The turkey becomes a turkey!

His goodness...

God is so good to me. I wanted to share with you something that just touches my heart about the way He cares for His children and provides for us. Many of you know that exhortation, or encouragement, is my main spiritual gift. I love to encourage other people...making them feel good about themselves and that there's no task that's too great with the Lord on their side. When I was younger, one of the ways that I most enjoyed "using" this gift, was to write cards to people or letters of encouragement. I LOVED doing that. And somehow, over the past couple years, I really started to slack off in that area and really started to feel convicted about it. I began missing that. A few months ago, my office manager approached me and asked if I would be interested in taking on a task of writing cards to our patients in need. Um...YES!...was my reply. God knew my heart and He new I wasn't using this gift to it's full potential. First of all, how cool is that I get to take time each week at my JOB to find a quiet place and sit and write words of encouragement to our patients that need that "extra love"....and what an incredible reminder that God truly has "prepared good works in advance" for us to do. If you're not using the gifts and the talents He's so graciously given you, ask Him to provide ways to make that happen! They can come in the most unexpected ways!

WW Update!

It was a good day in the weight loss world! I was down 2.4 pounds at weigh-in today, bringing my total to 80.6 pounds. I was so excited to reach that 80 pound mark! A little over four more pounds to go to reach my next goal of 85. Whoohoo.

Happy Fall, Y'all!

My sister and brother-in-law took Luke to the pumpkin farm one day this week - I think he LOVED it! Just wanted to share a few pictures of the sweetest little boy in the world. I just can't get enough of him!

Happy Fall! :)

2nd Annual Sisterhood Weekend Getaway!

What a WONDERFUL weekend we had! Have I told you before that I have the BEST friends in the world? Well, just incase you missed it, I have the BEST friends in the world. There truly isn't a ton to blog about our weekend, simply because we stayed inside the ENTIRE time with the exception of about 4 hours when we drove to Helen, walked in a few shops, had dinner, then headed back to Courtney's house only to jump right back into our p.j.'s and find our respective spots on the sofa so we could start talkin' once again. I know for some of you it just blows your mind how 5 girls can have so much to talk about...but truly, we only stopped long enough to sleep. There is so much love in my heart for the girls that you see below. We are so blessed to have each other. You know it's been a good weekend when nobody wants it to be over. And incase you want to know where we "resided" this weekend, Courtney and her husband Nick so sweetly opened their home to us. Nick made himself scarce the entire weekend - he's a big hunter so, thankfully, it was no skin off his back and worked out perfectly. And he even gave Courtney some good pointers as to which mattresses to move first, should we feel the need to all sleep in the same bedroom like we did last year. THANK YOU Courtney, for the being the "hostess with the mostess!" I know we're all already looking forward to next year! Enjoy the few pictures that we got where we were actually "presentable" and not in our p.j.'s! Kimi, Courtney, and Karla
Just shopping...
Helen, GA
Courtney did an awesome job decorating for fall!
Kacee, Courtney, Kimi, and Karla

Kacee, Karla, and Courtney
Kacee (getting ready to pray, apparently) Kimi, Meredith, and Courtney
Kimi, Meredith, Karla, Courtney, and Kacee
Karla and Kacee

2nd Annual Sisterhood Weekend Trip begins...TODAY!!

I have been looking forward to this weekend since this time last year when we had our 1st Sisterhood weekend getaway. We planned it for the exact same weekend this year and I think it's pretty safe to say we have all been highly anticipating it! Here are some pictures from our trip last year to Pigeon Forge. We're excited that Kacee will be going w/ us this year, and sad that Aly isn't going to be able to join us. I'm sure I'll have lots of fun pictures and crazy stories to blog about when the weekend is over. For now though...let the fun begin!!! Courtney, Kimi, Karla, Meredith
Kimi, Courtney, Karla
Kimi, Karla, Meredith
Kimi, Karla, Courtney, Meredith
"Mountain Majesty"...our cabin last year in Pigeon Forge

A Good Day...

You know you're having a good day when you're walking out the door from work into the beautiful fall weather, attempting to put a chocolate Hersey's kiss in your mouth, having that sweet kiss miss your mouth just knowing it has fallen to the nasty ground, only to find out it has landed safely in your scrub top pocket. What a great day.

God is BIG!

I serve a God that is HUGE - so huge that my mind would absolutely NEVER be able to fully grasp His greatness. I know, without any doubt, that He is always huge, always powerful, and always at work in my life...no matter how I feel. But sometimes, I do feel and sense His greatness in my life, and this just happens to be one of those seasons for me. I'm in one of those times where really GREAT things are taking place and really SAD things are going on around me. But no matter the situation, the Lord has allowed me to feel and be reminded of His Sovereignty and goodness over me. I'm praying through a lot right now personally and also praying through a lot with friends and family. A lot of waiting is taking place and we all know what an incredibly hard place this can be at times. My heart was ministered to last night as I heard this song for the first time...check out these words.

I'm waiting I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait
I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting I will serve You
While I'm waiting I will worship
While I'm waiting I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait
I'm waiting I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while
I'm waiting on You, Lord

("While I'm Waiting" by John Waller)

Picture Tag

I was tagged by my friend Kimi to post the 6th picture in the 6th folder of "My Pictures". So, here it is. This was taken in July of 2007 when the Little Mister...AKA...Luke...AKA....my nephew was about a month old. We've both changed since then...he's much bigger now and thankfully, I'm a little smaller and, of course, the hair is a little different...on both of us! :)

The next step in the Picture tag is for me to tag 6 people to also post their 6th picture in their 6th folder in their "My Documents." I tag Kacee C., Amy S., Christy C., Abby F., Gina S., and Hannah R. Have fun!! :)

WW Update!

Just giving a little Weight Watchers update. I haven't had a chance to go to a weigh-in in a few weeks due to my Saturday's being so crazy, but I was able to go today and am pumped to say that I'm down 3.4 more pounds, bringing my current total to 78.2 lbs. Yay! :)

Strong to the finish...

So, tonight we had "Superheroes/Villians" night with our student ministry at church. My choice of Superhero...none other than POPEYE...the Sailor Man...(toot! toot!). Come on, you know you would've added the toot! toot! if I hadn't of! Why did I choose Popeye? Because he was strong to the finish. Maybe because he ate his spinach...but nonetheless, he did what he had to do to finish strong. I want to be able to say I did whatever I had to do to finish strong. Do you? "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has called me to; the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."

Acts 20:24
What a fun night! And what an incredible reminder.

So thankful THAT is over!

Hey people! Sorry I've been "out of commission" the past few days. This is due to a couple of things...one being that my internet has been a little out of whack but is now back on track. (I should've been a rapper.) The second reason being that I was plagued this weekend with the all nasty stomach virus - I'll spare you the details, but it was not pretty folks. And to be so sick on such an incredibly beautiful weekend - I am NOT a fan of that at all! I'm glad to say I'm on the up and up again though and am going to live. I have things to catch you all up on so look for those posts maybe later on today...I'm sure you have nothing better to do. :) Have a happy Sunday!