Understanding the power of prayer

The last few weeks have been weeks of learning. I have been moved to pray for someone and something very specific in my life. I've spent every morning, afternoon, and evening in prayer for God to work a miracle in this person's life. To move mountains, to show love, to show favor on this person's life. It all came out of nowhere, actually that's not true, but it did come out of a place inside my heart that I thought I had shut the door on.

God left it open a crack. 


I don't know how God is going to answer my prayers. I'm not even sure if I'm praying for the right thing. I do know though, that my life will forever be changed if God answers them the way I want Him to. Then again, it'll be changed if He answers the way I don't want Him to as well.

I've always had a deep faith in the power of prayer, but ever since being placed on this powerful prayer journey, I've felt my faith be renewed. I've felt peace that I haven't felt in a long time about things. I feel like it's only a matter of time before I see the fruits of my labor. It's a good feeling.

I'm anxious to see what God continues to teach me through this time and season of prayer. It's a journey, no doubt, and I can't wait to be able to share with you all the things that I'm praying for. Now is not the right time, but as soon as the time is right, you better believe it will all be shared here.

Do you have any prayer requests? I would love to lift you up and pray for you daily. Email me or comment below.

White as snow

So far this winter has been one for the books. It has snowed so much it feels like. We had a white Christmas, we've had snow for the last couple of weeks, and it looks like more is on the way. The last snow we had was really beautiful. Everything was covered and solid white. There were no black spots in the road, no grass poking through from the ground. Everything was white.

Washed white as snow...


That morning on the way to work, I was grumbling about having to go to work. I didn't want to get out in the mess, it was slick, and it was cold. I stopped at a redlight and could see a hill completely covered. My thoughts started to wander a little. The snow was so perfect. Untouched by warm temperatures, sleds, and footprints. It made me think of my life with a Saviour. How, once, my sins were as scarlet, but He washed them white as snow. Perfect, untouched, snow.

I think sometimes we need that reminder. That our life would be dark without the blood of Jesus washing us white as snow. I'm thankful for the reminder, no matter how cold, icy, and dreary it was that day, my life was warm with the Son.

Joy

Last weekend I had the privilege to attend the Passion 2011 conference in Atlanta. We heard some amazing Words straight from Jesus. One that has continually stuck out for me was on joy.

Where does your joy start? What is the foundation of it?

I love going to football games. I love chocolate ice cream with marshmallows in it. I love girl nights with Whittani. I love watching 'Elf' over and over and quoting it on a weekly basis with Caiti. But all the things that I "love" don't quite bring me the joy that Jesus does.

Too quickly we get caught up in the worldly, materialistic things of life. Too often we pass people by that are missing the one thing in their lives that will change them forever. The joy of Jesus. I want the root of my life to reflect Jesus. I want a light to shine in the darkness that shines brighter than the street lights. I want those around me to see that it's not a win by the Vols that is the foundation of my joy (however, I really DO love it when we win!) I want to be joyful even on the not-so-good days. I want words of Jesus to leave my lips when I feel like saying things that I shouldn't. I want grace to fill my heart when I think back to the things in my life that have left me hurt.

I want to always be mindful that joy comes from the Lord.

White Christmas

Christmas was a white one this year and it was so pretty! We spent Christmas Eve at Nan's house. The food was oh-so-delicious like always. It was great to be with everyone again. As we were leaving Nan's it was starting to snow. We woke up on Christmas morning to a winter wonderland. Snow was everywhere, and it snowed pretty much all morning too. We spent the afternoon/evening at Granny's house. Davy was so much fun. He is getting so big. It's hard to believe that our first Christmas with him he was just barely a month old, and now he is 4! He's such a big boy and such an absolute joy to be around. God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave us him. And I am forever thankful to have such a fun, loving, sweet little character around.

Yes, I'm still alive!

It has been 3 months since I've last updated. I really can't believe that it's been that long, but SO much has been going on. I think this calls for a bullet style update for the friends and family and strangers that actually care...

• September, October, and November were FILLED with all things orange! It was a great home season on Rocky Top and all the games were a BLAST. I LOVE living in Knoxville for the games. The atmosphere around town is almost better than Christmas time!
• I closed on my house, yep...MY VERY FIRST HOME...on September 30th. I was SO nervous about it all, but I signed on the, well ALL the, dotted lines and am now a homeowner. It has been so much fun decorating and making it my own. Everything is starting to come together and I only have the spare room left to completely finish. I'll post pictures one of these days.
• November baby boy turned 4! I can't believe that he is 4 now. He is so big and still such a little JOY. I love that he is in our family. He is growing up and isn't such a baby anymore. It makes me so sad.
• It's now December and almost Christmas time. I'm almost finished with my Christmas shopping. The preschool ministry at church is having some "guest" visitors each week. Last week we had a donkey. Tomorrow it's a sheep. Next week a camel. They are coming to help tell the Christmas story and the kids LOVE it.

Life has been nonstop for the last few months. I have so much more to share, including a ton of pictures. Hopefully in the next few days I can get caught up. I hate it when I get behind in blogging. I love being able to go back and read all about the things that were going on at certain times, so I'm really going to try to do better.

Faults, Failures, and Forgiveness

Everyone has faults.
Everyone has failures.
Everyone needs forgiveness.

I am not above anyone in any of these categories, nor do I claim to be. All of the above were things I have been thinking about the last day or so. We all make mistakes. We all have things that are unique to us that we falter on. Sometimes every now and then, sometimes daily. My faults and failures have made me who I am today, as cliche as it sounds, but it's true. I have made many mistakes, taken many wrong turns, and have ended up on the complete opposite side of the fence at times.

But every time I reach that narrow turn in the road, I find a cross of mercy and forgiveness.


I'm thankful for forgiveness. Without it, life would be a bitter, cold place.

Disappear Much

The last few weeks here have been C.R.A.Z.Y.
To catch everyone up, it's going to be a bullet-style post kind of day.

• FINALLY got to go home and see my daddy a couple of weeks ago. I took off work early and headed to Greenbrier. We had a great weekend. Friday night was spent at the season opener high school football game. Saturday the whole family gathered at Nan's for some cooking and games and family time. Lance came in and we hung out that afternoon, so that was fun. We had a party for my Uncle Steve's birthday and most of our family came together for that. Sunday was church and family time before I headed back to Knoxville.
• I put an offer in on a condo and it got ACCEPTED. I was floored. I am so excited about owning my own place. The amount of money I have put into renting is ridiculous, and rent prices are only going up. I decided that it would be a much better investment to own versus rent now. I close sometime this month and can't wait!
• Work is going well. I love my job at the credit union. While it's not something I went to school for, I feel like I am in the right place right now. I love doing hair, but right now, I just don't have it in me to do it all day everyday. I like being able to do it when I want to do it. 
• Preschool stuff is keeping me busy at church each week. It's growing and we have more and more visitors coming that have small children. I love it! They are all great kids and I have a blast with them each week.
• Football has officially started and we kicked that off Saturday here in Rocky Top! I have pictures from the game, so  there will probably be another post on that sometime soon!
• My Thirty-One business is soaring right now. I had great sales last night, much thanks to my awesome customers! I have really enjoyed the huge amount of parties that I've been having lately and meeting all the new people. I have had several new ladies join my team as well, and that has been awesome! I'm praying that it continue to grow! If you haven't visited my Thirty-One site, please do so! 

I think that about covers everything. At least in a quick way, anyways! I hope to do better about my blogging now that I am somewhat caught up on everything that has been going on in my busy life. 

Happy Labor Day!

One down...one to go!

I took today off from work and took the first part of my cosmetology test. I PASSED! WOO-HOO! Now, I just have to take the practical portion of it and then I'm officially licensed! I'm excited and ready to be done with that chapter of my life. No, I don't have a job in a salon lined up. I really like my job at the Credit Union, so maybe I'll find something part time to do in the evenings. If anything, I'll always have my license to fall back on.

My week has been slammed with Thirty-One stuff. I had a party on Tuesday night that has been a HUGE success. I have a meeting tonight and another party tomorrow night. I am so pleased at how it has taken off the last few weeks. From the party Tuesday night, I got to 2 bookings and one possible catalog show or another home party! I'm super excited. I have a another girl on her way over now that is going to be my next consultant on my team! I am pumped! Now is definitely the time to join, so if you're interested in making extra money and having fun, let me know!

This weekend was so busy, but so much fun. Saturday started out with some laundry and house cleaning but progressed into fun when Momma Carol and Whittani got off work. We headed out shopping for a couple of hours and then had a quick lunch. That night we had dinner at The Melting Pot for Whittani's birthday. We had so much fun. After dinner we walked through The Old City and up to The Mast General Store where Sam and I indulged into some ice cold Nehi's. Mmmm, they were delicious. We decided that was going to be our Saturday night thing; general store and Nehi's. You can't beat a cold orange Nehi on a hot summer day...and they are only $1! After our walk through the general store we headed up to Market Square and visited a few of the shops. 

Sunday morning was church. The preschool was hoppin' with a lot of little ones. Sarah was sick so I was on my own with running the preschool. God blessed, as always, and things were smooth sailing. The kids are really loving our study on Moses, and so am I. There are so many fun things to do with Moses' story and they are really "getting" it. I love it! 

Our family adventure for Sunday afternoon was a little road trip. We headed up to Kentucky Splash for a little water park fun. We had a blast! This year is the park's ten year anniversary so tickets to get in are only $10! Granted, it's no Splash Country, but for $10 and a fun 45 minute road trip it was well worth it. They had 3 water slides, a wave pool, and a lazy river so we were content. Ana and Steven tagged along with us so the 5 of us had a blast. We came back to Knoxville and headed to Alcoa for a little dinner at Cheddar's. We stuffed our faces and decided on a movie. 'Salt' won the vote and off we went. I wasn't sure what to think of the movie once we decided to see it, but after it started I was all in. It was a really good movie, so 2 thumbs up from me. 

Lettie update: Sweet Lettie made it to Atalanta. She is now at the rehab facility. She had a few setback of not eating or taking her bottle well enough so they had to put the NG tube back in. They are keeping her busy with various types of therapy so please pray for patience of the therapists, strength for Lettie, and rest for Summer. Please pray that Lettie will continue to develop her swallowing habits and that they are able to remove the tube soon and she can start drinking and eating without it. Also, please continue to pray for no more seizures. Thank you all so much for your prayers for Lettie. She is a miracle and to see how God is using her in so many ways is humbling. 

Time

Time is what is lacking in my life right now. I feel like I have zero time to do anything once I get home from work. In reality, I have a lot of time. However, by the time I actually get home from work and sit for a minute, I don't want to do anything! On a normal night, after work and grabbing a bite to eat, I'm usually home around 7pm. Sometimes a little later. After being up since 7am, the last thing I want to do is come home and do laundry or pick up. All I want to do is sit. Normally, that's what I end up doing. By the end of the week, my house is a disaster and my laundry is piled sky high. Not pretty. It actually stresses me out when things are such a mess.

Tonight, I have made a list of things that are going to get done tomorrow. I'm determined not to stop until I finish folding every last piece of clothing, putting away clutter, and reorganizing my desk.

The Fall/Winter catalog for Thirty-One debuts on August 1st, so I'm trying hard to get things taken care of for that. It's proving to be a big task in itself. I have 2 parties scheduled for the very first week of August! My blood pressure goes up just thinking about it. I have tomorrow, and maybe 2 days next week to prepare for them. I'm going to be one busy little person tomorrow and next week.

Does anyone else have trouble sticking to a schedule and using their time wisely?