Reflections of Ministry

Well, as the year comes to a close... I will choose to reflect on the goodness of the Lord. He has lead me down some adventurous paths this year mainly because of being a Worship leader at New Haven House of Prayer. I have had the privilege of leading leaders (very humbling), leading people who are older than me (yet again... humbling), and leading those who are way more talented and creative (humbling), but whose to compare. God put me in that position and I willingly, yet hesitantly said, "Yes," to the call of the Lord. Without reservations, I came and lead the Tuesday night prayer team each week and trusted that the Lord was going to move mountains and relinquish His presence upon us. HE DID and He did it every week. I have grown so much just by being there and allowing God to use me. The best thing about it is, IT HAS CHANGE MY LIFE. Really every part was affected and will still be affected by the prayers that were prayed and the songs that were sung (which are prayers in itself). Wow, what a year! And to think that I will get to do it all over again this time without a team because I will be doing a devotional set (which is just me and the keyboard) and I will be trusting God to show up and lead me through this unfamiliar territory. He's already given me songs to sing and play (thank you Lord for preparing me). I don't want to think of it as starting over, but as God launching me to the next level of intimacy in Him. Where we will go, who knows, but I will take the risk and jump with two feet into the hands of the Lord only expecting Him to do what he wants to do.
May I stay weak, may I stay flexible, may I stay pure, may I stay engaged with the Holy of Holies, and may this road less traveled be a good one....... Let the journey begin!

If you want to be apart of the growing, then come to New Haven House of Prayer on Tuesday nights from 6 to 7pm. I would love to see you there!

Christmas at Nana's and Grandpa's

Carlee took this picture of us. I think she might find a job in photography when she gets older. lol

The classic shot of Rachel (my sis) and I
Carlee and Zachary ate lunch at the little table my sister and I had growing up. Yummy twice baked potatoes (a mom tradition), ham and veggies.

Grandpa worked long and hard to get these big wheels put together for Carlee and Zachary for Christmas. My sister and I grew up riding big wheels at this age and so will our kids. They loved them and rode them up and down the driveway. Zachary didn't mind at all that he couldn't touch the pedals yet. He loved having the same thing as big sister, I'm sure. Carlee rode hers like the wind and tilted her head back like she was having the time of her life while riding.

Grandpa read the Nativity story while Carlee and Zachary acted out the story with the manger set. Zachary got a little impatient and decided to throw the manger pieces, but Carlee did as the story read and had fun acting it out. Maybe next year Zachary will be ready to sit still and help. :)

Uncle John, Aunt Rachel and baby Josiah loved the new scrapbook we got them (it matches his bedding perfectly). Gotta love Hobby Lobby!

I loved getting my popcorn popper. Way to go mom on finding it!! I know you searched high and low to find a good one. Now we can have fresh popcorn without all the bad stuff. YUM!

Greg was very pleased to get a green fees jar with some green cash inside. Yeah, he will finally enjoy a much needed golf game again.

Here we are with my Miemaw and Pawpaw (also known as GG and GPaw). I'm so glad they got to be apart of our Christmas day. I know they will not be here forever, so time spent with them is precious!!

Thanks mom and dad for an unforgettable day! I love our family and thank God for the grace He extended by giving us each other.

Ok, confession... I was a little hesitant to put up four blog post just on Christmas, I literally looked at my friends blogs and saw that no one else was doing that much.... Then I realized we probably are the only ones that have two sets of family here in town, not to mention two sets of great grandparents as well. (We forgot our camera at that celebration.) Anyways, we know Christmas is not about the presents and stuff, but we enjoy giving and receiving them. Thanks to our family for blessing us with things to have and remember this day by. It's just so special to have each and everyone of you in our lives. You are our gift and we adore each of you so much.

May this next year be filled with many more great memories to remind us of Christ love and the reason He came! And may we be filled so much by His love that we extend it to those around us!

Christmas at Home

Carlee is a girl who likes to be all comfy cozy, so this snuggie was the perfect gift for her. I really can't believe we got this for her, but she loves it.
Zachary unwrapped little pieces of paper at a time and loved every minute of it.

Carlee made these pictures for daddy when I was wrapping presents one evening. She drew a princess and a lion. I'm so proud of her for wanting to bless someone with a gift. She wrapped it and tied it with a bow all by herself.

Zachary pulling out more candy from his stocking. Him and Carlee pulled one thing out at a time from their stockings- it was so cute to watch.

Carlee got a bike for Christmas from Greg and I. This is one thing she did ask for and loved getting. Zachary got some train track accessories for his Geo Trac trains set. Now it is huge and we might need to consider moving into a bigger house... haha.... just kidding.

I love Christmas morning at home with our kids. Their faces lit up the whole day. What fun memories!

Christmas at Grammy and Pawpaw's

Carlee and her stocking... it has a Ariel cup hanging out. YEAH!!

Zachary with his stocking... thrilled to get candy. I loved seeing his eyes light up every time he pulled out more and more candy. He's a boy after his father's heart.

Carlee sporting her new zebra jacket. Carlee loves animal print just like her mommy. So cute!

Grammy and Pawpaw with the gift we gave them. They absolutely loved it and had tears of delight. The ornament idea came from church and on the back of the kids picture it read, "I am going to wrap myself up for Christmas and tie myself with a big red bow, that's what I am giving Jesus for Christmas it's a present He'll like, I know."

Zachary was very excited to get some hot wheel cars. This boy needed some boy toys to play with at home.

He loved his Little Einstein rocket as well.

I loved getting the jacket I tried on at the Buckle.... I'm so glad my husband is tuned in to my desires. Thank you Randle and Ed for an excellent gift.

Carlee adored her Ariel dress-up clothes, doll and horse.... "just what she wanted," she says.

Zachary, once again needed some boy dress-up clothes.... he loves to dress up too (just like big sis). I loved to see him in this fireman jacket.

It was a wonderful day, filled with fun, excitement, food, fellowship and thankful hearts. We feel so blessed to have family here to spend the holiday season with.

Gingerbread House

Greg decided to conquer a gingerbread house this year... this was definitely a challenge he could consider doing since he is so patient and detailed. Here they are about to get started.
All of this was done at Grammy's house on Christmas Eve. I know Grammy loved watching her son accomplish this creative project with her grandkids. We all watched in amazement...

Zachary waited very patiently to start helping. He loved holding the bags on candy while he waited.

It was time to start ... the peppermints went on first.

Carlee looked just like her daddy preforming this task with such skill and precision.

Zachary decorated his gingerbread cookie in the meantime and ate some candy along the way. I don't even know how much candy he had, but it seemed like every time I looked at him he was enjoying yet another piece.

He did a great job on his Christmas tree cookie. I think he has a piece of candy in his mouth.... not hard to believe.

Carlee did a great job on her cookies as well. She wanted to make the gingerbread house and cookies look just like the one on the box. Absolutely perfect!

Everybody busy at work.... so serious.

It's done and looks incredible. The peppermints sunk in a little and so did the walls, but who can tell. It was a fun memory to make. We all enjoyed eating it the next few days. Yummy!!

We might make this a tradition, but I'd like to limit the amount of sweets around the house. The Happy Birthday Jesus cake might take precedence next year. As for this year, we had both.... too many sweets in my opinion.... gotta love the holidays.

Merry Christmas

As fun as it would be to upload all the great pictures we took this Christmas, my head can not take it tonight. So I thought I would at least upload my favorite picture of Carlee and Zachary in front of our tree and share some unforgettable memories.
- Zachary getting excited every time he received or ate a piece of candy (the boy is just like his daddy and can not resist sweets and has no discipline to stop eating them)
-Carlee saying, "this is exactly what I wanted to most all of her gifts" (she was very thankful this year and made sure she told everyone)
-Zachary and his cousin falling from the playground (about 4 feet or so) and bruising both sides of his face 2 days before Christmas
-Greg and the kids decorating the gingerbread house at Grammy's house
-Greg making the Happy Birthday Jesus cookie (I think he just wanted to have something sweet)
-My dad telling the story of the birth of Jesus before opening presents and Carlee helping him act out the story with the nativity set
-Singing "Happy Birthday Jesus" at every house we celebrated at (I'm so glad they are hearing the same message everywhere we go)
-Shopping for Greg and "prepping" him up this Christmas with his sweater vest
-Making the ornaments for our parents reminding us that we are the gift Jesus receives
-Oh yes and may we not forget our little mouse that has been in our house all month. We can't seem to catch it with any trap. May it stay only for the winter and be gone soon. lol

31

Yes, this is my newest ensemble from the Buckle. So fun!

I had the best birthday! Greg took me shopping! He hasn't taken me shopping for clothes since before we got married. I already knew I wanted a new pair of jeans from the Buckle, so that is where we headed. I had heard from the great vine, "if you want a good pair of jeans that will last you a long time and are extremely cute go to the Buckle." I have never shopped in that store before probably because it looks like it is more a store for teenagers. I was totally wrong. I asked the sales associate if she could help me find a pair of jeans and two hours later I not only found a new pair of jeans, but a whole new ensemble, a cute sweater and a new best friend (the sales associate- Racquel). Racquel has the greatest taste in clothes and is studying to be a fashion designer, so she hooked me up. It was so much fun! I felt like a Rockstar. She made my birthday very special. Greg loved watching me come out of the dressing room 100 times to see a smile on my face with an adorable outfit on. Fun fun! After we finished shopping we went to Red Lobster to have a delicious birthday dinner and dessert. The next day we celebrated with cheesecake as a family. Carlee has a new favorite dessert. She's a girl after my own heart.

One of the greatest things happened this birthday, God gave our church family the opportunity to bless one of our friends with a lot of money to cover their mortgage and Christmas presents for their family. Well, I had the special privilege of delivering it to their house the day after my birthday. It was a huge surprise to them and they could not have been anymore thankful for the gift. They were both in tears and humbled by it. Here is the icing on the cake, they want to start coming to our homegroup and get more involved in the church. Yeah God!

This was one of the most memorable birthdays ever. I'm so glad God replaced my heart of selfishness (stone) with a heart of selflessness (flesh). In years past, birthdays seemed hard because I expected too much and thought the world revolved around my special day. This birthday was different and this Christmas will be too because I have finally realized in my heart the true meaning of Christ's coming... "he came to serve and not to be served." I pray the same for you and your famiy this Christmas too.

Women's Christmas Dinner

If you ever wondered if I get out of the house to have fun. The answer is... YES! I thoroughly enjoy my time with my friends or my time alone. I need it for sure and come back refreshed and thankful to have women in my life who bless me. I feel like time spent with my friends, is time spent with God. It's the beauty of relationship! I loved getting all girly with my hair, make-up and clothes too. It's just fun being a girl. I love these moments!

Christmas Dance

Carlee preformed for us this week at dance. They danced to a sweet little Veggie Tale song. Carlee got to dance with one of her favorite dogs. Little did I know, they were dancing to a song about baby Jesus. I guess we should have followed the instructions we were given and brought a baby. lol... Carlee had fun and danced her best. She tends to get excited when in front of the camera and it is displayed through her dance. She is improving for sure this year and it is obvious in the her movements. She's become so graceful. We're so proud of her!

Decorating the Tree

Getting started with the small round "ball" ornaments (Zachary would say). You can tell Zachary is a little excited.After Daddy finished putting the lights on, Carlee got a chance to touch the star.

This tree is probably one of the best we have gotten. We found it at the Houston Garden Center. I think we will probably go there every year, because our kids loved running around in between the Christmas trees and they had a great selection.

Zachary got a turn to touch the star also

Zachary loved his air plane ornament Carlee loved her ballet slipper ornament she got from her Grammy and Pawpaw last year.

I love this precious gift we received last year from our friends. She is beautiful!

These reindeer are so adorable with their long stick legs. Thanks Aunt Gracie for a great gift!

Zachary put the heart in the pocket for the countdown to Christmas

We love these fun family moments. I wish I had the whole thing on video. Just to see and hear the expressions from Carlee and Zachary were priceless. Carlee thought every ornament was her favorite and literally said that every time I unwrapped a new one to put on the tree. Zachary smiled with eyes lit up like it was the best, most exciting thing he has ever done. Greg and I let the kids help a lot this year which seemed to be easier from years past. They were a little more careful, but still need some help to get them on the sturdy branches. Every ornament went on the tree, not one was left in the box. Most of the ornaments were clumped together. Only one ornament broke, fortunately it was not a favorite. Now if we can only keep the kids from touching the tree all month. Carlee woke up before every one this morning and was in the living room touching and moving ornaments around. Looks like we will need to enforce the rules a little more.