shout out

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to amber :)

in honor of amber's special day, i went to breakfast this morning with dave and barrett. i forgot to mention that our friends, rachel and barrett ward, who now live in ethiopia are back in nashville visiting for 3 weeks. yay! we're so excited to see them! the sad part, though, is that dave only got to spend a few hours with barrett before he left for 3 weeks...pretty much the whole 3 weeks that they are here. breakfast was fun for me because i literally just got to sit back and laugh at the 2 of them the whole time. it made my heart smile.

as we were wrapping things up, we got into this pretty intense conversation about what it means to rest. i feel like here in america, we have completely missed the meaning of rest in our lives. we tend to think of rest associated with exhaustion or sleep. (i think because we busy ourselves so much!) but is that how God intended for us to think about it? here's a few verses from scripture on rest:

"rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him..." (ps 37:7)
"come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (matt 11:28,29)
"there remains therefore a rest for the people of God. for he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest..." (heb 4:10,11)

we sang "jesus i am resting, resting" in church on sunday, the day of rest...and yall know how much i LOVE hymns! well, couldnt have been better timed...here are the lyrics, which are amazing, if you wanna read them (or copy them down in your journal :) http://www.opc.org/books/TH/old/Blue139.html

its pretty daunting to think of how little we truly rest. here's the definition: "cessation of work, exertion, or activity; mental or emotional tranquility" i pray that i will get better at it. and hopefully you will too. maybe we should start on sunday, not just because its good for us, but because we're commanded to.

im back :)

ok, ok, i've been busy...or lazy might be more accurate. i havent posted in quite a while, but now you can breathe your sigh of relief because i am back with a vengenance. maybe.

laura, my mom, and i took a girls vacation to seaside for a week. that was fun. at least it was fun for me because i love the beach and i love my family :) this is me and ej with baby miles in birmingham, an important stop on the way back from the beach.

i also have some other big news...im back to work at kroger. yes, this might come as a shock to many of you, but i totally believe- as weird as it has worked out- that the LORD has totally put me back there for a reason. im working in a different zone than i did before which has been so great so far. AND i got to make my own schedule, which is pretty much the best schedule anyone could ask for. its so funny because 9 months ago i began (along with some girls in my life) to pray for a flexible job that would allow me to travel with/see dave yet still do what i spent so many years of my life studying...and the Lord is faithful because he has totally provided. athough its not the way i thought it would be (but when is it ever?), it has worked out for the best. im glad to be back at work. it feels very familar in all the best ways.

dave is in town right now but he heads out friday morning on tour with the los lonely boys for 3 weeks. bummer. im getting really sad about that. its been so nice having him around (for the most part) but that time has come to an end...at least for now. so all of you nashvillians, dont be a stranger- im always up for a glass of wine and some company :)

laura is OFFICIAL

laura graduated from vanderbilt on sunday, so now she's officially a nurse practicioner. yay! impressive, huh? she accepted a job at centennial hospital as a nurse for a few months before she works as a NP. had to post some pics of my grandparents...


my dad's mom (granny) and brother (monty) are on the left. my mom's parents (shirls and ernst) are on the right. it was great to visit with everyone. we had a weekend of family fun :)

me and laura at her graduation

a little birthday fun

my birthday was awesome! thanks to everyone who called, texted and emailed...i felt very loved! a few of my friends got together for wine and cheese, then we went to firefly for dinner- it was great. (from left, brooke, hollie, allison, me, kathrine, and laura)

dave, the funny guy

here he is, being funny. his comedy show was thursday night and it was hilarious! the show sold out that morning, so it was packed full of people ready to laugh. he did so great- i think my favorite bit was the differences between men and women...especially when he broke out into cheerleader moves to "here, kitty, kitty"...all you ex-cheerleaders out there would have died.

here we have some of the guys posing at bosco's, the comedy show afterparty. good times...

this is brooke who came to visit for a few days- although technically, shes dave's cousin, i proudly introduced her to everyone as MY cousin...i think i inherited her when i got married. lucky me. shes great and we had a blast hanging.