Word

I love Wednesday nights. That's the night I have my small group. Some of you out there in blog world (like I have sooo many people reading this blog) might not know what a small group is, but basically, it's a group of us that meet on a regular basis for Bible study. This is the only small group I've been a part of, and we've been meeting for about 2 1/2 years!! It hasn't all been sunshine & roses...in fact, there were several times I just needed a break. But these last 13 weeks have been so fantastic, I don't really have an adequate way to describe it. There's just something so special about getting together with friends to learn about Jesus. When you have a relationship with people that is rooted in Christ, somehow it feels stronger than any other friendship. I am just so grateful for each and every one of them and all the things we've gone through together.

Tonight we finished up our study on the book of Daniel. Wow. Have you read it? This was the first time for me and I was blown away. Did you know that every piece of prophecy in the Bible fits into Daniel? Incredible!! I think the major thing I took away from this study (there were several big lessons) is about God's sovereignty. He has absolute control over everything at all times...and it doesn't matter when "the end" comes. Our job right now is to prepare and to walk with Jesus.

To celebrate tonight, we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Indochine. It's a mix of Thai and Vietnamese and heaven!! Haha. Delicious. We sat out back in the garden area. They have little huts that you can sit in...and ours had a much-needed ceiling fan to help with the humidity and bugs. And boy was that food delicious!! My favorite part of the night was when we prayed. It wasn't formal...in fact, we all had our eyes open and took turns speaking our prayers aloud. Thank you God for my small group, and thank You that we are still meeting after 2 1/2 years.

Susan, Rebecca, Me, Cat, Cindy

Cat & David

Me & Rebecca (she was trying to get the menu out of the way, that's why her hand looks so weird!)

Susan & Her hubby James (who decided to tag along for dinner)

Announcement & Dangerous Weapons

I can't believe I forgot to make this announcement on here the other day...but better late than never, right? Here goes: When the new store opens at the end of September, Ed will be transferring to the Leland Harris Teeter!!!!!!! Yup, that's right. He'll be about 2 minutes from Edwin's daycare and about 10 minutes from where I work. We should be able to carpool more (hello, gas is still ridiculously expensive) and hopefully sometime in the next year or two, move closer to Wilmington!!!! Thank You God for another answer to prayer!

Okay, here's the Dangerous Weapons part of the post. Did you know fingernails on a toddler can cause a LOT of damage?? When I picked Edwin up from daycare today, the computer (where I check him in/out) said there was an accident report at the front desk. No biggie, right? It stated that he had been scratched by another child. So I sign the thing, go into his room to pick him up, and am a little shocked....he wasn't just scratched...his poor face was gouged by some crazed toddler!!! As you can see from the pictures, he's not particularly bothered by it now, but at the time, I guess he was crying pretty bad. My poor baby. Now, I understand that kids will be kids and things like this are going to happen. But it doesn't help the fact that I already don't like having to drop him off for 9 hours a day...

Don't Let the Monkeys Pull You Down!

I'm sure that seems like a strange title, but hang in there. A couple posts ago, I wrote about a book called "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. I got the book on a Thursday afternoon, and by Friday at 10:30pm, I had already read it cover-to-cover. Well then I let another friend of mine borrow it, and she happened to have it with her at work today. Since I didn't have anything else to do on my lunch break, I decided to take another look at it...I knew that I blew through it so fast the first time in my excitement that I probably missed a few things. Long story short, I wanted to share this piece about Debt (taken directly from the book):

"Debt has been sold to us so aggressively, so loudly, and so often that to imagine living without debt requires myth-busting. We have to systematically destroy the inner workings of the myths. Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans can't even envision a car without a payment, a house without a mortgage, a student without a loan, and credit without a card. We have been sold debt with such repetition and with such fervor that most folks cannot conceive what it would be like to have no payments."

Is that not so true??? Up until a couple of weeks ago, I was the same way....thinking that I'd forever be in debt in one form or another. But God is showing me that that is a lie. I'm not going through all of this in order to get rich. That's not the point. Jesus was poor and that's ok. But I am trying to learn how to be a better steward of everything God has entrusted to me...not just my finances, but my time, spiritual gifts, etc.

Next week, Ed & I are going to the orientation at church for Financial Peace University. It's a 13 week class taught by Dave Ramsey via video. Then we break up into small groups for more detailed learning and discussion. I am ridiculously excited about this!! Since my lunch break is almost over, I don't have time right now to explain the whole story, but the way this has worked out shows that God had His hands all over this! Now I'm just praying that Ed's schedule will allow him to join me every Wednesday night for the classes.

Okay, enough yammering. But seriously, I highly recommend Total Money Makeover...or any of Dave Ramsey's other materials. Even if you just check out his website, you'll find tons of information and free budgeting forms.

Have a great day :)

Phases

My desire to blog definitely goes in phases. I guess currently, I'm in a phase where I feel like there's just not a whole lot to say. Either that, or I'm being too lazy to think of anything worth reading. So for now, you can enjoy these pictures of my boy. They're pretty self-explanatory.

Can't Get Enough

I just love the olympics!!!!!!!!!! I mean, seriously.....have you been watching this stuff?? It's amazing!! I'm sure I'll say more about it later, but I have to work :(

Not Afraid to Tell People

It's my birthday!!!!!! Yes, I'm 29 years old today, and I'm not afraid to tell people :)

First Haircut

My baby is getting so big!!! After much debate, Ed & I finally agreed that it was time to get Edwin his very first haircut. I personally dig the whole surfer look, but even I couldn't deny that the poor child couldn't see half the time because his hair was in his face. So I took off early from work today and headed over to Fantasy Hair Land (they don't have a website, but look them up on google and you'll find their phone number). Katie came along as our very own photographer to document the auspicious occasion. Yes, I just used the word auspicious. Here's a "before" picture taken last night:



Auntie Katie came armed with supplies...not only her mac-daddy camera, but cookies for Edwin! It took him a few minutes to get used to the place, but soon was all smiles as he hopped into the airplane chair. Michelle (the "stylist") did a wonderful job of making him comfortable. He was pampered with all sorts of toys and managed to actually enjoy himself! Snip, Snip, Snip...off came the curls (not all of them)...a few more snips and the boy could see....couple more snips and Presto!! Edwin's first haircut was a success!!!! No tears (from boy or mommy), a few laughs, and a stylin' new look for my angel-baby. We even got a certificate with some of his baby hair attached. I would highly recommend Fantasy Hair Land. It's on Wrightsville & College and it's PERFECT for kids!!! Enjoy the pictures from my sis.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Got Me Again!

Last week, we received an email at work notifying us of an upcoming Blood Drive. The last time I donated was September 2007, so I decided to go ahead and sign up. I know this might seem like an ordinary thing to do…donate blood. But for some reason, today’s experience hit me on a much deeper level.

God is so amazing!!

Yes, I already knew this. But donating blood today just proved it once again. Have you ever thought of how complex the human body is? I mean, really thought about it? I was a Biology major in college, so I had plenty of exposure (no pun intended, really) to the human body and how it works. How in the world can people honestly think that humans just came out of nowhere? It almost makes me laugh because the idea is so ridiculous. The detail with which God put us together is mind boggling. Take blood for example. Here’s just a tiny list of its functions:

-Supply of oxygen to tissues (bound to hemoglobin which is carried in red cells)
-Supply of nutrients such as glucose, amino acids and fatty acids (dissolved in the blood or bound to plasma proteins)
-Removal of waste such as carbon dioxide, urea and lactic acid
-Immunological functions, including circulation of white cells, and detection of foreign material by antibodies
-Coagulation, which is one part of the body's self-repair mechanism
-Messenger functions, including the transport of hormones and the signaling of tissue damage
-Regulation of body pH (the normal pH of blood is in the range of 7.35 - 7.45)
-Regulation of core body temperature
-Hydraulic functions

Not only that, but God created us in such a way that we can DONATE a part of ourselves to help somebody else! And of course, there’s the ultimate way blood has been used in all of our lives. Jesus’ blood was shed for us to cover our sins.

As I sat in the Blood Mobile with a needle in my arm, I just kept thanking God over and over for the opportunity to donate. The whole process was so smooth & painless, you’d hardly believe needles were involved.

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Romans 3:25 (New International Version)
25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,[a] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—


Ephesians 1:7 (New International Version)
7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace

Praise Report

I don’t have a lot of time right now, but I’m super excited about a few things and just had to share them with you.

1) Edwin slept through the night last night!! Ordinarily not such a big deal, but since he was sick, the sleeping has been very iffy. Last night he went to bed at 8pm, and I had to wake him up this morning at 7am. This also means that I had a glorious night of uninterrupted sleep…no snoring hubby (yes, I miss him, but I don’t miss the noise)…no crying baby…just peaceful 7.5 hours of delicious sleep.

2) This morning was the first time in about 5 weeks that Edwin hasn’t cried when I dropped him off at daycare!!!!!

3) Mom, Katie, and Anthony are on their way home from MN. I didn’t think I’d actually miss them this much! Haha.

Sorry

Sorry I'm such a slacker lately. I've been messing around with different backgrounds...and it takes a lot longer than I thought!!! Anyway, I can't upload any new pics because my dear brother-in-law is giving our computer a complete overhaul. Much needed!! Here's a quick update for you:

1. Katie, Mom & Anthony have been in MN since last Tuesday. Things have been VERY quiet without them!

2. Edwin developed a fever and diarrhea on Sunday when he woke up from his nap. I ended up staying home with him yesterday. I think he's doing better though because daycare hasn't called at all. Haha.

3. Ed left town yesterday. He's in Raleigh until Friday night...more training for HT.

4. Church on Sunday rocked my world!!! Once again, I felt like the sermon was aimed directly at me. If I get a chance tomorrow, I'll go into more detail.

5. That's it. I'm leaving to pick up my baby and then we're getting a few groceries and heading home.

Have a great night!