Crazy Christmas

Christmas at Big Mama's started off with presents...The annual Leggo race (which I won)....

We ate dinner, all wearing our funny Christmas hats of course...
And that is when the "dark side" took over. Justin and Jon were arguing about who was the best whistler in the family. After auditioning the most unusual version of about 5 songs, they decided to combine their powers for a duet. You Raise Me Up... (please note the Mr. Potato Head hat that my husband is wearing which is not quite as bad as the feathery Angel Hat that Jon has on)


Oh no, Justin got a hold of the Angel hat, and decided to fit the part...

It seems that when Justin and his brother get together, they get just silly.

Then we moved on to Paw Paw and Grandmama's house. Woah, at the presents. I got my coveted bathroom furniture...stop laughing. Here is a picture of Pudge showing us all his new satelite watch....it picks up signals from outer space....ok, no it doesn't, but it is a satelite watch...without the satelite part. It's HUGE!And lastly, I posted pictures from Christmas in Prattville with my parents but I forgot to mention the present they got for us...ROCKBAND! We asked for Guitar Hero World Tour but they saw band instruments and got Rockband instead...haha. We love it! And the drums are WAY easier than the Guitar Hero ones...I think my favorite are the drums. Just because everyone stinks at them so I look ultra cool when I can do them well! Note to my readers: DO NOT move the xbox360 while a disc is loading....it seems it will make a perfectly circular scratch all the way around your BRAND NEW game and ruin it...:( But we ran out and bought another...(sigh)expensive lesson learned!

I'll leave you with pictures from our annual Christmas movie with my fam, and Justin wrestling with my brother Tim.Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

More Pictures!

I can hear you all chanting this as we speak..."More pictures! More pictures!" Well, I'd be much obliged:Thanksgiving. Went to Knoxville. Angie cooked...
We ate. It was delicious. Just know.
And taught Jackson the REAL way to eat whipped cream.
I showed off my mad napkin folding skills. They are above awesomeness. Just Know.

Jus and I found a "drive-through" convenient store....

Perfect on a rainy day...kind of awkward on a sunny morning. Just know.

Added some new crafts to my resume. Badge reels. Joanna ordered one million of them.

Coordinating frames were added as well.
Team earrings. Big hit.

My sister is a Georgia fan now. Just know.

I made my first doggie bed for Ellie. Prissy loved it. Had to claw it away from her. She is sad. Just know.
Lindsay's boy, Carter. The only picture I got of my 20 neices and nephews. Photographer = not me.
Justin and I keeping with the "underwear hat" wearing tradition on Christmas morning. They are new...just know.
Dad is thrilled by our amazing gift. Exhibit A: his expression.
One of the many things I made for mom...it is a pillowcase, NOT a tube dress..just know.
I got the Mother of all bruises. It hurts. Just know.

Still to come...

Movie Theater pictures

Christmas with the in-laws (including whistling duets, and angel fairy dancing)

Stay tuned.

A double portion.

Isaiah 61:7 (New International Version)
7 Instead of their shame, my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.

As we reflect on all that God has done in our lives over the past year, we look forward to an even greater level of the promises of God in the year to come!
Isaiah 61:7 promises that instead of shame and trouble, God will double the inheritance of His people and they'll be filled with everlasting joy.

This is God's promise to me: double for your trouble! A "double portion" of God's goodness, a "double portion" of His favor and wisdom on my life. That is our prayer for 2009.
It's time for me to trust God for the destiny that the enemy has tried so hard to convince me was impossible. It's time to believe God for the unimaginable. It's time to move beyond my past. I've been hurt, it's time to forgive. I've been discouraged, it's time to put on a garment of praise and experience the joy of the Lord. I've been worried and afraid, it's time to have faith like never before in the provision and purposes of God. It's time to live with confidence that God wants to give me a blessed and prosperous future in every area of my life!

The power of God's promises and His love for me is so much stronger than the pain of my past. We know this in our hearts. God wants us to use our troubles as a springboard into our future. Our troubles are what God often uses to take us to a new, higher level of living. This is what is so great about our God. He takes any trouble we have and says, "I will give you double the inheritance for your trouble." Twice the joy, twice the fulfillment, twice the impact . . . twice the life!"

We're believing for twice the life. We're asking God to open twice as many doors this year for hope to find its home in twice as many places.
With all of the challenges in the world today, what we have done in the past won't be able to take us to where God is calling us to go in the future. We need God to multiply us — He's the source of every blessing, every gift and every hope for tomorrow.

As we were getting ready for church last Sunday morning (just a few days after we found out that we lost our third baby) Justin was getting ready and singing "God is Good, All the Time". I just stopped what I was doing (in the other room) and sat there and listened. It was very sweet. Sweet for my soul. He is good...all the time. Throughout the last week, I've asked Justin to sing that song periodically...songs mean a lot to me, they are so full of expression and emotion. I cling to songs when I'm happy and when I'm sad. To hear this song come from the ONE person on this earth that I KNOW is going through the same emotions and hurts that I am...was so very sweet.


God is good
all the time
He put a song of praise
in this heart of mine
God is good
all the time
Through the darkest night,
His light will shine
God is good,
God is good
all the time

If you're walking
through the valley
And there are shadows all around
Do not fear,
He will guide you
He will keep you safe and sound
'Cause He's promised
to never leave you
Nor forsake you
and His Word is true

God is good
all the time
He put a song of praise
in this heart of mine
God is good
all the time
Through the darkest night,
His light will shine
God is good,
God is good
all the time

We were sinners -
so unworthy
Still for us He chose to die
Filled us with His
Holy Spirit
Now we can stand and testify
That His love is everlasting
And His mercies -
they will never end

God is good
all the time
He put a song of praise
in this heart of mine
God is good
all the time
Through the darkest night,
His light will shine
God is good,
God is good
all the time

Though I may not understand
all the plans you have for me
my life is in your hands
and through the eyes of faith I can clearly see...

God is good
all the time
He put a song of praise
in this heart of mine
God is good
all the time
Through the darkest night,
His light will shine
God is good,
God is good
all the time

The Pitcher Has Tipped...

Remember a while back ago when I said, “I feel like God has been filling up a pitcher of blessings for me, and just waiting for it to get good and full and then….it will tip!” Well, it certainly has!

Oh I wish I could get across my major excitement in this meager attempt at a post but I know I won’t be able to (so feel free to exaggerate the excitement you feel 100 times and then you might be close to imagining). If I haven’t mentioned it lately, my God is good. So good, even when my life is hard and we are dealing with tough things, he has proven himself to me…he is good. He has redeemed so many situations in my life just in the last month….let me explain.

Oh where to start? Okay, take my role in the church for instance. A year or two ago a group of women (and myself) decided we saw a need for a Girl’s Ministry at our church. Where girls can just be daughters of Christ without those pesky boys hanging around. I just saw so many girls finding their identity in boyfriends and appearances rather than who they were created to be in Christ. Now I see them piled up on couches every week in their PJs with no make-up, just getting real with God. It’s amazing, God has blessed our numbers and last time I checked we had over 70 girls on the role….in just one year it has grown to be such a staple in the lives of these girls…and me. I love this ministry, God has given me sooo many ideas for this ministry but, to be honest…I was the youngest one of the “founding women” and until I finally showed them what I was made of, I don’t think they took my suggestions and ideas very seriously. (They didn’t know my walk or my passion for this ministry…I’m sure some of them thought I was just a young girl wanting to have “shallow fun”). But soon I was able to gain their respect and I became the main teacher every week. I remember last year thinking, “I have so many places I want this girl’s ministry to go…but I’ll never be able to have my way.” There were so many older, wiser women than myself. But this year something strange happened. All of the “founding women” dropped out except two of us. It was crazy reasons like…they all of a sudden got extra responsibilities at work, or they had to focus more on another ministry at the church, or yadda yadda yadda. But there were only two of us left….the main director lady, and me! So we split up into two locations this year (since we had grown so large). She led the Pcola group and I led the Pace group (which you think would be smaller than Pcola…but Pace girls rock and show up in bunches!). So this year, I got to throw some of my own ideas into things…and we actually DID them. With a new group of leaders eager to try something new, we started a whole new spin on things. And it worked! Everyone loved the new face of Chosen (that’s the name of our ministry). In the middle of this, our church suddenly re-arranged some things…the youth paster moved up to college and the middle school paster moved up to the youth. I loved our old youth paster but I am VERY good friends with our new youth paster and his wife. In fact, she helps me with Chosen now and they live right down the street. She and I became close because they lost their first baby at the same time that Justin and I lost our second one…it’s an immediate bond.

So, anyway, a few months into Chosen this year, the Main Director lady came to me privately and poured out her heart. She basically said that God is pulling her in another direction, that she didn’t want to go, but she KNEW he needed her to leave Chosen. And not only that, she said he also told her that it was ME who needed to take over. It just so happens that one week earlier, Whitney (the youth pastor’s wife) and I were riding in the car and I just started spouting about how much I desired for Chosen to be MY LIFE, for me to be a stay at home mom, with a monogramming business and dedicate myself to this ministry of high school girls…how great that would be?? The Chosen Director spoke with the youth pastor and told him what God was telling her, and he immediately agreed. He said that God had confirmed it in his heart immediately…this position was for me! People….this is no small thing….I couldn’t have planned this if I tried….ME, the director…I’m so young, oh I am sooo happy. I love these girls and this ministry and AHHHHHHHHH. Thank you Jesus. So I am now the official director of the Olive Baptist Church Girl’s Ministry…Chosen.

Okay, so I have just begun so if you are tired of reading…find someone else who hasn’t been touched by the very hand of God…because I can’t KEEP from singing his praise! As if that weren’t enough, The Prissy Pink Polka Dot is doing amazingly, especially now since I have my new fancy machine! The orders are backed up as we speak

Okay Okay, so here is the juiciest part….we had a women’s night of worship (we have those quarterly at our church) and I got to speak at the last one. When Leah asked me, I knew I had to say yes…God didn’t add this to my testimony in vain, I had to use it to encourage and help others. So even though I REALLY did not want to be everyone’s sob story, and become “that poor girl” up on stage. I did it. And I tried so hard to focus on the victory God has given me through this. We took a large portion of the night to pray over the women in our church who are having trouble conceiving or with miscarriages, etc. We prayed for babies. We acknowledged that Satan has waged a war against the young godly wombs of our church, I know that he hates our babies….but I also know that my God is bigger and stronger and that if we came together to pray for mercy that he could defeat this victory that Satan was winning in our lives. That was exactly one month ago…and I have heard that 5 of these women are PREGNANT!! These are not just any ole women who got knocked up….these are women who have not been able to conceive! It’s is nothing short of a miracle…PTL! And I am one of them…yes, you read right…..we’re expecting! I have no doubt it was an answer to the prayers of so many women combined that night. One of my best friends is one of those women also….and we are at the exact some place in our pregnancy! We are going to have some much fun strolling our little babies together…I just can’t wait. So here I am, elated that this time next year I will be a stay at home mom, small business owner, and paid director of the girl’s ministry. God is good.


**I wrote this post a few days ago...and never actually published it. Now, we have just found out that we indeed just lost this baby also. I have a progesterone deficiency but it was caught too late. Maybe this will give us hope for next time...although I find hope to be fleeting at the moment. Please continue to pray for our family.