I have created this blog primarily for God's glory. Through this gift of networked writing, I am learning through my reflected writings, loved one's comments, and all the still framed moments how to daily run hard in our unstructured life. One saturated in inspiring purpose and passion for our Lord. The result is shared in a mere posting; a taste for our readers of all the richness He pours into our lives daily.
Yes! It's the second day of Christmas: two turtle doves... Representing the old and new covenant. It is a sweet reminder of God's promise that He will do whatever it takes to keep us, His children, deeply loved and cherished... Sending his own son to die in order to accomplish the necessary requirements for reconciliation. How beautiful!
I also feel we can find this in the Christmas season, full of both the old and the new! Traditions older than we are able to actively recall the origin and new experiences that tickle the heart's fondness enough to be added to next years tradition list come together in a way to truly make our winter sparkle. In fact, this is actually how our Lord and Savior lived His life on earth: He honored, respected and fulfilled God's law, established for the good of His people, but when the Father directed him to follow and teach the new way He had prepared for us to walk out when His son's work was completed, Jesus did not hesitate to embrace the new too.
We are told all throughout the Bible to imitate Christ and his walk (1Cor.11:1;1 thes. 2:14) This also applies to the celebration of His birth as well. This Christmas, ask yourself:
How are we enjoying the old traditions and their rich roots?
Which traditions do we need to reevaluate and reform??
How can we add new memories to our family time to make it truly count?
Please pray God show you where you need his help to receive Christ the most this season in these areas. Please pray Andrew and I do the same!
Blessings! Xoxoxo
'With songs of joy I speak of Thee, for I know not how to cease',
Yes, we are officially in the Christmas season mindset! Everyone is having holiday parties, making cookies, buying gifts and traveling... A LOT!
With all the commercialism and materialism floating in the air this year, I would like to challenge you to take these 12 days before Christmas to focus on the real reason for the season: Jesus Christ.
So let's start with the lyrics of the 12 days of Christmas. (Ah ha, yes! There is more to those silly lyrics than you thought!!)
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... A partridge in a pear tree!"
In this case, we have a picture of true love (and no, I am not making this up nor am I going to embark on a history lesson for you). Pondering God's true love for us, we can look at John 3:16: "For God so loved that He GAVE his only son...". God is a giver and had salvation, and everything that comes with it, in mind for us.
I am featuring today the advent wreath with some pink and purple candles,with one white candle in the center of it (ok, couldn't find a picture of the white candle, but just pretend with me!) All the candles stand for love, joy, peace and hope, except the white one which stands for Christ. Those are the things God wants us to enjoy in our relationship with Him through salvation in Jesus, whom we celebrate this season! Thus, if you have some extra garland and some candles in different shades of red, make yourself a visual that will remind you to receive the savior's gifts before you prepare to GIVE anything to God or others.
Also throughout this Christmas season, I will be featuring a precious family member daily in whom we are enjoying just for the simple fact that God put them in our family (hey, God celebrates over us daily-- why not imitate our Father?!)
Blessings! Xoxoxo
'With songs of joy I speak of Thee, for I know not how to cease',
Ok, before I begin, can I just post this small tribute to Altus's Christmas light park.... Two words: Creepy, but hilarious (ok... That's three.)
This one's just funny. Check out this angel's shoulders and body, then look at the face. Talk about proportionately dysfunctional!!
Ever wonder what Snow White would look like if she got Botox? Wonder no more:
And last but not least: the snowman who asked us for a light:
Isn't that so creepy? whoever drew that I'm sure had the best intentions to make him cute... They just missed the mark a bit :/
Hahaha! Oh my, I just love it.
Anyways, back to where I left off. I did finish my packing, loading the truck and proceeded to tackle the cleaning. And MAN, did I clean... Longer than I thought I would in fact.
So many hours later....
Ta-da!!!! Check out the cleanliness of that oven!! Mmm hmmm, it's the power of S.O.S.! Love it!
So yes, after much time of cleaning and packing, Andrew and I are officially waving a see-ya to Altus OK.
I am not going to lie: I really liked it here. But it was definitely not the location that thrilled me. It was God's gift to us in this season of friends and spiritual family:
The girls: Jacqui, Mallory, Lindsay and Jeanine ( my spiritual grandma!)
The dudes: Justin, Mike, Carl (our Navigator leader), Andrew and Cory.
So here's many thanks to God's loving gift that have touched both of our hearts! Thanks guys for being so quick to love on us and care for us as if we would be here for years. You ALL are precious gifts from above and we thank him for you every time we think of you :) God bless you all richly as I know He will!!
And lastly, here's to make Jacqui that much less self conscious!! Ha-- sorry hun; it was for the encouragement of others (and many giggles for your wife!!)
XOXO!!
'With songs of joy I speak of Thee, for I know not how to cease',
Soooooo I am taking a break!! Woo hoo! I need to do some catch up from turkey day anyways :)
(ps: don't you just love this?? It kind of reminds me of my brother.. Except he has a lot less nose!)
I started off the holiday with mamadee's favorite meal: pasta with syrup ;) hahaha!
Noooo, she was just PRETENDING here... But she did state it is quite good and suggests trying it!!
It is fun to watch fun holiday movies to get you all geared up for the holidays though-- and that's just what Andrew an I have been up to lately! What fun :)
Ok, to start off these many blessings, I am featuring Aunt Pam's candle as a reminder of what I am first and foremost thankful for during our season's celebration: Christ Jesus, and all the work he had done for us! What a gift to celebrate!! His love for us is just too much to really comprehend at times...
Another thing I am thankful for are puppies!! Especially these two: reunited lovers!! The Hoppens got to stop by on their way back from training to Columbus! It was a real treat to see them and lady again.
Speaking of fun, check out this hilarious video of Jacob pretending to throw a ball for almost a minute... And the dogs totally fall for it! Pretty clever solution for not having a ball on hand. Our visit wasn't long with them, for we had to hit the road for Turkey break in Memphis/Columbus the next morning...
And as you can see, eli was ready to get going!
...so he could get some sleep in! Haha- lazy puppy ;)
We caravanned with the Hoppens for most of the trip until we made the split. It was a lot of fun!
Thanksgiving morning was filled with cooking and relaxing with some coffee. It was nice to get a prayer walk in with my andrew that morning, just reflecting on all God had given us, and some good quality time with family. We also got to check out this really old family bible Dad pulled out! I guess he receive it from Papaw and Mimi when they moved them just recently. Pretty cool.
And as always, its time for the annual Turkey bowl!! Haha.. Actually, I have no clue what it is officially called, but I have just dubbed it the turkey bowl!
We had so much fun! It's a debated topic on who really won it... But the important thing was that everyone had a super fun time! Even with the rain at the end.
Now for the yummy part: We all headed over to Greg and Pam's house where we enjoyed all the holiday yummies and cheerful decor with the rest of the family!
This WAS a turkey...
Zo-ks! Gobble gobble!
But this, as always, is what I wait for each year... Dessert!!
Mmm... Bread pudding, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and coconut creme pie... DE-lish!!!
Here is the family: table 1 (yes, the kids table... We will never graduate!)
And table 2!!
Thankful for this wonderful family making me as if I was their own.
After dinner, we all crashed in the living room, stuffed to the max!
Even pugglesworth!
But even with the drowsy after-meal feelings, the thornburys always have room for games...
...tickle fights...
... And mischief.
And I mean mischief!
Here is the group plotting out how we are going to prank Mike since he fell fast asleep!
But not to say Mom didn't warn us all at how ticked he was going to be after all of this was said and done! Here is the evidence of her fair warning:
I have the video of how the plot was accomplished, but for Daddy mike's sake, I will just post the end result of our mischief.
Shaving cream!!
Another thing I am so grateful for is both our families are very near so we always have the option to see them BOTH! what a huge gift from the Lord, especially with the next assignment we have!
So the next day was a day with my family, the McCoys, in Nashville Tn!
Since the Gaylord reopened, we all made our way there to check out the seasonal decorations and fun!
Here is Tyty and Daddio!!
Mamadee and Tyty!
Matt, dad and... Tyty (as you can tell, Ty never misses a photo-op!)
My Hubbie and I!
Beautiful water show to Christmas carols!
Silly Daddio!
All one big indoor garden!! Awesome huh??
I couldn't help but think of Mimi when I took this picture :)
Huge Christmas tree!!
It's Kris Kringle himself!!
Once we all got tired of Opryland hotel, we made our way to a Starbucks and ordered some holiday beverages. It was fantastic! Especially my polar bear cookie-- it's a must try for chocolate lovers!
While we were there, andrew taught us how to play Euecker! We were not sure how it would go over, but my family picked up on it faster than we thought! It was a lot of fun!
We finished with dinner at cracker barrel and wished one another farewell until Christmas, driving back to Memphis that evening. The next morning Dad fixed us an amaZing French toast breakfast!! It was nothing less than wonderful...
(my "YUM YUM!!" reaction)
These four are always doing something crazy! This time they have Mattie pinned while Mom tickles Andrew and dad watches...
... Until he too is pulled into the war!
Phew, what a trip! We arrived back on Sunday evening and were all worn out. But we quickly recovered and caught up Monday, rearin' and ready for Tuesday!
This picture of eli makes me thankful for one more thing: friends here in Altus. My friend Mallory was so sweet to give Eli this ball... He hasn't let it out of his sight since! (Thanks Mal!!) Our friends and leaders here in Altus cannot be thanked enough for their warm hospitality and care for us in our short assignment. I am realizing just how much they have meant to my life by how mixed/emotion I am about leaving at this present moment. I am so excited to hit the road to see family and friends sooner, but it hurts my heart to think about saying goodbye again to wonderful friends God has given us in such a little amount of time. To all of you who made Altus worth being at, God bless you and may His love encircle you even more in the coming days. You will be sorely missed but never ever forgotten.
'With songs of joy I speak of Thee, for I know not how to cease',
