In Charlotte!

We arrived in Charlotte yesterday for our Christmas celebration with the Mosses. We pulled in around 2:30pm and then Patrick and I left for the Behold the Lamb concert around 5pm. We ate dinner and arrived at the concert 30 min early. We sat with friends from Johnson City who drove down and we also got to see some old friends, hug some necks and visit for a bit before the concert began. Andrew Peterson and company were AWESOME and I would really like to try to make attending one of his BTL concerts part of our Christmas tradition.

Today, we went up to Concord Mills where I finished my Christmas shopping. It had been months since I had walked into an Ann Taylor Loft and had to turn around shortly after I entered in order to keep my wallet closed. I love that store!

Anyway, we've been playing our daily activities by ear, so we don't have any other plans set in stone right now...not even when we're leaving! Anyway, I hope you all are doing well and are ready for Christmas next week!

Missing you, Florida!

For some reason, I'm missing my home state like crazy...almost to the point that I wish I still lived there. It's odd for me because I haven't felt like this in at least 10 years. Oh, there are plenty of things I DON'T miss, like the summer heat and flat landscape, but there are more things that I do miss. I can 99.9% bet that we will never ever live there, but I just needed to say that I do miss it and today more so than most.

I miss:

1. Friends....or shall I say family. My closest friends in the world are people I knew in my Florida years. There are several families who are like true family...Jamerson, Clendenins, Balls...and Michelle. I miss them. I miss the familiarity and closeness we all had, thanks to the determination of my parents to be close to these people which led me to be close to them. In addition to these friends are my true family - my grandpa and lots of aunts, uncles, cousins live down there. I miss being close to them, too.

2. The Gators. My dad was the biggest, baddest fan of the family and still is. He worked at a restaurant on campus and we spent lots of time at UF as a family. Amanda went there and I had plans to go there, but I wasn't accepted for the term I had applied for (I was accepted for the following semester) and I had no scholarship. So, I went to Santa Fe for 2 years then to UGA the remaining 2 (where I had the HOPE scholarship making my education was free). I wish I would have gone to UF because I have so much pride for that school. The campus is great and very beautiful. I have lots of memories being the UF Homecoming parades from childhood to high school. I never went to a Gator Growl, but maybe one day... I miss UF basketball games. I went to several while I was at community college there. I've only been to one or two football games in the Swamp and oh, how I'd LOVE to go to another one! One nice thing about Florida field is that it's open to the public. Lots of students run stairs there. You can even go down to the field and walk on it. Everyone seems to understand having respect for the field. If I ever had the desire to go back to school, I'd love to go to UF.

3. What Florida represents. It's a big part my heritage. I grew up there. I became a Christian there. I formed my closest friendships there. We had lots of Thanksgivings and Christmases there. Lots of concerts and recitals. Lots of joy, laughter, tears, pain...the things that make up a person.

For some reason, these things have been heavy on my heart today. I'd love to go back. But, I'm here now. And I'm happy where I am. I just miss the many yesterdays of my life sometimes. And today is one of those days.

Behold the Lamb!

We just bought tickets to Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God tour that will be in Charlotte on Dec 17. I've REALLY grown to love this album and I'm looking forward to playing this one the most this holiday season. I have to admit, the first time I heard this CD, I didn't like it. It's not traditional. There are no familiar Christmas tunes (until you listen to it over and over and over).

But, I've come to love it. And I'm often moved to tears by the lyrics of some of the songs. The songs on this CD will bring you back not only to the true meaning of Christmas -the birth of Jesus, but HOW the birth of Jesus unfolded since the beginning of time. If you are looking to buy a good Christmas CD, buy this one (this link will also allow you to buy the album download)!

Here is a little blurb by Andrew Peterson about the jist of the album (HT: Between Two Worlds):

What makes this bunch of songs unique is that I wanted to remind (or teach) the audience that the story of Christmas doesn't begin with the birth of Jesus. Many people tend to forget or have never even learned that the entire Bible is about Jesus, not just the New Testament.So the musical begins with Moses and the symbolic story of the Passover (Passover Us) and works its way through the kings and the prophets with their many prophecies about the coming Messiah (So Long, Moses) to the awful four hundred years of silence before God told Mary she'd be having a baby (Deliver Us). After the song called Matthew's Begats, which lists the genealogy of Jesus, the story picks up in more familiar territory with Mary and Joseph and the actual birth (It Came To Pass, Labor of Love). The final song is called Behold, the Lamb of God, which ties together the Passover and the beauty and scope of the story.

My vote is cast

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Either way, we're screwed". I found myself laughing at the credence, though deeply wondering if the statement was true. It has been very distressful to see how how our country's ecomony as drastically weakened over the last few years and it boggles my mind to know how many people are facing forecolsures or other financial turmoil. I'm angered by the Bail-out bill that was passed a few weeks ago and wonder where our free-market society has gone (or was it ever here in the first place? - I don't know). I don't really know what to say about what I feel regarding the state of the economy. I feel a lot of people have succommed to greed for bigger house, faster cars, brighter TVs, and so many other things that sqeeze budgets and open credit lines. Has anyone ever heard of the word stewardship?

Anyway, I knew I was voting for McCain today. I was never on the fence. Obama has said too many things in passing that were like fingernails on a chalk board, like when he said that people can take money out of their IRA's without penalty for instance (what would THAT do to us financially?). But most of all, I am sickened by his position on abortion. Like my friends Kelly and Dana, I was wondering how the man was going to support his position on reducing the number of abortions when the first thing he'll do as president is sign the "Freedom of Choice Act" . What a horrible, horrible bill.

If you're reading this and are on the fence about your vote, do a little more research. Obama has charisma, charm, promises tax cuts for the middle class, and promises bright and shiney health care (which I personally don't see has bright and shiney). But what about his stance on the unborn? Think about it.

And please go out and vote. And remember that neither one of these men are the answer to our problems. The country should not be put first. And Obama will not give us the change we need. Jesus is who we need and we should put Him first.

- Abortion Reduction by the Freedom of Choice Act? - Randy Alcorn
- Barack Obama Takes a Subtle But Deadly Approach to Advocating Abortion

How little nothings make somethings

I love the character, Kathleen Kelly, from You've God Mail. I was reminded of how much I enjoy that movie after watching some of it last night before I went to bed. It was on ABC Family, which I never watch, and I just happened to see it on while flipping through the channels, waiting for Patrick to put all of his clothes that were laying on the bed in his suitcase in preparation for our upcoming trip. I find it ironic that I had sold my only recording of that movie at my garage sale on Saturday (for a quarter!) and wished today that I hadn't so I could see the remaider if it today. In watching the movie, I chuckled at Kathleen as she "dialed in" to AOL on her 1-inch thick Mac to check her email. Oh, how technology has changed since the late nineties!

And by the way, the 1949 musical version of this movie, "In the Good Old Summertime", is SUCH a great movie and must be seen by all who love "You've Got Mail". Van Johnson reminds me so much of my grandpa...

Anyway, I've been spending the day at home today, cleaning and preparing for our trip. It's been a while since I've had an "at home day" where all I've done is keep house, play with the kids and meet other in-home obligations. I realized today how many little things the kids do that make my heart quicken with love for them, even if those things seem like measley nothings to most people. Here are some of the "nothings":

-Ethan loves to crawl on me. I can lay on the floor and watch TV or read a book and he'll have a ball crawling OVER me. He'll do it for at least 20-30 minutes.

-While I was laying in Mallory's room reading my devotional book, Mallory was immitating me by laying next to me reading her Mulberry Bush book.

-Mallory loves her Bible stories. They are color-coated in her bible story books and knows a lot of the stories by color. It took me a while to figure it out, but once I did, I've been reading more stories that SHE chooses.

-Ethan will laugh if I do a fake sneeze.

-Ethan will follow me around the house all day. He likes knowing where his mommy is.

All of these things are precious to me. Blogging helps me record these little things so I can sift through them in the future to remind myself of God brings me joy through the nothings.

Another fun photoshoot

Another family who let me take pictures for them...

A photo shoot!

A plug for some of my work...