This past Friday night Russ and I went with our friends Stacey and Aaron to our church's marriage ministry dinner/date night. Laura and John Kasey (kicker for the Carolina Panthers) spoke candidly about their marriage. We had a wonderful time, good food, good conversation. Here are a couple of pictures.

By the way, check out my new "do" with my new bangs! The picture doesn't do it justice, but I have the BEST haircut I have ever had.

10-year high school reunion here I come!
Well, maybe.
Cause I have been having doubts about going. Who am I going to talk to? The people I avoid every time I am in town? They are the whole reason I don't go to East Hills Mall or Walmart when I am in Joetown.
Well, whatever.
Actually, no, not whatever. How does one navigate the social scene at a reunion? Can I talk to just the people I like? If anyone has some pointers for how to survive a reunion I never thought I would go to, please do tell. I am blaming the fact that I am going on Ann P. Seems like she talked me into it:-)

Happy Mother's Day

My mom...

She put up with...
my diaper phase,
my tomboy phase,
my gymnastic phase,
my Sandi Patti phase,
my awkward phase,
my country music and cowboy boots phase,
my boy-crazy phase,
my Pom-Pon phase,
my dance phase,
my paint the bedroom furniture black with colored handprints phase,
my grunge phase,
my overalls phase,
my acne phase
my no make-up phase,(yes, I think I combined the phase above with this one, Yikes!)
my angry phase,
my know-it-all phase (okay, maybe not a phase:-),
my rebellious phase,
my "I hate church" phase,
my losing weight phase,
my gaining weight phase,
my losing weight again phase,
my wedding planning Bridezilla phase,
and my now grown adult, no-more-phases phase.

Here's to you, Mom....and all the other moms I know and love who put up with phases: Jana, Shannon, Crazy Carol, Grandma Fearing, Aunt Jill, Aunt Cheri, Jen, Stacey, Stephanie, Kelly, Kristin, Jill, Brooke, Alisa and Chris...

Happy Mother's Day!

Okay, I'm back.

Where did April and half of May go?

Where did the time go?

Well, it went to writing Marital Therapy papers, housecleaning, dog-sitting, baby-sitting, a women's retreat, and weekend classes,

it went to hours inside the walls of counseling witnessing clients fight it out with themselves, God, their circumstances, and their relationships,

it went to more fights with our neighbor and an unexpected visit from the Charlotte Police dept...Animal Control Division,

it went to too many fast-food meals and not enough visits to Curves,

it went to scholarship applications, emails, phone calls, and appointments,

it went to Grey's Anatomy and American Idol,

it went to quickie quiet times, a few nervous breakdowns, and prayers on the fly,

it went to driving, driving, and more driving with gas almost $3 a gallon,

Yeah, April and half of May came and it went, and I think I need to read Max Lucado's "Cure for the Common Life: How to Live in Your Sweet Spot"

cause the common life runs away with me sometimes, or rather grabs me and drags me around by the neck, and even though I pretend Max Lucado is beneath me, he really is my secret guilty pleasure...

Anyhoo, despite my crazy, scattered days, I have clung to a couple of verses these past weeks,

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, But Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me." Galatians 2:20

"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love." I John 4:16

I have been thinking a lot about how much of God's truth I know, versus how much I believe. It isn't enough just to know he loves me, I have to believe it.

Trusting and beleiving is so much more than knowing, and let's face it, when push comes to shove in real life, in those crazy, scattered days, what we trust and beleive is fully exposed, and often it isn't anything close to God's truth.

What would my life or your life look like if we truly lived "life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God"?

A life of belief, not just knowledge or rhetoric.


Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.