thankful

This happened last night just down the highway from us in a town we love to visit- Branson. I woke up during the storms last night and was pretty scared, but made it through without turning on the tv, waking up Jason, or cowering in a closet. I normally would have done one or all of the above. I didn't freak out like I normally do. Scared, Yes, freaked out, no. Sometimes being oblivious is the best anti freak out medicine for me. You know what is even better? The peace of God. That's what I had. We were protected last night and I am SO THANKFUL! Missouri has defiantely had some pretty scary storms in my brief year and a half i've lived here. I pray that God continues to protect us. Next on my list, find a way to be warned: We live in the country and there are no sirens.. that's right.. no sirens! I pray that God wakes us up if any real threat was nearby. I may also need some sort of texting warning from our local news people. I'm going to look into that.. Thank you Lord for safety.

real life courageous

I am so excited to write this post. I am extremely proud of my husband. Saturday night, we finally were able to have our Courageous dinner. Jason was totally moved by the movie Courageous. It's a movie about being the man of the household and providing godly leadership in the home. IT's about being faithful to your wife and being a good father that your kids can look up to. Click   here to learn more. In the movie, the 5 main characters sign a resolution as an outward sign of their committment to godly leadership in their homes.

THE RESOLUTION

I DO solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.

I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.

I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.

I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.

I WILL train them to honor authority and live responsibly.

I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.

I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion.

I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.

I WILL forgive those who have wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.

I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.

I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.

I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. ---Joshua 24:15

 
In October, the men of our church stated and signed this resolution as a group on a Sunday night. We were in Memphis for mom's birthday and were unable to attend. So we had our own ceremony. We invited two godly couples who have been mentors in Jason's life to pray over and lead the reading of the resolution. It was such an amazing night. You know there were tears coming out of this girl. The resolution was signed and framed in our home.

friday fav.

we kicked off our wedding with worship- "Revelation Song" to be exact. It totally set the tone for our ceremony~ so full of God and his love and anointing~ definately a special moment I will cherish forever~

prayer

I love my online devos. Here's one from today. Inpired..

Dear Lord, thank You for seeing the good in me. Your thoughts are not critical and condemning, instead You celebrate every little bit of progress I make. Your belief in me makes me want to do better. Help me to give that gift to others and myself. In Jesus name, Amen.

leaving a legacy

Today I want to honor my grandparents.. Leroy and Ruth Wiley. Over the weekend (Sunday) the church that my grandfather attends and serves in, honored them for 60 years of ministry in the Assemblies of God and grandpa's retirement. (for the second time). Grandpa, like mom, has a hard time slowing down and it took twice for him to retire.  For all of his adult life, grandpa has been pastoring mostly smaller churches across the great state of Pennsylvania. He and grandma landed in Chambersburg, PA. in a church that has done so much to honor them over the years. It is here that grandpa has served as visitation/benevolence pastor.  The church even built them a very nice home to live in. They have given honor to whom honor is due. I was not able to go to their special service on Sunday, but mom went, along with all of her siblings (8 others to be exact). During the service,  multiple testimonies were shared, telling of  how  grandma and grandpa have touched their lives. There was a representative from the district who also spoke. The church  made them a nice memory quilt of all the churches they've served and took them to a nice lunch afterwards. My grandparents loved touching people's lives in the name of Jesus. They served with humility. They were genuine and loved the Lord and his service. They gave up so much in the name of Jesus and of his service. There was a price to pay, but they paid it without wavering.  What a legacy. I am  blessed to be a part of their family and to have this as my heritage. I am so proud of my grandparents and strive to leave the same legacy for my children and their children.

the red carpet

I was inspired by this simple way of counting your blessings- with a theme! It was written by Courtney of women living well . I did, however, insert my own list of things I am thankful for. I love watching the academy awards and I'm pretty interested with all things celebrity. I can tell you what the gossip magazines said before I can tell you what Fox News or CNN said- sad, but true. This is a wonderful way of counting your blessings- Academy Awards style..

(this is Courtney's part)

The Academy Awards are this weekend.

It’s the famous ones who walk the red carpet.

It’s the honored ones who walk the red carpet.

It’s the beautiful ones who walk the red carpet.

It’s the talented ones who walk the red carpet.

It’s the wealthy ones who walk the red carpet.

It’s the gifted ones who walk the red carpet.

And I…I am about to walk the red carpet!

Every morning, I walk the red carpet right up to my sink where I rinse the morning dishes.- (I , Christa, actually have a red carpet at my sink as well)

Christa's part~

I am honored to have a husband who loves, honors, and respects me.

I am beautiful in the eyes of the Lord, living out his will for my life as a wife and lady of our home, as a minister to the prescious children at church , and as a daughter of the king.

I am wealthy on the red carpet, for many in the world do not have a sink with running water in their kitchen. We have a roof over our heads and cars to get around in.

I am gifted on the red carpet – gifted with the riches of God’s grace that come through my faith in Christ Jesus his son.Gifted with the talents and skills that God has given me and with friends and family whom I love and love me in return.

There is no greater honor than the red carpet walk I do every morning in my kitchen.

Join me, as you step up to your kitchen sink – in welcoming a joy that the world cannot understand.

bessie's birthday, pig intestines, and rabbis

So much to talk about! Last week I didn't go home until 8:30/9 every night . I will try and cover the highlights..

Thursday night, Jason's family celebrated the 80th birthday of his sweet mimi, Bessie Faye. She's from Mississippi and she acts and talks like it too. She's a little spitfire and doing and looking so well for her age! Jason and I gifted her with a photo album of pictures that I took that evening. photos here

Friday night i went to a "cropping" fundraiser with some of the same people- Jason's cousin Heather and her sweet mom, Patty. What is cropping you ask? Well, it's a scrapbook expert's term for Scrapbooking. I have been gathering supplies for about a year now and I was finally ready to start my official wedding scrapbook. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I will have to take some shots of my fav. pages to share here.

Saturday was a  FREE DAY! I woke up a little earlier than normal because I was so excited to start editing the photos from Mimi's party. I got that done and did some deep cleaning around the house. Then Jason and I set out for errand running. It was a beautiful day and an activity we both enjoy. We were productive then rewarded ourselves with some mexican. YUMM!! Except for one part- My husband, the sneaky man, talked me into trying Menudo- a traditional Mexican soup. He had told me about it before and said I needed to try it. Well.. I tried it. The main ingredient is Tripe- ok, it's fish.. or so I thought.. Yep, tripe is PIG INTESTINES!! ICK!  I hated the taste before I even knew what it was. BLEH!! Jason gave me a gold star for trusting him in trying something without knowing what it really was. He's a sneaky one he is.. I will have to get him back!

Sunday was fun. A short day. We had to go back in to church for Easter musical rehearsal at 4:00. Kid's service was fun. We are doing a series on "The Names of Jesus" and last night's word was "Rabbi"- teacher. Jason dressed up in a full Rabbi garb and taught the lesson complete with a Jewish accent. It was classic. Another highlight was that Jason  had Jr. Rabbi's come up one at a time to read the scriptures that went along with the lesson: the kids giggled every time their friends put on a bible headwrap similar to Jason's. We got pictures, but they are not on my camera =( I will get them posted soon. We ended the kid's service playing bible trivia twister. Good times.

It's monday. Another free night. Jason and I will definately enjoy having some time to recover from a busy week and weekend. Until next time..