Quick Trip Home

Hal and I both headed for the airport last Saturday. He is in England this week and I made a quick trip to Fayetteville. We had originally planned on me making the trip to England with Hal again. We had tossed around visiting a few different places on the beginning or end of the trip, but we decided it was just too much travel for Hal in such a short period of time, so I decided to make a trip to Fayetteville. My days were filled! When we were in England in October, my grandparents had a car accident, and I did not want to wait until Christmas to see them. I was able to spend some precious time with them. I also got to see my nieces for the first time since last Spring. I enjoyed playing with the younger girls and talking with Courtney. I also had a great dinner with friends from college. We hadn't all been together(apart from weddings and showers) since college. It is crazy to think about how all of our lives have changed in the past 4 years. This was the first trip since we moved to Houston that I was able to come home and not have to work at the bank....it seemed kind of odd to be in town but not be at the bank on Monday morning. I did stop by the bank on Tuesday to visit. The trip flew by, but it was great to spend some time with family!

Humbled, Amazed, Thankful......

The list could go on and on for me this morning. I picked up Hal at 5:45 last night. He was tired after almost 24 hours of travel with no sleep, but he was home!

I have struggled with anxiety and worry with his travel over the last few years. I will admit that there were times that I worked myself into an all out panic where I would be in a cold sweat and feel sick to my stomach. But by the grace of God this trip was different. I know that many of you prayed the requests I put on my blog as well as others whom I asked to pray for me here. We both felt your prayers.

Studying the temptation of Christ in Matthew 4 last week also had a big impact. I don't think that I had ever really thought about my worry and anxiety as Satan tempting me to doubt God's protection and provision for Hal and I. In Matthew 4, when Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted, He uses God's word to answer Satan's temptations and he trusts in God's provision and plan for Him. When Satan offers Him food after he has been fasting for 40 days, He trusts that God will sustain him. When Satan takes him to the top of the temple and says throw yourself down for God will command angels concerning you, Jesus says not to put the Lord God to the test. In saying that, he refuses to bow to Satan's attempt to damage his pride and he trusts that God will sustain and defend him. He asserts that God isn't here to serve us, but we are here to serve God. When Satan offers Him a way to have the kingdoms of the world without having to sacrifice and die on a cross, he trusts God's sovereign plan. In all these temptations he didn't use his divine power to overcome them. He used just what I had available to defeat my temptation to worry and doubt: God's Word, Holy Spirit, and faith in God's character.

This past week, I found myself humbled and at the same time joyful at the way my Heavenly Father protects and cares for His children. Whether it was a encouraging prayer or word from a friend, a call from my mother-in-law, worship at church, or time spent with my mom and aunt, God was unbelievably gracious and faithful to me this week. In all honesty, there was only one time that I felt panicked.

As for Hal, he is still sleeping this morning. :) It may take him a few days to get over the 13 hour time difference. He was able to find decent food this trip. He navigated through all the different stops he had to make without difficulty. All of his flights were on time. God was gracious.

So...again, thanks for your prayers!

25 Years Later....

Of all the birthdays one celebrates in their lifetime, none is more celebrated than a child's first birthday. But my first birthday, my mom left me at home for a trip to visit her sister Kathy in Galveston. She took my brother, but left me behind. But this week after 26 years, I finally got to go to Galveston with my mom and my Aunt.

I love to tell this story and tease my mother. :) My mom and Aunt left today. We had a great time shopping, laughing, and talking. I hope we make in an annual event.

Company Coming

I am having a little trouble getting around this morning, but I better get it together soon. My mom and my aunt are on their way to the airport and will be here shortly. I am not sure what the plan is for today. We are going to go to Galveston one day and maybe drive to Port Arthur since my Aunt has lived there in the past. You can be sure that shopping will be involved in the weekend plans. :)

I talked to Hal a couple of hours ago. He was headed to bed to try to catch up on a little sleep. There is a 13 hour time difference, so it is always weird for him to be winding down as my day is starting. He will be spending the weekend in Hong Kong before flying to Shanghai on Sunday afternoon.

Have a great weekend!!

China

Friends and Family- Hal and I have a favor to ask you. He will be leaving for China tomorrow morning. He will be gone October 16th-25th. He will then be home for a week and leave again for England on November 4th. We have a couple of prayer requests if you wouldn't mind bringing these before the Father for us.

• Pray for travel safety for Hal. On the China trip he will be in a couple of different cities. Please pray for safety on each leg of the journey as well as wisdom on how to get to each place.
• Pray for good health for Hal. The last time he had this many trips back to back his body didn't respond well.
• Pray that he could be a light in a dark world and be able to share his faith while in China.
• Pray for a calm heart for me. Pray that I would trust the Lord with Hal's safety.
• Pray for travel safety for my mom and Aunt Kathy as they travel down here to see me Thursday-Monday

Thank you so much! We are so blessed to have your prayers.

MSU Goodies

Hal is in Starkville at State for a few days doing on campus interviews with college seniors for Cooper. He left this morning and comes back on Friday. He was happy to eat lunch at his favorite Starkville restaurant, Little Dooey's. He called me this afternoon from the bookstore....I am taking bets on how many MSU items he comes home with. You know how he loves his MSU paraphernalia. :)

I have been busy this week trying to get a few more of my 1 John lessons done. This morning I went to BSF and then had lunch with a friend. I am so thankful for the time I have to study and serve. I was initially worried about having too much time on my hands, but that hasn't been a problem!

Bloggiversary

Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of our blog! A friend of mine from here called it her Bloggiversary, so I am stealing it. :) Last October, Sarah L was here to visit me and she suggested I start blogging. I am so thankful she had this suggestion! It has been a huge blessing to me over the past year, and has even encouraged me to try to do a little freelance writing. It has also helped to keep me in contact with many of you. So, thanks Sarah, and I hope all of you enjoy it as well! The picture to the left was taken when Sarah came to visit this past August. It is on the 49th floor of the building Hal works at. She has been to see me twice since we moved and I am running out of exciting things to show her here in Houston, but who knows where we will be the next time she comes to visit. Have a great weekend!

A Face We Can Know

One of my favorite worship leaders, Charlie Hall, has a song called Sum of Beautiful. Below is the beginning of the song.

You are the God with a face we can know
In Christ you made all things beautiful
We see Your heart of Grace in all the world
You are the God with a face we can know

I was walking through our neighborhood listening to my IPod when this song came on. I have listened to this song countless times, but for some reason, it really stood out to me this time. I kept repeating the first line over and over in my head. We can actually know the face of God Almighty....WOW...let that sink in for a minute. God is a personal, relational God. He desires a relationship with us. A relationship where we know him intimately. Just as it takes time to get to know a new friend, it takes time spent in prayer, studying God's word and in worship of Him to know Him intimately. God's character is clearly outlined in His word. When we study the Bible we can learn about Him. We learn that He is omnipotent, immutable(unchanging), holy, righteous judge, and loving Father.

Home Again

Hal and I are back in Texas. Our flight got in around 5:00 last night, and we headed for some Tex Mex at our favorite local place. We woke up wide eyed at 6:30 this morning...it will take us a few days to get back on schedule. It was great to be in church this morning. I fought back tears all through worship. Although we had a great time last week, I could not help but feel that England is a spiritually dark place. You see and hear very little if anything about the Lord. If you see a church it is usually a tourist attraction because it was built hundreds of years ago! How often I take for granted what it feels like to be in a fellowship of believers!

Back in Rainy Lodon

We are back in London. After a comical episode of trying to find our hotel room, we finally made it to our room only to find that it hadn't been cleaned. We went back down to the lobby and they escorted us to a nice upgraded room! Looks like a good start to our afternoon. It is supposed to be rainy and chilly all day. We are going to head to Leicster Square to the TKTS booth to see if we can get discount theater tickets....and who knows what else. I do know that our first stop will be Pizza Hut. That's right, we are ready for some American food!!!! We head for the airport around 8:00 tomorrow. Our flight leaves here before noon and we should be back in Houston by 4:00 central. More pictures to come soon. Have a great day friends and family!!

Weary Travelers

We made it to London by 10:00 in the morning which was 4:00 am our time. We spent Sunday afternoon in London. We took several hours to walk around the Camden Lock market....what an interesting place! You could find a little bit of everything there. I have never been anywhere I can even compare it to. Then we took the tube back to the area where Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey are located. The picture to the left is near Westminster Abbey toward the end of the day. We were both worn out! We took a train out of Kings Cross station for Peterborough around 4:00 in the afternoon. We were in our hotel room by 5:30. Yesterday morning we caught up on sleep and Hal's class started yesterday afternoon. Yesterday evening I experienced my first drive on a British roadway. For those who think I drive like a nut, I have nothing on these people. I was in the back seat and I an not quite sure how I manged to keep from getting sick! The corners were sharp and fast! A few more pictures from London are below. Enjoy...or as they say here...Cheers!

Attack of the Texas Fire Ants

Yesterday I went for a walk/run in the morning. I am trying to be more disciplined in exercising each day. As I walked up the driveway I noticed that I my front flower bed could use some attention. So, I put on my garden gloves, turned up my IPod and started pulling weeds. About half way through the flower bed, I looked down to find my white running shoes covered in fire ants. I have had a couple of encounters with ants this summer so I knew that this could be trouble. In a clumsy ballerina like move, I danced around the yard on one leg while trying to untie my shoe and get my sock off as quickly as possible. I manged to get both the sock and the shoe off, but not before two of those little red devils stung my ankle. By the time Hal and I headed downtown for an Astro's game last night, the swelling had already begun. My left ankle now looks about three times the size of my right ankle! Quit attractive, let me tell you. So I am headed to the doctor this afternoon to see if they can help. Hal and I leave for England on Saturday and prefer not to have an ankle the size of Texas! (sorry for the bad Texas joke) So, why am I telling you this? Mainly for my college friends....it seems I have a habit of insects biting me. They will remember Velma 1 and Velma 2. Insect bites that caused us a few laughs. Anyway....have a great day and stay away from fire ants!

Go Hogs....and other things

I am pretty sure my neighbors think something crazy went on in our house tonight. I spent the last 5 minutes of the Arkansas game yelling at the TV. I just knew they were going to pull out a win.....I don't normally get that fired up while watching a game on TV. I guess I have been in the house by myself to long today. :) Hal is enjoying his annual football weekend with the guys in Tuscaloosa. I pick him up in the morning. Then we are off to church and then to Sam's to prepare for the cookout we are hosting tomorrow night.

Hal is co-leading a 10th grade guys small group and the kick off is tomorrow. They will be studying the 1 John Bible Study I have been working on. I am anxious to see how God uses the study in the lives of students. I know that I have been challenged immensely as I have worked through the scripture. The apostle John is so black and white in the way he writes. He doesn't leave any wiggle room for making excuses about sin. He repeatedly points out that if you are a true believer and follower of Christ you will seek to put away sin and strive to live a holy life. Not that we won't always struggle with sin. Because we have a sin nature, we will always have that battle, but Christians can't use the battle as an excuse to keep on sinning. When we acknowledge our need for a Savior, confess our sins, and repent, the Holy Spirit enters our life and we have a helper in the battle against sin. I am tired of making excuses. I pray that God will continue to convict me of sin and that by His grace I may transformed into His likeness.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect[a] the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18

Storm Scare

There are a lot of differences between living in Northwest Arkansas and living in Houston, but the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes may be the biggest. It is a fear of mine that a storm will hit when Hal is out of town. Usually we will have plenty of notice if a storm is headed this way, so there is no real reason for my fear. Yesterday was a little different.

I had watched the news as I got ready for BSF and they said there was a depression in the Gulf and it would more than likely impact the Houston area with heavy rain. But the storm intensified during the day and as I got to church last night, there concern about strong winds and rain. They dismissed church at 7:45 and asked everyone to be careful getting home. As we looked outside...it didn't look that threatening! My friend Kim's husband is also traveling this week. We began to debate if we needed to have a sleepover. She came over after church...as we watched the weather we realized the storm was going further east and we were in the clear. She headed home....I headed to bed. Crisis averted. Thanks for your calls and emails to check on me. :)

What Fall Means to Me

Most of you who know me well, know that I love football. And most of you know that the reason I love football is because it has been a huge part of my life. My mother tells the story that I went to my first football game at 4 months old. Unlike some girls, I can name all the positions on the field and can tell you what the penalty is going to be before the official announces it. Why do I know these things? Because I grew up as a coach’s daughter, a title I have always worn with pride.

Although it wasn’t always glamorous and pretty, I loved growing up the way I did. We didn’t always take a big summer family vacation, because my dad was always getting a football field ready for the fall. I can remember many trips to turn off or turn on the sprinklers on the field. I can remember helping him use diesel to mark the lines on the field in the heat of August or playing around on the field as he mowed the grass. I can remember the fall Friday nights. I can still feel the chill in the air and hear the band songs playing. Those things still signal to me that it is football season. Even though I remember all of these things, the thing I will always remember the most is my dad. He poured almost 30 years of his life into students: first as a football coach and then as a principal and athletic director. This past year, one of the players he had coached passed away. When my parents went to the visitation, the mother of the player told my dad how much he had always meant to her son. I have seen that in the eyes of these men over and over when they see my dad around town. Although I have never heard him say it quite this plainly, I know he never coached to see how many ball games he could win. He wanted to help young men. That is why I have always worn my title as a coach’s daughter with pride.

Hawaiian Sunday

Aloha! No...unfortunately Hal and I didn't just get back from Hawaii, but we did have Hawaiian Sunday at church today! :) Today was the kick off for the student ministry at church. We are really enjoying working with the students. I am having a blast writing the study on 1 John and Hal is looking forward to co-leading a 10th grade guys small group. We are also excited about getting plugged in with a group of friends including Nate and Kim and Stuart and Terra. Kim is with me on the left. There are more pictures of Hawaiian Sunday at the bottom of the page! Enjoy!

A New Task

I was a little worried if I would get bored once I finished up my time with the bank, but was I ever wrong! It seems like I have gone non-stop since the first of August. I have been doing things around the house, babysitting, helping out friends, and writing. Perhaps the most exciting and surprising project is writing. I am writing the curriculum for our youth group this fall on the book of 1 John. God has been so gracious in providing me this opportunity. I am learning so much as I am putting it together. I am also working on a few other writing projects...we will see how they turn out.

Weekend Update

Hal and I really enjoyed having Sarah L here last week. We were able to show her a little more of Houston than she saw when she was here last October. It was also really great for her to meet my friend Kim. We spent an afternoon hanging out at the pool. Yes, I applied sunscreen, but I got burned anyway! The rest of our time was spent browsing a few of my favorite stores, eating sushi, watching Jane Austen movies, and talking.

Two days to go!

My last week of work for the bank is here. I will finish up on Tuesday. The past three months have flown by! It is hard to believe it is coming to a close. I am grateful for God's perfect timing this week. I finish up on Tuesday and Sarah L flies in Wednesday morning! It will be great to spend time with her free of my Blackberry and laptop. We have a few things planned including trying to catch a theater that has the early release of Becoming Jane. The movie is loosely based on Jane Austen's early years. I am sure Hal is extremely excited that Sarah will be here to go with me!

*The picture to the left is of my hibiscus on the front porch. :)

Home at Last!

Hal and I are both back in Houston for a few weeks. We spent the week of the 4th of July near Gatlinburg, Tennessee with Hal's parents and his brother and his family. We shopped, rode go-karts, played mini golf, went to Dollywood, walked around Gatlinburg, and much more! I won the Ramsey mini golf tournament. :) We also got totally hooked on Guitar Hero on the XBox 360. I think we spent a good portion of our vacation playing it....we even went and bought an adapter when we couldn't get it to work in our hotel room! It was a great week with family!

Last week I was off to Fayetteville for my last week in the bank and Hal was in Milwaukee. I will be finishing up my time with the bank on July 31st. I am looking forward to less hectic days! I have been compiling a "Things to do when I am done with the bank" list. The first item of business will be hanging out with Sarah L when she comes to visit on August 1st.