12.24.2010
12.23.2010
12.22.2010
12.21.2010
12.20.2010
12.19.2010
12.18.2010
12.17.2010
12.16.2010
12.15.2010
12.14.2010
12.13.2010
12.12.2010
12.11.2010
12.10.2010
12.09.2010
12.08.2010
12.07.2010
12.06.2010
12.05.2010
12.04.2010
12.03.2010
12.02.2010
12.01.2010
11.30.2010
11.29.2010
11.28.2010
11.27.2010
11.26.2010
11.25.2010
11.24.2010
Thankfulness in Pictures
As Americans, we have so much to be thankful for. We sometimes feel like we have it hard, but compared to people in other countries, we have it made. I have had a great 2010 and have so much to be thankful for...so on the eve of Thanksgiving, here are some things (people) I am thankful for (and in no particular order).
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| my sweet mom who is always there for me and will do anything in her power to make my life better |
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| My cousins - Lori and Jennifer (Nin), who are not only family, but great friends! |
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| Jason and Jamie Durant - Jason has been my guy friend I go to for advice and who calls me out when I need it and I gained another great friend when he married Jamie! So excited that they will be parents in 2011. |
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| My best girlfriends of the past 10-13 years! Mandy, April, Stephanie, and Brownie. We laugh together, we cry together and we do life together. They are not only my friends, but my sisters. |
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| Ms. Gail and Tami - I am so thankful that I get to work with these two. So much wisdom comes from them and I am a better person because of them in my life. |
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| Aunt Judy and Uncle Murl - they have watched me grow up and have always been there for me |
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| The Handley siblings! Love my aunt and uncles and their families. |
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| My siblings! Gosh I cannot imagine life without them. So lucky to have my sisters and my brother (in law). We laugh, fight and cry together! Love love love them! |
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| My dad and Kay - always there, always providing, and always loving! So thankful for another year with them! |
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| Michael Mayfield Excited about how the Lord has brought us together the past year and thankful that he is in my life |
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| My best friends - Karen and Cindy Love love these girls and the fun we have. Great listeners, great advice givers and great accountability partners! |
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| My precious girls - Caitlyn, Kelsey, Haley and Hannah. I have watched them grow up into beautiful, Godly young women. So thankful for our monthly Bible study. |
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| My trip to South Africa Life Changing! |
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| My SA team - Joey, Scott L, Mike and Scott D Loved experiencing SA with them ! |
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| My favorite SA moment - seeing this young man's life changed when he accepted Christ in his life. A moment I will never forget. |
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| My sweet Ella - oh how I love this one. She is so full of life and bring smiles to my face. |
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| My little bud Brandon, gosh I cannot believe how big is he. So proud of him and the little guy he is growing up to be, Can't imagine life without him. |
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| Kim and Kasey (pictured with Tami) Two more women I have the privilege to work with. Love how we get to do life together on a daily basis. |
These only touch the surface...there are so many moments, people and things I am thankful for. I could go on and on...but will leave it at this. This Thanksgiving, take time to reflect on what the Lord has done in your life - the good times and the hard times - as we are commanded to be thankful for ALL things! Happy Thanksgiving!
11.23.2010
11.22.2010
Christmas Vacation Week!
Ok - lets start Christmastime off with a little Christmas Vacation!!
Aunt Bethany...
Aunt Bethany...
11.18.2010
Christmas!!
Its that time of year again - time for a little Christmas cheer! The last two years I did a Christmas countdown of sorts - this year I'm going in a different direction - I am doing my favorite Christmas movie scenes! Each week we'll do a different movie with my favorite scenes. Hope their some of your favorites too! The fun starts Monday!
11.12.2010
11.05.2010
10.29.2010
10.22.2010
10.16.2010
2010 - Best Year Ever?
I cannot believe that 2010 is almost over. It really did fly by! My life has changed so much in the past year. I like to say I have "evolved" - no I am not a meditator, karma, yoga person - but I do feel like I am a new person in a certain sense.
If I truly look back on the past few years of my life, I can say that I wasn't as happy as I let on. My life was not miserable at all, but it wasn't as fulfilling and happy as it could have been. I have always been an optimist, someone who sees the glass half full, who tries to see the best in people. Yes, I totally have my flaws - I do not have a lot of mercy, think I know everything and am a control freak (and those are just a few off the top of my head - there are many, many more). But, as I look back, I was just going through life like a zombie, it was all a routine to me. Go to work, come home, watch tv, go visit my family, hang with friends sometimes and go to church....and repeat...over and over again. I feel that life continued on and I stood still. I had become complacent in my life.
You see all of my friends had gotten married, were beginning to have families of their own and I was the single one left. Yes, they included me but I was still the odd wo-man out. Its wonderful hearing about their life, but I couldn't relate and didn't have a lot to contribute to the conversations because my life was on repeat - nothing was new with me. I cannot tell you how many times people asked, "what's new with you?" and all I could say was, "nothing - just work and church". Don't get me wrong, I was not bitter about their life, envious of it sometimes - yes, I will confess that, but never bitter for their happiness. I LOVED hearing about their lives and so thankful to be a part of their lives - I just wanted my story too.
I knew it was time for a change. I knew it would be difficult to make that change. It would mean giving up dreams, giving up a place where I have invested years of my life into others, and yes giving up seeing my friends and family on a weekly basis. But, I knew that the Lord was calling me away - I just had to stop stalling and do it. So, I put my big girl pants on and visited another church. I am so thankful for my friend, Karen. The Lord brought us into each others lives when we both needed it the most. She was mourning the loss of a friendship and I needed to step out and begin to live again.
I started attending GFBC, met a lot of new people, made a lot of friendships and began living again. Not only in my life, but in my walk with the Lord. I have said it on here many times it is so easy to become complacent in your walk with Christ. I have done that many many times. Put on a face for the church and at work and act like I have it all together. When in reality, I did not (and still fail miserably at it everyday).
I can honestly say, I am happier now than I have been in years. Everyday is something new. I feel like I have a new lease on life. I am not coming home and sitting in front of the tv every night, being sucked into a world of fantasy and living through fictional or reality lives. I am out LIVING my life - the life the Lord has called me to. When people ask me, "what's new with you", I can give them an answer, I can talk about it for hours. I can share about new friendships, relationships that I am building and most importantly what the Lord has done for me the past year. People have come to me and said - "you have a glow about you". Now, I do not know about that - but maybe I do. I will admit I am a social butterfly now and I am loving every minute of it! Yes, I have lost touch with some of the old relationships and that makes me sad, but maybe they were in my life for just that season and I do pray that we'll see each other more in the years ahead. And I have strengthened some relationships as well - maybe I needed to get moving in my life for me to realize how much they meant to me.
I have no clue why I just posted this - I had started this post to be about summer 2010 and fun photos - but it turned into this deep introspect of the year 2010. I'll post fun pics of summer 2010 next time. Maybe I just needed to confess or maybe someone reading this feels the same way I did and needs to make a change and live again. If that's the case - do it...it will hurt for a short time, but oh how sweet the rewards are when you are following hard after the life that Christ has set before us.
If I truly look back on the past few years of my life, I can say that I wasn't as happy as I let on. My life was not miserable at all, but it wasn't as fulfilling and happy as it could have been. I have always been an optimist, someone who sees the glass half full, who tries to see the best in people. Yes, I totally have my flaws - I do not have a lot of mercy, think I know everything and am a control freak (and those are just a few off the top of my head - there are many, many more). But, as I look back, I was just going through life like a zombie, it was all a routine to me. Go to work, come home, watch tv, go visit my family, hang with friends sometimes and go to church....and repeat...over and over again. I feel that life continued on and I stood still. I had become complacent in my life.
You see all of my friends had gotten married, were beginning to have families of their own and I was the single one left. Yes, they included me but I was still the odd wo-man out. Its wonderful hearing about their life, but I couldn't relate and didn't have a lot to contribute to the conversations because my life was on repeat - nothing was new with me. I cannot tell you how many times people asked, "what's new with you?" and all I could say was, "nothing - just work and church". Don't get me wrong, I was not bitter about their life, envious of it sometimes - yes, I will confess that, but never bitter for their happiness. I LOVED hearing about their lives and so thankful to be a part of their lives - I just wanted my story too.
I knew it was time for a change. I knew it would be difficult to make that change. It would mean giving up dreams, giving up a place where I have invested years of my life into others, and yes giving up seeing my friends and family on a weekly basis. But, I knew that the Lord was calling me away - I just had to stop stalling and do it. So, I put my big girl pants on and visited another church. I am so thankful for my friend, Karen. The Lord brought us into each others lives when we both needed it the most. She was mourning the loss of a friendship and I needed to step out and begin to live again.
I started attending GFBC, met a lot of new people, made a lot of friendships and began living again. Not only in my life, but in my walk with the Lord. I have said it on here many times it is so easy to become complacent in your walk with Christ. I have done that many many times. Put on a face for the church and at work and act like I have it all together. When in reality, I did not (and still fail miserably at it everyday).
I can honestly say, I am happier now than I have been in years. Everyday is something new. I feel like I have a new lease on life. I am not coming home and sitting in front of the tv every night, being sucked into a world of fantasy and living through fictional or reality lives. I am out LIVING my life - the life the Lord has called me to. When people ask me, "what's new with you", I can give them an answer, I can talk about it for hours. I can share about new friendships, relationships that I am building and most importantly what the Lord has done for me the past year. People have come to me and said - "you have a glow about you". Now, I do not know about that - but maybe I do. I will admit I am a social butterfly now and I am loving every minute of it! Yes, I have lost touch with some of the old relationships and that makes me sad, but maybe they were in my life for just that season and I do pray that we'll see each other more in the years ahead. And I have strengthened some relationships as well - maybe I needed to get moving in my life for me to realize how much they meant to me.
I have no clue why I just posted this - I had started this post to be about summer 2010 and fun photos - but it turned into this deep introspect of the year 2010. I'll post fun pics of summer 2010 next time. Maybe I just needed to confess or maybe someone reading this feels the same way I did and needs to make a change and live again. If that's the case - do it...it will hurt for a short time, but oh how sweet the rewards are when you are following hard after the life that Christ has set before us.
10.15.2010
10.08.2010
10.01.2010
9.25.2010
I'm Behind...
Greetings! I am behind on my blogging since returning from Africa - I did such a great job when I was there - I am pretty proud of myself. I got back home and alas - life happened. I was gone again on a fun vaca with my girlfriends, came home and back to work with 2 back to back events and I leave again next weekend for staff retreat. Never fear, I will be blogging again in October with photos from my adventures...
9.24.2010
9.17.2010
9.10.2010
Flashback Friday...
Well we moving on up...
I said my first cuss word as a child while watching this...
I said my first cuss word as a child while watching this...
9.08.2010
Africa Slideshow...
I put together a slideshow of some of the best photos from the team members. There is one animal on the safari I labeled wrong - its a hippo not a rhino (oops). Enjoy!
2010 Africa Slideshow from SDEA on Vimeo.
2010 Africa Slideshow from SDEA on Vimeo.
9.07.2010
Africa Catch Up - Headed Home!
We had our final breakfast at the hotel and just hung out till Pastor Wernich came to pick us up. We said goodbye to the sweet people of Haden's Rest. I loved the sweet maids, Tully, Victoria and Isabelle - they work so hard there to make it a great place! We headed to the airport, had lunch with the pastor and began the long journey home.
In Jo'burg we (Mike and I) said goodbye to Joey, who was on the direct flight home. The flight to Paris was FULL. It was not a fun flight. I was in the middle and the row was full. It was the first time I had ever flown on a plane with two decks though - that was pretty cool. I did not sleep at all. I watched a few movies and played some games on the plane. It was a long 10 hours.
Once we got to Paris we were able to relax and hang out in some comfy chairs. We boarded the plane and thankfully it was not full. I had a row to myself, so I took some Robitussin (I have been battling a cold all week) and slept for about 4 hours. I kept myself up the rest of the flight so I could sleep when I got home. I finished the one and only book (finally) I read this entire trip and was counting down the time to get off the plane.
We got to Atlanta and it was so great to be back home. We had to go through immigration and catch our next flight to B'ham. At this point we had been traveling about 24 hours - crazy.
We got to Birmingham and my sweet friend, Michael Mayfield (thanks Mayfield), picked me up from the airport. As I was walking through the concourse, I look over and I saw my stepmom. My dad, Kay, Brandon and Ella had come to the airport to surprise me and welcome me home. It was so great to see them! I was totally surprised! I wish I would have gotten some pictures - but I looked pretty rough so its best there weren't any made.
I was determined not to go home and go to bed. So, I went and hung out at Mayfield's (made a stop at Chick Fil A - ahhh fast food) and went to church. It was so great to be back at church - it was our final Awesome August service - the Raise the Praise service - it was wonderful! During the service I was really reflecting on my trip and thanking the Lord at all He had let me see and be a part of in SA - it was definitely a celebration service for me. Then we went to dinner at Cracker Barrel - yum homestyle country food! It was so fun to catch up with all my friends and get hugs from everyone. Around 9:30 I was done. I could barely keep my eyes open. Headed home and went straight to bed!
Since being back, my jet lag hasn't been horrible. I have slept for the most part all night - I have been getting up around 5 AM though and getting sleepy around 4 PM. I went back to work on Thursday - had to go through 708 emails and get caught back up on what I had missed. Don't feel too bad for me going straight back to work - I am currently on a cruise with some friends for a few days!!
I want to thank you for the prayers that you have lifted up on our behalf. I hope you have gotten to catch a glimpse of SA. I will be posting a slideshow of my trip tomorrow. Its good to be back in America!
In Jo'burg we (Mike and I) said goodbye to Joey, who was on the direct flight home. The flight to Paris was FULL. It was not a fun flight. I was in the middle and the row was full. It was the first time I had ever flown on a plane with two decks though - that was pretty cool. I did not sleep at all. I watched a few movies and played some games on the plane. It was a long 10 hours.
Once we got to Paris we were able to relax and hang out in some comfy chairs. We boarded the plane and thankfully it was not full. I had a row to myself, so I took some Robitussin (I have been battling a cold all week) and slept for about 4 hours. I kept myself up the rest of the flight so I could sleep when I got home. I finished the one and only book (finally) I read this entire trip and was counting down the time to get off the plane.
We got to Atlanta and it was so great to be back home. We had to go through immigration and catch our next flight to B'ham. At this point we had been traveling about 24 hours - crazy.
We got to Birmingham and my sweet friend, Michael Mayfield (thanks Mayfield), picked me up from the airport. As I was walking through the concourse, I look over and I saw my stepmom. My dad, Kay, Brandon and Ella had come to the airport to surprise me and welcome me home. It was so great to see them! I was totally surprised! I wish I would have gotten some pictures - but I looked pretty rough so its best there weren't any made.
I was determined not to go home and go to bed. So, I went and hung out at Mayfield's (made a stop at Chick Fil A - ahhh fast food) and went to church. It was so great to be back at church - it was our final Awesome August service - the Raise the Praise service - it was wonderful! During the service I was really reflecting on my trip and thanking the Lord at all He had let me see and be a part of in SA - it was definitely a celebration service for me. Then we went to dinner at Cracker Barrel - yum homestyle country food! It was so fun to catch up with all my friends and get hugs from everyone. Around 9:30 I was done. I could barely keep my eyes open. Headed home and went straight to bed!
Since being back, my jet lag hasn't been horrible. I have slept for the most part all night - I have been getting up around 5 AM though and getting sleepy around 4 PM. I went back to work on Thursday - had to go through 708 emails and get caught back up on what I had missed. Don't feel too bad for me going straight back to work - I am currently on a cruise with some friends for a few days!!
I want to thank you for the prayers that you have lifted up on our behalf. I hope you have gotten to catch a glimpse of SA. I will be posting a slideshow of my trip tomorrow. Its good to be back in America!
9.06.2010
Africa Catch Up - The Final Day
Well Monday was our final day in SA. We said goodbye to Scott, Songe and Stephen. We packed, worked on slideshows to show our friends and family and hung out at the hotel. At this point as everything has ended, I am ready to go home and get back to life. I have a busy September ahead of me and am ready to jump in head first.
On Monday night we celebrated Pastor Wernich's birthday with he, his family and Alicia. These folks have been some of the most hospitable people I have ever met. They have opened up their hearts to us and shown us their country. They are wonderful people. We went to a pizza place and had some great food. One pizza we did get was NASTY- it was a sicilian pizza - it had capers in it and smelled like seafood - blah. All the rest was really good though. We then went to another restaurant for dessert. It was good. We were shocked when they brought us shots after the dessert. No one had ordered them - it was just part of the restaurant. We laughed and declined. After dessert Alicia took us to the soccer ball on the mountain. They have turned a water tower into a soccer ball. It was cool and we got to see the city - a beautiful way to end our final night in SA!
Africa has been a wonderful experience for me. My eyes have been opened to another part of the world. I have seen a different style of worship, have seen people freed from bondage, experienced different cultures, seen God's incredible creation and met some wonderful people. It is a trip that I will be forever grateful to SDEA for allowing me to go. I know I will always keep Africa in my heart, just as when I went to Venezuela in 2003, it will always be a special place for me.
Greater things are still to be done in this city...
On Monday night we celebrated Pastor Wernich's birthday with he, his family and Alicia. These folks have been some of the most hospitable people I have ever met. They have opened up their hearts to us and shown us their country. They are wonderful people. We went to a pizza place and had some great food. One pizza we did get was NASTY- it was a sicilian pizza - it had capers in it and smelled like seafood - blah. All the rest was really good though. We then went to another restaurant for dessert. It was good. We were shocked when they brought us shots after the dessert. No one had ordered them - it was just part of the restaurant. We laughed and declined. After dessert Alicia took us to the soccer ball on the mountain. They have turned a water tower into a soccer ball. It was cool and we got to see the city - a beautiful way to end our final night in SA!
Joey "putting" pizza in the oven
Africa has been a wonderful experience for me. My eyes have been opened to another part of the world. I have seen a different style of worship, have seen people freed from bondage, experienced different cultures, seen God's incredible creation and met some wonderful people. It is a trip that I will be forever grateful to SDEA for allowing me to go. I know I will always keep Africa in my heart, just as when I went to Venezuela in 2003, it will always be a special place for me.
Greater things are still to be done in this city...
9.05.2010
Africa Catch Up - Closing Rally!
On Sunday, we went to Pastor Wernich's church and heard Songe preach. Songe did such a great job - he spoke on forgiveness. He shared some of the experiences he has had on forgiving people and told stories of seeing the aftermath of genocides that were in Rwanda - wow - so sad to hear the stories of suffering. I loved hearing him speak! It was also nice to know the songs they sang in the church. The church prayed over us - such sweet people. After church, they had a snacks prepared for us, so we got to taste some authentic SA food.
We had the closing rally that afternoon. Joey shared his testimony and Stephen Lungu preached. There were 30 decisions. We then had a warp up with all of the AE folks - they were a great team to work with.
After the rally we went to Alicia's house and had a poikey (I am butchering the spelling) - basically its chicken and vegetables. It was really good. We all had a great time sitting around, telling embarrassing stories and laughing. As I was sitting there - I was just taking it all in - it is my last real night with everyone. Bittersweet.
Pastor Wernich, Mrs. Beulah and Joey
Cathi, the Mission Africa Administrative Assistant
Rojo and Jomo
Scott and Roy from AE
Mboani, an evangelist from AE
Ronelle from AE
Joey and Stephen Lungu
the SDEA and AE Teams
After the rally we went to Alicia's house and had a poikey (I am butchering the spelling) - basically its chicken and vegetables. It was really good. We all had a great time sitting around, telling embarrassing stories and laughing. As I was sitting there - I was just taking it all in - it is my last real night with everyone. Bittersweet.
Alicia getting the veggies ready
the guys looking at Lenning's toy/tool
telling stories and enjoying one of the final nights in Africa
the poikey - it was so good
9.04.2010
Africa Catch Up - Safari Day!
I'm home! I have just now had a chance to sit down and catch up on my blog since we got cut off from the internet :). That was very funny btw. The lady at the hotel said that had never happened before. I had no clue internet was limited. We live in such an unlimited world here in USA -- who knew! I downloaded a tv show on i-tunes, Joey and I both uploaded videos on You Tube and photos on Facebook and blogs - we were internet crazy. I am sure she was rolling her eyes at us.
So, where we left off was safari day! We left at 5:30 AM - of course, me being the morning person that I am NOT, loved that. But, hey - once in a lifetime, so I persevered and headed out. Plus side of getting up was the African sunrise - BEAUTIFUL! We got to Kruger National Park around 6:30 and started the drive through the park. We saw so many giraffes and antelopes. The giraffes were incredible - loved them! My favorite by far. We only saw one zebra - that was one animal I did want to see - so I was excited to see at least one. We saw water buffalo, rhino, hippos, elephants, crocodiles, kudus, monkeys, a large lizard, birds, and the big one - a leopard. We did not see a lion. They have the "big 5" here and we saw all but one - the lion.
We were in the park for 9 hours - it was a long day (my butt was sore from sitting down that long) but a fun day! We went to Arkansas Spur after the safari. There was a rugby match going on so everyone was all into that. I played a game on my phone while the boys watched :).
So, that was Saturday! Enjoy some photos...
kudu
this giraffe stood in the middle of the road and stared us down- love it
this is the traffic jam that...
this leopard caused!
water buffalo
he was staring right at me
warthogs get on their knees to eat
lots of poop!
Joey was like this all day! Looking for animals!
our group
Alicia, Stephen, Pastor Wernich, me, Songe, Mike, Joey and Scott L
Such a fun day!
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