motha

 { h a p p y   h a l l o w e e n }

not a huge participant of the holiday, but this tickled my fancy this halloween season:

M O T H A  (like martha and moth-a) you should say it out loud. go ahead… clever huh? now — the best part: that is the real martha stewart.

brilliantly funny.

gave me the giggles.

 

and, today is the day i turn in my almost 20pager for children’s lit. << let freedom ring >>

cheers  for  all  noshavenovember  will  bring :: scarves – beards – sec football – cold weather – turkey&dressing – michigan – house shoes – classes ending – more pumpkin goodies – double dose of south carolina

doxology

praise god from whom all blessings flow

{plus some more}

H A P P Y     S A B B A T H

message in a (diet coke) bottle

my life has been so hectic this semester that i’ve barely had time to do

what i love :: craft

i took some time on friday to send a little love to my friend weston

{ confession: this was not my idea. i borrowed it.

thanks to thirteen ounces or less }

but, i thought i’d share in case anyone else is into mail like me

that string is hot-glued to the lid, so that it’s not hard to get the letter out. pulls it out all by itself – – brilliant, right?

side note : that little blue part in the cap has to be taken out because the hot glue won’t stick to it. had to use my handy dandy pocketknife for that one. thanks guest services for making me have a knife on hand. 

this string is my new favorite accessory (and the zig-zagged kraft paper from target, $1.00 – love it!).

used orange+white string for my vols #GBO #VB

and here’s a visual on how it operates.

i loved this – mailing fun things might become my new hobby

fall

{ just a few things that have screamed fall to me this year }

it’s the simple things ’bout this season that bring me so much joy. the orange inside of the oreo with the witch cookie on top. airplane rides over the smokies, full of color. the seasonal brew only available for a few months. falling leaves changing colors. autumn-scented candles always burning. the appearance of everything silently supporting the vols in orange.

as much as i want fall to stay, it’s nice to look forward to it every year. changing leaves, lives molded+changed, as the years change, with changed hearts.

outwardly manifesting what inwardly is always happening..

leaves dying to be brought life in the spring – – dying to ourselves to live more for christ

lane davis

once when mal, claire, and i were young(er), we went to visit susan at murray state university in kentucky.

[side note: we’d all been in a fashion show. mal had like REAL 80s hair. teased. huge. frizzy. hairsprayed. ugly. wish i had documentation. i don’t.]

(claire and i :: circa 2005)

met a girl named lane who sang to us in her rustic lil’ apartment for what seemed like hours.

i wanted her cd in 2004… and here it is …her first cd : patchwork memories

favorites so far — better off, home, together

october is almost over – where is the time going?

chrissy+john

what a wonderfully relaxed and simple weekend – – here are a few shots of the wedding festivities. i’ll let the pictures tell the story this go’round.

// so thankful for \\

– erin and her wise words –

– being in warm weather –

– square dancin’ –

– chrissy’s simplicity –

– abundant laughter from josh’s humor –

– seeing summer friends –

– farm life –

– twenty page paper being pushed back a week –

– real conversations with real friends –

dip

mal and i have discovered {separately, but simultaneously} that the brooks family loves a good dip.

as an appetizer, as a meal, as breakfast. it’s much like diet coke to our tasebuds :: the hour doesn’t matter. we are always sittin’ on gooooo.

here’s a new one – so new, it’s not even named.

{all you need} one roll of sausage, one 8oz box of cream cheese, and one can of rotel

• start off by browning your sausage

• note :: this sausage breaker-er upper utensil // via the pampered chef

• note 2 :: it really is worth it

• obviously, you’ll want to drain the grease off, but then you want to dump this hot batch of perfectly crumpled sausage on top of the block of cream cheese (so it will melt the cream cheese) and the can of rotel (which you don’t want to drain); both at the same time that way it gets ooey {with rotel} and not just gooey {with cream cheese}

• stir stir stir
• (think a high class rotel dip here)
• bake bake bake until sides are bubbly

• then, serve with FRITOS – i know, my grandfather eats them too, but they really are the best chip to eat with
• it’ll get gobbled up quick. pinky promise.

example A (see below)

look at all those hands going after a dip – enjoy!

portable

– – – comin’ to ya live from the orlando airport – – – 

(this picture should bring back some memories of searching to someone)

just landed in florida and i never would have thought this state would feel like home.

i grew in this place this summer. i’m finding that as i process my life, most of this processing happens when i go back to “that” place. back to colorado. back to collierville. back to knoxville. back to florida now.

florida is a place where :: the year of change began – i got the hail damage at my car fixed – vulnerability became an emotion i must let myself feel – i found a deep, raw friendship – i learned how to live out of joy rooted in thankfulness – i became a giggle box – my heart was opened to the world of guest services – my comfort zone bubble was popped – i found another property staff family – i spent too much money at cotton on – my mistakes where seen through grace – the lord made me more like him

thankful i get to be here. spending time with josh and erin the whole weekend while seeing loads of other people.

fourth grade

maybe one day i’ll explain more of what i do at my job, but today i felt jesus there. i want to share this simple moment of life in the spirit.

i taught bible today. on daniel 2:1-16. we were sitting there all together on the floor with our bibles open. my patience being tested my the class’ anxiousness to play and be children. i calm us down and we begin to read the scripture for the day.

as the class takes turns reading a verse a piece… i feel someone nudging next to me. holding onto my arm.

why is it that i love this feeling? the cuddling of a child. is it the love they are freely giving? is it the safety i know they feel next to someone? is it that they love me and they don’t know anything about me? do they even love me-dang, insecurities?

i have a few students who will want to cuddle on the playground.. some younger ones. not my fourth graders. they are “growing up” and want to be treated with respect and like adults. so, i remember who is next to me. sweet jacob. he loves the lord. he knows the gospel. he was adopted from guatemala. his precious family silently speaks of the spirit’s stirring within their souls. you can see it in the depths of their eyes when they look at their son with love and care.

i wonder if this is how the lord feels when we come to him in love and in rest. freely giving me love abundant, overflowing grace. he sees me as blameless just as jacob sees me. i know i feel safe in the comfort of my savior.. especially when i feel close and in his presence.

these are the moments i love most.

real life’s simple moment where christ gives us a glimpse of him. on a small scale.

lord, let me return to your presence in rest and in faith of your never-ending love for me.

one of my favorite sinners

yes, he loves and lives for the glory of the gospel. no, he’s not perfect. yes, he makes me grit my teeth and shake my head in anger. yes, he asks for forgiveness. sometimes, he’s not great over the phone. yes, he’s better in person. no, he really is the most patient man you’d meet. yes, he makes mistakes and scraps the bottom of my car (twice) in the same driveway. but, he is my best friend who walks with me through the real moments of life. for that, i find myself abundantly thankful.

crazy moments of insecurity –  road trips – sleepy slips of southern twang – gross, girly burps – funnies that happen in the little moments
many goodbyes – lots of airplane rides – scary life transitions – real conversations about hurting from sinfulness

grateful that christ’s death upon the cross frees us from needing to live perfectly. may we all remember: to his glory, all the time. even as sinners, we can still seek to see one another as christ sees us: redeemed. forgiven. whole. a child of the King. loved for eternity. aware of our sinfulness, but living in His grace.

2 corinthians 3:5 “not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.”

loved your visit, andrew. especially how it felt so long and unrushed. thanks for the quality time, bugaboo. 3 out of 4 weekends in november, I’LL TAKE IT!