Thanksgiving 2010

As Jeff and I were thinking back over the blessings of this past year - we realized that we have so much to be thankful for - family and friends top the list!  This year we got to spend Thanksgiving with the DeMaios - we love these friends and the fun they bring into our lives!  We also love that they are on the "journey to Ethiopia" with us - our two families will be forever connected by the little ones we bring home - we're so thankful for that!  Here are a few pics from our Thanksgiving -

Gearing up for the big football game

The DeMaio's were the winners!

Dustin playing "Just Dance" - we also have video, but I'll spare you! :)

Time-Out

I had to give myself a time-out today!  I used to use time-outs with our girls (with varying degrees of effectiveness), but those days are long gone and, sadly, now it seems I need to use them on myself. 
I have this tendency to fix my eyes on all that I need to accomplish (which right now is a lot) and then it's full steam ahead!  As the wheels get rolling I tend to become less and less concerned with what's alongside the road - which includes such things as my husband, my girls, my friends, my good-attitude (to name a few). 
I just had to stop today - literally, to give myself a 10 minute time-out!  During that time, I asked God to forgive me for being so busy.  Busyness is not God's idea - it's one we've come up with all on our own.  Busyness robs me of precious connections with my family, precious time with my Creator - it wears me out, shortens my fuse and really just makes me an all-around grouch!  So today, I had a time-out!  And it was good.  I'm wondering what my girls didn't like about them...I'm hoping to have another one tomorrow!

So Thankful

So thankful for this handsome guy...

And for this family (and sweet little E.too) - you probably noticed an extra one in there! :)

And for the bright sunshine - even though it messes with my picture-taking abilities...and fall festivals and cooler temperatures and time spent together...I love spending fall with my family!

Are you Passionate?

Each week the ladies on staff at Southbrook get together for a Bible study.  I love this time!  I love these women!  Each one of them is beautiful inside and out and I feel like I gain so much strength and insight from the time we spend together - I feel blessed to call them friends. 
We take turns leading our Bible study time and this week, it was my turn...I thought I'd share my thoughts here as well.

Passion – I think this is a word that some of us have a hard time defining. I know when I think of passion I immediately think of Italians – they are passionate about food, family and having the last word. Their passion usually manifests itself in loud, in-your face communication (I can say this because I’m married to a man with some Italian-blood running through his veins). I realize I’m stereotyping here a little bit, but you get the picture - we usually think of passionate people as people who speak loudly and proudly and without a whole lot of concern for what others think about what they have to say. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but when I look at that definition of passion, I don’t fit the bill - so does that mean I’m not a passionate person – I’m not a passionate Christ-follower? I don’t think so.

I'm beginning to look at passion in a slightly different way. In Colossians 3:23 it says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

This verse reminds me to be “breathless” with dedication to God’s calling and purposes for me. I love the word “breathless”. It makes me think of those times when someone or something has amazed or surprised me. And that’s exactly the way I feel about what God is doing in and through me each day – there are times when God’s love, provision and plan knocks the breath right out of me. That sort of breathlessness stirs up passion in me – maybe a quieter, less in-your- face passion, but passion nonetheless - and I need passion because I can’t live without what it produces – and neither can you!

Passion Produces Drive – with passion we have the enthusiasm for pushing ahead. With passion, we have the energy to drive through to the finish line, even when things get difficult.

Passion Produces Possibilities – with a passion that believes in the power of God, the possibilities are endless. If we could accomplish the work with our own resources alone, why would we need God to show up? For us to be stretched and God to be glorified, we need to be thrust into impossible situations, situations in which He needs to show up for things to work.

Passion Produces Exceptional Effects – when we approach our tasks with passion – passion for the great privilege we’ve been granted to be used by God – amazing spiritual results will blossom. We will be known as a person who loves, values and honors others and who expects exceptional things to happen when God is in control.

Are we willing to lose our breath for the vision God has for our lives? Are we spending time today focusing on the things that stir up breathless passion deep in our hearts?

Today, remember -
In all the work you do,
Do it with all of your breath,
With passion.

Trick or Treat

I seem to be about 2 steps behind in just about everything lately...oh well, better late than never, right?!

 Here are a couple of pics of our trick-or-treater - Alice in Wonderland (and some friends)!