Studious Student

I jut want to brag on my hubby for just a minute.  This past fall he started taking classes at Liberty University Online!  He decided to take a full load (4 classes) to try to get his school knocked out as quick as possible.  He spent many fridays & saturdays and week nights (after the kiddos were put to bed) working on schoolwork, he even went to bed well before me most nights!  It was rough for all of us, but he worked really hard!  Not only was he working full-time at the church, in school full-time, juggling 4 kiddos and a wife, but he made all A's this semester and has a 4.0 gpa!!!  We are so proud of him!!!

Tennessee Football

For as long as I've know Jody (1998) he's been a HUMONGOUS University of Tennessee Football fan, that also just happens to be the year they won the championship game thingy!  He's never been to a game at Neyland Stadium and has always wanted to go, so this year was the year!  I researched and researched and researched where to sit, where to park, what game to go to, basically everything to make sure it was the best it could be!  

I even talked to some of our friends who were season pass holders and had family that had season passes to see if my selections were good!  I ordered the tickets while Jody was in El Salvador and had to hide them until our anniversary (August 19th), I couldn't wait another month to give them to him for his birthday!!!  He was shocked and super excited!  Jody's Mom came in town to watch the kiddos so we could head to Knoxville for the day...which is only about 3 hours away :)  We left around 9am so we could get there in time for the Vol walk and marching band before the game and got home around 11pm!  We had a lot of fun, even though we were packed in the stadium, there were 102, 455 people in a stadium that had enough seats for 102, 459 seats!!!  

Now that's a lot of ORANGE!  We took so many pictures, so here's the link to what I posted on facebook (easier to post them all to facebook than on here).  And here's the link to the pics I took with my Droid.  So glad we were able to spend the day together and Jody was finally able to see his Vols play :)  Thank you also to all our family who helped make this day possible!!!

Happy...

30th Birthday 

to my awesome, amazing, fantastic husband!!!  

Jody isn't a big celebrate birthdays guy, but if you have facebook write on his wall, send him a text or call him to wish him Happy Birthday :)

I took him to a University of Tennessee Football game last weekend as his birthday present!!!  

Stay tuned for pictures, we took a ton and had a great time :)  

Happy Birthday Honey!!!

Road Trip

This past Thursday was our 10th wedding anniversary!  Click HERE for my anniversary post :)  We had really wanted to go on a trip somewhere (like on a plane), but didn't have the time nor money to spend.  We were however able to spend a day and a half together which was the point, celebrating together 10 years of marriage together!

My parents planned on coming in from North Carolina to stay the weekend so we could go somewhere without the kiddos, 4 kiddos are a lot to handle by yourself and I'm so glad both my parents were able to come!  They got here Friday afternoon just before Emma got off the bus and Jody and I were able to catch an early movie and a quick dinner!  Then home to spend some time with the kiddos and my parents before bed :)

We woke up Saturday morning and headed out to LaGrange, Georgia, a small town near the Alabama border, but only about an hour and a half away from us.  Jody looked up day trips near Atlanta and LaGrange came up so off we went after eating breakfast with the kiddos and my parents.  Our first stop was an old church (1800's) that had been converted into a restaurant called A Taste of Lemon.  What an interesting place!  Jody & I were so curious about this little church/restaurant but haven't been able to find any information or history on the church or restaurant!  I'm hoping to dig a little deeper and see if I can find out some dirt!!!  I asked for  coke and the waiter said "ain't none of that here" :)  Our menus were hand written on pieces of paper and did not include any prices?!  The food was absolutely delicious, I've never had southern food like this!  My plate was overloaded with yummy smothered fried porkchops & rice, broccoli casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy & cornbread-of course I didn't take a picture...what was I thinking?  My plate looked as though I hadn't eaten much at all when I got done!  We kept a watchful eye on those guests checking out, after the "coke" incident we weren't sure they even too debit/credit cards and we only had $4 cash on us!  Thankfully after a few guests paid with cash a guest paid with a credit card and we knew we were safe :)

Our next stop was "Explorations in Antiquity Center", Jody also discovered this place when he was looking for days trips!  The Explorations in Antiquity Center in LaGrange, Georgia, is a living museum of life in ancient times. Through archeological replicas, Biblical meal presentations, lectures, and other personal experiences, ancient Middle Eastern life becomes real today.  Basically the museum exists to help people experience the ancient Biblical world, its history and culture. I'm not really a history or museum buff, but Jody is, so I was happy to check it out with him!  There was a guided tour through the gardens, but it didn't start until 4pm and it was noon when we arrived :(  After a short orientation with a staff member, we self-guided ourselves through the 23 stops of replicas.  Each stop had an explanation of what we were seeing,  it was very interesting!  They even had a kids dig site where kiddos are able to "dig" and explore finding replicas of artifacts from actual excavated sites!  

We decided to mosey around town looking for shops, but most everything closed early on Saturday?!  So we decided to head back towards home.  It was dinner time when we got back to Kennesaw and Jody wanted a steak dinner, so off to Outback Steakhouse!  We ran into a few church members and had a great dinner without kiddos :)  Godiva Chocolatier is my absolute favorite treat, rarely do I get anything there because the chocolate is so expensive!  But I really wanted a piece of chocolate, so off to the mall, got my double raspberry truffle and headed home just in time to get the kiddos in bed!  Wanka & Papa had already given the kiddos their baths (yay!) and we were able to hang out with my parents for the rest of the evening.  

Sunday we got up for sunday school then church, afterward we headed to Cracker Barrell before my parents had to get back to Raleigh.  We had the camera in the car the entire time and I only snapped 1 picture with my phone :(  We had such a great weekend, not what we had originally planned, but Jody and I were still able to spend it together, celebrating our marriage!!!  

Please be in prayer...

For Jody who flew out this morning to El Salvador, he will be gone Tuesday-Friday.  Jody and another one of our church members are joining a group from a local Baptist Church to scout out the field for mission trips in the coming years!  Please pray for safe travel, no sickness, open hearts for the people they will be ministering to and safe travel home!  This is Jody's third and final trip this summer without us!  I'll be at home with the kiddos, so pray that I don't get too frazzled and stressed out too!  I'll post pictures and updates as Jody sends/gives them to me!  He is not able to take his cell phone on this trip either, hopefully this time we can get Skype working!   

Can a youth pastor preach?

Since our pastor and a group of church members were on mission in Lake Placid this past week (returning today), Jody had the opportunity to preach this past Sunday at both our 8:30am & 11:00am services.  Jody really enjoys preaching, but definitely does not feel called to pastor a church, youth ministry is where it's at for us :)  I am so proud of my husband and the way he is using his God-given abilities and talents :)  If you would like to hear his sermon from Sunday click here (this is a sermon...it's long)!  
So the answer in my book is YES a youth pastor can preach!

Q & A: Marriage

These are answers to the questions you asked concerning marriage, read here from my original post!  My answers are shorter, is that a bad thing?!

1. How did you and Jody meet?

Jody and I met at a Judgement House (Youngsville, NC) in October of 1998.  He was attending college (SEBTC), and I had a friend who was attending the same college.  She was asked to go to the Judgement House with a group of friends from school, she didn't know them really well and asked me to go with her.  We were in a group of about 20 people that night.  We talked on the phone, Instant Messenger and group dated/hung out for a few months, we actually started dating in March 1999 :)  We were engaged in February 2000 and 6 months later (August) we were married!!! 

2. How did your brothers like Jody when the two of you started dating?
I guess they liked him ok, never heard anything bad, my parents liked him right away too, in fact everyone loved Jody instantly:)

3. What is your favorite thing about being married?
Probably knowing that there is always someone there to love you no matter what, (despite the fact that you don't look the same and things have shifted a bit ;), to encourage you and to push you when you need it, even when you don't want to!

Our new fave

One of Jody's favorite stores is REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.), he loves the outdoors. He received a giftcard from REI for Christmas. After browsing the store he came across this mug: REI Vacuum Infuser Mug. Here's the mugs description...

Always on the go? Use the REI Vacuum Infuser mug to brew your tea or coffee as you hurry from place to place!
•Simply drop your tea leaves or fresh coffee grounds inside the cylinder and pour hot water on top; your drink then steeps inside
•Removable stainless-steel screen filters leaves or grounds as you drink through the bottom half of the 2-part lid; or, remove the screen and simply pour your drink into a cup
•Double-wall, stainless-steel construction keeps drinks warm for up to 6 hrs.; keeps drinks cool for up to 10 hrs.
•Food-grade sipping collar lets you drink a hot beverage without worrying about burning your lips
•Rubber on the base keeps the mug from slipping
•Hand wash; do not microwave

He spent his entire giftcard on ONE mug?! I thought he was absolutely crazy. He used it the first day, came home and showed me that his coffee was still warm (hours later). He kept showing me for the next few days until I decided to use it for a day, SOLD. I went the very next day and bought myself one with my own Christmas money! I have to say this is completely worth the price tag (I don't say that much about anything). I drink coffee every morning and was re-heating my coffee several times a day, with this mug it stays as hot as you pour it in the cup for hours! I don't do any of the fancy brewing or anything, just make my coffee the regular way in the pot then pour it in my mug! If you are looking for a mug that does exactly what it says it will, this is the mug for you, click HERE for the link to REI :) Oh and my Mom liked it so much she bought one too!!!

Sunday School

Our last Sunday at Stony Hill was filled with emotions! Here are all the kiddos with each of their Sunday School classes...

And Jody with a few of our High School & College kids...

*****UPDATE*****

I forgot to add Jack's Sunday School class picture?!?!?

Here are Jack and his Sunday School buddies...

Dirty Hands

This is what hours of replacing an alternator on a Chrysler will do to your hands...

I have never seen hands this dirty, the pictures do not do his hands justice! It looked like someone painted his hands with black paint! He wouldn't let me take a picture of his face!!!

From my perspective...

So as I'm sure everyone who reads this is aware, Sarah is usually the blogger. I have felt the need though to share some thoughts from my perspective (bear with me)...

There is no doubt that we are in the midst of the most important Presidential Election in our lifetime. Now before you think, "oh he's going political" and stop reading, let me assure you that my main point is not the election. I do feel though that in light of the policies on economics, foreign policy, energy, etc. that we are weighing this year, what has been exposed of our nation is heartbreaking. Many of these issues I believe point directly to the failure of the Church to be what we have been called to be.

We have seen magnified during this political season the attitude of those wishing the government to fix all, provide all, and do all. A dangerous thought for certain. To quote the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." And after all has God not told us the Church to meet the needs of those around us? We have in our nation a culture that flees from inconvenience, confrontation, pain, and suffering. Sadly, the Church's are no exception to this. We have forgotten that it is in our weakness we are strong, that His grace is sufficient for us and his power is made perfect in our weakness (Rom. 12:9-10). We don't rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that it produces endurance, which produces character (Rom. 5:3-4). Yet where we fail most is in withholding the most precious from those in need...the Gospel. We come in contact with hundreds, maybe thousands of people a day, and are so busy with ourselves, so afraid of confrontation, so worried about what others might think, that we simply withhold the precious lifesaving message of the Gospel. When was the last time you shared the Gospel with someone? What does this say of our value of our Savior? The problem with our nation today is not simply attitude...it's a heart problem.

We sit idle while others go about the work of "redefining" marriage. We shun the sinner, rather than condemning the sin. Rather than plead with them to turn to the sweet Savior who gave his life for them, we simply avoid it altogether.

We become outraged at the brutality of war. Our streets are filled with protesters at the news of another soldier who has given their life for our nation. Now, do not misunderstand me here. My family is deep rooted in military service. I have the utmost respect and adoration for our men and women who serve our nation. I personally feel that when we protest we dishonor their sacrifice. These soldiers have enlisted willingly knowing that they may give their life for this nation. We belittle their patriotism when we say they are fighting in vain. My hope and prayer is that we will never lose another soldier. But if we do, may we honor them for their sacrifice rather than saying they were wasting their time.

One of our greatest failures is our silence on the issue of abortion. Since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 there have been 4,189 casualties. It is a sobering body count for sure. Within the last 24 hours of you reading this (assuming you still are...lol), approximately 3,200 unborn have been aborted. 24 HOURS!! At the time of my writing this there have been 52,804,976 abortions since Roe vs. Wade in 1973 (you may check the current count now at http://www.teenshelter.org/abortioncount.htm). It is estimated that around 11 million people died during the holocaust, with 6 million being Jewish (close to two thirds of Europe's Jewish population), and about 1.5 million being children. Now again, trying to put this in perspective. On average there are around 1.5 million abortions each year in this country. We know that at eight weeks all the organs are present, the brain is functioning, the heart is pumping, the liver is making blood cells, the kidneys are cleaning the fluids. There are even clear fingerprints. Yet almost all abortions happen later than this date in the pregnancy (not that its okay before this time). Ultrasound has shown the unborn at eight weeks sucking thumb, recoiling from pricking, and responding to sound. Psalm 139:13 says, "Thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb." The sad thing is that many who support abortion do not argue that the unborn are "human beings." For many the issue is the right of the mother. The unborn is completely not a factor aside from the inconvenience it might bring (bringing me back to my earlier point). We have taken the place of God, weighing for ourselves the greater good. Who lives and who dies. Ironically it seems that most who support abortion, oppose war, and capital punishment. (For info. on Senator Obama's views on Abortion please read http://betweenthetimes.com/2008/10/14/why-faithful-evangelicals-cannot-vote-for-barack-obama/). While I feel very inclined to keep on with this rant on abortion (and there is much more to say here), I will wind down with a few last thoughts.

First, this election is important. Big issues on the table, no doubt. Second, what will it take for believers to finally wake up? When will we become broken for the lost? When will we long for our Savior? When will we run to the Word of God for direction for our lives with the same urgency we run to the stock report to see how our 401K's are doing? When we will do the hard things to bring Him glory? What will it take? I'm not sure. What I do know is this. We serve a faithful, loving, merciful, just God in whom we can really hope. A true Messiah who was nailed to a cross and hung naked, giving his life for us while we were still sinners. Is there hope? Only one, it is the Son of God, Christ Jesus. These are just a few thoughts, from my perspective...

Baby Jody

Jody's uncle John sent me this baby picture!!!

The Journey...

Before kids when I styled my hair & before Jody lost the weight...so proud of him!

Us before contacts...

In our prime!

TAGGED

Ok, so our pastor and his wife recently were tagged...6 things that were unspectacular about themselves...Jody and I laughed and laughed so we thought, hey let's do it too!

6 unspectacular things about Jody:
1. loves VW's, the older the better.
2. would rather be in the woods.
3. is bald by choice.
4. can do lots of magic tricks.
5. hates coffee.
6. companies shut down after employing him (not his fault...really).

6 unspectacular things about Sarah:
1. sucker for a sale, can we say Target clearance!
2. hates the smell of outside.
3. has to eat colored candy in even numbers as well as matching colors...the bottom of the bag is very stressful!
4. breaks toes often (not a calcium deficiency).
5. loves coffee.
6. won 6th grade spelling bee for my school, lost in the county spelling bee on the word carage...I mean carige...carriage (sp?)

Everyone who reads this has to respond in the comment section with 6 unspectacular things about yourself...I promise no matter how unspectacular you think you are, someone thinks you are spectacular!!!

Something doesn't look quite right. . .

I forgot this picture was on my phone. . .it speaks for itself!!!

The dreaded VW drive. . .

Yesterday I successfully drove Jody's Volkswagen from Garner to our house, it did not die once, we did not get hit, we did not hit anyone and we all survived! I have not been able to successfully drive the VW since he's gotten it, about a year ago. It is a 4 speed, which is not the problem. My parents taught me how to drive on a stick shift and boy am I glad they forced me to (I wasn't at the time)!!! The first automatic I've ever had was our van which we've had l about a year and a half!!! The problem is it doesn't have ABS, power steering and the pedals come from the bottom of the floor instead of the top. I've been practicing driving around the neighborhood. I will add here that my very first car was a 1984 VW Scirocco (a stick as well), a german racing car. . .it was tiny, you couldn't get it into 1st gear ever, and it was just plain old. So you see I have had experience driving complicated cars. . .Jody tells me all the time I should have kept that car, but I traded it in for my lovely Ford Probe when I was 17!!!

Back to the story, we went to Garner to see my brother Josh, since he had shoulder surgery Tuesday. The girls picked out a card, some balloons and a stuffed dog to "cheer him up". We have to drive two cars since we can't fit in one. Time came for Jody to leave for work and I either had to leave with him or I could drive the VW home. After some coaxing Jody convinced to take the VW out for a spin around my parents neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods. I felt pretty comfortable so I passed! I didn't have any trouble driving it at all!!! We even stopped at the grocery store on the way home where I was bombarded with questions from people about the bug, telling me how cool it was, asking what year it was, how good of condition it was in for the year, etc. All in all I do believe that I like the VW and it can stay!!! I've added a few pictures of the VW for you to see, these pictures were taken right after we drove it home, it hadn't been washed in a while, it looks much better now. . .

Jody bought this car with the intentions of completely restoring it. So far he's had to do a lot of work to the car to keep it running, and hasn't really been able to do any cosmetic work to it!!! He loves this car. . .

Steel Toed Boots

So I had to put this on the blog. . .Jody we think broke his little toe (right foot) Sunday afternoon. He is always making fun of me and my Klutziness so when I was a witness to this injury, I had to gloat!!! Here's the story, he mis-judged how far away the ottoman was and went to step over it, when "crack". He fell on the floor, face first, caught by his hands luckily, because he lost his balance and was like, "I think I broke my toe. . .did you hear it pop"? I immediately said "NO", so as not to add fuel to the fire, when in actuality who didn't hear it pop in the house??? It immediately swelled up and started turning lovely shades of purple and red. He went to put on his tennis shoes for church Sunday night and couldn't even get them on!? When we woke up yesterday morning it looked awful and was very painful, I could tell. I took a picture so I could document the injury and tell the world! Now I can finally say to him, "I'm gonna buy you steel toed boots for your birthday" which is what he tells me all the time!

I do also have to say he did not want me to take a picture of his foot, Hee-Hee-Hee! Doesn't he have hairy feet??? Let's hope the girls don't inherit those feet!!!

A Message from Jody

Pastor Jamie was out of town this weekend so Jody was able to preach in his place (both the 8:30 & 11:00am services). I do have to say it was one of Jody's better messages if not the best. The message was fantastic, if you weren't able to hear it you missed out! God was truly speaking through him. He challenged us to live as a living sacrifice for Christ, surrender our life to Christ and get off the pews and serve! Many people said it was just what they needed, "a good kick in the pants"! He doesn't get the chance to preach very often, but is grateful when he can. The church has tapes if you would like a copy, just let us know! I also wanted to give you a job update on Jody. He decided to take a job at a Granite, Tile and Marble Showroom and left the YMCA after 8 years (the end of January)! He is able to interact with new people every day and do something new. He had been thinking of leaving the YMCA for a while and this was a great opportunity. He is able to focus now more on family and the church :-)

Valle Crucis

Here are some awesome pictures Jody took on a trip to Valle Crucis, NC last week with the YMCA.