An Upside Down Blogger

The following words are from Ann VosKamp at A Holy Experience ...

"We need your messy stories. And you need your messy stories.

Why do I need your story and why do you need your story?

Because story is a way that the Spirit of God can bind our wounds.

It is in story, we meet the Spirit of God. The reader meets the Spirit of God in the reading of story — the word made flesh in your life. The writer, you, meets the Spirit of God in the writing your story – the word made flesh in your own life.

The Word God wastes nothing and He heals two broken hearts with one story – the reader and the writer.

Us who are fighting for joy from behind the laundry heap and in the trenches with the crying kids and with the bruised marriages and the crushing debts and the battered , frayed dreams, and we. Don’t. want. To. Get. Out. Of. Bed — we need your messy, real, authentic, unmasked stories. And you who are fallen and broken and scraped–  you need your messy, real, ugly stories.  Because in the hands of the Spirit, story becomes a salve to the skinned souls.

The first person that any words ever heal — is the writer of those words.

Because our words aren’t wholly our words.

They are from the Word God Himself.

Yahweh, You alone are my God, not Google

Jesus, You alone are my Savior, not site meters

Holy Spirit, You alone are my Comforter, not comments….

So be it, today, yesterday, and every post to come.

This is my prayer I have made on earth and over this keyboard…

Let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen."

I love reading Ann's blog and I find myself just basking in her words.  She has such a gift and God is really using her.  If nothing else, go to her blog and just listen to the soothing music playing:).  I have said this before, but I so long for this blog to be a real picture of who I am...not just the best parts of our life and family.  Of course I tend to put up the best pictures and the fun stuff, but I really do strive to be real.  To be honest.  To be an upside down blogger and not paint an unrealistic picture of our life.  My story is messy with a capital M and it always will be because of sin.  

Amazingly though my heart has been cleansed even whiter than this beautiful white snow from Christmas and I don't have to be afraid of the mess or the sin.  It's already been dealt with on the cross.  Another goal of mine, is to be even more real in 2011.  I created this blog (and the ones before it) to be an ebenezer of sorts...a place of remembrance in honor of all that God has done.  Because that is my story...He has done marvelous things, in the midst of the messy and the mundane and the beautiful.  

Will you be an upside down blogger in 2011 too?

Our "Snow" Day

We always joke that Tuscaloosa is the hottest place on earth in the summer and how we just seem to be in some sort of basin or valley (I do not know the technical term) and so therefore, we also never get much snow when they forecast it!  Yesterday was no different.  We did get maybe 1 inch and then some ice over that.  It was enough to cancel school for 2 days (craziness) though!  I guess that's fun...unless you have very energetic young children and add to that there really wasn't any snow to play in!  We tried to make the most of it though.  Samuel went out and played in it for a little while and ate some icicles.  We don't have any hills near us and since the roads were so icy, we couldn't go anywhere to sled.  We watched Beauty & The Beast blue ray dvd on Jeff's new tv that he bought with his christmas money.  I love that movie!!! It's crazy that I can still sing along with almost all the songs so many years later:).  We played blocks.  I did A LOT of laundry.  I did a blog makeover.  Jeff and Samuel played a lot of Wii (Super Mario).  The kids slept late both mornings (8am) and took good naps.  Today, we were all stir crazy so we went to Moes for lunch and then Jeff went and hung out with students the rest of the day.  My area of organization and cleaning yesterday (and the rest of this week along with the pantry) was the office/living room.  I got a lot done but still need to do some more!  I'm making progress and that feels good!  It's just going to take awhile to clean out, organize, and simplify 2600 square feet plus a garage and attic:)! 

So, here are some picture memories from the winter weather event of 2011...

we had BEAUTIFUL huge snow flakes for about 20 minutes and that was it...but it fell so fast and it was so cold that apparently that was all we needed to get our measly one inch of white stuff...guess that explains why Jeff's parents just a few hours north of us got 9 inches!

"Be Our Guest!"

Bullet Points

• It's beginning to snow right now in Tuscaloosa!  This is so fun to have 2 big snows so close together! I think we should hopefully get several inches and then there will be a freezing rain possibility...which could mean we lose power...which would mean we will freeze because we have non working gas logs in our fireplace.  I'm hoping for the best...that we just get lots of the fluffy stuff and none of the freezing stuff.  Jeff's parents up in north Alabama are supposed to get up to 10 or 12 inches.   That's craziness for Alabama!!!! 

•  Jeff got ordained as an elder today in our church.  It was a special morning. 

• My cleaning out and organizing is in full swing.  This is the book that got me motivated...

 

 Click HERE to see it on Amazon

The author also has a blog called Simple Mom.  You may have heard of it!  I don't go there that often but it's a great blog with a TON of inspiration and material on living a more simple life.  I'll try to share some along the way with before and after pics.  The main areas I'm focusing on are the attic, closets, kitchen, pantry, laundry room, and playroom.  I'm going to have a yard sale in early March and I'm going to donate a lot of stuff too.  I'm just really excited about simplifying our life and our possessions.  There is NO reason we should have as much stuff as we do!

• I'll end with a really funny story!  Samuel made and ABC story book for us for Christmas.  It was something they did in his first grade class.  He was SO excited to give it to us!  It was really cute with drawings and he came up with what went with each letter (like A is for Apple).  Anyway, he was so proud and it's definitely something we will treasure forever!  Well, one of his friends moms wrote me a little facebook message about one of her daughters letters...
  

  So, Lakin could NOT wait to give us the ABC book she made. We got to Q and I died laughing. "Q... Q is for "QUIT IT, Samuel!!!"" You should see the picture. So funny! She loves him. Happy New Year!

   

The Last of Christmas

Whew!!! Since December 24 we have been in a whirlwind of travels, celebrations, and unpacking!  It was a great Christmas and then we had a student conference we always attend for 5 days afterwards through the New Year.  It's always a fun time, but we were so glad to get home on Monday!!!  We packed up Christmas, unpacked all our new gifts and clothes, and now I am about to begin my purging, organizing, and simplifying process. 

Anyway, I wanted to post a few pics of our Christmas with Jeff's extended family.  It's always a great time of seeing cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents as well as eating yummy food once again.  It's also always a big chaotic now that there are 6 great grandchildren!!!  We are so so so blessed to have such amazing families!

 

A Look Back

2010 was a great year for us!! I am thankful for that.  Thankful that the Lord has showered many blessings on my family.  Mostly, I feel wildly undeserving of His blessings....His grace...His mercy...and His provision in my life.  I am also thankful for all of you who actually take the time to read this blog, buy blog makeovers or invitations, and even pray for us.  I love this place and love hearing from you when you take the time to comment!!!!

Anyway, here is just a fun glimpse of some of the highlights of 2010 for us....

Cheering on Alabama to their 13th National Championship in January! Roll Tide!

In February we celebrated Ellie Kate's 3rd birthday with a Candy Shop theme and it was SO FUN!

March took Jeff and I halfway across the world to Asia where we led a team of students on a spring break mission trip.

 

I took a big leap in April and went from a blond to a brunette!  It has since faded and I have since gone back a little blond, but it was a big step:)  I had also lost about 10 pounds!

We went to the beach in May and all had a blast.  It was the only family vacation we took last summer!

Jeff and I got to go on another trip in June to the Mayan Riviera, Mexico.  This was our first time away by ourselves on a real vacation since our honeymoon!!! It was basically a gift from Jeff's sister and brother in law and our credit card miles:) 

July brought some heartache as my grandfather went to be with His maker.  We celebrated his life though and are so thankful for a life well lived!

We celebrated new life in August when we welcomed Davis Hunt into the family to Jeff's sister Jennifer and brother in law Buddy! We all love him so much!  The kids also all started school and this mama got some much needed free mornings that I have enjoyed more than I can ever express!

September ushered in more trips, fun football games, some fun projects (side table, lamp, and jewelry holder) and Jeff's birthday...but most fun was I got a free kitchen makeover from my sweet Aunt's hand me downs!!! The new chairs and oil painting really transformed my breakfast area!!!!

Samuel turned 8 in October and we had a fun lego party with some of his friends!!!  We also did lots of fun fall stuff like get pumpkins, dress up for Halloween, and go trick or treating.  This was also the month that we started a Gluten/Dairy Free Diet for Samuel and saw some amazing results in our energetic buddy!

Abigail turned 2 in November and we had her birthday at Chick Fil A!! It was amazing to have it off site from my house for sure!  We also enjoyed lots of fun days outside in mild fall weather and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family. 

And finally December arrived.  The month flew by with parties, Christmas, family time, and just lots of fun.  We also put an emphasis on the real reason for the season and cut back on our talk of Santa and presents for ourselves and tried to focus on the birth of a baby who would become our Savior.  We ended the year and month with a day of SNOW

I am looking forward to 2011.  I am really excited about a vision of organization and simplicity for my life and my home.  I am sure I will talk about it more because I am really excited about it!!!  I am also determined to lose these last 10 pounds if it kills me. I have been trying to lose 20 total since last March. I lost about 12 real quick, gained 3-4 back, lost 6 more to get to a total of 16.  Now I'm sure I gained 3-4 more over the holidays so I have about 10 to lose again.  I WILL make my goal.  Overall though, I am proud of myself for the strides I made in 2010 to become healthier by eating better, losing weight, and running 2 miles 3-4 times a week.  I look forward to doing even more in 2011!!!  I am also proud of the strides I made to make our family healthier by making changes in the way we eat and clean (more organic whole foods, less artificial colors, sugar, more vitamins, more natural, etc).  In many ways, I feel like 2010 brought me out of a season of survival into a season of thriving and for that I am overwhelmingly blessed and thankful!!!! I am hopeful that 2011 will bring more of the same!

Happy New Year!!!!

Our White Christmas!!!

I apologize for the obscene amount of pictures that are to follow:)...