3.28.2009

My Photo Booth

As I sit here bored out of my mind at the Tampa Airport waiting to fly home from an event, I thought I would post some photos I have been meaning to do for awhile now.  I have been needing a new computer for about a year and have wanted a MAC for about a year now as well.  So, I decided to go ahead and "bite the bullet" when I got my tax refund.  My family has had a blast with the Phone Booth Application that comes on the computer.  

I have hundreds of photos from the Photo Booth on my computer.  I will post a few every need now and then.  Brandon has had the most fun with the photo booth!!!


He loves the double image the best


Ella doesn't quite understand it...





3.16.2009

Esther

I have been doing Beth Moore's Esther Bible Study, It's Tough Being A Woman, for about a month now...its a great study and I highly recommend it.

I thought I would give you some things that I have underlined and that have stuck out for me from weeks one & two...
  • Esther isn't about the miracle but God working through the natural
  • Seek Him and God's Will will find me!
  • When we trust our lives to the unseen but ever present God, He will write our lives into His story and every last one of them will turn out to be a great read with a grand ending.
  • We have a sovereign God who reigns over all and is threatened by none.
  • It's tough being a woman in another woman's shadow!
  • In God - your past and future share the same root - Jesus!
  • Sometimes God reserves the right to tell us what happened without telling us how He reacted to it.  God is so wholly secure in His own spotless integrity that He feels perfectly comfortable giving us an account of something without making Himself accountable to us.
  • Those of us who know Jesus personally live under divine rule where all us girls get to be princesses anyways.
  • Never underestimate the impact of God-driven, Scripture-quickened people skills even in the most uncomfortable human encounters.  Despite the scowled-faced disapproval of the unbearably religious, we neither have to be carnal to be likable nor insincere to be endearing.  We can love God and still be liked by people.
  • One good thing about living in an increasingly crude world is that a woman with manners, even one who simply knows how to make introductions or host a gathering can stand out like a rare gem in a barrel of coal.  God can grant her favor that a woman with a wall covered in credentials may never gain.
  • We can become so steeped in our culture that we are almost indistinguishable from the world.  We can lose our sense of identity and forget who we are.  Indeed, the fact that we can hide our Christianity assumes a certain amount of assimilation.  We need to recapture our identity and identification as His children-not so we can be obnoxious but so we can be influential.
  • Praise God for a King who gives a woman dignity instead of taking it, a righteous King whose commands are always for our good and whose ways are always toward our wholeness.
  • A woman who can win the man and her female peers is in a class almost by herself!  
  • Esther managed to walk the fine line of moderation without making others feel judged because they didn't.
  • Our rebellious human nature makes us resistant enough to doing what we're told that over time the effort to go against the grain - to choose the excellence of Christ over the minimalism of man - will distinguish us from countless peers.
  • Only a person strong in character and steadfast in spirit can follow someone else's instructions for long.  Ironically her dependability earns her double the workplace significance of those who won't risk it.  If long-term persistence doesn't win the favor of an earthly supervisor, trust the God who sees and who is by no means limited to one channel of favor toward you.
  • Sometimes providence can be defined as times when God trumps your perfectly good plan with one of His own.
  • It's tough being a woman in a world where beauty is a treatment!

3.12.2009

More Photos of Smoky Conference

More photos from the Smoky Conference held in January...

Snow in Pigeon Forge!! Leo was from Brazil and this was a new experience for him

Kristian Stanfill and Tim Gibson leading worship - they are the best!
Joe Thibodeau from Kristian's band


David Nasser mugging for the camera!





Tami and Larry having fun with a flashlight



Matt Papa leading worship


Jon Walden emceeing the Big Night


Shane & Shane





Jeremy Camp

me and Jonathan with Jeremy Camp (HAHA)


some of our great volunteers!
Catherine, Trey, Emily, Jonathan and Davis-Ann


more great volunteers!
Carmen, Courtney, Molly, Hali, Brittany and Karen





This is what we feel like by the end of the weekend...poor Brownie

Loading out in the snow!


"the after party" for Brittany's birthday - the Copeland twins sang Happy Birthday to her...her face isn't normally that red :)


Ms. Gail reading a poem to our volunteers (it was about how wonderful they were)


a fantastic (and silly) conference team playing in the snow!

3.11.2009

Smoky Mountain Student Conference

I am finally posting photos from our Smoky Mountain Conference. Life has been busy since January. It was a great conference - over 6,000 students with hundreds of decisions made for Christ! I have more photos to post - but here are a few from the weekend!
Kristian Stanfill leading worship
Dave Edwards

Jose Zayas


Scott Dawson


Shane of Shane and Shane

The other Shane of Shane and Shane


Counseling after the Gospel was presented

Jeremy Camp and his band praying before they went on stage


Smoky Mountain Palace where we had two of four groups of students worshiping