Christmas Break 2009

Christmas Break 2009 was indescribable! We were able to leave Texas on Saturday, December 19th and visit family and friends till December 31st!! In all of our years together, I've always had a 2 week break, but Chris never has. We took advantage of it, and toured the Southeast :)!

Our first stop was in Oxford,Ms. Back in the spring, Chris and I made a new friend who quickly turned into family...Dawn Lipscomb and her boys. We stayed with them while we were there,and it was absolutely a blessing. Dawn is a picture of grace and love...I could never thank her enough for what she and her family has meant to us!

There were several highlights from our Oxford stay, and here a just a few:

We were SHOWERED with overwhelming love and support through our friends and NOBC. For those of you who don't know this, there are many saints in this church who faithfully lift us up in prayer EVERY day...without them, I don't know where we'd be! They have also financially supported us as we started on this journey...again, without them,I don't know where we'd be! All the glory and honor goes to God for their obedience...they tell us that as they have blessed us, they have been blessed. Have you ever noticed that that's how it always works? We are blessed when we bless others...God is so good! Why do we ever choose to be disobedient when His way is ALWAYS better???? While we were in Oxford, these two Sunday School Classes held a reception in our honor...it was a sweet time of food and fellowship. We needed this so badly...it meant so much for us to be able to put faces with names of people who love us so much.. a heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of you...we truly love you all! During the reception, they presented us with love offerings for Christmas blessings,and they told us stories about a bake sale they had where all of the proceeds were given to us. It was a very successful bake sale, and the ladies who had baked with love were tickled by the fruits of their labors. They also gave us little magnetic angels with all of our information on them...these were given out to church members to remind them to pray for us!! WHO has this kind of support elsewhere??? I can't understand WHY God loves us so much and WHY He so richly blesses us????It can ONLY be answered in one way...GRACE...Grace, grace, God's grace.... The reception was a huge blessing,and a simple thank you to those folks would never be enough...I am emotional even as I type this...thank you, sweet Saints of God, for your obedience to the Lord!

Another highlight was that Benton shot and killed his first deer...thanks to his best friend, Easton, and his dad, Doug! The down side of that was that we carried around a chopped off deer tail in a ziplock baggie for the next two weeks...eeeek!!

More highlight moments came from time spent with precious friends...early morning runs, coffee time with girlfriends, walks around the neighborhood, and yummy dinners...thanks to ALL! WE LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU!!!!!

We then move on to Trussville and Memphis to spend Christmas with our family




We celebrated Christmas Eve at First Baptist Trussville with my mom,dad, sister and her family, and we stayed in Trussville through the weekend. It was a crazy time of fixin' food, opening presents, and LOTS of eating! Why is it that food taste better out of my mama's pantry? We also got to see my Aunt Pooh and Uncle Tiny which was a true blessing.Time and circumstances have made visits few and far between, but they are very special people in our lives, and we were blessed by our visit...nobody gives hugs like Pooh :)!!

We moved on from there to Memphis to be with Chris's family. By this point in the trip, my camera had gotten misplaced...so unfortunately, there are no photos to remember this part of our trip....sigh!!! If you could have seen our car and how packed it was, you would understand how the camera got misplaced!!! Our time there was awesome too! We went to my sister-n-law's house to celebrate Christmas, and our kids had a blast with their cousins. I had the privilege of riding in the car with my first baby nephew as the driver (I can't believe he's actually 16!!...scary!!!) Chris and I worked out with Karen(his sister) at her gym a couple of days...a MUCH needed workout after all that eating!! We also were able to visit an old friend from Tuscaloosa,Katie Banks,and Chris's best high school,girl, friend, Suzanne Taylor...FUN reminiscing and catching up. Out time with Chris's mom was sweet...not everyone is blessed with a mother-n-law who loves her like mine loves me and my family. We are truly blessed by her love and suppport:)!

Our last stop was in Southaven, Ms with the Gross's...friends who are like family. This is where I celebrated my 38th birthday....Amy if you are reading this...I am 38...not 39 :)!! Time there is never dull...always fun...always a blessing. The kids ate more junk food than should be legal...we feasted on steaks! I also had the BEST birthday cake ever...HOME-MADE carrot cake...made from scratch by Stephen's mom,Pam. Thanks Momma Gross :)! Although our time there was short...it was sweet!

After 13 days away from Texas, I was actually glad to be headed home on New Year's Eve. It was long, but it was fun. It was a Christmas we will never forget...the Lord has been so good to us. Please don't think this is one of those yeard-end letters where people brag about all the good things that happened to them that year...sometimes those letters make me soo jealous!! We still have our fair share of struggles... We still have a house in Oxford that we desparately need to sell. We still live HOURS away from friends and family that we miss terribly. We still have to deal with financial struggles that come with a teacher's salary and a family of five. Life is NOT easy, but WITH THE LORD...it is GOOD. My prayer for this year is that each of us would fall deeper in love with the Lord, and we would live to be His servants on a daily basis. To quote my Nana, "There is no sweeter life than one lived for Jesus!"

Thanks again for traveling on this journey with us...get out of the boat and keep your eyes fixed on HIM!!!!