My To Do List

Hello readers! I regret to inform you that I really have nothing meaningful to share today, and because of this I thought I would share some things that I would like to learn how to do, that I feel will make me a better wife and one day a better mother.

Number 1: Make amazing cupcakes.

I understand the whole concept of baking, it is the decorating and making them look presentable to eat, that I have a problem with. This is something I must work on, because one day I am sure one of my of my precious babies will stroll in from school and announce to me that he or she wants me to make cupcakes for their class.I will of course ablige them because who will be able to resist the beautiful blue eyed, curly headed babies of Drew and Kimberly Hunt? That being said I should probably take a class or something because I still have a long way to go in this area of lovely baked goods.

Number 2: Learning to Sew

This lack of skill is of my own doing. My mother is a very talented seamstress and I just never had the patience to learn. Marriage has taught me patience in many ways, and since I am actually the one wanting to learn and noone is suggesting I learn, I would probably be much more successful now than I would have been a few years ago. This to me is a much more easily attainable goal, considering I have a wonderful mother to teach me this skill, now to find a time when both of us can sit down and spend a few weeks learning (for I am sure it will take me quite a long time to actually get the hang of it.)I feel good about this goal, it is the other ones I am not too sure about.

Number 3: Plant and Mantain a Garden

I feel like this one COULD be easy too. Drew's mom has a precious yard up in Aiken and from what Drew says she has always had a pretty yard no matter where they lived. Although he has complained that on Key Street she had a rose bush he always crashed his bike into, he never has figured out why she planted it there. I supposed this is something I should note, and try not to put my rose bushes where Drew and the children will not crash into them, (as Drew will be just as destructive to my beautiful flowers as the children will be :) At any rate, when I finally have a yard to lovely up, I know Mrs. Michile will help me make it as enchanting as I can imagine. The real task will be keeping it that way by myself. I have never actually had a plant of my own that I was in charge of watering an caring for. I suppose it is like a pet, but I was never very good at that either, so maybe this will be harder than I think. Time will tell.

As for now I think that sewing is my most attainable goal and will try to set out on learning it first. I love learning and sometimes the most valuable skills, you don't learn from school or books, but from the people in your life. I am reminded of this daily. Anyway, I encourage everyone to look for some new skill to learn, it may be hard at first, but once you learn it, it will more than likely stay with you and be useful to you for the rest of your life.

My life as Dwight...

Yesterday I posted a somewhat serious blog, so I decided today to keep things lighthearted. I recently read on MSN.com that sitting on a fitness ball instead of a desk chair was beneficial in strengthening your core muscles. I had seen this very thing on an episode of The Office. The video above is not what happened to me today, but it is still pretty funny. As far as my experince, it was quite an interesting experience to blow the thing up. It took me like thirty minutes and once I got it blown up, I found it was quite comfy. Maybe if nothing else my balance will improve. I did find that I can do crunches when noone is looking. Which is kind of fun and hopefully will yeild a tighter tummy. It is also pretty fun to bounce up and down on to look out my window. (Are you sensing a pattern of boredom and ADD?) At any rate even if I don't get the much desired tightened core at least for a while I am thoroughly amused.

Youth Revisited

Last night I had the privilege of being led in worship by the youth of EMBC. It was an amazing time of worship and reflection. I have not experienced worship like that in a long time. I realize that has alot to do in part to my attitude, but I also think it has something to do with the way I am wired. I have long focused more on the message of music, rather than the mechanics. This is something that has been at the forefront on my mind, concerning worship since I was in the youth group. Yes we want it to sound pretty, but when we truly focus on worshiping God and singing the words as a prayer to Him, it is the sweetest sound on earth. Apart from the music, I was touched by Erica Johnson's testimony. It was amazing for a girl her age to stand up in front of a congregation of people and proclaim her love for Christ the way she did; also it reminded me how I had been on fire for Christ my Senior year. I felt convicted and took it as a call to action. I had the privilege of being a part of something special. Most people don't get the opportunity to be in the youth group I was in. Anyone who has grown up in church, has special memories of their youth group, but my whole experience in the youth group is a special memory, and much of what took place in those years made me who I am today. I remember when my parents first decided to go to EMBC, I was unhappy and thought I would never fit in. A special lady didn't give up on me and it is because of her I found my place at EMBC. Mrs. Lea Anne Barnett was my Sunday School teacher at some point for every year I was in the youth group. I still have notebooks from Bible studies she did with us in the summer. I remember looking to her and realizing what it meant to walk the walk. Another person who had a great impact on my life is Adam Bishop.


The picture above is of Jenna Sanders, Courtney Loftin and I at our Senior year Choir tour. The M.O.M. on our t-shirts stood for Minister of Music.


Adam led the youth choir when I was in the youth group, and the things he taught us will stay with me the rest of my life. I understand that when someone moves on to another church, that for some reason people who used to like them somehow find fault where there is none. This is not to say that Adam is perfect, and also not to say that Michael Evans isn't as good as Adam, just that when someone moves on don't write them off and forget about them. If the church today functioned like the church of Paul's day we wouldn't worry about who is at EMBC or First Baptist or Buck Run. It would simply be "The Church" a cohesive group of believers with the same mind to worship Christ. Just like Paul wrote and encouraged churches all over, we too should be about encouraging our fellow believers, no matter which congregation they choose to be a part of. That was totally off the subject, but just something I've had on my mind for a while. Back to what Adam taught me, it is precisely the thing I spoke about before. Worhip should be about the message, rather than mechanics. He always made it a point to look at the words and not only to focus on what God might be saying to us through the music, but also what God might use us to say to the people listening. That is something that stuck with me and translates into how I worship today. I understand this is beginning to get lengthy, but I could never talk about people who impacted my life without talking about Gene DeVaughn.



No other minister at EMBC or elsewhere has ever impacted my life as much as Bro. Gene. Not only does he practice what he preaches, but I don't think there is a more down to earth guy around. Bro. Gene is a phenomenal speaker and I remember spending many afternoons in his office crying or just talking and never once did he let me down in offering Godly and sound advice. Bro. Gene can't do it alone though, his lovely wife Mrs. Lesley has impacted me as well. I understand that no marriage is perfect, but in so many ways Drew & I look to these two as an example of what a marriage should look like. Bro. Gene and Mrs. Lesley aren't perfect, but part of what makes them so special is that they don't pretend to be. When so many people put on airs, these two are real and I feel like that is part of the reason they impact so many lives.
The EMBC youth group I was a part of was special and I feel so blessed to have been a part of it. The things I learned stay with me today and even though I know I am not as close to God as I was then, I was challenged by the youth group of today to get back to the place I once was and get back to a place where I am SOLD OUT!!!

Just feeling thankful...

This morning a rare thing happened, I got up and had to get ready for work while Drew had the opportunity to stay in the bed and sleep late. I say this is unusual because both of us are normally off on Fridays, but today I am filling in for Mrs. Teri Sanders answering phones, so she could go to a training class. I had to get up at 6:30 and Drew was going to take me to work and drive my car today, but I expected him to stay in bed until I pried him out of bed around 7:30. I did my normal routine of contacts, brushing of teeth and then hopped in the shower (Although I didn't actually hop, much to early for things like that.) As soon as I got out of the shower I could hear that Drew was up, but assumed he had gotten up and was watching television. Upon exiting the bathroom, I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only had Drew fixed me a toaster strudel complete with a glass of juice, he was also packing me a lunch! I shouldn't be shocked by this I suppose since Drew is rather thoughtful, but it was just a precious act that made me love him a little bit extra today. It also made me realize how little I do special little things like that for him. Yes I fix him supper, and I wash his clothes (although sometimes he ends up doing more laundry than I do, lets say we equally distribute the laundry wealth)and I try to fix him lunch, but let's face it making dinner so he can take leftovers hardly counts as much as taking the time to pack him a sandwich complete with a drink and dessert. The truth is I abhor sandwich making, but I guess out of the love for my husband maybe I should give a little extra effort and treat him. I also suppose I could get up when he does (but it's so early) and make him breakfast every once in a while. I think I will work on these things in the next few weeks and we will see if repetition leads to a lifelong habit. But for now I just wanted to share what a sweet husband I have, and to let him and everyone else know how thankful I am for him and all he does!

I'm Back!

It seems I took somewhat of a blogging vacation. It all started with the snow last Friday, which Drew & I dutifully played in with my precious sister.


It was quite fun, but consequently I will not be moving anywhere where snow is a regular thing, once a year is quite alright. I love the way snow looks in the trees as seen in the photos below...


But the whole getting cold and wet thing is not really my style. Having said that, Drew & I celebrated Valentine's Day with a trip to Birmingham. We went to the Galleria and waited an hour and a half to eat the most amazing meal at the Cheesecake Factory. You may say no meal is worth waiting that long, and to that I simply say go to the Cheesecake Factory and you will see that this place is indeed worth the wait. Our Sunday was rather uneventful, church and lunch with my parents. This is where the real fun begins, on Monday evening I started to get a very bad headache that by Tuesday around 4am became so bad that it actually woke me up. This headache had transformed itself into a full fledged migraine. It continued as such until yesterday afternoon when I went to the doctor. For the record, Doctor Banach and his amazing Demoral shot might just be the heroes of my week! Although I cannot fail to mention my precious mother who took me to the doctor and my husband who put up with me after having the shot. Let's just say that I think Drew got a taste of what I would be like as a drunk person. I only faintly remember last night, but what I do remember is running into things, sleeping and a really random dream about American Idol which I am pretty sure I watched, but I honestly can't remember. So that my friends is why I have not blogged. Hopefully this coming week will bring forth something much more interesting to talk about, but for now that is all!

Friends that Pray...

Today has been a good day. I am not feeling especially wonderful and work was rather tedious, but today I am thankful for my sweet friends that are willing to pray for me. I have lots of people who pray for me I am sure, but today I am especially thankful for my friends Jenna and Clay.

These two have been friends of mine for many years, and not only does it warm my heart to be around these two, who always provide me with endless laughs, but they blessed my heart today by praying for me. It might seem like a little thing, but when you think about a friend making intercession on your behalf to the KING OF KINGS, it really is a pretty awesome thing. I feel blessed not only to have friends who love Jesus, but friends that I can share my struggles with and know that they actually care. So thanks Clay and Jenna for the prayers and your friendship, it's good to know you and God have my back today!

Hunting makes you sick...

So I really have nothing meaningful to blog about today, other than Drew and I are discovering what it is like to both be sick at the same time. Being the avid hunter that he is, Drew suggested we go hunting this past weekend, since it was the last weekend to hunt deer until October. I abliged him, and consequently we are both paying the price for sitting in the frigid wind looking for deer that never chose to show up. Needless to say we will be trying some over the counter tricks before we fork out the $60 for us to go to the doctor not to mention the prescriptions. I am sure that there will more to document on this since I am a horrible patient and Drew gets a little unhappy when he is sick. It may bring forth either an amusing story or it may bring forth our first fight. I am hoping for the first option, since I am opposed to conflict, especially when I am not feeling well. Anyway, that is about all that I have going on today, maybe tomorrow I will have something a little more interesting to share.

Another lesson in life...

So today, like many days I am being taught a lesson and not really enjoying it. I have adopted Philippians 4:11-13 as my life verses. I chose these verses long ago, not only because they are found in my favorite book of the Bible, but also so they could serve as a challenge to me. The verses read:

11. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned that in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12. I know how to be abased, and how to abound: everwhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need. 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

So you may ask, What lesson am I learning...another lesson in contentment. It seems that no matter how many times God tries to teach me this I never seem to fully grasp this concept. I am aware I have issues with contentment, so I am not in denial. I suppose maybe that is the first step. Just to clear it up for any of you wondering, my contentment issues do not stem from my marriage, I couldn't be happier. In fact that is the only thing I am truly content with. Drew is better than I deserve, (I also acknowledge that I am difficult.) No, my issues stem from my place in life. Paul was in prison and he still chose to be content. Why can't I be content in this apartment, in my job, in my financial state? I don't know. I am pretty sure this lesson in contentment is accompanied with a lesson in patience, but that is another blog for another day. For now, pray that I can move past this hurdle and learn this lesson God is trying to teach me.