Fruits of the Spirit

 Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

I think we all need to work on these from time to time in our lives...I know there are a few fruits in that verse that need a little attention in my life.

Tough Day

My heart is filled with sadness today for a co-worker and her family.  Her husband had a massive stroke on Wednesday of last week and passed away on Friday leaving behind his wife and two daughters, ages seven and four.  I can not even begin to fathom what she is going through during this season in her life.  Some how she managed to get through the visitation and funeral today with strength and courage.  If it were me I'm pretty sure I would need to be heavy medicated.  
Even though I had never met her husband, my heart hurts for her and those girls.  I think about my own faith and although I know the truth of God's Word, I can see how easy it would be to struggle with passages such as the one in Jeremiah 29:11

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'"

In a situation like my co-worker's I think I would feel "harmed" and it would be difficult to remember the second part of the verse about hope and a future.  I pray that this will not be a season of life that I have to go through.  Jokingly I tell Josh that he is absolutely not allowed to go without me, but I kinda mean it.  

Please take some time today and say a prayer for this family...they have a difficult journey ahead of them, especially the little girls.

Great Giveaway!

There is an awesome giveaway going on over at Naptimes Diaries!  My friend Jessi has several sponsors on her blog and they donated some super cute things for Jessi to give away.  Look it over and leave a comment (or three like me) and enter for a chance to win something fun.  

While you are there look around at some of her other posts.  She is a very talented writer with lots of inspirational stories and guest bloggers.

Blessings

A few things I've been thankful for lately...

39.  Josh...I've been reminded recently (through a co-worker's tragedy) on how special my husband is to me and how hard it would be if something happened to him

40.  Being reminded that God has a bigger plan for us, although we might not know what that plan is we have to have faith in His works

41.  Making pizza and having game night with friends

42.  A chance to take classes and further my education...even though I am not enjoying my current class

43.  A week of hanging out with friends, having lunches, and playing with their kids

44.  Watching movies with Josh 

45.  Pool visits

HP...the end!

Well, it's over...the story of Harry Potter is finished and my heart is sad knowing that there won't be anything to look forward to in this wonderfully creative series.  Kristin and I ventured out to the midnight showing of HP7.2 to watch it all end.  We definitely wore our t-shirts that Aimee made for us when part one of the Deathly Hallows premiered in November...

 ...and we definitely saw people dressed up in wizard robes, Hogwarts school uniforms and even a few Death Eaters (the bad wizards).  Darth Vader was there as well, but I think someone forgot to tell him we weren't watching Star Wars.

If you have never read the books I highly, HIGHLY recommend you do so.  They are an easy read and so very enjoyable.  If you've only seen the movies then you are missing out on so much more that the books provide.  The movie industry did an excellent job of sticking true to the books, but they just can't put in every little detail the JK Rowling wrote.

Side note...Kristin and I will totally be watching it again with the husbands on Saturday.

Lookin' Good

Did you notice the new banner on my blog??  My awesome hubby made it with a little help from Photoshop and his smart brains...isn't he great?

All about Karis

Lately we have been talking in our church small group about being a community and being hospitable with our time to each other.  I really felt called to this being summer time and the fact that I have a lot more free time on my hands than usual.  This week Erica needed a little time with sweet little baby Ty and since Erik and Kaitlyn Dean were busy at various Hammond camps, I took Karis with me for the past two mornings.  It's not hard to be hospitable with your time when you get to hang out with a kid like Karis.  She is just too cute!
Wednesday morning we went to EdVenture, the children's museum, and out to lunch at Chick-fil-a.  Today was a little more low-key because I just brought her over to my house to play.  Honestly, I don't think she would have cared if we spent BOTH days chillin' at my house.

we took Lorelai for a walk

colored pictures...

 with markers...they are way more fun than crayons

ate watermelon and watched Cinderella

all the princesses were there too

The Kimreys are a special family to us and I love blessing them in any I can.

Famously Hot

Columbia is sure living up to its name...

 My car likes to remind me how hot it is around here...

More applique practice

I recently pulled out the sewing machine for another appliqué project.  My sweet friend Julie had her first baby in February.  Since she refuses to move to the great state of South Carolina, I am unable to love on that little bundle of joy as much as I would like.  She's a Texan at heart so I guess I can forgive her.  ANYWAY...I made little baby Troy a couple of onesies.  They turned out really cute so I decided to make one more for yet another college bud of mine who had a little girl in April.

Yankee Doodle-bug

Welcome to the world...

Titus Wilson Kimrey

6lbs 13 oz

July 4, 2011

Josh and I had the privilege to meet this sweet little face yesterday afternoon.  We are so excited for our good friends Erik and Erica!  Erica was due for a C-section on the 5th, but this little guy decided he wanted a 4th of July birthday.

They are now the proud parents of THREE adorable children!  

Congratulations Kimrey family!

Photo courtesy of their aunt...Courtney Pollard

The Great Outdoors

Sunday we met Josh's family in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a camping trip.  Let me clarify something for a moment...most of the family were camping this week, but a few of us girls met at the campsite every day then went back into town and stayed in a hotel each night.  The campsite is one that Josh's family has stayed at for many many years.  Josh has memories of being a kid and camping out with his grandparents.  The thing about this campground is that they don't have water hook-ups so showering was out of the question...hence the reason we stayed in a hotel.  
We really had so much fun while out there...J's family is really great and we enjoyed hanging and doing lots of "camping" things.  One thing about J's family is that we never go hungry!  There was always plenty to snack on and really yummy dinners.  With no electricity, everything was cooked on gas grills and skillets.  And of course there are all that things you can cook over a camp fire.

 

Tuesday afternoon we went on a hike up to Laurel Falls.  The hike was really fun and a little bit scary!  There were signs all along the way letting you know that fallen deaths have occurred and to watch your step...to me that's not really something you want to hear when hiking up a mountain.  

a little snake we found along the way

One of the favorite activities of the week was tubing down the river.  Our campsite was right on the river bank so someone would drive us up the mountain and we would tube back down to our campsite.  It took a little convincing, but I finally agreed to try it out too.  I can't even begin to tell you how cold the water was in the river, but once you forced your body all the way in you eventually got used to it.  

I don't know if you can see my face in the pic...but I was about to run into the "jagged rock wall"

Its amazing how time just slows down in the mountains.  We had zero cell phone service so everyone was forced hang out with each other instead of playing on our phones.  There was a lot hanging out and enjoying each other's company.