Christ Is Risen!

He is risen indeed!

O The Blood

If you haven't heard this song, please, please, please take just a minute and watch this video. I just don't think I will ever get tired of it. Happy Good Friday, everyone.

Recovery

That's what I want for 2011. Recovery. 2010 has been the hardest year for us, ever.

Yet as much heartache as we've had, we've also seen God move. Mightily. He's never left us.

My precious friend, Jennifer, wrote this song, "Recovery." She sings it on our newest CD, Love.

I would love for you to watch and listen, and maybe find your own Recovery...

"Your freedom spilled out, it was thick and it was loud when the cross was painted with glory..."

Have a very, very Happy New Year.

Fourth Fireworks

We had a wonderful Fourth of July...went to church that morning, went home and ate yummy leftovers of some fiesta chicken (recipe coming later this week - not sure that's what we're going to call it, but whatever), took a delicious nap, ate some more yummy dinner that Sound Man grilled (chicken with Cavender's Greek Seasoning - YUMMMMMMY!), then filled up the cooler with some banana pudding (or as we say here in the South, 'nana puddin') and drinks, and headed off to Snowden Grove Park to watch the fireworks.

Sound Man and Kiddo played football while waiting for the sun to set.

Then joined me in the back of the truck for some 'nana puddin'.

Ugh. Did I really have to post this pic of me? Blech. Anyway, see the tripod set up by the truck? Sound Man was preparing for the show to come.

Kiddo!

I love the sense of community this celebration creates. Love the community, not the traffic. There must have been 10,000 people or more in and around Snowden by the time the fireworks started. I loved it! Having to go to the non-existent bathroom the whole time, not so much.

Sound Man is a master at taking fireworks pictures with our point-and-shoot camera. This year he got some great shots, as well as some pretty funny ones, too.

Are these not gorgeous? I love just looking at them! They were exploding right over our heads and it was AWESOME!

This one we almost deleted when we loaded them off the camera, but Sound Man noticed that if you look closely, you can see the shape of stars in the little pinpoints. Aren't they pretty?

No, this is not Photo-shopped. It's a smiley face! This is something I hadn't seen before this year. I've seen stars and hearts, but no smileys!

Speaking of no smileys, what does this picture remind you of?

Anyone...anyone? Maybe.....

These guys? It's the first thing Sound Man and I said when we saw the picture!

The last picture is not a really good photo of fireworks, but I wanted to show you what was going on when the LOUDEST fireworks I had ever heard were firing off.

I love to feel fireworks, not just see them...well, feel them I did! It was great!

I hope you had a great weekend, too, and were able to celebrate our country's independence with your loved ones!

I Love America Tassel on Etsy

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Mother's Day!

I love you, Momma!

Christ is Risen!

He is risen indeed!

This is a repost from last Easter, but I love this video so much I wanted to put it on here again. Enjoy!

"People rejoice, all nations listen:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Dance all ye stars and sing all ye mountains:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Whisper ye woods and blow all ye winds:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

O seas proclaim and roar all ye beasts:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Buzz all ye bees and sing all ye birds:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

O little lambs rejoice and be merry:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Nightengales joyous, lending your song:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Ring, O ye bells, let everyone hear:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

All angels join us, singing this song:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Come down ye heavens, draw near the earth:

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Glory to Thee, God Almighty!

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Glory to Thee, God Almighty!

Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!"

At the end they all say "Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!" And the little girl in front is jumping for joy. The first time I saw this was when my sister sent it to me in June of last year. I cried as I watched it, even though I couldn't understand the language. The joy of Christ's resurrection knows no language barriers. Happy Easter, everyone!

Good Friday

How many times do we just skip today and go straight for Easter Sunday? I know I've been guilty in years past of not taking the time to reflect on why we are able to celebrate Easter in the first place. There would be no Easter without Good Friday.

If you grew up in church, or if you go to a more traditional church that uses a hymn book you might be familiar with the original version of "O Glorious Day." This song, "Glorious Day," sung by Jeff Johnson (my favorite version out of all of them out there) is a remake, word for word, of that old hymn. He does such a gorgeous job. We are, of course, singing this Sunday morning (and Saturday night, by the way!).

I don't particularly care for the video, but this was the best on YouTube for the words. You might just want to close your eyes and listen.

Take some time today to reflect on the sacrifice that was made for you. It almost overwhelmed me at small group last night, remembering afresh that it was MY sin that nailed him to the cross. How thankful I am for Sunday!

Update: I just read Kat's post today. She posted a video that says it all..."It's Friday...but Sunday's comin'!"

Easter Tassels on the way!

Been loading bunny tassels (I already had some made that I had not not yet loaded on Etsy), and I can't wait to work on some cross tassels (I found some beautifully designed crosses Saturday), and oh, the fringe I discovered this weekend! I can't wait to show you!

Gettin' in the Christmas Mood a Little Early

If you've read my blog for long, you know I lurve Chris Tomlin. Just hearing his songs makes me smile. Have you heard Glory in the Highest? Oh. My. Word.

This song never fails to make me squall. Squall? Is that how you spell that? Anyway, so, we have established the fact that CT is probably my fave singer.

And you know what my fave holiday is? CHRISTMAS! What do you get when you put my fave singer and my fave holiday together? CHRIS TOMLIN'S FIRST CHRISTMAS CD! Woo hoo! I danced a happy dance when I heard that it was coming out today. But I didn't think I'd get it before at least November.

When Sound Man came home he brought in the mail and handed it all to me, a bunch of junk mail that was full of paper and catalogs and junk. I was working on tassels at the time, and it really annoyed me that he just handed me the pile. He told me there was lots of stuff in the mail...lots of good stuff, if I would just look....

I squealed. I didn't expect my sweet Sound Man to actually get me this the day it came out. He's just too good to me.

So, what have I been listening to? Christmas music! Thank you, My Sweet. You know you rock!

Pumpkin Tassel Giveaway!

I can't believe it's October. So it begins. The hustle and bustle of the holidays. I lurve it. To start it off right, Cheri from It's So Very Cheri is hosting a huge...no...bigger...ginormous giveaway, and she graciously asked if I'd like to participate with one of my tassels.

Well, YEAH! So, head over to her blog and get signed up for one of the many prizes she has to offer, including my tassel.

And if you don't win this time, don't fret, my dearies. I've got another one lined up really, really soon. Like, soon. Meanwhile, why don't you browse for Christmas gifts or for fall decorating (I've got some new fall tassels in there!) or just because they're so pretty you can't live without them.

Hey...I just remembered....if you order in the month of October, you get FREE SHIPPING! Unless, of course, you live near me and are my friend, and then you get free shipping all the time. Lucky you.

You can just click up there on the left hand column where my Etsy shop is, or you can just click here:

Okay now, head on over to Cheri's. If you do end up buying a tassel, make sure you let me know in the buyer's notes that you heard about it through the giveaway and I'll throw in a free bookmark. I have some of the prettiest bookmarks that I just can't decide which ones to keep and which ones to sell, so I'm just giving them away. How's that for decision making?

~Happy 4th of July!~

~God Bless America!~

Happy Father's Day!

So very thankful for the Father my little boy has. I love you, My Sweet!

So, what did you do on Memorial Day?

While I have some surprises up my sleeve for later in the week, I wanted to "unwrap" what our family did yesterday.

Nothing.

Blessed, relaxing, absolutely...nothing.

We haven't done that in a loooooooong time. No where to go, nothing to have to do. Sigh....it really was nice.

I won't tell you the ungodly hour we slept until, but suffice it to say that Kiddo beat us up by a while. Long enough for him to concoct a plan for the day. He came in our room and announced that he was in charge of breakfast, lunch, and dinner that day, and informed us of what we'd be eating. And while we had to burst his bubble about dinner (we had planned on hamburgers on the grill, after all), we moved some stuff around and enjoyed his plans for the most part.

For breakfast, cinnamon rolls and a banana, with a glass of milk on the side. For dinner (I'll get to lunch in a sec), to go along with our burgers, cheese fries a la Outback, with fries, cheese, and bacon bits piled on top. He had a great idea that Sound Man and I would probably never have thought of!

And now, for lunch, I give you...Kiddo's Gourmet Sandwiches: (sorry I didn't take any pictures)

(btw, this is directly from my Kiddo's instructions, written the way he wrote them)

Ingredients
2 pc. Whole Wheat bread
(about) 1 TBSP.Mayonnaise
3 slices lunch meat
1/2 cup Parmesan, Colby, Monterey Jack, and cheddar mixed cheeses
Lettuce (optional)
Toast bread.
Put all ingredients
together in
between
slices
of
bread.

So there you go. A nine-year old's version of a gourmet sandwich. And let me say, they were really good! Especially since Momma didn't have to make lunch!

He made us so proud yesterday, wanting to serve his parents. I hope he gets those ideas more often, not just because I want him to serve me, but because I want him to learn to serve others. To feel the joy that comes from giving to someone else just because. As an only child, it's hard for him to "get it" because we have no other children he has to share with. So, when he wakes us up with these kinds of surprises, he delights his parents in more ways than one!

See what others are unwrapping at Emily's blog, Chatting at the Sky.

Happy Memorial Day!

Over the past few days,
seeing the men and women stand
in recognition of their service,
watching videos of past wars,
I have realized all over again
that the freedom I enjoy
as an American
was, and still is, hard-fought.

Freedom is never free.

While we are enjoying our families today, let's
Pray for our soldiers, and thank a veteran for our freedom.

Don't leave me!

So, have you noticed I've been out for over a week? Hello? Anyone? Bueller? Fry?

Life just seems to be getting busier and busier. Easter a couple weekends ago, our Women's retreat this weekend at which I am leading worship with a couple of the most talented songwriters/singers I know (of course that's not saying much...I don't know that many, but trust me when I say that they are amazing!), and Kiddo's baseball season has begun. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

But even though I have been absent from the blog world for a few days, y'all have not been absent from my heart. I still am so amazed that in the year I've been blogging I've gained so many friendships, some who live in my computer, and some I've been privileged to meet in real life.

Did you hear that little blip in the paragraph above? I said, "...in the year I've been blogging...." Do you know what that means? I missed my own blogiversary! It was April 14th, and I just didn't have time to write anything!!! I was so disappointed, but at the same time I thought, this IS my blog, after all, and I really don't need to stress over it! What I have started stressing over, however, is the worry that I might lose some of my friends from my inactivity. I try to nip it in the bud when those thoughts come around, because I know my true friends will be with me no matter how often I update my blog.

I have lots to share with you over the next few days, but it might take me longer to post those thoughts than a few days. I do want to give you a preview of something reeeeeeally special...something you might want to stay tuned for.....something really pretty and girlie....here's a glimpse:

Hmmm, wonder what it could be? Well, what do most people do for their blogiversary? I'll let you figure that one out while I show you why my arms are just now getting over Easter weekend.

Sorry for the blurry, too white picture...Sound Man was trying to do what he does on Sunday mornings as well as take video of the choir...kind of hard to do at the same time. This was after the first service on Sunday morning (we had already had two services...one on Saturday night and the one right before this vid was shot; then we had one more service after this; not to mention practice Saturday morning...my arms were killing me Sunday night. So much so I had to take a muscle relaxer and it didn't do anything for me!). Just goes to show you what a crazy bunch of people I get to work with. I am the one directing the choir, just behind the bald guy at the keyboard. That would be Darth Don, the piano player Kiddo aspires to be like one day. Anyway, here you go...prepare yourselves for the insanity...

Can I tell you how much I love doing what I get to do?

More details on my hint hints later...just don't give up on me!