The Word on Wednesday...

Luke 15:2- "But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

1 Corinthians 13:13- "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Have you ever been to an unwelcoming church? It is extremely uncomfortable, isn't it? Did you go back?

It is so sad that many churches and Christians are caught up in "works", appearances, etc. that they forget God's words- "love others as you love yourself... but the greatest of these is love... but if I have not love, I am nothing..." The next time you see a visitor at your church, show them the most important part of being in a body of Christ- loving others!


P.S. The Martin's sat beside the new couple and welcomed them to the church and loved on them.

I Love Arkansas!!

(I received this email today, and thought it was too funny not to share!)

Things I Have Learned From Living in ARKANSAS:

Armadillos sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.

There are 5,000 types of snakes on earth and 4,998 live in Arkansas.

There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Arkansas, plus a couple more that no one has seen before.

If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites.

Onced and twiced are words.

It is not a shopping cart; it is a buggy.

People actually grow and eat okra.

There is no such thing as "lunch." There is only dinner, and then there is supper.

Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. (We do like a little tea with our sugar!)

Backards and forwards means, "I know everything about you."

Jeet? It's actually a phrase meaning, "Did you eat?"

You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done, or until it's too dark to see.

You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH them.

You measure distance in minutes.

It's not uncommon to have to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

"Fix" is a verb. Example: "I'm fixin' to go to the store."

All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal.

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

You know what a "DAWG" is.

You carry jumper cables in your car ... for your OWN car.

There are only four spices: salt, pepper, Tabasco and ketchup.

The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.

The first day of deer season is a national holiday.

100 degrees Fahrenheit is "a little warm."

We have four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, still Summer and Christmas.

Wal-Mart is really called, "Wal-Marts" and McDonald's is really called, "Mac Donald's."

Going to Wal-mart is a favorite past time known as "goin' Wal-martin" or off to "Wally World."

A cool snap (below 70 degrees) is good pinto-bean weather.

A carbonated soft drink isn't a soda, cola or pop ... it's a Coke, regardless of brand or flavor. Example: "What kinda coke you want?"

Fried catfish is the other white meat.

We don't need no stinkin' driver's ed ... if our mama says we can drive, we can drive.

Go Hogs!!!

Zayde and Friends...

This might be one of my favorite posts! Zayde is blessed with so many friends...

Piano Buddies-
Zayde and Ryder

Zayde and Kynzie

Just Hanging Out-
Zayde and Miles (I'm sure they are scheming up a great plan!)

Zayde and Mia lounging on the floor without a care in the world!

Zayde and William having fun at the fall festival.

Eli and Zayde- We love to match with our friends!

Book Buddies-
Kynzie and Zayde reading INSIDE the toy chest...

Baby Harbor and Zayde-
"Whatcha doin' Harbor?"

Sweet kisses...

Taking care of baby... notice Harbor's passy ribbon says, "Friend"- perfect!

The Word on Wednesday...

Genesis 19:17, 26- "... one warned, 'Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.'.... But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."

I have been studying about Lot's wife this week in my bible study. There are only a few verses in the entire Bible about her, but her story is very well known. She is introduced in Genesis when Lot brings home several men of God. After doing so, the men of the city- the men of Sodom- try to capture the men from Lot's house. But, they are forced to leave without the men. Later, the men of God warned Lot to take his wife and daughter's and flee from Sodom; escape to the hills; do not look back! (Genesis 19:26- "'Escape for your life. Do not look back... lest you be swept away.'") Even though warned not to do so, Lot's wife couldn't resist looking back, so she turned into a pillar of salt. Why do you think she turned? Was she doubtful, sad, scared, curious, regretful?

Sometimes, we might find ourselves in the same position as Lot's wife. We've been given a word, warned, lead to do something, but we don't listen. Then, just like Lot's wife, we find ourselves looking back, regretting decisions made, mourning lost opportunities, not allowing God's mercy in our hearts. Because we're looking behind us, we can't see what is before us. We won't turn into a pillar salt, but we won't be much more useful. Let's embrace God's mercy and forgiveness, find joy in the present, pray for the future and leave the past behind us-
No turning back...

First Haircut!

Zayde received his first haircut in December by his Aunt Jeana. He was 23 months old! I really did NOT want to cut his hair, but it was getting out of control and no longer curling. It was such an exciting event for us, and we were so glad that we had someone special to be the first person to cut his hair! Jeana did an awesome job and it looks soooo much better now...

Before (front)


Before (back)


Aunt Jeana hard at work...

Zayde starts to get a little worried...

Now, he's not sure that he likes this thing Mommy and Daddy are calling a haircut...

Ok, he definitely is NOT having fun!


All better!
After (front)


After (back)


Thank you, Aunt Jeana!

Great Friends... Great Times!!

Our bestest friends, Andy and Rachel, live 6 hours away in Texas. We met them in college and after they graduated, they moved back home to Texas. They surprised me by coming to visit us over New Year's weekend. We always have so much fun with them! They stayed with us for 4 nights. I don't think we ever went to bed before 2:00am, and Rachel & I stayed up later than that talking the night away. They hold a special place in our hearts and are true friends who we know will always be in our lives. We are trying to convince them to move back to Arkansas, but for some reason they would rather live close to their families instead of near us!

Andy, Rachel, me, Zack
(Pictured at my cousin's 30th birthday party)

Rachel is such a precious person, always putting others first. I am so blessed to have her in my life...

We love to get out and do fun stuff together. In college, we used to swing dance to live music at a local hotel. This weekend we went bowling and had a blast...

After bowling, we went out for dessert and drinks...

...New Year's Eve

Andy and Rachel, thank you so much for blessing us last weekend with your amazing friendship! We love you!

The Word on Wednesday...

Happy first Wednesday of the New Year!! I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year! This week I want to discuss goals:

Galatians 3:3- "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"

2 Corinthians 5:9- "So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it."

Philippians 3:14- "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

It is around this time that many of us make New Year's Resolutions, or set goals for ourselves, and then question how long it will last. Many of us create lists of well-intentioned goals for the new year, but somehow can't seem to keep them all. Our Sunday School teacher sent an email with some great words of advice for the New Year. She said, "I encourage all of you to take some time to reflect on last year, thank God for His provisions and blessings, and then set some goals for this year." She is completely right- we should always reflect (not dwell) on the past to learn from our experiences, give God the glory for what He has done for us and prayerfully set new goals.

Did I hit the nail on the head when I said prayerfully set goals? Galatians 3:3 says, "Are you so foolish...are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" Could this be a key reason why so many fail or give up? 2 Corinthians 5:9 says, "So we make it our goal to please him..." Philippians 3:14 says, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." As Christians, the #1 goal on our list should be to please and follow Him. If God is the most important part of our lives, we should seek His will and goals. When setting goals for this year,let's prayerfully reflect on the past year, thinking about what God has taught us, spoken to us and brought us through. Then praise Him for all of these things- even the hard times, because they drew us closer to Him. Then seek His will and guidance for setting goals. There are plenty of things that I want to do, accomplish, change, etc. If trying to attain these goals by my own human effort, I can expect to fail. But if my goals are aligned with God's will, victory will prevail.

Here is a glance at Zayde's year in 2008:

January- Zayde turned one!

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Happy New Year and God Bless you all!!

Fall Hiking Trip...

This fall, Zack, Zayde and I went on a hiking trip with Zack's family. We saw much of God's beautiful creation. The weather was perfect and the golden leaves were stunning!

The Hammons Family
(Holly, Diana, Ron)

The Hickman Family
(Amy, Zayde, Zack)

Can you find Holly on this bluff?

Over-looking a huge bluff... Beautiful!

Holly found a neat crevice to hide in!

Photo Op...

Zayde, Zack and Memaw

Zack did an awesome job as our tour guide!

Memaw and Zayde

Zayde and Aunt Holly

...always being just like Daddy!

Holly and me having fun!

Ron enjoys the view...

So does Zack and Zayde.

Daddy does a little rock hopping...

while Zayde plays in the water...

Our blessed family.

We found this beautiful bluff to rest under...

...being silly! (This was Zack's cigar. I thought I would be funny while holding it for him:)

Zayde thought he would walk for a while. Of course it didn't last long!

All of this sight seeing just wore him out!

Sweet Boy! (Notice Zayde wearing Mommy's shirt? He fell flat on his backside while playing in the water!)

We saw these magnificent Elk on the way home...

Aunt Holly showed us her new horse...

Zayde's first horse ride!! (He's not so sure...)