False Advertisement

Last night in youth we had a great message from James...it was on false advertisement.

He first asked us if we had ever fallen for some false advertisements...the kids mentioned a few that they were aware of. Then he went on to say that Christians are the leaders in false advertisement.

This is how he explained this: He said that many of us act as Christians Sunday and Wednesday but live like the rest of the world the other 5 days. He said this could come from two angles...1. maybe you were saved at a young age and as you get older you realise that maybe you are not saved but are embarrassed to walk the isle again. You have lived as a Christian for a long time and you are worried what others think so you continue to play out the role of the Christian. If this is you make it right! No one will think anything about it other than you were bold and made it right with God. 2. You have been in church all of your life but are not saved...you just play the role, know all the answers to Bible questions, active in the youth, sing in the choir but you don't have the personal relationship with him. Again everyone thinks you are already saved but you are not...get it right. Asking Jesus in your heart will be the best and most important decision you ever make!

He pulled scripture from Acts 5...this couple had property and they sold it and were to turn the money over as an offering to God. But they kept part of the money and lied about. When Peter ask the man if this was all of the money he said yes...he dropped dead at Peters feet. Approx. 3 hours later the wife comes in (not knowing her husbands fate) Peter ask her the same question and she replies yes...Peter then tells her she has not lied to man but to God and she falls dead at his feet. False advertisement!

Just thought I would share! :)

What are you THANKFUL for?

I am thankful for my wonderful husband and son they are my heartbeat! I am thankful for my family and my husband's family, friends, my church, Jesus, my jobs, our freedom...there is so much to be thankful for in our lives I hope you took the time yesterday to be thankful!

New Pictures of Tanner!

New pictures of Tanner! He had lost wt but
he is back up to 4lbs 1 oz. Taking 35cc of
breast milk.

Pictures from the retreat

we always have a picture made
on the tire swing!



we had an acution and I won this
cute cricut bag (I am using it for
my quickutz stuff!) and this other
tote. Amie won some neat markers.

This is one of the projects we made: it is
a chipboard album that we decorated
Christmas, the other project was a
two page layout that was pink and
brown.





Amie is my partner in crime at the retreats!


The gang!

Satan does not want you to read this letter....

Dear Holy Spirit,

Wow - that sounds kinda weird - 'Dear Holy Spirit'. I mean, saying (or writing) 'Dear Jesus' or 'Dear Father' feels normal, but I guess that's the point - right? Because last week I learned about You - that you are God, a real Person, and a real Friend that lives inside my soul.
I guess it's that last part that really got through to me - the fact that you live inside me and want to be my friend. That totally makes sense - because as God you know everything about me - more than my family - more than my other friends - even more than I know about myself! And as a real Person, you know everything I'm going through - the good, the bad, and yes, even the ugly. You feel joy when I feel joy. Pain when I feel pain. You even know when I'm lonely and feel like I don't have a friend in the world.
But I do - and it's you.

So here's my question. How do I get this whole friendship thing going? After all, you are invisible, you don't speak to me out loud - and I'm pretty sure you don't even have a myspace page! So how do I 'connect' with Someone who I can't see or hear???

Help - and thanks -
(insert your name here)

Dear (insert your name here),

Wow! Thank you so much for writing! Yeah, I know it might feel strange calling me 'Holy Spirit', but the more you talk to me, the more comfortable it will feel. Or - if you didn't know this, I have other names you could use like Helper and Counselor - or just call me Friend!
Speaking of being your Friend, I can't wait to grow deeper in our friendship! I know it's a little different than other relationships in some ways since (like you said) I'm invisible and don't speak to you out loud - but I think you'll find that since I live inside you and 'speak' directly to your soul, those issues won't get in the way of our friendship.
So here's my answer. To get our relationship going, you need to practice three things that I'll call the ABC's to connecting with God. If you add these three habits to your life on a regular basis, your life will be anything but regular. In fact, I think you'll find that a friendship with me will take you places you never thought probable, and give you peace that you never believed possible.


Ready? OK - The ABC's are: Ask, Breathe, and Communicate

First let's talk about ask. Basically, even though I am God and I am all powerful, I will not *make you* have a friendship with me. You are free to choose to let me fill you and control you, and you are free to simply be satisfied with your salvation and leave it at that. I have to tell you, though, that going through life without Me is the worst choice you could make. I've been around long enough (forever actually) to see that you humans simply don't do well all by yourselves. As well, it's impossible to live the Christian life without me. So that's why I wrote this in my Book:

Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)

What I'm saying here is ask me to fill and control your life. Ask me to guide and direct you...shield and protect you. Ask me to deepen our friendship. Ask. Ask. Ask...then ask again. Keep on asking, because every time you sin, you make a choice to 'unplug' from my power and presence...which leads me to the next step:

Breathe

I know you don't need to be reminded to breathe - that sort of comes naturally for air breathing people. What I'm talking about is spiritual breathing. Here's how it works -
When you know you've messed up, exhale what you've done by confessing (admitting) it -
Again - from my Book:

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. (I John 1:9)

The moment you realize that you have sinned, simply tell the Father about it and admit that you were wrong. It's not like He (and me too) don't know about it already, and the longer you wait to exhale, the less you'll be living in my power.
After you exhale, it's time to...you guessed it...inhale! Ask me to fill you again, and be on your way living in my power and deepening our friendship.
That is until you sin again. Then you need to breathe again. Breathe in. Breathe out. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

One more letter - and this is key:

Communicate

Just like like any other friendship - we need to talk. So talk to me early and often. Tell me what's good, what's bad, what's confusing you. I'm never too busy to listen, and I'll never grow tired of your voice...I made you - remember?
Oh yeah - and let me talk to you through the Bible. The words of the Bible are not the words of men...they are mine. They are living and active, and I will make them come alive and active in your life.
I hope this helps - and I look forward to deepening our friendship. In fact, I'm going to stop writing so we can start living the awesome life God the Father designed for you, Jesus purchased for you, and I guide for you!
Love,
Your Friend - The Holy Spirit.

Head: What you need to know about this truth
Developing a friendship with the Holy Spirit is easy! Just ask Him to fill and control you, breathe out (admit) your sin, breathe His power back in, and communicate with Him.

Heart: What you need to feel about this truth
You've been given an incredible gift and an amazing opportunity. Think about it - God lives inside you! And *as if* that weren't enough - He desires a deep, authentic, and forever friendship with you! How should you feel about this fact? Exactly - how should you feel? You should feel honored, privileged, special, lucky, fortunate, and highly motivated to get this party started!

Hands: What you need to do about this truth
Take some time right now and go through the ABC's of connecting with God. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill and control you, try breathing (spiritually) - and start communicating with the best Friend you'll ever have!

This is Gracie, my niece. She wanted a
hula skirt as a souvenir from our beach
trip. They went to Hawaii in Oct.

Here are my nephews...Brock and Mark...Auburn fans
from birth!

A Family Divided....

A family divided means... we have Alabama and Auburn fans in our family. My brother Chuck his wife Chelle and my sister Jennifer and her husband Jack all are Auburn Alumni. I on the other hand am a UAB Alumn, but if I had my choice I pull for Alabama over Auburn and Joseph and Donald are Alabama fans. I believe this is the first year ever that we have all watched the game together at GiGi and Joe-Joe's house. We also had our Thanksgiving dinner with Jen, Jack and Mark. Chuck, Chelle, Gracie and Brock are coming tomorrow to hang out for a while. I so wanted to get a picture of us in our team shirts but it never happened!

Matthew's Photo shoot

Here are a few pictures from the photo shoot I did back in October of Matthew. Matthew is James and Emily's (our youth minister and his wife) sweet baby boy!

Isn't he just adorable!!!

45 hours of nothing but...scrapbooking!!!

Off from work tomorrow and heading to a Scrapbooking Retreat sponsored by Scrapbook Stuff located in Jasper. (if you have not been there check it out Charlotte is wonderful!) The retreat is at the Springville Convention Center, and my partner in crime is Amie Ballenger. This will be my 4th retreat and her 3rd. Lots of pages planned! I hope to finish my nephew's 1st year book so I can give it to my sister next weekend and get some pages done in my album. I will post some pictures on Monday of some of the things we did....until then have a blessed weekend :)

So EXCITED!!! I just can't hide it!!!

I am so excited about today! I am doing another photo shoot of a Christian Rapper on Morris Ave. today by the name of Sedeq. I did a photo shoot back in October of the rest of the crew and the pictures turned out awesome! Here are a few from that shoot! The 1st picture is of Aneaes Koresh and his crew, (2) Constatine, (3) Aneases. I'm working on a portfolio and a website with prices etc. I am really excited that God has opened this door to be able to really do something with this hobby of mine!

Buck turns "2"...

Here are some pictures of Buckie with his birthday "frog"... last year he wore a party hat ( I will post a picture of that later it was very cute!) He is such a good dog, he is smart and just a sweet part of our family. By the way he had the "frog" for about 2 days and we had to start patching it up...because he runs and shakes his head and rips the seams. Joseph named his "frog" ..."Frank'n Frog" because of all of the patches!! LOL

Brand new "frog"

"FRANK'N FROG"
Buck is not so sure about the sewing job!!

We have a Great Nephew!!

Our nephew John and his wife Jessica just gave birth to our 2nd great nephew!! He was born early at 32 weeks and weighed in at 4lbs. His name is William Tanner!

Exhausting Weekend!

What a weekend! Friday was just crazy! The youth worked the concession stand at the Corner/Hayden game, The Other Side of Grace (our youth band) played at the 5th quarter held at Mt. Zion Baptist, Joseph got home around 1 am or so. He said it was fun but hectic. Saturday was our next to last crop at church, I was able to finish our Disney album that I started in April!! I still have 8x8 album I am decorating for a graduation present to finish this week, plus my nephew's first year album! I hope to get Mark's album along with some pages for my album completed at a crop retreat I am going to this weekend that is sponsored by Scrapbook Stuff in Jasper. We are going to be at the Springville Retreat center for 45 hours of scrapbooking, eating and fellowship (and sleep for me!) I can't hold out like some of these other ladies! Sunday was a great day! I just totally love my church! It just Rocks! Bro. John always has great sermons! The music is always uplifting and worshipful, Steve G. is just a wonderful Minister of Music.

Jess and me

Jess and Me at Amie's Pageant back in the Spring.

Harvest Festival at BBC

What a great evening we had at our church for the Harvest Festival! We had "trunk or treat", hay rides, games and plenty of soup, chili and desserts! I will post some pictures later, I used my SLR and will need to get them developed. I am not sure of the exact turn out but 490 people signed in and we had some many that did not. Bro. John is estimating around 700! I believe that is our best yet!