Zip Lining!

I made myself do this! I was ordering myself in my mind that I better do this. I knew I would be disappointed in myself if I hadn't done it. I asked my Dad before I left for the trip, "But what if the line snaps or something bad happens?" and he said "Well Mag, then it's supposed to snap!" You only live ONCE!!!!

So this is what I did on our fun day in Guatemala! I can cross this off my bucket list. It was a lot of fun, but probably the first and last time!

We had to hike to get to the first zip-line. The bridges were not the sturdiest things in the world. We were so high up. I was trying not to look down too much, but it was beautiful!

Then, we got to the top and off I went from one mountain to the other, thousands of feet up in the air!

The hardest part was stopping! You had to take one of your hands off and grab the wire. I never really mastered that!

It was awesome!!!

Ben was such a great encourager and a support for me to get through this!

Guatemala!

Just got back from an AMAZING trip to Guatemala! I wish I could tell every amazing story that happened while we were there, but for right now I am posting a link to all the pictures that were taken during the trip. It was the high school student ministry's summer mission trip. The country itself is breathtaking. It was my first time seeing volcanos!

Click HERE for more pictures!

The picture below is of a lady's kitchen. I needed this trip. I take a lot for granted and complain way too much!

"By Our Love"

This is the last song on Christy Nockels incredible new cd. It's not loud, fast, or upbeat, but the words have gotten me. "And they will know us by our love". I started playing this song over and over again listening to the words, and I asked myself if people were asked, what would I be known by. Would people know that i am a Christian by my love? Not proudly, but being honest, I would say no for the most part.  A lot of the time, I just want to do what i want to do, be in the mood I want to be in, and care for just me. Yeh I would love to love out the whazoo, but that sneaky thing called selfishness seems to know where to find me. I am without a doubt convicted and challenged.

What does the world know us by? It seems like all people think about when they bring up Christians in our culture today is negative stuff. They may think of us as people that say we want to be known by our love, but do the exact opposite.

 What if they knew us by our love? 

(I highlighted the parts that mean something to me)

Brothers, let us come together 

Walking in the Spirit, there's much to be done...

We will come reaching, out from our comforts

And they will know us by our love...

Sisters, we were made for kindness

We can pierce the darkness as He shines through us...

We will come reaching, with a song of healing...

And they will know us by our love!

The time is now

Come Church arise...

Love with His hands

See with His eyes...

Bind it around you,

Let it never leave you,

And they will know us by our love...

Children, You are hope for justice,

Stand firm in the Truth now, set your hearts above

You will be reaching, long after we’re gone,

And they will know you by your love!

Ever Felt Like This?

I have created this post , very aware that I am not at my best in this picture(definitely out of my comfort zone)! It's just been an emotionally exhausting week, and day today. We all have times like this. My eyes are burning, i have bags under my eyes, and I am wondering if I really want to take off my makeup. But then I remember this horrible breakout on my face that I woke up to this morning(stress or salsa, not sure which) and know that not taking off my makeup won't make it any better. Proactiv please work your magic. The only positive to this moment right now, is that i am about to have the best sleep tonight that I have had in a while! Yes things could be so much worse, but right now I thought I would show you a REAL emotion I am feeling at the moment. 

Felt Like Home

Was hanging out at the beach today, and swarms of people started coming up all up in my space. I was a little peeved, but they were having some big swim competition that day. Here is a picture of the crowds. They even got bigger than this!

Right next to me a group of people set there stuff down. I thought "Wow, I am really being surrounded by swimmers!" I noticed that all of them had Carolina stuff on, and quickly realized they must be from Tarheel Country!!! So, being the stealth photographer that I am, I was determined to get a pic of the Carolina flag the guy was holding. Of course my first try at it was me acting like I was looking for something on my phone, and this is the picture I got.

I then thought, "this is too big to miss, I am gonna ask them for a picture!" So I told the guy I was from NC and would love a picture. He was so nice (like all North Carolinians!) and posed for the picture. He was the coach for the swim and dive team at UNC! And I finally got my picture! For a moment there I swelled up with pride that my state was there on the beach right next to me!

Get This Book!

Someone gave this book to me a couple years ago, and it is awesome! Was looking for a good read for when I go to the beach and came across it in one of our moving boxes-yep, we still have some of those sitting out. Once again a yikes moment for the clean freaks! And, between some serious book, and a book about this, of course I picked the more interesting one out of the box! I have enjoyed reading through it again. I wish every married couple had a copy of it! 

Mandals!

I am so NOT a fan of these for men or women unless there is some sort of white water rafting -Ok maybe not even that. So I was surfing the web and came across someone calling this type of shoe "mandals" and I thought it was hilarious! (please don't feel offended if you wear these. we all have the freedom to choose what we want to wear, it's just, now you know how I feel about mandals! ha

A Break From Reality

I am so grateful that I can even do this!

This is what I stared at all day! I could have stayed there until it got dark. 

The only thing missing was my man!

Ever get stressed? Monday was not that great of a day for me, so I was bound and determined to go to the beach and relax today (one example of how bad it was, and this is just one of the things!-don't ask me how, but I slammed my head in the car door, and the umbrella i was holding got stuck when this happened and stabbed me in the throat all at the same time. it's pretty funny now, but I just sat in the car and cried after i got free of the car and umbrella!) Ok, I am actually laughing right now envisioning what I looked like! haha

I packed a lunch, and of course had to have my Diet Coke! I wanted ice for my little lunch box size cooler, but they only had the huge bags. So there I was at the store dumping ice all over the parking lot. I was slamming the bag of ice on the pavement and it's going everywhere. I was determined to get to the beach...and I did!

Isn't she Beautiful!!

This my sister!!! 

Guess Who's Coming To Town!!!

When we were in Fort Worth, we were blessed to meet a pretty amazing couple to say the least. Brent and Corrie became our partners in crime when we were at Southwestern. Corrie and I worked across the hall from each other at the seminary. She became my closest friend while we were out there. I just always felt like we "got" each other. She is the first best friend I have had since my childhood best friends. I never thought God would be able to bring me a new best friend, but he did. It was the best surprise that God gave me while out in TX! It was so refreshing to meet someone who was real in a sea of the "super seminary Christians". Don't get me wrong, she has an amazing walk with the Lord and it is evident when you meet her,  but she also is who she is and isn't afraid to be just that! Corrie has the best sense of humor and always makes me gut laugh. Her husband, Brent, who Ben became close friends with, serves as the children's pastor at First Baptist Church of Hot Springs, Arkansas(wasn't sure about the abbreviation so I spelled it out-the state not the church) They are amazing parents to their daughter Brendle, who has the best little personality. We haven't seen them since December 2007! We got the news the other day that they are coming to visit-like already bought the tickets coming! I am BEYOND excited!!!! They come in September and I CAN'T WAIT!!

(This picture was taken at our favorite Mexican restaurant during our last week in Fort Worth)

Get This Book!

By far, this is one of the most helpful books I have ever read. A mentor of mine gave me this book and I couldn't put it down. Basically, this book is about dealing with people. I struggle daily with the desire to never get hurt, which is not realistic at all. I tend to look into, and think about things way too much, which only leads to my mind going where it doesn't need to. When it goes there, I decide why someone said  something the way they did, and decide why someone else did what they did. They may not have meant it that way, but in an effort to be "ahead of the hurt", I would analyze and determine for myself the reasons for other's actions. This way I wouldn't be dealt a blow I wasn't ready for. This is not fair to the other person, or to myself. Living this way was not only NOT keeping me from getting hurt, but inviting a tremendous amount of pain in my life. This book talks about not judging the actions of others, and ways to handle a situation when the other person really does mean to be hurtful. Satan knows this weakness in my life, and I refuse to let him have a hold on me!  

So Excited!!

For years I have listened to Watermark! Now, Christy Nockels of Watermark, has come out with her brand new album!! I just bought the album on itunes! Can't wait!!! 

Who Cares!

Okay, I just had a moment of insecurity about blogging! I am bound and determined not to let that happen. Ben has given me a pep talk and I am back and running! He said, which will be my theme: "Write whatever the heck you want, write as if no one is reading", so that's what I am going to do! 

I had a lot of different things(okay junk) in the back of my car, and on top of that one day Ben had put his golf clubs in the back. I was nervous about having them in the back for everyone to see in fear someone might steal them. I decided that a blanket would do the trick for covering them up. The more and more I would get in and out of the car running errands, I started to think "Gee, it looks like a dead body rolled up in the back of my car!" How crazy would that be if  that was the case-crazy and illegal.

This man may be legit, but I have heard that some of these guys make any where from $45,000 a year! 

New Finds!

My two new finds at BJ's! These in no way replace the Kettlecorn or Pretzel Pockets, but still very good. The Kashi cookies are awesome! The fruit twists are ehh-okay.I don't really care for Twizzlers, and these remind me of them. If you like Twizzlers, you would really like these. I will definitely buy the cookies again, even though Ben says they taste like cardboard-he's not really into health food. The verdict is still out about the fruit twists. 

Housework!

I don't even want to think about tackling this! I have been trying to be really good about keeping the house clean. I am not a neat freak. I am a germaphobe, but not a neat freak-not really sure how that works out, but that's how I work. 

Anyways, in an effort to keep the house clean, I decided that when a load of clean laundry is done, that I would put it on the guest bed in the guest bedroom, and fold in there. There's even a TV in there, so I worked this out pretty nicely for myself. The best part is if I can't get to folding the load right then and there, I can just leave it and close the door. Well, obviously  the door has been closed for a while! The encouraging part is that it's all clean laundry. The sad part is, I would be perfectly fine with it laying there and coming in a getting what I needed! I know this is a yikes moment for the neat freaks out there, but it's okay with me. There is a point where it does get overwhelming, and I do a big sweep and fold it all. 

I remember growing up, sleeping on the not-comfortable living room sofa, because my room got overwhlemed with laundry. It bothered me to sleep in it, but I guess not enough to do anything about it. My Dad would say he needed a hard hat if he went in there! At one point he was so mad he said he was going to put that construction tape across the door, lable it condemned, and have a bulldozer tear down that part of the house! 

I have gotten a lot better, and no, the whole house does not look like this, but I am still a work in process when it comes to housework. Ben has been pretty patient...... for the most part! :)

Only Him!

When I was in NC for Katie's graduation, My Dad took us out to eat one day for lunch. When we got in the car, I looked in the back and saw this campaign sign(the kind you stick in your yard). On the back my Dad had written what you see below. He told me that he puts this up to his window when he sees people that are driving crazy and finds that they are one the phone. He has taken it upon himself to patrol Wilmington and unashamedly let people know when they are ticking him off. I asked him if this was a joke, and he said this was for real! I COULD NOT believe it! Who does that?! I was dying laughing! Literally tears were rolling off my face thinking about him in his electric blue aerostar minivan (no I'm not kidding, he loves that thing-i think that my Mom and sister have said that surprisingly there are two other beauties like this one running around Wilmington. I will have to find a picture of it and put it up sometime) and people get flashed with this sign! He said that when my Mom is with him and he does this, she slumps down in the seat because she is so embarrassed. I found these in my pictures and thought I would blog about it!