they know that.
--When Wanda (the custodian who cleans his room) called the school yesterday to say that her father had just passed away, she only wanted to talk to Josh...he stepped out into the hall and prayed with her on the phone.
--He is quite possibly the most compassionate person I have ever met.
--His students love him.
--He was a great friend to me for 5 yrs before we started dating and pushed me toward Christ even then.
--He has proven his character to me time and time again.
--He dresses well.
--He helped me endure 6 yrs of the music dept in college....it was intense.
--He understands that my hair gets frizzy in the rain so he walks me everywhere with an umbrella while getting drenched himself.
--He works hard at our marriage.
--He's almost always the first to reconcile an argument.
--His southern drawl increases 10 fold when we go to his parent's house.
--He sings the theme song from King of Queens to me everytime he hears it.
--He shares my heart for the nations and has gone to several of them with me.
--He's gracious in helping me deal with my sin.
--I really could keep going!

An Invitation

You are invited to

a special presentation of...

"Meet Me at the Manger"

Presented by

the grammar school students

of CCS

December 6th, 2007

7:00pm

CCS gymnasium

(see me for more details)

Psalm 19:1 from my back yard tonight

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handywork."

Bock, bock...

I know it's long gone, and though I'm not a halloween fan, I still wanted to show you our little chick-a-dee. These were taken at a local fall festival. His costume was a last minute, day-of purchase from Old Navy for $6!

Friends of ours: Cole (a lion) and Laney (a Laney-bug)

What Jeff Foxworthy says about us....

My Mom sent this to me, and honestly, a bunch of them weren't that funny to me because I didn't know other people in the country were any different. You transplants should get a good chuckle though :)

What Jeff Foxworthy has to say about people in North Carolina............

--If you go to "cut" off the lights instead of turn off the lights, you may live in North Carolina.....
--If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you are fixin to go anywhere, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you've worn shorts to a Christmas party, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in North Carolina.
--If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Myrtle Beach for the weekend, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you measure distance in hours, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in North Carolina .
--If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in North Carolina.
--If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly', you may live in North Carolina.
--If you and all your friends live for basketball season, be it high school, college, or Pro......you may live in North Carolina.
--If you know that Charlotte is not really the State Capital, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you know three different recipes for baked beans, and which one to take to a funeral, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you know two of more friends named Trey, you may live in North Carolina .
--If you can name two hurricanes that blew away your neighbors trailer, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you think that all students who graduate from Duke move back home to New York, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you think that the tobacco barn out front is part of your home, you may live in North Carolina.
--If you actually understand these jokes, and share them with your North Carolina friends and others, you definitely live in North Carolina .

What's in my cart....

Ok, I have to add another website that has been an integral part of our date night rotation....restaurant.com. Dee and Stacey have both been a walking commercial for this site for awhile now....and rightly so!

Basically, you find the restaurant you want to go on their site (not all restaurants use them, but a lot do!) and can either buy a $25 gift certificate for $10 -or- you can opt for a $10 gift certificate for $3. The fine print is that you usually have to spend a minimum of $35 or $15 depending on what gift certificate you buy, and sometimes you have to use it during the week instead of the weekend....BUT it's still a really good deal.

And right now they're having a 70% off sale until Oct 31st. Just enter "treats" in the discount box at check out. I'm about to buy four $25 gift certificates and one $10 gift certificate for $12.90!!! You just print them out and frolic off to your date night with your sweetie!

Here are a few places we want to try:

Lulu.... it was voted "Most Creative Menu" by Charlotte Magazine last year and the gift certificates have been sold out already for October. You should look at their menu!

Maddi's Southern Bistro.... it's a restaurant and art gallery in one. You shop for locally handmade jewelry, wine glasses, etc and then feast on what sounds like true southern food (in a swanky atmosphere)! I'm eyeing the low country shrimp and grits. It's at Birkdale, so some great window shopping after dinner! It's another one that has sold out until Nov 1st.

Brazilian Buffet Boi Gordo.... A little more off the beaten path and the name means "Fat Ox". Apparently, you pay a flat rate and they serve you an entire dinner featuring many different types of meat that the servers will come and shave off onto your plate. Josh and I ate at a similar place in South Africa and it was really, really good!

The Ibis.... another high recommendation from Dee and Stacey. It's a new Caribbean place in downtown Concord, that is struggling because of it's location, but who's food is, "unbelievable!" We definitely need to keep good, independently owned restaurants open in Concord.

Fuji San Japanese Restaurant.... it's sushi on a conveyer belt, ya'll!!!

Tijuana Flats.... Tex-Mex is always a safe bet with me and this place looks fun and lively.

Two websites I visited today

I am already feeling stressed about Christmas. Though there were definitely many sweet moments last year with our families, there were also things that we hope to do differently this year to take some of the stress off we felt last year. Hence, my thinking about it now.

Josh and I were talking the other night about a financial plan we're striving towards....that also MAJORLY cuts our Christmas budget. We have A LOT of family....and it happily grows every year. My gift list now stands at 23.

Sooo..... I've found some new tools I'll be using this year. Here they are :

http://www.organizedchristmas.com/

http://www.christmasorganizing.com/

In the meantime, I am currently taking suggestions and brown, paper bags :)

Vintage Blowing Rock

...pics from last year...

Blowing Rock

A couple weekends ago we got to go to Blowing Rock! Josh's parents have a time share there and couldn't use it, so they sweetly let us (we went last year too). As always, it was gorgeous! We weren't there very long, but we spent a day walking through downtown, peeking into shops, getting coffee at Kojays, eating great soup, playing at the little park there, soaking in the hot tub, talking, reading and enjoying the amazing Chetola resort. It was a great little getaway! Thank you, Grammie and Pops!

It came at the perfect time because Isaiah hadn't been feeling well (as you can tell in some of the pictures), so he and I had been stuck in the house for awhile and I was about to lose it.

(Unknown to us, he was cutting 2 molars on top and two teeth on the bottom!)

what are these things???

some of the scenery at Chetola
quiet time on the patio
sequence of desire...
determination....
and satisfaction!

embarrassing me in Kojays weeee

Isaiah takes his safety warnings very seriously

sooo tired

not having it...

Cousins

almost like having a sister

lashes

"sharing" Max's ball (sorry Stacey!)

nap time
peek-a-boo

Ugh....it fit yesterday!

Karis and the shiney "no-no"

Let's put our heads together and think....

...and then you do this....

My little Einstein

Quick prayer request

Sorry for being MIA lately. First we lost the cord that I use to get pictures on here (and I have lots to post) so I delayed....we found it right when things started really picking up here at school. I will try to do better and get some pictures up too!

My kids at CCS are doing a Chirstmas musical this year and I'm told it's the biggest one they've done so far....of course......the girl with a one year old who only works 2 days a week has once again bitten off more then she can chew.

Anyway, all the auditions for the speaking and solo parts are this afternoon and I have quite a few kids coming and few parts to offer. I am so blessed by these kids enthusiasm...they don't take this opportunity for granted. They have definitely stepped up to the plate, but despite my numerous warnings against pride and taking our eyes off of Jesus, I can just see their little hearts wrapping tightly around hopes of getting the big part that comes with the spotlight.

If you think about it today, would you just pray for their hearts and for wisdom for me to lead them well through this process in a way that would cause this Christmas season to really be about Christ in their hearts?


I'll post more about it later....

Playing with large produce

Sounds odd, but Isaiah sure likes it!