A Home!

We just closed today on our first home!! Exciting and a blessing! It all started two months ago. I went up to New York to help out with a Mother/Daughter Retreat. When I came back, ADB told me we had an appointment at a house the next morning. He had already looked at it and talked with the owner over the weekend and was pretty much set on buying it, but one little thing...I hadn't seen it yet. So, the next day, I went to see it and loved it. I'm not sure yet if I want to go out of town again...not sure what we may be buying next.

Then was the long two month wait for us to close. Today finally came and we are now the proud owners! After we finished signing our names five hundred times, we went and bought a lawn mower. I don't have a picture but I'm sure I'll put one up soon. ADB loves it! Now what you've been waiting for...the picture of the house.


This picture was taken in early April. I will need to take a new picture with all the flowers and leaves on the trees and the green grass. It makes a difference. I'll also take some pictures of the back yard and maybe one of the inside. I'll post those soon, so stay posted!!

Parents in Memphis

My parents came to visit Memphis last weekend. It was great to have them here! A highlight of the weekend was taking them to the Memphis in May BBQ Cooking Contest. Since Memphis is known for its BBQ, I knew this was the place we needed to be. It was definitely an interesting time. We saw a lot of sights and also were able to eat some BBQ from a booth. You can't taste people's BBQ unless you has a pass to their booth. Well, we had a pass to the Hog Wild booth. My parents were able to taste some authentic Memphis BBQ. Here are some pics:


In front of the sign. The Mighty Mississippi is on the left.


My mom and I in front of a huge BBQ. It kind of looks like a big apple. We had just had a sample of some pork loin. So good, we made our own on the grill the following night.

Some other highlights from their visit:

1. Chipping in the backyard. Yes that is with a sand wedge and you have to try to get it into the bucket. ADB was the only one to get it in the bucket. I came close, but no cigar. We did this a lot.
2. Playing pool.
3. Playing the Wii. (Thanks Rob and Tiff)
4. Eating waffles with my new waffle maker.

Kayaks

When we left New York, I wondered if we would use our kayaks in the near future. Our move to the south was looking bleak with places to kayak. The Mighty Mississippi was a scary option as I think that river is the grossest thing I've ever seen and I think that if any water from that river ever touched my skin it would eat my skin. So...I was learning to be content with the idea of riding in these huge water ditches they have in Tennessee. Not sure of the exact name, but when it rains (and it has been raining a lot here) they fill with water run off. There is one really close to our house and it had just enough water for the kayak to float, but not much more.

Well...here's the good news. There is a lake nearby (2 hours away). A pretty big lake. Our neighbor has a house on the lake. We went there this weekend and took our kayaks. After traveling through hazardous weather. There was a tornado warning in the area we were traveling through. The only reason we knew this was because of a radio interruption (you know the one with the long buzz) that came on and told us. I didn't know we were moving into tornado country!!

Anyway, we took our kayaks or rather our neighbor took them in his truck. So, on Saturday, there we were paddling along in our kayaks. We love those things. So relaxing! We did the usual and toured the coastline looking at houses. I will try to post a picture soon. We only took a couple pictures of the lake. It is pretty though. Just wanted to let you all know we were in our kayaks.

P.S. (can you do p.s. on a blog) An ice cream truck just passed our house. I didn't think those things still existed. Guess they do in our neighborhood!!

Remember

I am a forgetful person. That is why I make lists. I actually like to make lists so I can see my progress and check things off. Love that check mark! I also get frustrated when I am talking with someone and then forget what I was about to say. Where do those thoughts go?? It's not like I had to remember my thought for a long time. Just a few seconds. I try so hard to jog my memory with what I was just thinking about, but to no avail...that thought is just lost.

This past Sunday the pastor of the church we are attending was speaking on II Tim 2:8-13. We are going through II Tim and it has been great and challenging. One of those get off your rump and get to it chapters. We studied guarding and entrusting and enduring. I could go on, but that is not what this post is about.

In verse 13, it says, "Remember Jesus Christ..." Small statement, but has a lot of punch to it. Remember Jesus!! Remember the Gospel!! Why do we need to remember?? Because we forget so often what Jesus has done. We forget who He is. We forget His purpose, His life, His love, His mercy, His death, His resurrection...and on and on. We get so enthralled with our own lives that we forget to look at Jesus. This really hit me. I think recently I have been forgetting to remember Jesus. I get sucked into the woe is me thoughts and forget. The Christian life is not an easy ride life. The pastor said several times this statement..."Nothing worthwhile is ever easy." This is so true.

So, when I get these woe is me thoughts, I need to remember Jesus. Look to Him. Remember the gospel. What great things He has done for me. Take the curveballs of life and glorify Christ with them. It could even be the everyday things of life and glorify Christ. Remember the many blessings God has already given me. Remember the many times He has been faithful. Rejoice and be thankful. There was a pastor on the radio that once said, "Would I still be thankful if the only thing Jesus did for me was die on the Cross?" Immediately I was like, yes of course. But then I really started thinking. Would I? I want to be.

The pastor also spoke about setting up Stones of Remembrance around your home. Little things that remind you of Christ. Things that point to show you how the Lord has blessed you. Things that remind you that He is faithful and how he has brought you through the tough times. They did this in the Old Testament to remember how God brought them through the Red Sea. I thought this was such a good idea. It could be pictures of people the Lord has used to shape you into a godly person, symbols of things the Lord has brought you through, etc. The purpose being to remind you and then when people ask about the picture or object to then tell them of the Christ. Remembering Jesus all the time. I want to be more intentional about setting up Stones of Remembrance. Things that will point me to Christ when I forget.

Remember Jesus Christ!