What it Means to Love

I heard this song the other day by Meredith Andrews called "What it Means to Love"...she wrote it after a mission trip to Haiti that changed her life.

How could I forget your face 

When all it took was just one day?

For me to see it wasn't ordinary

I could never be the same.

You took my hand and led the way

I didn't even know your name

But something happened deep inside me

And I knew life would have to change.

So how could I go back to life as usual?

And how could I return to who I once was?

I just want to take your story to the world

'Cause you have showed me what it means to love.

You healed the sick, You calmed the sea

But Your heart was for the least of these

You came to love the lost and broken

Your cross has set the captive free

So how could I go back to life as usual?

And how could I return to who I once was?

I just want to take your story to the world

'Cause you have showed me what it means to love.

Now I no longer live for myself

Your words are so clear

Help me live it loud enough

So they can hear

I've decided that I want the message of this song to be theme of this season of my life.  The Lord is doing some amazing things within our church (Pinelake) and we are being challenged to claim the call of Christ on our lives to "Outlive our Lives" for the purpose of making His Name known.  Our lives are fleeting vapors...what we do with our lives should be about Eternity because the only things that matter in this world are of eternal value.  Taking the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, Living sacrificially, Being a part of a Godly community, Loving people, Seeking the face and heart of God daily...this kind of life is of eternal significance. 

I got spend this weekend with my closest friends from college.  What a special gift from the Lord to have friends whose hearts are set on knowing Him deeper.  Right before we left to go our separate ways, my friend Katie challenged us to think of a word that we hoped would define the year 2011.  Meredith chose the word, "Heaven"...wanting this year to revolve around having an eternal mindset, not living for the pleasures of this world, but for eternity.  I pray that this would be the theme of the rest of my life...that my eyes would be set on heaven--that my heart would be stirred for things that only matter for eternity.

My heart echoes the words of Paul in Philippians 3,

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For this sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ."

A Very Different Christmas

Buster and I hosted the family for the holidays this Christmas--we had a lot of fun getting ready for them to come. As hard as it was to not be able to go "home" to our house in Clinton for Christmas, we were still grateful that we were able to be together.  It was sad not to have Kristin with us--Skype is not the same! But it was still a special time.  We did alot of shopping (me and mom especially!) and cooking for sure!  My favorite time was Christmas eve with all of us in the living room--after watching Loui Giglio's talk "The 12 Words of Christmas", we sang christmas carols while dad and Jason played the guitar and I played the piano.


Mom taught me how to use the sewing machine! And how to make pillow cases for my couch pillows! Since I can't take her Decorative Pillow class at Liberty, she can give me personal lessons! I wish I would have been more interested while I was younger...because now I can't have her to help me avoid mistakes!





Decorating for the Holidays

After 2 years of decorating (by myself) at Christmas, I think I finally got the hang of it.  I was really pleased with the Christmas tree triptych...it set the theme for the rest of my Christmas decorations. The colors I chose for my Christmas tree (Teal, Red, and Silver) were inspired from the triptych as well!

A lot of hard work, but I am pleased.  Buster said this was the best looking Christmas tree he's ever seen!  Maybe he was just being sweet since he knew how hard I worked on everything!  I am looking forward to seeing my family in a couple of weeks...Christmas will be at the Leach's this year!

Christmas 2010

I must say that the Christmas holidays--however stressful and crazy--are the days I look forward to most all year. Ever since I was a little girl, putting ornaments on the tree was my absolute favorite part of Christmas (other than the presents of course!) I guess because setting up Christmas decorations meant mom and dad were done with teaching for the semester--so we got to watch It's A Wonderful Life, drink hot chocolate, and sing Christmas carols before bed.

My inspiration for these ornaments displayed comes from Mom and Dad's tradition of giving us children special ornaments on Christmas Eve. Each year Mom would find the best ornaments that truly represented who we were and she would date them. So my first Christmas as a married woman, I had 22 ornaments to start the decorating on mine and Buster's first Christmas tree!

Last Christmas I made these nativity ornaments inspired by the true meaning of Christmas. Every single one of them was either given as a gift or sold. And so--because of the popular demand (and with the advice of a dear friend), I decided to add to the collection series, the three Wise Men.

I'm excited about this series--the glazes I used are the same and the design for the Three Wise Men is very similar to the Nativity ornament.