Shana's Update: WEEE hours of the night

So....it is really late and for some reason I can't really get to sleep. Both my favorite men are fast asleep tucked in their beds (or cradle). I have been in Atlanta for over a week now, and I am so excited I still have over a week left till we go back to Louisville. I had a great past week, until I got sick. I was throwing up all night one night, then it faded away pretty fast. It was pretty crazy. Everybody that I hung out with on Sunday pretty much went through it this week, crazy!! That was no fun. Christmas was great as well. It was so cute watching Truett on Christmas, obviously he doesn't have a clue what was going on, but he did get his hands on some wrapping paper (pictures to follow shortly). Today was another great day. The boys all went to see Avatar while Judy and I (Truett too) stayed home and lazied around. We did a puzzle, laundry, ate good food, and started a sewing project. I am trying to build my confidence with my sewing machine one project at a time. Right now I am working on place mats for my dining room table. We'll see how they turn out. Then I am moving on to a curtains, and then an apron.

Lastly, I am so glad to be reunited with Josh. It has been a great couple of days being back together. He hasn't felt that great, but we have still had a good time with each other. This morning he was so sweet. Truett was crying and he took care of him. It was so cute They fell back to sleep, Truett on daddy's chest. Well, the next thing I knew it was like 9:30 and there was no Truett or Josh in sight. They let me sleep in. That was really sweet. Probably why it is 10:30 now and I am not that sleepy.

Almost there...

Night one of my first overnight shift is over. I worked 8pm until 8am. I cut, well, at least 40 tenderloins, and I don't know how many rib roasts. I worked with my boss, Jeff, and we got finished with time to spare. My hands and back hurt but it wasn't too bad. I got home around 8:30am and was in bed by 9. Weird. I feel like I've tricked my body into some crazy punk'd episode. I slept for 8 hours solid - up at 5pm. Now I'm about to go back to work. Another 8 to 8. But after this shift I come home and my friend from down the street, Will, is taking me to the airport at 11:30. I'll be in Atlanta by 3:30pm. We may try to make it to the Christmas Eve service at CCMA. It all depends on flight times and traffic out of Atlanta.

This has been a very strange Christmas for me. I've been alone for a week. Working. Preparing a sermon. Sleeping. Reading. Working. Sleeping. So far it hasn't felt much like Christmas. But tomorrow, Christmas is almost here. I'm looking forward to seeing my wife. I miss her a lot. I also miss Truett a ton. Its weird how much you can miss a little chunky kid that you've never had a conversation with. (No one can call him chunky except me. Got it? Besides, he's the cutest chunky kid of all time)

So - I was awake for 24 hours. Slept for 8. Now I start my next 24+ hours of awakeness. Then...Christmas. More importantly...family. (well, not more importantly in the history of the world. I mean, Christmas did signal the birth of the Messiah. Kind of a big deal. But you feel me right, dawg? And I mean dawg in the "friend" kind of way, not in the Georgia Bulldog kind of way. I would never mean it that way.)

Merry Christmas.

Best of 2009: Books

Its that time of year. Everybody is coming out with "best of" lists. This year is extra crazy because its the end of the decade. Now, all you "its-not-a-new-decade-until-2011" people just spare me. I get it. But its about to be 2010, and for the rest of us its a new decade. Since I can't remember enough stuff to make a "best of list" for the decade, and
I can barely remember what happened this year, and because I'm in seminary all I do is read (not really, but mostly), the best thing for me to make a list of is the books I've read. Here goes:

10 Best Books (Keep in mind I read very little for personal enjoyment, so most of these are books from classes. However, many of my classroom books ended up bringing a lot of personal enjoyment)

10. Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck (not quite finished with this one)

9. God's Greater Glory by Bruce Ware

8. I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norm Giesler & Frank Turek

7. Operation Solo by John Barron

6. Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul David Tripp

5. Pastoral Leadership for Manhood and Womanhood edited by John Piper & Wayne Grudem

4. Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

3. Humility by C.J. Mahaney

2. Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung

1. Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin

I don't know exactly how many books I've read (or mostly read) this year, but these are probably my favorites. I'm sure I left one or two out. The Institutes were amazing. Its something I never really thought I'd read - especially all of it. I'm very glad I took the class. Even if you're not a "Calvinist" (and Calvin wasn't all-the-way Calvinist), his views on most everything, especially living the Christian life are worth reading - even devotionally. The next two books are don't even come close to equalling Calvin in length, but were very impactful. Just Do Something is a perspective-changer on the will of God. The subtitle says it all, "How to make a decision without dreams, visions, fleeces, impressions, open doors, random Bible verses, casting lots, liver shivers, writing in the sky, etc." Read it. The third book, Humility was very challenging. Its devotional and practical in living a humble life and leading with humility. I won't describe each book, but I'm sure you can check them out on Amazon or whatever your online book retailer is.

OH - all you book people out there who want a good website to find the cheapest books on the web go here.

I don't know what my books will be for next year. I just bought a few new ones. All of our professors went to ETS (Evangelical Theological Society). They always bring back tons of book for the bookstore at half price. So I bought a few. Here's a short list of books I want to read in 2010 (some included are the books I just bought):

Religion Saves by Mark Driscoll

Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll

Adopted for Life by Russell Moore

The Deliberate Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander

Five Views on the Law and Gospel edited by Stanley Gundry

Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul

The Devoted Life by Kelly Kapic and Randall Gleason

Basic Christianity by John Stott

Knowing Christianity by J.I. Packer

Charles H. Spurgeon's Autobiography

Sherlock Holmes (yes, I know the movie is coming out and this is related to that excitement, but hey, they're good right?)

One book that I know I have to read for class is New Testament Theology by Thomas Schreiner. I'm taking a class by the same name taught by Dr. Schreiner. I'm really pumped about that one.

Anyway, that's my list.

Home Alone...AHHHH!

I feel a little like Kevin from Home Alone. Except for the part where I wished that my family disappeared. And except for the part where the bad guys try to break into my fun house of pain. I also don't have creepy neighbors that carry snow shovels and scowl frequently. I guess the only reason I feel like "the little jerk" is that I'm home alone until Christmas Eve. Shana went home with Truett and Zoe on Thursday morning. I can't go because of work. This is, by far, the busiest time of year for us at work. Where our meat department will do $32,000 in a really good week during the summer, we'll do $40k plus on the 23rd and 24th. So needless to say, there's no time off given.

I'm super jealous of Shana and Truett. Today she helped my mom host the annual "Stringer Family Christmas." Basically all of my dad's side of the family comes over. Its at least 50+ people. And we have an awesome family so its always fun. I've missed the last two after attending 29 in a row. I'm glad Shana got to go this year. She texted me some great pictures to confirm what I already knew - they had a great time! Tomorrow she gets to go to church with my parents - which is sweet. Then lunch with my bro and awesome Caitlin. Also, my friends the Watsons and Jordans will be there. AHHH... I have to be at work at 6am to place our meat and seafood orders. Seriously? They've charged me with ordering the most important orders of the year for our department. I'd rather be with my babe, baby, and friends. At least I'm getting some sweet overtime hours this week (10 so far).

Here's my work schedule for the next 4 days until I go home:

Sunday: 6am - 3pm (I think...I may get to come home early)

Monday: 10am - 10pm

Tuesday: 8pm - 8am Wednesday morning

Wednesday: 8pm - 8am Thursday morning

That's right! Two overnight shifts. How exciting. Actually, its not so bad. 12 hours with NO CUSTOMERS or PHONE CALLS! Nice. Basically all I do for 12 hours is cut rib roasts and trim and tie beef tenderloins. I bring my iPod and get to work.

Then I fly home on Thursday at 1:45pm. One of my great neighbors is giving me a ride to the airport on Christmas Eve. Speaking of great neighbors, tonight when I got home there was a plate of food on my doorstep. It was homemade mashed potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, and honey mustard style chicken. I think the Caskey's made the delivery...there wasn't a note, but they're those kind of people that would do something fantastic like that. Actually all my neighbors are, but Adina can flat out cook. So I'm guessing she had something to do with it.

So far the Home Alone time hasn't been too bad. Its quiet. I haven't watched much TV. I've listened to a lot of preaching and music. I've read a lot too. I'm also preparing a sermon. For those of you that don't know I'm preaching at Christ Church of Metro Atlanta on Sunday the 27th. Come if you can! I'm excited about it. I haven't preached in a while so it will be fun.

I think this blog entry is a little longer than I anticipated when I started. And by "a little longer" I mean much longer. I'm typing while watching the Saints mount a comeback against the stinkin' Cowboys. I think they'll come back and win. Just sayin'.

I think that's all. I have to be back at work in about 15 minutes (7 hours...it just feels like 15 minutes since I've only been home for 45 min.). Tomorrow should be a nice afternoon off though. I'll finish my sermon and I'm pretty sure I have a nap I have to take. Good night blogland.

Prayer Request: UPDATE on Jimmy

It's 9:33 pm. I just got back from the U of L hospital. Jimmy had just gotten out of his 3rd surgery a few hours before. John and I got to go back to the ICU and see him. John explained a lot to me. Jimmy was walking home on Sunday night and came up on a few guys. This part is a little sketchy as far as details go. There was only so much the the police told John. He was basically in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was shot 8 times in the abdominal area. One of the bullets severed his femoral artery (the huge artery that goes from the heart to the leg). He was still conscious when the cops got there and was able to give a description of the shooter before he went out. When the femoral artery is severed you can bleed out in a matter of minutes. When Jimmy got to the ER the doctors were amazed he was even alive. Throughout the next several hours he was given 48 units of blood. 48!! That doesn't include the plasma. The doctors told John and the family that it looked grim and to expect the worst. However, people were praying. He survived the first surgery. Then the next. Then the next. The doctors saved both of his legs and he is now in an induced coma. He's on a respirator but could breath on his own if it were ok for him to be awake. He's in stable condition, but not totally out of the woods. Its a very real miracle that he's alive.

Thank you for those of you who are praying. Keep praying for Jimmy, the doctors, and his family. Jimmy is a new and growing believer, but his family members are not Christians. He is a member of a great church (Emmanuel Baptist Church) and his community group is really ministering to the family (food, places to sleep, laundry, etc.). So pray that God would bring his family to salvation through this whole experience. Tonight I really got to see the family of God BE the family of God. Their light was so shining in a way that they were drawing the lost to the Lord. AMEN!!

So tonight was very encouraging. It was great to hang out with John. We talked about serious stuff and about very light hearted, spirit lifting stuff. It was a good time. Pray for John that he could continue to pastor and love this family. He'll need strength and a strong, alert mind. Pray for endurance and wisdom. He will be able to give great counsel to Jimmy's family.

I'll post more updates as I hear about them.

URGENT Prayer Request

It's 5:05 AM, on Tuesday morning. I'm getting ready for work. I noticed that I had a voicemail on my phone from late last night. It was John Tucker (Canadian John... read about him below). He is involved in a ministry to men who are saved out of really rough, and most of the time homeless backgrounds. The ministry provides these men with a structured environment and a place to live. John lives with these guys in a big house right next door to the church they attend in downtown Louisville. Its not the best part of town. One guy in particular is named Jimmy. I've met Jimmy several times. He came to stay with John for a few weeks when John lived across from us. He's a great guy with a rough past. Jesus changed his life. Last night Jimmy was shot. I don't know all the details. Only what John left on my phone. He said its "touch and go" at this point. Pray that Jimmy lives. I don't really know what else to write about it, but I'm just asking for your prayers for this brother.

Shana's Update: Oh How I love Life.

Truett turns 17 weeks tomorrow. I can hardly believe it. I simply love this little guys so much, I am so thankful everyday for the gift to stay home and be a mom and wife. It makes life so much happier.

This was a very eventful past couple of weeks. We said goodbye to two people (I guess it all starts now). Everybody is in a bit of transition here at Seminary so we always knew that goodbyes would happen, but it is sad that they have started already, time really flies by. We went to dinner last Friday with our friend John Tucker. Also known as Canadian John. He graduated and is headed back north to Pastor a church. We are super sad to see him go, I know Josh is going to miss him a bunch, he was his bike riding partner amongst many other things.

Here is one of the few family pics we have. We have tons of pictures of Truett and Josh or Truett and Me, but none of us all together. So, we went to a going away party for yet another one of my friends here and got a shot of us together too. Look at Truett he is so stinking cute.

Here are all my neighbor moms. Also known as the Red Umbrella Ladies. They have become some of my closest friends. Here we are pictured at a going away party for one of them, Sarah (dark hair, back right). They really have been such a blessing to me. We see each other everyday since we lived next door, below, or above each other. They have become almost like sisters. Sarah is the first to leave, and I am super sad. Thinking back to our first day moving in, Sarah was the first one to greet me and welcome me to the neighborhood. We became friends instantly. She has 2 adorable girls and one boy (picture here). Another really great thing, is that we were all pregnant this last round together. Here we are pictures with all our babies. Rachel (in the middle) has since had her baby. It has been such a blessing to have a group of moms right around the corner. To run to their doorstep with an open diaper asking what was on my son's butt. To share a cup of oil or flour. We have sat outside for hours under the red umbrella talking about whatever the wind blew. Sarah has taken the red umbrella with her to her new home. Who knows when the warmer months come where we will sit next. This really is an amazing period in my life. I am so glad that we added on to our family while in this environment. To be surrounded with women like these is such a blessing. Women who love the Lord, love their children, respect their husbands, and are honest as the day is long. I am going to miss Sarah so much, but I guess this is only the beginning of us all going our separate ways. My only hope is that we stay in touch as we spread out.

Jesus Held For Ransom

I saw this on my friend Andy Darnell's blog (link on the right). Isn't this why Martin Luther started the Reformation? So people like Jean don't have to depend on statues of Jesus to protect her dogs' right to poopie? This video cracks me up!

Truett Videos: Laughter heals all things!

Here are some more videos of the most adorable kid on this planet. Can you tell we can't get enough of his laughter.

Us playing at my work on campus.


Josh playing with Truett.


Me playing with Truett.

It has begun...

Well. Its winter. yay. Winter.

I took this on my phone this morning. Yay. Snow.

Obama's War Decision

I haven't had much time to pay attention to Obama's plan for Afghanistan or the war in general, but I think I got the idea of what he's saying. To the Dems he's sounding more like Bush and to the GOP his pre-planned exit strategy is telling the bad guys our plans. Here's my quick theory on his plan and why its changed since his election campaign: When he was on the campaign trail he was planning out of ignorance. He made promises that he didn't know he couldn't keep. There were probably a lot of things going on behind the scenes that was so top secret that he had no idea about. That's probably the reason that Bush had to make some of his decisions about the war. There's so much stuff going on that we don't have any idea about. Once Obama was elected and got all the information he had to change his tune. Notice that when he got elected he didn't touch the war topic for a while. I know the economy was/is pressing, but he never mentioned it even in the face of pressure. Why? He was briefed on ALL of the information that he didn't have prior to becoming the commander and chief. He had to change his position. If that's the case, and I realize that this is totally my opinion, he should just tell us that he's gotten new information that he can't disclose that's caused him to change. It makes sense. It also makes Bush look a lot less stupid for his decisions. Anyway, that's just my opinion.

Shana's Update: Thanksgiving

Dean and Judy came up for the week of Thanksgiving. We had a really great time. Truett was definitely the main event because all we did was hang out pretty much. We had a really good time. As always really good food too. Here are some videos from the week. Truett was always our center piece at the table and we all had a lot of fun with him. As you can see two of the videos are him in the bumbo on the dining room table.


Here is one with Dean playing with Truett. Dean seems to have the touch to always make Truett laugh.



Here is Judy with Truett talking his head off.


Truett at the dinner table again.

Shana's Update:Toby Mac

Most of you who know me that I am a fan of Toby Mac's music. Well, we took our students to the Winter Slam where he was playing along with some other great artists. We had a really great time. We even took Truett. No worries his head was full of cotton, but I am sure I got a few crazy looks from people wondering why I had a baby there. I only saw one other baby there besides mine.


Right now this is my favorite song of his. You can hear me jamming to this while driving down the street occasionally. Or hear me jamming with this in the ipod as I clean house.


You can see all of us jamming.

P.s. I said jamming a lot. :)

Truett Video: Dance Dance

Last Friday the Joneses were out of town (they live below us) so we thought it was a good opportunity to pull out the Dance Dance Revolution game for our students. We had a really good time. Here is Scott playing with Truett.


This video is to get back at Josh for my drumming Rock Band video. If you haven't seen that you can check out our youtube videos for it.

Need A Christmas Card? Let Me Help!

To make some extra money this Christmas I'm offering my services to design you and your family a Christmas card this year. Now that school's out I have some extra time. Here's how it works: You send me what ever picture or pictures that you want on your card with some idea of what you want (colors, scripture, names, design ideas, etc.) and I'll make it happen. I'll send you back a high resolution JPEG of your card that you can take to be printed. Or you can do like we're doing this year and use shutterfly.com to print ours. I think they print 4x6 for .14 cents/print. I'm not sure what to charge. I was thinking about $10/design. Shana said $25 but you can get them done at Costco for way cheaper. Shutterfly does their cards for $1.49/print. But, if you take my $10 design and print them for .14 cents/print you'll save some money! Here's a price comparison for online printing with different sizes. Anyway, if you want one done I could probably have a one day turn around.

Here's our card for this year:

That's my offer! Post a comment or email me if you have questions.

Thanksgiving Past: Turducken

A few years ago I embarked on a journey to create something that I had never done before. A Turducken. At work I made a lot of these this year (over 50). However, the ones we make at work are only the breast meat of the Turkey, Duck, and Chicken. The one I made was actually the whole de-boned birds of each kind stuffed inside of each other. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work. It was a great one-time experience that tasted great. So great that I'll never do it again - at least not for free. Here are the pictures:

Way-Back Wednesday: Thanksgiving Ed.

(New Logo)

My parents are in town for Thanksgiving.

Mom is making breakfast, Dad is walking the dogs (yes, dogs - plural. Bogie is back in town for the week), Shana is feeding Truett, and I'm doing this - then to work. Yikes.

Last night dad and I went to the mall looking for a new game. We have a game store called "Just Do Something." There is also a puzzle store, so we went there too. I saw this puzzle that easily makes the Way-Back criteria being a way-back piece of nostalgia (click on it to see what I mean):

Thanksgiving usually brings families together right? I hope that is the case with your family. It is with mine. However, Andy is not here. So, I found some Way-Back pictures to post on here of our me and Andy. Let's get in the Way-Back machine and remember.... Happy Thanksgiving! (I'll have a post tomorrow (maybe) on the bird we're eating)

Shana's Update: Giving up the books (for now)

Truett is doing amazingly well with his sleep this week. I started reading the book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution." It is packed full of ideas on how to get your babies to sleep longer, go to bed easier, and nap better. I was worried a little bit because Truett doesn't nap by the book (6 hours a day), I am lucky if he sleeps 4, but he is a good night sleeper. Which after doing my logs realized that he sleeps more at night then the books says. So, that makes me feel better. Also, seeing that he isn't fussy and doesn't seem to be exhausted all the time. I guess my baby is ok. Well, I implemented a few of the ideas from this book and Truett is sleeping longer in between feeding now at night which is great for mommy. I am now getting between 3 and 5 hours of sleep at a time, as before I was getting 1 to 3 hours. Mommy is better rested which makes daddy happy too.

You are probably wondering why I say I am giving up the books for now. Well, my gracious husband has helped point out to me that Truett has slid into my number one spot of priorities of my life right now, giving God and my husband whatever is leftover at the end of the day. This was really easy to do. Also, I have been consumed in my parenting books trying a new idea almost everyday, and what Josh, many friends, and one of my books pointed out you have to give things time. Well, I have been driving Josh crazy with no stability in this. So, I am giving up the books for the rest of the year. We are going to stay on this course and see where it takes us.

I feel a huge burden to make sure we raise Truett right and so I consume myself with books. I think my friends have probably even gotten sick of hanging out with me and talking to me because all I ever talk about is Truett and ask parenting questions. Well, this is me asking forgiveness and asking for your help to stop this. There is more to me then being a mom, I am a child of God (number 1) and Josh's wife (number 2). I need to cultivate those a little bit more.

P.S. Dean and Judy are on there way to Louisville as we speak, SO EXCITED!

Truett Videos: Happy Truett

Truett is super happy and showing all kinds of emotions now. He'll actually interact with us now. Here he is playing with us last night. He looks so cute in his pjs and socks. He wores this half the day because it was a pj day. Aunt Heidi got him these pjs and Vena got him these socks. I love both of them.

Worship Project

This semester I'm taking "Biblical Theology of Worship" with Dr. Bruce Ware. I've learned a ton and its been great. One thing that he's had us do is a Worship Arts project. I could have written some music, a hymn, stuff like that. There were several options. What I decided to was to write a poem, use some Scripture, and illustrate the whole thing. Here's what I came up with.

I started with this picture. It's me in my parents' basement. I took it back in October. I had an idea back then of what I wanted to do. They had a white wall, I had a camera. Here I am.
Then I found a picture of a road, which for some reason I can't find on my computer right now but it looked similar to this one:
Anyway, I added a bubble/force field thing which represents the protection of the Word. I added the dark sky, some extra clouds and lightening using some sweet photoshop effects. I added myself, made the ground quake, and wrote a poem. I'm kind of putting myself out there with the poetry...which was the hard part for me. I'll turn it in on Friday. I'm going to take it and get it professionally printed. So anyway, here's the final project:

Worship Project

This semester I'm taking "Biblical Theology of Worship" with Dr. Bruce Ware. I've learned a ton and its been great. One thing that he's had us do is a Worship Arts project. I could have written some music, a hymn, stuff like that. There were several options. What I decided to was to write a poem, use some Scripture, and illustrate the whole thing. Here's what I came up with.

I started with this picture. It's me in my parents' basement. I took it back in October. I had an idea back then of what I wanted to do. They had a white wall, I had a camera. Here I am.
Then I found a picture of a road, which for some reason I can't find on my computer right now but it looked similar to this one:
Anyway, I added a bubble/force field thing which represents the protection of the Word. I added the dark sky, some extra clouds and lightening using some sweet photoshop effects. I added myself, made the ground quake, and wrote a poem. I'm kind of putting myself out there with the poetry...which was the hard part for me. I'll turn it in on Friday. I'm going to take it and get it professionally printed. So anyway, here's the final project:

Debuts and Changes...Way-Back Wednesday

A new blog is coming soon. But until then... here's a new feature.Every Wednesday I'll be taking a dip into the pool of the past. Several of you do fun stuff on different days. Meggan does Multitude Monday, Jennifer used to do Wordless Wednesdays, The Koons do their Friday Five. So here's mine. "Way-Back Wednesday." The name isn't original but the logo is. Although I might change it when I get some time. Until then.... enjoy today's peek into the past.

Let's get in the Way-Back Machine. Today we're going back to the 80's. Remember watching Saturday morning cartoons? Here's two videos featuring some of the best cartoon intros from the 80's. The Way-Back Question of the Week: What was your favorite cartoon growing up?

Creepy

This is creepy. Here's the caption that went with the picture:

"A Beijing shop owner is celebrating Obama mania and the 60th anniversary of communist China by selling what's been dubbed 'Oba Mao' products."

While that is creepy, this is hilarious....and true.

Shana's Update: testing 123

Better Videos...

Ha! I bet you thought there would be more Truett videos. Soon. But in the mean time here are more videos from Truett's favorite band, Need To Breathe, off their myspace page - also where you can listen to all of their albums for free!

Randomness...

I'm in the library trying to focus on this paper I have to write. I think I need to unwind a little before the creative juices start flowing. So here's a little type-barf to get it going...

I discovered a new favorite preacher this week. His name is Darrin Patrick. My pastor at Crossing, Dustin, often cites him in his bibliography on his sermon notes. So I looked him up. This guy is good. On the mornings when I have to open at work by myself, I usually take my ipod an listen to music. But I heard a message a few weeks ago by a professor here (Jim Hamilton, "the human cross reference" is my nickname for him) and he mentioned "redeeming the time." I've heard this phrase before. So I thought about time that I have and how I can make the most of it. Dude, working by myself is boring and easy - hence the ipod. So instead of listening to music I've started listening to sermons. I've done this before in the past, but its much more intentional now. Anyway, I've listened through a few series by this guy Patrick. He's good. You should check him out. He has a free podcast on iTunes from his church in St. Louis - The Journey.

I really like Candy Corn. When people make autumn trail mix they usually include nuts, m&m's, raisins, and probably candy corn. My trail mix would be candy corn only.

Today I got a text from my great friend Zach Watson. Here's what it said, "Just want 2 let u know I love u and I'm praying the Lord use u, your studying, and your family for his glory, which, of course, is your greatest possible joy." We don't see each other a lot due to the miles. We're both really busy - kids, work, school, etc... - so we don't talk as much as we'd like, but when you get a God-honoring, brother sharpening text, like that in the middle of a 5am-2pm shift at work, it just puts things in perspective. Thank you my friend. God used your obedience today to bless me. Its good to have friends who are faithful to the Lord.

I have a huge list of books that I want to read when the semester is over. It will be nice to read for pleasure one day.

When I do listen to music at work this is the band of the month...maybe of the year, for me.

Need To Breathe. They're one of those "kind-of-Christian" bands. They do have several songs that are totally God focused, but others that are just Switchfoot-ish. I don't mind a band like this as long as they are up front about it and don't try to sell their "poetic mystery person" as some allusion to God, but on secular radio its really about a girl in Texas they met on a road trip. Know what I'm saying? The real reason I like this band - the music. Look, I'm the type that when it comes to music, if I don't like that music style, it doesn't matter how good the lyrics are, I'm probably not going to go out of my way to listen. Its totally a preference thing and I'll be the first to admit that. *Note that this does not apply to corporate worship styles* What I'm saying is that I like certain types of music and I can't stand country music. It doesn't matter how often they talk about how Jesus is behind the wheel. I don't jive with the country so much. ANYWAY - this band, Need To Breathe - they are everything I like about music. A little blues. A lot southern rock. A little gospel (the music style, not the message). A little jazz. A touch of bluegrass (not the same as country). If somehow they could work in some r&b/hip hop I'd be in heaven (don't know how that would be possible). So, here are some videos and I'm done...

Gotta love the slide guitar at the end.

Darrin Patrick...not much on YouTube, but here's some good teaching on the Word. More on his website.

Shana's Update: I would do it all again.

Here is a picture of Truett fresh out of the womb. Moments later the camera crashed to the floor. He is so precious i would do it all over again.

Shana's Update: Labor

I just found these pictures on my computer. Thought I would share them with the world.

This is my labor and delivery room. That bed was like a transformer into all different kinds of positions. I absolutely loved my experience at this hospital.

I hated this position, but had to do it every couple of hours so they got a read on Truett.
In between contractions. This was in my room.

Shana's Update: New Label

Made a new label called Truett Videos, mostly with grandparents in mind. So if you scroll down on the right you'll see a label called Truett Videos. When you click on that it will pull up all the videos on Truett on the blog. Enjoy.

Shana's Update: Dad

I love watching my husband be a dad. Last night and this morning he was the sweetest ever. The past week Truett's sleeping patterns got all out of wack. After talking to Jennifer, he is most likely going through a growth spurt. I went to bed last night early when Truett went to sleep while Josh took care of Zoe and a few other things after he came home from work, which was after a full day of classes. He really is the best. Well, this morning when I woke up Josh was making a homemade breakfast. Homemade pancakes and sausage. It was really yummy. Then after breakfast he cleaned up the kitchen (even better) while I took a shower. When I got out of the shower this is what I saw. I thought it was adorable my man cleaning the kitchen with Truett strapped to him. Truett is really growing up these days and recognizing Josh recently. So, I think Josh is having a lot more fun with him. Truett googled at Josh in the ergo this morning, they had a good time laughing at each other.

Shana's Update: Truett

This is one of Truett's new play spots while mommy is on the computer. He is growing up so fast that now he is starting to entertain himself. Obviously mommy is helping out a bit here.

Shana's Update: Favorite Things

This is Truett and I walking down Hillcrest the day before Halloween. You can see Zoe down there too. Josh had never gotten to see it all decked out in their Halloween garb. They are pretty crazy about their Halloween decorations. Well anyways, this is me in my Mobe type wrap. It isn't exactly a Mobe, but it is just like one. This one is from Target. It is one of my favorite things. Seriously!! After finally getting the hang of it watching tons of youtube video on how to use it, it seriously is one of my favorite baby gifts. I never leave home with out it, no joke. It is always in my diaper bag. Since it is just 5 yards of material it fits nicely in my bag. Truett takes at least one nap in it a day about. He likes it a ton, sometimes when he is really cranky/tired I can put him in it and he goes right to sleep. Not to mention he takes way better naps when I wear him in it. As you can see here he is fast asleep.

Shana's Update: Hair cut

A couple of weeks ago I attempted to go get my haircut and had my first breakdown. I had Truett snug in his car seat walking into my appointment when they said sorry we can't see you unless someone is watching Truett. I was like what. I thought surely they won't not see me maybe a warning, nope. I went home with the same hair I walked in with. I was so mad and sad. I cried all the way back home. I was having a bad body image day that day too. The weather had just dropped and I threw on a jacket that has never been snug since I purchased it. Well on the way there I noticed it was really snug in my shoulders. Needless to say on the way home I was feeling really down about myself. I could careless most of the time if I wore makeup or not, but I care a lot about my hair. I felt so down, I came home and cried to Josh and saying I was fat and ugly and of course he was floored. Well that day finally passed and we figured something out. So my husband was an awesome husband last week. He met me at the hair salon so that I could get my hair cut and waited in the car with Truett. I was there for about an hour. What a trooper he was. Now I feel pretty again. Next week I will start to work my gym schedule back into my daily routine. Need to get my belly back to normal. We'll see about that.

I'm Still Yours

This song is great.

I'm Still Yours lyrics

If You washed away my vanity
If You took away my words
If all my world was swept away
Would You be enough for me?
Would my beating heart still sing?

If I lost it all
Would my hands stay lifted
To the God who gives and takes away

If You take it all
This life You've given
Still my heart will sing to You

When my life is not what I expected
The plans I made have failed
When there's nothing left to steal me away
Will You be enough for me?
Will my broken heart still sing?

If I lost it all
Would my hands stay lifted
To the God who gives
And takes away

If You take it all
This life You've given
Still my heart
Will sing to You

Even if You take it all away
You’ll never let me go
Take it all away
But I still know

That I'm Yours
I'm still Yours

Oh, I'm Yours
I'm still Yours
I'm still Yours

Dr. Moore's Blog on Racism and The Gospel:

If you want to follow any of the links he mentions in the article his blog is on our bloglist in the side bar. This is worth your time...

A few weeks ago, I told the folks in my congregation to forget all the pictures of white people they’ve seen in their childhood Sunday school Bible story books. The only white people in the Bible were lepers.

But white supremacy dies hard.

The Texas Baptist Standard newspaper recently published an article about trans-ethnic adoption, and about the ways our Lord is using orphan care to break down barriers of racial division. Buried within the story, though, is an anecdote that ought to get all of our attention.

The newspaper says that a missionary couple were forbidden, by official church action, to speak in some churches because of the fact that their Tanzanian-born children are of a different ethnicity than the people church.

Now, let me say first of all, I cannot independently verify that this actually happened. All that I know is what I read in the newspaper, in this case. But the very question ought to make us think.

When Joel Rainey, a church planting strategist from Maryland, read the article, he posted the following on my Facebook wall: “The church that refused to let this couple speak because of their racist ideology should be disfellowshipped at the associational, state, and national level.”

He went on to say that white supremacist churches (or, I’m sure he’d agree, black supremacist churches, for that matter) are no different than congregations disfellowshipped for supporting sexual liberationist ideologies, “disobedient to Scripture in order to appeal to the darker elements of culture.”

I could not agree more.

As I’ve written so many other places that I’ll not reiterate it here, white supremacy is idolatrous and not consonant with a gospel that finds us in Christ Jesus, a gospel that reconciles us to God and to one another (Eph. 2-3) and that crucifies every ounce of pride in the flesh (Phil. 3).

If we’re going to be missional, if we’re going to resurge together for the Great Commission, it will mean first recognizing that racial bigotry isn’t just “politically incorrect.” It’s of the spirit of antichrist, and must go.

And, by the way, let’s also change our Sunday school storybook Bible pictures.