Thankful Thursday

Oh my sweetness, I am just thrilled it's Thursday again - I want to continue to find joy in all things and typing out my thankfuls is part of that. Without further ado...

I am thankful for Love. Love from the Father through the Son and active as the Holy Spirit. I wouldn't be anywhere without it.

I am thankful for Friends. New Friends at that. I long for intimacy and depth in friendship and praise the Lord I saw a light into that dark tunnel last night.

I am thankful for vacation - it's just about two weeks away!!

I am thankful for mission and ministry - the two go hand in hand and I am excited to see all that God does in the life of my husband while in Africa. Next Thursday I will be typing this Thankful from home while my husband prepares for his flight that afternoon. He will be gone for 17 days!

I am thankful for freedom. For all those who serve in our military and defend our country, and for all Christians who lost their lives defending the name of Christ...I am truly grateful.

For more Thankful Thursdays, go to Sting my Heart!

Love,

Karen

Countdown Begins

Ahh, the countdown till vacation has officially begun. My dad called yesterday to let us know the count was 19 days. WaaaHooo! He sounds excited, Boo is excited, Mom and I are set - yep, sounds like a great vacation. It will be weird not having Jeremy there, but being on vacation will keep me side tracked. It's the week before vacation that will be all hairy and weird, really. The week I have to get up and get Boo up and get out the door on time...normally Jeremy takes care of getting him dressed and set with breakfast. I am up for the task though and hopefully I will have lots of friends who want to spend time with me in the evenings. :) hee hee.
So, we have just a over a week till Jeremy leaves for Africa and just over 2 weeks till we leave for Florida! Hip Hip Hooray!

I hope that everyone had a nice extended weekend...I know I enjoyed it. Although, my mind is in 100 different places most days, so I am having a hard time concentrating on work and actually following through with tasks. It's kind of annoying for this type A girl at work. And I could be mid thought on something and completely forget where I was. I am hoping some time away will do me some good...although I do have to come back. However, Change is coming, Praise the Lord!

Thankful Thursday

It's my first Thankful Thursday! I am actually really excited about participating. I can always use a push to remind me to be more thankful for things...so here goes...

1. I am thankful school ended yesterday. Not because I go to school, but I deal with the insane traffic during the school year, and it is nice to have a reprieve.
2. I am thankful for little hands that desire mommy's touch every now and then.
3. I am thankful for my lap too, since Boo likes sitting in it often.
4. I am thankful for incredible bloggy friends - you know the ones...the ones you ask the Lord to have their mansion built next to yours! hee hee
5. I am thankful for my husband and how the Lord uses him in my life.
6. I am thankful for worship - it's one of the clearer moments of my day. Blessed be Your Name!
7. I am thankful for vacation - it's just about 3 weeks away and Boo and Papaw are counting down.

I hope that you are being blessed by our Lord today.

For more on Thankful Thursday, please visit Iris at Sting My Heart!

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My husband, The Preacher

Wow...what an incredible Sunday we had! The Lord blessed us by giving Jeremy the opportunity to preach yesterday! We had two rows full of our best friends, while Jeremy preached to the women about the "stud" in their life. It was awesome. We had a dear friend of ours, and passionate worship leader, help lead the worship and it was just the sweetest thing looking down the row of our dear friends, who pretty much knew us before we were in ministry. We got to have lunch with some of them too, and I went away and rested in the afternoon with my cup overflowing. God was so good to give us such sweet friendships that began long ago in the single part of our life and have carried us through the worst and best days of being married and having kids. Between the five familes, we have 10 kids total and still one on the way (my friend Jae). I registered the other 9 into preschool yesterday...it was so much fun!



I think Jeremy's sermon will be on our church website later today, so I will update this if I find that to be true. And for friends and family that would like a copy, please let me know and I will get you one - I have a small list, in which some of you who read this are probably already on! ;)



Have a great Monday! P.S. - Change is coming!

--Karen

Making Memories

Today was all about making memories. It's these kinds of memories you want him to think about years from now and look back and say, "Remember when..."

We all ventured to the golf tournament today! Boo was originally supposed to go to school while Jeremy and I went. After thinking about it, we knew he would probably just love it there, so we decided to take him with us...taking the chance that if he so even sneezed at the wrong time, we could possibly be kicked out of the tournament! :)

We parked, rode the bus to the country club, which turned out to be an adventure in itself. I mean, the kid loves anything that's different and new to him, so riding a huge bus was like, awesome! We get there, walk to the 18th green and watch a few batch of players come through. Then we walked back to the 17th, since their green is great for spectators. We told Boo the rules - when they put the signs up (Hush, Y'all) you have to be quiet. He did pretty good, and learned to say "In the Hole! In the Hole!" really loud after the guys putt the ball. It was classic. Some of the players liked it so much they gave their golf balls to him after they putt...now, that's classic. He was so tickled and excited and it seemed to make the players excited too. One guy even stopped us hours later to ask us if he still had the ball...of course! He loves golf! So, that's our family today, making memories for a lifetime.

Love,
Karen

In Other Words

"What makes life on this frightful sod so exquisite is God's merciful propensity to perform divine tasks amid deeply flawed people."

~ Beth Moore, LPM Blog ~

We are all flawed. There lies within each of us a deep longing to change some aspect of our life. Whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, we want change! I want change!

I love what Beth says here, because we truly are deeply flawed people without the Lord Jesus. He takes what is impure and imperfect and makes it clean and holy. Only HE can do such things! I believe there are things in life that are absolutely of most importance, and one of them is seeing and believing what God has done in the lives of His people. I have seen God do some pretty awesome stuff in my own life, like taking me out of a pit and moving me to a place of better influence. At one time, I was on a road of destruction...I was good at looking like I had it all together, but inside, I was hurting. God raised me up out of that pit and I have never looked back. He is still in the work of performing miracles in the lives of people...I would love to hear the things He has done in your life.

In Christ-

Karen

For more "In Other Words", check out Laurel's blog and Christian Women Online.

Mother's Day

I was so filled with good stuff this weekend for Mother's Day that I didn't make any time to blog about it! I don't know about you (other Moms), but I was spoiled this weekend. I got to go shopping with my mom, with boys in tow, to a fancy little store at Phipps Plaza - the high end retail place in Atlanta. It wasn't so much that I was going for something spectacular, but it was necessity more than anything, and they have the one store for the NECESSITIES. We then went to Lenox Mall and shopped around there - with me trying on a ton of clothes. I so enjoyed that part! And we concluded with a nice lunch and time at my momma's house. It was soooo much fun!! My boys spoiled me some more when they bought me THIS cute little item. I was completely in shock! Even more than that was a cute little card that Boo got me that had Minnie Mouse on it - and I think he was more tickled about that bit of information. Although, in the car this morning, you wouldn't have known it, because he was loving singing any of his songs, like Backyardigans! He is pretty excited to have the iPod too, since he knows we can play any songs we want - in any order! We are now set for our adventure to Florida in less than 5 weeks! WAAAAHOOOO!

This week is packed full of goodness for golf fans in the area - the AT&T classic, used to be the Bellsouth Classic, kicks off today at TPC Sugarloaf. Jeremy and I are headed out there on Friday for the day and if it's anything like last year, it will be a blast. We also have the Classic Breakfast at our church this week and I will also be in attendance for that...so will Boo, since it's early in the AM. Should be a packed out week and I only have four days of work...picture Happy Dance going on at my desk!
My company has their Company Picnic on Saturday, so we will be enjoying that, and oh my word, the following weekend is Memorial Day. We are moving right along into Summer, aren't we?

I hope all the Mommies had a wonderful weekend! Please share what your family did for Mother's Day...

In His Love-
Karen

Fog

This morning, the pasture that we drive by had fog on it. "Momma-Did you know that God also painted that with His hands?"
I don't know so much that He actually painted it, as He did make all the elements line up to form it...
Boo continues to blow my mind with his thoughts and ideas. He is good at imagining things and playing pretend and thinking of new ways to do things, possibly more simplified than I had originally taught him. He sure is growing up fast. I continue to love every phase that he is in...even that naughty side.

Have a blessed Thursday...
--Karen

It's Monday!

Don't get me wrong...the exclamation point up top is not in an excitement tone. Well, I mean it is, in the fact that it's a new day, the Lord made it, the sun came up, and oh my word, did you catch a glimpse of the awesome-ness of Him this morning? He painted the sky...again. (That's was Boo's comment). Yes, He certainly did.
So, it's Monday. I am a little sad this morning because my co-worker, M, is leaving. Her last day is tomorrow. She has been with this company for almost 9 years. She started out as the receptionist and worked up and will be leaving a vital hole in the Maintenance area. I am sad for several reasons...I am going to miss her. I have only spent the last 16 months with her, but I have grown to love her as a good friend and as a sister in Christ...which reminds me, I need to get her something tonight. I am not so much sad as I am sick in the other area - workload. I have been very kind and sweet about the load, but I just cannot take on anything else. I am pretty sure I have made that clear, so I am hopeful it will be addressed in the staff meeting today. Let's be clear...I am not holding my breath. These people don't like to address much...

On a much lighter note...we finished up Boo celebrating his third birthday by partying it up at his favorite local chicken joint (Eat More Chicken!). His little friends came and they all had a great time. Much chicken, fries, cake and ice cream later, we sent them all home with full stomach's and on a sugar high. It was awesome.
We are now trying to get back to some normalcy, although on the forefront of my mind is the fact that Jeremy leaves for Africa in a month and then Boo and I, along with Grandma head on vacation for a few days. Boo told me just yesterday that we need a countdown. He's right, we are within the guidelines of a countdown - less than 6 weeks. (If you ever had a doubt, you know for sure now, he's definitely my child. I love countdowns!!)

There you have it. It's Monday. I pray you enjoy your day. It's stinkin' gorgeous here in Georgia!

--Karen

Where in the World....

is Matt Lauer?
Have you been watching? I can't watch, because I am normally already at work, but I love to find out where he is and if I guessed right, based on his clue the day before. I never would have guessed where he was today, Day 3 of his trip.
I always liked the computer game and the TV show, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? I can still sing you the tagline...maybe I am just a sucker for adventure and mystery.

Do you often wonder where in the world God is? I know that seems like a funny question (God is everywhere), but one I have asked recently. I don't really mean it in a bad way, like angrily saying, "Where are you, God?"...I mean it in a way of saying, "Where are you working at, cause I want to be there?!" I get that goosebump feeling everytime the Lord takes us in a new and different direction - one that He completely ordained and although I don't know the outcome or even the next step, I get the feeling of taking flight with Him to the unknown. This would now be the very unrealistic side of Karen! The one who embraces each adventure with Him.

Just pondering...

--Karen