shabby blog

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Because of who I'm NOT

Our sermon at Church Sunday was simple,
yet packed with a lot for me to chew on,
on prayer,
Does God listen to my prayers?
Does he listen to what I have to say?
In Luke there's a parable on prayer based on a pharisee and a tax collector,
"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ' God I thank you that I am not like other people- robbers, evildoers, adulterers- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ' God, have mercy on me, a sinner".
" I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."


So bottom line,
Jesus heard and justified the worst of them all, the money steeling, womanizing, drunken tax collector,
simply because he cried out for mercy,
his heart was in a place of humility.
period.
I have always liked to think of myself as a good person,
I never got in much trouble in high school,
I didn't drink,
I didn't smoke,
I didn't hook up with guys,
got my school work done,
I actually LIKED going to church,
I was nice to most people,
I went on mission trips,
I didn't swear,
I went to a christian college,
Dated one guy and married him,
I pay my credit card bill on time,
only had 1 speeding ticket (up until a month ago),
read Christian parenting books,
I go to bible study,
my husband is in ministry,
I make my bed,
take my vitamins,
I tithe,
I could go on......
Now of course I know I am not perfect,
I have my faults
but
As egotistical as it sounds, when it comes down to it,
when I really examine my heart,
I often believe that God would listen and lean into my prayers a little more ( ok, a lot more) than the next guy,
certainly more than someone like the Aurora, CO theatre shooter,
certainly more than friends of mine who live for the next party,
I often feel as if God owes me something for my faithfulness,
because I do ______________ (fill in the blank)
I deserve __________________ (fill in the blank)
but yet if my prayers are ones of entitlement, and self righteousness,
If my heart is in that place,
I am no different than the pharisee,
In the parable, it had nothing to do with the words of each prayer but everything to do with the heart behind each prayer.
I believe God loves me unconditionally,
but do I believe he listens to me unconditionally?
We lose control when we realize we can't convince God of anything.
So I hope my prayers come from a place of sincere humility,
recognition that God is God and I am not.
Because of who I am NOT, God listens to me.


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Mountains to Sea

Whoa!
We are back from our summer travels!
Trip had a great week at Frontier, 9 out of 15 guys in his cabin stood up at say so to announce their decision to follow Christ.
That's what it's all about my friends,
that's what counts,
that's eternal life change,
that's what matters.
He said it was probably his favorite cabin of guys he has ever had,
that's saying a lot considering he has had at least 15 years worth of summer camp cabins!
Trip met me down at the beach after his week of camp and we got to go out on a date (after he recovered from the stomach bug),
my sister in law asked us what we talked about over dinner,
and literally we talked about YL the entire time,
about camp and other things,
but that's our life,
it's often what we talk about because it's so much more than a job,
I wanted to hear all the details about his week,
because I get it,
I know the amazing life change that can happen amongst leaders and kids.
Trip felt bad about missing time with my family and me and Brooks at the beach for the 4th of July to be at Frontier but I reminded him that he was EXACTLY where he needed to be.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
And Brooks and I did have such a great two weeks at the beach with family.
I love being down there with everyone because being home can get lonely,
just me and Brooks all day,
I love my time with him but it's nice to have other adults and kids around all the time.
I could have stayed another two weeks for sure.
I love that my kids will get to have the same memories at the same house at Sea Island as me and my brothers had.
It's fun to watch all our kids play in the yard and pool that we grew up in.
That's special to me.
Brooks is saying more words by the day,
his latest obsession is his matchbox cars!
Oh my goodness, he is obsessed,
he says "car" and "beep beep" all day long!
He loved walking around in the shallow part of the pool at the beach club,
and he loved playing in the sand,
and pulling his wagon,
and loves the golf cart,
All in all, awesome summer at the beach!

outdoor showering it up every night!

4th of July parade


 riding with d-daddy, 
d-daddy didn't know I was taking the pic because he doesn't look very happy
our golf cart died in the middle of the parade!
But we filled it with bottle water to get us through the rest of it 
and then it died again at the very end,
rookie mistake


they loved watching William and Henry,
Brooks kept saying "bebe"

this is funny because Chappell never uses a paci


impossible to get a pic of all 6



mmmm Aunt Audrey's cookies





having a moment with cool Uncle Andrew

all about the sand

cake




William and Henry lounging, they are just the cutest!

pushing Mason

future looks so bright...

We have had an insane week coming back,
Brooks got the stomach bug,
I got the stomach bug,
a tree fell in our yard,
our basement flooded,
we have to get a new AC unit,
our house is hot,
our power bill is insanely high
somebody hit Trip's car,
I still have morning sickness,
and we are trying to train our puppy.
I want to go back to the beach,
but that's not reality,
I need more Jesus!




Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Maine Attraction

Brooks and I sent Trip off to the airport this morning to go to Frontier with kids for a week,
sad to see him go without me but more on that later!

Last weekend we took a little vacay,
To Boston, and Maine,
we went with our pals the Ragones,
we had such a great time.
we really love traveling and always want to find ways to do it despite being on a tight budget and having a toddler, a puppy, and a baby on the way!
it's just good for the soul to see different parts of the country and different parts of the world!
I think it's worth the money if you can make it happen!
Before we drove up to Kennebunkport,
we had a day in Boston and we got to go to a Braves/Red Sox game at Fenway park which was so fun,
I like baseball,
but Trip LOVES baseball,
 and it was fun to see him so excited about the game,
I loved it too but I know it was extra special for him,
and fun we got to share it together,
I love watching him do things that he loves,
it makes me happy.
I loved Kennebunkport and seeing all the cute houses and shops,
I love towns on the water.
Brooks went to the mountains with d-daddy and MeMa while we were gone
He had lots of fun and mom said he even spotted a bear on the porch (from inside don't worry)
He said "ohhh" and then started barking "woof woof".
Can't believe how big he is getting,
lately I just feel like he is changing so much and really turning into a little boy.
Just yesterday I looked at him through my rearview mirror in the car and thought to myself time is moving so fast!
It's like they say, the days are long but the years are short!
He is so much fun,
I am sure I will keep saying that as time passes but it's true!
he laughs all the time (wonder where he gets that?)
So here are some pics to recap
Brooks at the mountains

Red Sox/Braves game at Fenway



I just love all the houses in Kennebunkport, 
in my next life I would love to have a place on the ocean in Maine :)

Walker Point, the Bush compound! So pretty!


Lobster cruise, we had a lot of fresh seafood!!!




Mom took some sweet pics of Brooks while we were away, 
I just love my little man!