In this JOYFUL life: September 2010

Pray...

Thursday, September 30, 2010

For my sweet friend Betsy.

She was my bible study leader at Southeast and an amazing woman of faith. She just lost her son, Paul, about an hour ago, as he was hit by a car on his bicycle and was killed instantly. No one should experience the loss of a child but we know the the Lord is in control. Betsy's faith is unbelievably strong and will sustain her but she needs to be covered in prayer. Paul has a wife and two little girls who's world is about to change drastically. Please join me in praying for everyone affected by this terrible tragedy.

Goodbye....

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Today Luke and I had to say goodbye to two of our very closest friends, and trust me, it wasn't easy. Meet Patrick and Savannah Garcia....

They are our most precious friends who are moving to Dallas where Patrick will be starting his ministry at Compass Christian Church, which can can learn about here and also check out sweet Savannah's amazing blog here. We are thrilled for them and the work they will be doing for the Lord. They are some of the most humble servants of God and getting to do life with them ~~has been~~ is ( I have to remind myself they are moving to Texas, they aren't dead) incredible. While we are so joyful for their new adventure and new ministry, they wont be right up the road from us anymore which makes us sad. Patrick and Savannah got married 3 weeks after we did and we have been blessed immensely getting to go through the same stages of marriage together! They are from Louisville, like we are, and have been living in Cincinnati to attend CCU, like we have. Here are some great memories with them, and we cant wait to make more with them... they will just be less often but more special...

We helped them load up their moving truck, and off they went! We are so excited to be entering ministry at the same time as the Garcia's. We cant wait to visit you all and say Howdy :) Please join me in praying for this exciting transition in their lives!

"Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family." - Proverbs 18:24

Scents for the home and "Dark Kiss"...

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Today I took a little trip to one of my favorite spots...

If you aren't signed up to receive coupons via email you should. I had a coupon for a free home fragrance oil with a purchase of $10 or more. I was thrilled because I use the oil warmers often and needed a new fall scent. The oil warmers are a great way to fill your home up with wonderful homey scents. I like to be able to walk in our home and instantly notice how nice it smells, so I constantly burn candles, light oil and use wallflowers to help our entire home smelling dreamy:) I like the oil burners because they are VERY powerful, so I keep mine in the kitchen and light it when I want to give our home an extra boost of fragrance (great to cover up after cooking a meal with garlic or anything else that lingers in the kitchen.)

This is the oil burner I have....

Bath and Body Works

And I added a few drops of this....

Bath and Body Works

It is the BEST scent for fall! It has the delicious pumpkin smell with a bit of spice to it too!

In order to get my "free oil" I or course was lured to spend $10, but I am so glad because I fell in love with their new scent called.... DARK KISS! I know it sounds a bit... dark, but boy does it smell delicious! They describe it as this...

Our exclusive Dark Kiss is a seductive blend of dark berries with a kiss of vanilla ~~to unleash your most primal passions~~
Key fragrance notes: sensual incense, Mirabelle plum, and night musk

I bought this....

and this.....

and got this free.....

The husband loved it, and I gave three girls a hug tonight and they all said I smelled good :) Try it!

And just so you know, this week they are also having their wonderful three wick candles on sale 2 for $20 (thats a saving of $19) I personally favor Yankee Candles, but these are a very close second. They have some great fall scents....

Sacred Marriage

Saturday, September 25, 2010

This is the book that my husband and I are currently reading through....

Some very dear friends of ours who are an awesome example of a Godly marriage gave it to us as a gift.

Meet sweet John and Erica. They spent two years in Africa and the Lord has blessed us with an awesome friendship. They have an adorable little boy named Jackson and have a new little blessing on the way. When Luke and I moved to Cincinnati they gave us some of their favorite books, and this was one of them. It is amazing! Every married couple should absolutely read it. I have discovered that marriage has become so worldly and even Christian marriages loose sight on what God's design of marriage is truly supposed to look like. The premise of the book is understanding that marriage is supposed to reveal to us how the love of God works, and it teaches you how to use marriage to make us closer to Him. So often we think of marriage as a tool to just make us happy in life. While it absolutely brings much joy and companionship, we will miss out on so much understanding of the love of God if we do not look at marriage as a design to make us more holy rather than more happy. I will be posting some thoughts from this book in the future, as we are still reading it, but if you have not read this book, please do. I know it will be a blessing to you and your marriage.

Perfect...

Friday, September 24, 2010

This describes my two nephews and my precious niece. Luke and I went to Louisville earlier in the week to celebrate his dad's birthday and got to spend some quality time with some of our VERY favorite people... Luke's brother, his wife and their three amazing kids.

Lane is our oldest nephew. He is such a little evangelist. It is precious how much his heart loves the Lord! He is such an awesome nine year old and I am so proud of who he is becoming.

Here are some of my favorites of Lane.....

Next is Hayes, my adorable, hilarious and very sweet three year old nephew....

And after two sweet boys, God blessed my brother and sister in law with a baby girl. Meet Lila....

Children are such gifts from God! If our children turn out to be as half as amazing as these sweet ones, we will surely be blessed! Did I mention my baby bug grows more and more when I am around these angels?

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate." Psalm 127: 3-5

Welcome!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

After putting in a lot of time, thought and prayer, I decided to finally break down and start my own blog. I am a huge blog reader, and enjoy reading many blogs each day. I have always wanted to start a blog, but never thought I had the time, energy or patience. Well, here I am away from my family, in a new city, at a new church, new ministry and with out a job, so why not start now?