Snowed In=Major Wedding Planning

We have been snowed in since Monday. Sunday night Dad and I were praying it would snow. Boy oh boy did God ever answer our prayers!!! We woke up Monday morning with about 7 or 8 inches of snow! That's pretty much a blizzard for us!
Needless to say for the past 3 days I have had one thing on the brain, WEDDING! I have got to get out of this house before Mom and I both go crazy. When you get to thinking about all of the many details that go into a wedding it gets so very overwhelming. All of my married friends kept telling me not to get overwhelmed but to enjoy this special time. I trying super hard not to get overwhelmed but it's so hard.
October seems sooooo far away but I know it will get here sooner than I realize. I have got a lot of planning accomplished. I know what I want it's just a matter of getting it done!!
I can not wait to marry David!! I know our wedding day will be perfect. It may not appear perfect to anyone else but it'll be perfect to us. We both want nothing more than to honor Christ on our special day. I really hope and pray our wedding is not only a wedding but also a worship service that honors the one who brought us together!!
Counting down the days....

Long Time No Blogging

It has been a LONG LONG LONG time since I last blogged. I decided to start back, if for no other reason than, to keep a journal for myself of everything going on in my life!!

Since I last blogged I have graduated college, got ENGAGED, and got my first real job!!! Looking back on the last half of 2010, it has been great!!

Just an update on my life.......

In August I graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Business Administration!! What a wonderful feeling it is knowing you are finished with school, WOW!!! I enjoyed a wonderful day with family and friends celebrating my graduation! It was extra special having my Papa there. I'll never forget looking up in the stands, right before I walked on stage, seeing him setting there screaming my name and waving at me! A very special moment I will never forget!!

Skip a few months on to November, I was in Nashville for a girls' weekend of shopping and fun. It was a Friday night and we were going to see the Christmas lights at the Opryland Hotel. Little did I know David was there waiting to propose to me! When I reached the big Christmas tree there he was!!! After saying some very sweet and special things, he got down on one knee and asked me to MARRY HIM!! I said YES, of course!!!!

Where I said YES!!!

November 19, 2010

My gorgeous ring!!

The week after we got engaged I received a call about a job. I went to work the week after Thanksgiving as an Accouting Representative! I really like my job. It has been a great first job. I know God has placed me there for a reason and I am thankful for this opportunity he has blessed me with.

David and I have set a wedding date, October 29, 2011. I am officially in wedding mode!! It has totally consumed my thoughts! :) I can NOT wait to marry this amazing guy that God has blessed me with. God has put such a love in my heart for David. I know he has great plans for us as a couple and I can't wait to begin the adventure! :)

Sweetest Girls Ever

I have blogged about Lannah Grace before! I kept her tonight while her Mom went to church for a ladies meeting. Tonight was special because I got to keep Leelah too for the first time!! :) We had a blast! Toys, make up, hide and seek, outside, and more fun!! They are the most sweetest girls on this planet and way too cute!!! LOVE THEM!!

Lannah Grace watching Dora and Leelah playing :)

BFF Time

Wow, my life has become absolutely C.R.A.Z.Y.! I was able to enjoy one week off from school and then I began my internship. Let's just say waking up between 5:30 and 6 and then not getting home til 5:30 in the afternoon isn't my favorite thing in the world. My body has had to do some major adjusting to get used to the "real world". However, God has blessed me with an intern position 20 miles from home and I'm getting paid. So I am too blessed to complain! :)

Due to school consuming my life, I have not been able to see or even talk to my best friend Kayla that much. She lives in Cullman. Which is not too far away but far enough to make things difficult. Since I am finished with school I was able to leave work Thursday and head to Cullman to spend a few days with her. I had not been to her house since August of last year. That's just wrong for us two!!

Thursday was a special day. Not only was I seeing my best friend that I hadn't saw in 5 months but it was also a day that God proved himself faithful once again! Kayla's Dad, Jeff, had received some bad test results. The doctor had pretty much told him he had cancer. Jeff went for a biopsy Wednesday and would receive the results on Thursday! While driving to Cullman, Kayla calls to let me know the doctor had called and.....THERE WAS NO CANCER!!! That's my GOD!! :) We were all so excited! I was glad I got to be there with Kayla and share in the excitement of God answering their prayers!

I am glad I was able to spend some time with her. We ate, went swimming, glow bowling, laughed, laughed, and laughed some more!! Kayla has been my best friend for almost ten years now. We have been through ALOT together and I could NOT imagine my life without her! She means the world to me. I am so thankful that God placed her in my life and blessed me with such an amazing Godly friend. It is really funny how we met and I know it was nothing but a God thing. :)

Glow bowling

Christy, me & Kayla crammed in the backseat on our way to Chili's Friday night

Good Preachin'

There is nothing better than some good preachin'. I love it! I guess part of that comes from being a preacher's daughter. I have been around preaching my whole life. I have heard more preachers than I can even begin to count. I've heard some of the best and greatest and then some of the not so great! That's probably awful to say. But we have all been there and done that!
To me, my Dad is the best there is. Yes, of course, I am partial. But I believe he ranks right up there with the best in the country! I love nothing more to see my Dad get fired up while he's preachin' and have a "happy spell". I have a list of favorite preachers.....
#1 being my Dad
#2 Bro. Bill Stafford
#3 Bro. Phil Hoskins
and #4 would have to go to Bro. Joe Arthur.
I met Bro. Joe for the first time this week. He preached lastnight and tonight in our revival service. I had watched Bro. Joe preach on DVD before but this was the first time to see him live and in action. I knew he was a fireball but he is much more of a fireball in person. He preached the house down!! He is one of the funniest preachers I've ever met! Absolutely crazy!! Yet, he is one of the most humble I've ever met. I thoroughly enjoyed setting under his preaching these past 2 nights. My heart was challeneged and refreshed.
If you ever get the opportunity to hear him preach I strongly encourage it!
I am also thankful that one of the men, a church member, in our church got saved tonight. I know it's hard for people who claim to be a Christian to walk the aisle and profess that they aren't truly saved. I know because I did the same. But oh how thankful I am that God doesn't give up on us and draws us to him!!


Dr. Joe Arthur and Dad after church tonight. Bro. Joe had changed so that is why he isn't wearing a tie. He said to not show this picture to anyone...oops!!

Joy

I have been doing a devotion called A Young Woman's Walk With God...Growing More Like Jesus. Elizabeth George is the author and I absolutely love her books and devotionals. This devotion has been talking about the fruits of the spirit. I have heard about them all of my life but had never studied them in depth til now.
I have been studying joy. God is our primary source of joy. Joy is not based on circumstances but it is based on our relationship with Christ. God is always with us if he lives in our heart. Therefore, we should always be joyful. I know being joyful is not always easy though. As humans we often base our joy on our circumstances. If we have a bad day then we are in a bad mood. If something goes wrong we get mad. If a bad situation takes place we go into depression. We are humans and that's how we react. Yet, as Christians, no matter what life is throwing at us we should ALWAYS be joyful and offer sacrifices of praise to God for his goodness.
I read Acts 16:22-25 where Paul was thrown in jail. Even though he was in jail Paul was still praising God. I am guilty of maximizing my problems and thinking life is just horrible. But what can be worse than being thrown in jail. Even on my baddest days I don't praise God. Yet, Paul was praising him in jail.
This was a reminder to me that my joy through Christ is not based on how my day went. But it is forever and always. I should always be joyful no matter what I am facing. I need to be more like Paul!

Happy Mother's Day

Proverbs 31: 26-30
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Happy Mother's Day!! Besides God, the most important people in my life are my parents. My Mom is my rock! She's the greatest Mom in the world, in my eyes of course! She's my best friend! I go to my Mom about EVERYTHING. Nothing goes on in my life that my Mom doesn't know about. She even knows stuff that I don't tell her, and that often freaks me out a bit :), so I end up telling her anyways! People say Leah is just like Dad and I'm just like my Mom. That's the greatest compliment I could ever receive. Mom is the most Godly, humble, selfless, compassionate, loving, and supportive person I know. I never hear her complain. She is always giving giving giving and never expects anything in return. She is always giving me the Godly guidance I need. I am soooooo blessed to have her as my Mom. She has taught me so much and I know she'll continue to teach me many more things to come. I absolutely could not imagine my life with out her. Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you!!!

God, thank you for blessing me with the most amazing mother I could ever ask for!