Our Special Day

At this time two years ago I was a nervous wreck, because I was about to walk down the aisle in front of a bunch of people! I wasn't nervous because I was getting married, but of a slight fear that I would trip and fall! Thankfully, everything went smoothly and Josh & I were married in a beautiful ceremony at 2pm on Saturday, September 30, 2006. We have had many adventures in our short married life, with the most obvious being our sweet son Thomas.

Josh is the man that my grandmother and I had asked the Lord to give me for many years. It took me a long time (a year and a half) to figure out that all I had been asking for was standing right in front of me! Josh truly is my best friend and sweetheart and I'm so thankful the Lord sent him to me!

And as the song goes, "I love you more today than yesterday..."

First Haircut

After much delay, we finally took Thomas to have his first haircut yesterday. He has needed a haircut for at least a month now, but part of me wasn't ready to do it, and we just haven't had the time. We decided to take him after lunch yesterday to see Jim Williams, who has been Josh's barber since he was a little boy and still cuts Josh's hair. Mr. Williams is around 80, but he still does a great job and Josh insisted that Thomas have his first haircut with him.

Surprisingly, Thomas wasn't scared at all and Mr. Williams was so friendly and sweet to him. He had toys for him to play with and he let him hold a comb too. Thomas just laughed and played and didn't seem to notice that his mama was just a little sad. He definitely looks more like a little boy and less of a baby - that is what makes me sad. Mr. Williams cut some of his little curls and put them in an envelope for me, not that Thomas will care about it, but it is special to me.

Here are the pictures of our day -

On our way to the barber.

Cutting hair for mama
Sitting still (one of the few times)
What are they doing to me?
A side view
The time where he didn't want to sit still!All the toys to entertain himAlmost finished!Look at our big boy!

Humor & Quiet Times

Yesterday morning as I groggily walked into the living room with my cup of coffee for my personal devotion time this is what greeted me:

The note reads:

Dear Lord,

Dianna has never appreciated me as she should. She left me in Georgia and now she's given me away. Help me endure her persecution. Matt 10:21-22

Rudy

Now let me explain the reason for "Rudy's" prayer. A couple of years ago for Christmas, my dad gave me this bear. I decided not to take the bear back with me when we left to go home, and my dad seemed very disappointed. Josh, for those of you who know him, continually picked on me for leaving this bear that my dad had given me and made me feel awful for hurting his feelings! When we went back to visit a couple of months later, I made sure to take Rudy home, if for no other reason than to assuage my guilty conscience (or Josh's continual reminders). When Thomas was born, I just stuck Rudy in with all his other stuffed animals, and now as "Rudy" reminded me, he is once again neglected.

Waking up to this sight yesterday morning made me laugh and love my husband even more. Those things do seem to go hand-in-hand in our home - laughter and love - and I was reminded that I am very blessed! Who says 5:30am can't be a fun time in the morning?!

Picnic Fun

On Saturday, the weather was beautiful and Josh decided we should go on a picnic. We love to be outside in the fall and it was a perfect day (even though fall really begins today). Josh fixed the p&b sandwiches, chips, boiled peanuts, and fruit while I got Thomas ready for his first picnic. The wagon Thomas received for his birthday has been useful for so many things, and since I couldn't find my basket on Saturday, we used it to transport the food, blanket, and Thomas.

After we ate our lunch, we took Thomas out of the wagon and let him sit on the blanket with us. We left him in the wagon to feed him and so he wouldn't wander off while we ate. Our idea of him wandering off the blanket was wrong - he wasn't too sure what to think of the grass!

This was Thomas' first time touching grass and you can see he was a little hesitant! He did pick some up and give it to us. Thomas liked touching new things, but the kitty still has his undivided attention, although, he didn't like it when kitty jumped into the wagon.

Don't worry, the kitty didn't hurt him; they both were being playful.

Saturday was so nice because not only did we enjoy being outside, but we just enjoyed being together as a family. It is so easy to become consumed with everything that "has" to be done (or so we tell ourselves) that we often neglect enjoying time together. I hope that our picnic won't be the only one of this fall season! Below are a few more pictures we took.

GROW

About 3 weeks ago, we started an outreach program at our church called G.R.O.W. We have had many visitors to our church, and Josh wanted a way to reach out to them, as well as to inactive members and the community at large. When I lived in Louisville and attended 9th & O Baptist Church, I was a part of G.R.O.W. for a short while. The basic concept of G.R.O.W. is to involve as many people in your church as possible, because their commitment is only once a month, and there are a variety of ways to serve - visiting, letter writing, phone calling, and praying. Those who don't feel comfortable visiting people, can write letters or call. Josh added prayer as a component of G.R.O.W. because our work is futile, unless the Lord blesses it.

I have been very convicted in the past few weeks about my lack of evangelism (not counting Thomas), but I really don't have the opportunity to meet new people other than at church. We don't live in a neighborhood and I don't work outside the home, so my options are limited. G.R.O.W. is helping to give me more opportunities for evangelism. Last night, Josh and I went to visit a couple who stopped coming to church (they had been very faithful before) a few months ago. When we arrived at the home, we could tell by the state of the yard that things were not good inside. The husband and wife are separated, although the wife is there most of the time, and their son's girlfriend is pregnant and living with them. We met the girlfriend (the son was at work) and my heart went out to her. She is 6 months pregnant and a junior in high school. Her parents don't want her and tried to get her to have an abortion. Children are a blessing, and they are hard work. I was 24, married, college educated, with a large network of support when I had Thomas, and still it was overwhelming - I can't begin to imagine what she is thinking and feeling.

Since last night, I have been trying to think of ways that I can get to know her. I plan to send her a note with my email address and phone number and hope she will contact me. If she were a neighbor it would be much easier, but she lives about 20 mins away. My hope is she will contact me and I can reach out to her. If anyone has specific ideas about how best to reach her, please me know.

The Lord reminded me again of how much I have to be thankful for - a loving husband, a healthy baby, a giving family, and most of all salvation in His son, Jesus. My prayer today is that I will live in light of His salvation, and make my life about kingdom purposes, and not worldly distractions.

Titus 2

When it comes to ministry, I have two huge passions. The first is missions. When I read Scripture, it is clear to me that the whole world needs to hear the gospel. How can they believe if they haven't heard (Romans 10:14)? I have had the privilege to go to a closed country to share the gospel with those who have never heard, as well as serving in San Antonio, TX, for a summer in college. At this time in my life, I'm not able to go, but I am able to give and mobilize others to give. Our church has sent care packages to missionaries recently and I have had the privilege of sharing with our ladies the work that missionaries are doing all over the world. It is a joy for women at our church to grasp the importance of missions and to see their willingness to give.

This leads me to my second passion in ministry: women's ministry and specifically biblical womanhood. I long to see women love God's Word and obey the Word. Our church has not had a biblical women's ministry in a long time, and I'm excited that we are moving in that direction. Josh & I met with a group of ladies this summer to examine God's plan for women's ministry as we read Women's Ministry in The Local Church by J. Ligon Duncan & Susan Hunt. The outcome of those meetings was a desire for our women's ministry to follow the model for women's ministry given to us in Scripture - Titus 2:3-5.

We know that the only way women will embrace a change from the traditional SBC model of women's ministry to the biblical model is by teaching the Word. Therefore, I have been given the task of teaching the ladies in our church about biblical womanhood and specifically what a Titus 2 ministry looks like. Right now I'm looking through books and praying about how to begin this task. Lord willing, this teaching will begin in January.

There are 18 ladies, including myself, who are going to the True Woman conference in Chicago next month. For many ladies, this will be the first time they have heard teaching on biblical womanhood. I'm so excited for how the Lord will use this conference in these ladies' lives and for the impact it will have on our church. Please be in prayer for us as we go and hear God's Word taught and for the next few months as I prepare to teach.

Oh, the places things can go...

Thomas is such a little explorer these days and I have to constantly see what he is discovering. Yesterday, as I was getting a pan to bake the biscuits on, I found something that isn't normally in the bottom of the oven with the other pans.


Yes, that is a milk jug. When we finish a gallon of milk, the jug normally goes next the trash can, until the trash is full enough to take everything out. Thomas has played with the milk jug before, but I guess he found a new place to hide it! He is such a big helper and he knows how his mama likes a clean house - everything has it's place!

12 Month Visit

Today, we took Thomas for his 12 month well check visit. His appointment was at 11am in Simpsonville, which is about 30 minutes from our house. We were running about 5 mins late because I had to wake Thomas up from his morning nap. I hate being late, especially to doctor's appointments, because it seems like you have to wait longer when you are late. About 5 minutes after I signed Thomas in, the receptionist called me over and told me his appointment was in Greenville. I told her that wasn't correct since I had called the Simponsville office to make the appointment, and he has only been to that office. After much discussion, they figured out that a new girl had made the appointment for the wrong office. I could either make another appointment or go to Greenville. Even though it meant more driving, I wanted to go ahead and see the doctor today and not wait.

Once we arrived at the Greenville office, about 11:35am, we had to wait another 30 mins before they called us. By the time we saw the doctor, had his two shots, and paid our co-pay it was 12:50pm! What a long, exhausting doctor's visit! However, we did treat ourselves to Chick-fil-a, so in Josh's opinion, it was worth it.

Here are Thomas' stats:

Weight - 20lb 8 oz - 18 %
Height - 31.5" - 92% (we have no clue why he is tall for his age - we are average ppl)
HC - 18" - 31%

Dr. Earle, the peditrician, said Thomas' is long and lean, and he looks great. Thankfully, the only time we have went to the doctor over the past 12 months is for well visits. He has had a couple of colds and the croup, but nothing severe enough to put him on antibiotics. Praise the Lord for how He has taken care of Thomas!

One last bit of info: we learned that Thomas is definitely like his daddy - he loves Chick-fil-a nuggets! He had them for the first time today and he wanted those even more than the fruit!

Pulling Up & Pointing

Two of Thomas' newest discoveries are pulling up on anything that is stable (and some things that aren't) and pointing at everything. My sweet boy wakes up pointing at something - the fan, the lamp, shoes - and I try to use those times to name what the "thing" is. He is so curious about everything and so delighted by all the new things he can do. Thomas pulls up on all the furniture and now "cruises" around until there is an open space and he is back to crawling.

This newfound freedom also leads to more discipline as he wants to grab the phone, remote, coasters, pictures, etc. laying around. People have told me, "You just need to put everything up until he is about three." While that would be much easier than disciplining him, it isn't best for him or for me. It fosters an undisciplined spirit in Thomas and laziness in me! Thankfully, he normally listens when I say, "No Thomas, you may not touch that," and if he doesn't, it only takes a little pop on his leg to get his attention.

It looks like it will be a few more weeks before he is walking. The other day he let go of the ottoman and tried to walk to his toy and fell face forward! I tried not to react with fear in my voice, and amazingly he didn't cry but just started crawling to the toy! Below are some recent pictures of him pulling up and pointing.