406/365

Yes! An extra day with Matt and Rach!

Matt and Rach and CO were supposed to leave yesterday (sad day!), but Matt was sick so they decided to stay until tomorrow. Tonight we went into Greenville to Trio's for dinner. It was nice having the whole family here minus two key elements... Monroe and Katie.

After dinner I spent a couple hours with Tingting catching up... REALLY catching up. What a blessing to have her as my sister in Christ and to be able to share what God is doing, especially over a cup of coffee. (minus the fact that we were shivering in the cold... but that's a story in itself, and those of you who know it can now smile. :)) Was so encouraged because another friend joined us for a bit and we all shared how we came to know Christ. It's so exciting to see the Spirit of God and how He has worked in and drawn each of us specificially in different ways over time. The same Spirit in each of us. SAME SPIRIT. I love it!

Thankful for the KINGDOM of God and the fact that it's universal, not just limited to people who grew up like I did, who speak my language, who eat the food I eat, who drive on the same side of the road that I do, etc. (I think you get the point!) :)

405/365

Tonight I went to dinner in Easley with some good friends and we had just the best time! (This sentence comes up a lot in my blog entries. I might as well copy it so I can just paste it in and save time typing. Then again, this parenthetical disclaimer following my inaugural sentence defeats the idea of "saving time" considering it is so long.) :)

Had a great time and then enjoyed driving Josh's truck back to Clemson. He didn't think I could do it...

AND, so thankful that the whole family was here to watch the game tonight. Enjoyed seeing BAMA win. (We were celebrating in honor of Aunt Lisa, Uncle Clough aka CDAWG, and sweet little Lara)

Thankful for this day!

404/365

Carrie and Rachael-- ohhhh hey, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I would like to entitle this poem:
Carrie and Rachael: Birthday Twin Edition


CDawg and RCracker, you really are the best.
You are so cool that you should go into refrigeration.
CDawg and RCracker, you really are the best.
One time we didn't like each other but now we are BFF's joined at the pinky toe.
CDawg and RCracker, you really are the best.
Thanks for moving away and going to college so the new family could unite, and also so that I could have your bedroom. I really love it-- it's great! I especially love the bathroom storage unit above the shower, except that is where a family of mice and another family of cockroaches reside at times. Other than that, it is PRETTY spiffy.
CDawg and RCracker, you really are the best.
You have practically given me the coolest job entitled "Favorite Auntie!"
CDawg and RCracker, you really are the best.
You are twins! Oh my, do you know how cool that is??!!!!?!?!
CDawg and RCracker, you really are the best.
Do you remember when we were little and you were perfect and I was not perfect? :) (of course we were all angels back then....)
CDawg and RCracker, you really are the best.
You look so much alike it is scary.
CDawg and RCracker, you really are the best.
You started a blog that I have no idea how to access, but it is GOING TO BE SO COOL and we are going to make millions and gabillions and trizillions!!!!
CDawg and RCracker, you really are the best.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY... HAPPY BIRTHDAY... HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

Love you both and am thankful for your sistership (like that word? I made it up just for you, in honor of you. You can thank me for that later), and for your friendship!

Rach, Elizabeth and Carrie... best friends all these years!

THIS is the most incredible cake of all time. Mom made it, and it's on the cover of
one of our Southern Living cookbooks. I will say, mom's looked even more beautiful
than the one on the book! She is such a neat, talented lady. I want to be just like her!!

Of course, Benton and Daniel were happy to help blow out the candles. I think they believed they were celebrating
THEIR birthdays.... before birthday parties Little D is known to ask "Is this my party?"

Cake cut... so yummy! As you can see, we ALL enjoyed it...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my two biggest sisters. :-) (haha... oh, biggest... I mean, oldest!)

403/365

Table Rock

Had a great time today hiking Table Rock with some friends. Blown away by creation- happens often. I think I just have a simple mind. I can't imagine how beautiful Christ is going to be if His CREATION is only a fraction of His beauty.  Heaven is going to be incredible! BUT, until that time, I'm so thankful for days like today!

Espresso chocolate- very important addition to our hike, thanks to James!

Sarah was feeling famished.... such a drama queen! :)

I love this view. All I could think of up there was Psalm 121...

[My Help Comes from the Lord]
[A SONG OF ASCENTS.]
[121:1] I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
[2] My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
[3] He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
[4] Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
[5] The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
[6] The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
[7] The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
[8] The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
(Psalm 121 ESV)

.

402/365

LIFE!

I've been enjoying this little girl... having fun taking lots and lots of pictures. (SO many more to come, hopefully very soon!)

Thankful for this little girl- and my family who has all been together for the last few weeks. Wonderful memories!

401/365

Thankful for the ministry of the Word and the fact that it meets us right where we are, right when we need it. Love this passage.

[Peace with God Through Faith]
[5:1] Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [2] Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. [3] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
[6] For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. [7] For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—[8] but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [9] Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. [10] For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. [11] More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

(Romans 5:1-11 ESV)

400/365

Orange Ice Dream


So happy the family could be here to partake once again in the tradition...

Orange ice cream AND a balloon... must be a good day!

Mmmmmm!

It's the little things in life you have to cherish. Thankful for this time with Matt, Rach and the kids in town.

399/365

Our God is Greater


Tonight I watched the Passion Conference live with a few friends and it was truly a blessing. I have had "Our God" by Chris Tomlin floating in my head all night long, and was really encouraged by the teaching time.

They are doing an emphasis on the Word and our need for it, and a few verses I thought of that have been blessing my heart are Psalm 119:47-48 "For I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes."

Thankful that we can truly delight in Christ- in His commandments and in His Word. Been convicted lately of my lack of love for the Word. It's amazing because when I spend time in the Word reading, memorizing, applying it, it's so rich, exciting and satisfying. Yet I forget too easily how fulfilling Christ is and run to so many other things. (even just busyness is a distraction for me.)

Thankful for the renewing power of the Word and for a night of fellowship and encouragement.

And thankful that we can find DELIGHT- TRUE delight in Christ and His commandments.

398/365

Yellow Branch Falls... 


Rach and Bryan invited us to go hiking with them and were bringing a "surprise" for us... Kaci!!! We had the best time up at Yellow Branch falls which is right across from Stumphouse Tunnel. I actually have NEVER been there, and Rach found it and wanted to take us. It was a fun little hike and a beautiful waterfall! AND SO GOOD to catch up with Kaci Rackley!!! (We never get to see her now that she is so smart and getting all of these extra fancy degrees at UGA!)

Back to the college days. So many memories in their apartment... :) Love and thank
God for these friends!

Jon didn't ditch us this time :)

Kaci is just so brave and daring :).. we decided that her trail name is
"Spotty" since she spotted the falls first. She is so cool!

It was gorgeous, and the Lord even gave us a little rainbow to admire! :)

Bryan panning for gold... thanks to the gift given to him by his sweet
wife, Rachel!

Can you tell she was a ballerina? 

Kaci picked the verse for this fall...
Galatians 5:24... "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Bryan, Rach, Sarah, Kaci, Jon, Steph and me... it took us two tries for me to be able to
get in the picture by the time the 10 second timer snapped the shot! :)

Such a cute little hiker! :)

Thankful for a great morning hike followed by a DELICIOUS, fun lunch with Wanna Mae and Mrs. Cutliff!

397/365

Monroe... Katie, Dan, Carrie, Daniel, Ellie, Matt, Rachael, Benton, Kathryn, Sarah, Dad, Mom, Dallas...


Thankful that we could all be together for these few days. With the exception of two hours in Gatlinburg, our whole entire family has not been in the same city at the same time in 2 YEARS! That is just sad!

We took family pictures on Saturday night and I thought I'd share some here...

The original five... Jackson Five has nothing on us! :)

Since when did Gigi's start looking so young??

If you get our Christmas card and letter every year (which is coming, I promise! Just read Sarah's great
letter the other day. She is a trip!), THIS is the picture you'll be getting. Sorry to spoil the surprise! :)

Kathryn's expression cracks me up. I feel like if she could speak she'd be saying,
"Who is this Ellie girl. I just am not so sure about her!!"

Girls will be girls... Oh Kathryn!

ALSO thankful for this new year! (Happy New Year!) I am bursting to write so many things right here but let's just leave it at this: God is so kind, He's so faithful and compassionate. He is continually holding us and wooing us, and providing for us. He is our healer- the one who lifts our heads even in times we can hardly focus. He's patient, loving and forgiving.

The list goes on. But in the last year I have personally seen how each of these traits of God is true, and I thank Him for that. I thank Him for being real to me this year, for providing encouragement and fellowship, for providing  SO MANY good things (though not always easy!). I thank Him for loving me and continuing to pursue me.

We have an awesome God. Happy New year! And thankful that I could bring it in with all of my family.