Saturday's Pages

So I guess I was in a yellow mood last week. ironically! I actually had a really rough couple of days, thus the relative blog silence. A lot of times, when I'm in a mood, I don't post. No sense in spreading my funk, right?

We had a great life group last night, and a wonderful service on Sunday morning. I was supposed to be at staff meeting this afternoon, but it got canceled, so I get to kick around home and catch up on editing and cleaning and just general paperwork instead. yay! It will feel so good to get caught up again, right before I get slammed at the end of the week. I've got four shoots between now and Saturday night, so that's pretty exciting!!

Didn't I say I'd be right back??

Wow, I have been so on top of things lately, haven't I??

Just have a moment, but wanted to share this awesome pic Rob took at a shoot a few weeks back. I love it! Right down to the lens cap in my pocket. That boy can OWN second camera...

neat quote.

"Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence. "

- AG US Missions Candidate Orientation

As an artist, I am truly inspired by these words of wisdom... had to share. Be back soon!

Big Ordination Day = Sleepy Girl

Wow. I want to journal all that was in my head last night, as it was spinning trying to calm down to go to sleep. Hopefully I can remember it all, but I'm pretty wiped out and Rob won't go to bed with me at 8:30pm. (after almost 11 years of marriage, I really don't like to go to bed by myself, I need my heater!)

First off, District Council was amazing this year. This was our 4th District Council (2 in IL and now 2 in TX) and by far the best yet. Don't get me wrong, our licensing service was really special, but it was definitely overshadowed by our experience last night. Anyway, the whole Council was a leading up to Thursday night's service. We know so many people now, mostly because of Rob's role as the Sectional Rep for the past year. Every time we turned around we'd bump into someone else that we'd shared some experience with. It was like a great big family. And we just kept adding to the family throughout the week. I'm not going to name drop or anything, but it was really cool to get to know some of the high-ups in the district.

Ok, I will name drop just two places, but both of my stories have significance, so bear with me. First off, Dr. George O. Wood preached our Ordination service. And that is meaningful because he was our Interim Pastor at Central way back in college, while we were struggling so hard to stay in school and living at the campground (go all the way back to the beginning of my blog and you can easily remember the struggles we waded through during school). During that time I had suffered our second miscarriage, and he had a tv spot that really spoke to me one day. I had written a note to thank him for the encouragement, and he wrote me back. Handwritten note. I still have it. And he was our speaker last night. Doesn't that sound like a God thing? We spoke with him afterwards and he recognized us and remembered our story. God is so good, isn't He?? He signed Rob's Ordination Bible, so that's a very neat momento from the evening. Sometimes, when things like that happen, I think our life will make such a great story some day. All centered around how good God is...

Second name drop (and that's it, I promise) happened at supper on Tuesday. Rob and I were sharing a phenomenal chicken and avocado sandwich in the restuaraunt bistro. Who should happen to take the table right next to us? None other than Brother Burroughs, our retired Superintendant. He proceeded to talk with us for the next half an hour, so personable and approachable. It really made me realize what a great, relational district we are a part of.

Overall, it was a wonderful council, filled with incredible moments. The absolute highlight was last night's service and especially during the kneeling and passing of the mantle. Pastor Hayes prayed over us and his prayer was so significant and just right on. And Linda and Ginny were snapping pictures all the while. I'll be getting some of their photos here in the next few days.

Oh, and I loved my dress. The board bought us new clothes for the event and they were beautiful. I felt like a princess! We'll be wearing them on Sunday morning, too!

Ok, while I'm too tired to type anymore. I'm so glad to be home with my beautiful children and all comfy in our home again. Hope you have a good night too!!

Happy Easter!!

(a day late and a dollar short)

I'm a day late cause I'm crazy busy with photo shoots right now, yippee!!

And a dollar short cause we just dropped $497.67 on a bad bearing in our one and only vehicle. fun, huh??

But we had a beautiful Easter, totally blessed. Spent the day with the incredible Aunt Mary Ridge and her brilliant family!! It was a blast. The food was fantastic, but the company and the confetti egg fight was even better!

Today I've spent today buried in laundry, housekeeping, packing for District Council (eeeh!!) and editing. I just moved from 4 behind to 3, but I leave for a senior shoot in an hour. Very cool though, I love, LOVE my job. You all know that, I just am really seeing God's blessing all over my business lately and it's so exciting!!

Ok, well I need to go get ready for my shoot, but I just wanted to remind you all how good God is!! Yesterday was a celebration of His very best gift to us and I hope you found a still moment to reflect on that and tell Him how good He is!! I did. Love you all!


PS - it totally has to be the joy of the Lord when I'm still super happy today even after having a $500 bombshell drop in my lap this morning!

ObnRanna Observed

ObnRanna is a holiday we came up with many years ago, actually, I think it was on our first anniversary. We both had to work on our real anniversary, but then took a trip to Springfield, MO that weekend. Anyway, during the long, silly 8 hour drive we decided that 'RobNAnna' sounded like a Jewish holiday. Then we mixed it up a bit more and called it "ObNranna" and that REALLY sounded like something important. So eventually we decided that ObNranna Traditional is our actual anniversary, but ObNranna Observed is any other day we choose to randomly celebrate.
Yesterday we had a shoot scheduled with our good friends - Bart and Jennifer. They are coming up on 12 years of marriage on May 17th (happens to be my birthday). Rob shot second camera and it was a blast. When we where finished we went out to Outback for dinner, it was such a special evening. After that, we needed to get home to the sitter, but still didn't want to break up the party. We headed back to our house, took Amber home, and popped in a movie. We finally parted ways at midnight. It was such a fun night! And I can't wait to edit their pictures, but we've got an Easter Egg hunt this morning and I've got 2 shoots this afternoon. (Yay!) I thought I'd quick post this fun photo from our evening though. Eli took it. :)
We had so much fun, I think we are going to make this an annual event.

THURSDAY!!!

Do you ever just wake up in the very best mood??

It's officially my favorite day of the week and Rob and I have an entire day of fun planned! I'm so excited to spend time with him today. We've been running in different directions a lot lately and I love having 6 hours on Thursdays to spend soaking up each other's presence. It's going to be a great day, I can tell already.

So my hair's looking sweet (thanks Jennifer), I'm wearing a 'date top', my lipstick's on and I'm ready to go!! Oh, and Rob brought in these beautiful roses from our bush this morning. I am a blessed woman!!

Plus, looking forward to this evening... One of my students brought me a $10 iTunes gift card last night. Just made my evening! I can't wait to 'shop' for some new music!!

Hope you have a great day too!!

PS - I've really been enjoying this song lately. Now I really don't believe in luck, and feel more blessed than lucky, but the concept of still being in love with my best friend really appeals to me. :)

Special Services tonight.

Wow, we had an awesome evening at theLOFT tonight. Rob and I dug this communion drama out of the past. I don't think we've done it in 12 years or so. It went really well and the kids seemed to get a lot out of it.

Well, I'm wiped out. Tomorrow we are going to Houston to the camera store, DSW for ordination shoes, and to scout out Rice University's campus for an upcoming shoot. Should be fun!!

Ridiculously Excited...

I know, I know, big shocker there. Man, if I could bottle up my excitement and sell it, I'd be a rich woman, wouldn't I?

Life is good. Not that it isn't exhausting and some moments I'm just not sure which task to turn to next, but overall, it's good!! The next few months are looking so wonderful, I'm just ready to take them on!

First off, God is really blessing my business. That is an answer to prayer in itself. I've got three shoots scheduled this weekend, and I'm so excited for each of them!! One family, one couple and one senior - so a great blend of styles. I love stretching like that, and being creatively refreshed for each snew gig. Hoping to shoot one in a junk yard, so I've got a bit of research and phone calling to do in the morning. :)

And of course, it's Easter weekend, which is historically an awesome weekend. I love Easter and the meaning of it. And I know as Pentecostals 'every Sunday is Easter Sunday' and that's totally my lifestyle, but the real Easter Sunday has deep and significant meaning in my book. Our church has invited Jews for Jesus to do a special service this Sunday and I'm really looking forward to hearing their message and partaking in their heritage. I guess I've secretly always wished I had grown up Jewish - to be God's chosen people, what an honor! I know He loves us Gentiles too, but the legacy of the Jewish people is incredible. It should be a very special Easter Celebration. Also, we have the annual Egg Hunt at Trinity on Saturday at 10am, that's always a blast with the kiddos. (and a photo op!)

I guess I was feeling Easter-y already because I had an urge to bake and frost sugar cookies this evening, and they turned out so pretty! This post is useless without photos, but they are in the dark kitchen and I just got the kids to bed. Eli and Sarah have been a bit insane the past 2 days and we aren't sure what exactly is up with that...

Next week is huge. Monday I will spend editing photos all day, I'm sure. Probably in to Tuesday as well. At noon we leave for District Council, which is always a joy to attend. Spending dedicated time with Pastor and Linda is really special, since most of the time we talk about church, it's nice to get away and just be us once in a while. But the highlight of District Council this year will for sure be Rob's ordination. I am so thrilled about this event, we've been working towards it for a long time now! The spiritual significance is extraordinary and I'm just so delighted to be there experiencing it with him!! His mom and stepdad are coming down from AR to celebrate with us, it will be so good to see them. We are going to take in the beach over the weekend, which we haven't been to since Ike, so that will be interesting. President Bush Senior says it's A.O.K. to return to Galveston Island so we'll do our patriotic duty and eat out while we are there, I'm sure. :)

And most exciting of all, off in the not too-far distance looms my birthday. Ah, the big one. The only thing that makes it most exciting is that my best friend Lori will be coming to share it with me - removing the sting from 30 hopefully. I can't wait!!

So, as you can plainly see, I'm a little worked up. So many fun and happy things on the horizon. Yes, I know we are in a recession. Yes, I know the unemployment rate is at an all-time high. Yep, the government created a trillion random dollars out of thin air 3 or so weeks ago. I know all that. But I'm choosing to see the positives in life, and they are still there, I promise!! The biggest positive? The best reason to have joy in your every day life and a bounce in your daily step?? My Lord and Savior is coming back for us one day soon! And until that trumpet sounds, I'm going to squeeze the very best out of this life. That glass is still half full, baby, I promise.

Last Week's Pages... and a little reflection.

Man, I'm wiped out. We just attended a Sectional Youth Reps retreat up in the Woodlands. It was really cool. First of all, we work for an awesome District Youth Director and his wife. We spent the weekend working on a top secret project that could potentially help youth pastors across the state, so that's really cool! Also, the ladies had a few small sessions alone to talk about the issues that yp wives deal with. (what? we have issues??) It was extremely refreshing, but somehow I came home exhausted. We've just been going like crazy all week and tomorrow is Sunday again, already.

It was so good to get away with Rob. We've pretty much lost our Thursdays the last two Thursdays and we tend to get cranky when we don't get our down time together. Even just the drive up and back, and our time walking around Market Street last night, that was pretty special. And of course, sleeping in a bit is always amazing, considering both of our children are early risers!

So, it's early to bed for me. I'm still fighting off a sinus something, and it's just lingering this time. Poor Rob, his sinus issues are about a day behind mine, so he's really miserable. I'm excited and ready for a great Sunday though!

Selling My IPod...

So many of you have told me how much you like the music on my site and how you leave my blog up for background music. I figured here was the perfect place to post that I'm selling my 8gig Nano iPod. There is nothing wrong with it, save for a scratched up back after a year and a half of use. It is in perfect working order and comes fully loaded with my taste in music.

I'm sure you are wondering why I'm selling it, and I'm so glad you asked. I've been holding out for the iPhone forever, but they refuse to come to my network, and I'm a faithful Verizon customer. But recently my eyes have been opened to the iTouch and the calender abilities, along with email and internet surfing at wi-fi hotspots has me very intrigued. With the insanity of my life, a portable, electronic calendar that easily syncs with Mac is a very promising idea.

So I'm asking $100. I can ship it anywhere in the US. Just email me or post a comment. First come, first serve.

(PS - I just added the Lenka album and the Twilight Soundtrack)

New-ish Music

found this recently. silly video, great song!!

Seriously...

I did not fall off the face of the earth. Or any of the countless ways you've perhaps envisioned in my 7 day blogosphere silence. bunny trail - have you seen the promo for that 1000 ways to die program? That looks really intriguing to me for some reason.

Mom and I pretty much ripped up Houston. :) Not quite, but we definitely tried. We did make it to both really good scrapbook stores, Baybrook Mall, the Galleria, watched Aliens vs. Monsters with the kids (boo, not impressed), Harwin Drive (actually not street as previously mentioned), church and a big social dinner, scrapbooking on Friday night and numerous movies/veg time in between. It was a lot of fun. I didn't take nearly enough photos, not really sure why. I did manage to squeeze in a sinus issue on Saturday, which I'm still trying to chase off. And Mom left not feeling well too, so bummer. But we had a blast and I'm pretty sure it's the most time I've spent with my mom since graduating high school (gulp) 13 years ago.

In all of our shopping, i actually did not overspend (stayed under budget by $25 in fact!) but found some great deals, including the jewelry for my new dress to wear for Ordination two weeks from tomorrow. I also found 2 pairs of great new flats from Kohls for about $10 a pair. I need to take some photos. Mom also bought me an early birthday present - a great brass bracelet from Target with owls etched in it all the way around, I'm super psyched about it. And I did finish 4 pages on Friday night, so I'll have to post those pics in the near future.

We are back in to a busy stretch; I've got 3 photo shoots in the next 8 days and we will be out of town for a Youth Rep retreat on Friday and Saturday. I'm excited about all that God is doing in our lives though, and really excited for ordination. We've been working towards this for a long time, over 10 years in fact.

Ok, so I'm about to call it a night, a hot shower and a good night's sleep sounds fantastic at this point, but let me share a couple photos first.
Here Mom and I are at Cheddar's - about to dive in to our Spinach Dip. It was yummy! And I should mention I'm trying a new hairstyle, it's significantly shorter than previously, but I'm really enjoying it.
We happened upon the Easter Bunny at the mall on Saturday and the kids enjoyed that. I couldn't believe Sarah actually got that close to him!
We visited the Container Store one morning while at the Galleria. And overall, I was pretty overwhelmed by it, but I loved this fabulous display of cameras.
And I got this great shot of Mom and the kids the first night she arrived. Both of those dolls Mom gave to Sarah, she's sewn both of their outfits. They were a big hit with Sarah.

Tommorrow....

My mom is coming to town. I'm too excited!! She'll be in late, but we have a full, awesome day planned for Friday. And a whole weekend with the kids. I'm really looking forward to a slow down with her. I've got plans of shopping, scrapbooking, eating at some of our fave. places, and just generally letting our hair down with the fam. I can't wait! I'm sure I'll take lots of crazy pictures. This will be the most time I've had with my mom in YEARS, it's going to be awesome.

New Pages

Did these last week, nothing spectacular, but fun none the less. I'm really looking forward to scrapbooking with my Mom this weekend!!

Dude, I'm tired.

killer long day.

We got a lot done though. My mom will be here a week from today (yay!) - a trip we've been anticipating for almost six months now. And of course, I just now get the bug to really clean/organize my house.

We started in the yard this morning. Well, actually Eli and I started at Walmart and Lowes, purchasing supplies to repair my ceiling hole. Then we got home and spent about 4 hours collectively in the yard; mowing, raking, weeding, edging and blowing. whew! That was exhausting. Meanwhile, I ran laundry intermittently. And I made a pretty rocking dinner of Alice Springs Chicken. The kids hated it, but we loved it. :0 Shortly after supper I saw an offer on a computer desk on Freecycle and Rob went out to get it. We put the kids to bed about 8pm and spent the evening putting the thing together (it's actually 2 identical desks, but we only put together one, without directions - it was interesting) and then rearranging/cleaning/organizing the living room/office space. I feel so inspired by all this decluttering!

Tomorrow we've got a trip to Houston on the horizon with Pastor and Miss Linda. And some more housecleaning. And perhaps a teensy bit of scrapbooking??

nighty night.... before I fall asleep on the keys... maybe I'll post a new-to-us computer desk photo in the am. sleep well all my faithful blogaholics, sleep well....

Love This Commercial

I've seen it a few times on tv and it's so up-my-alley. :) You'll see.

Art Manifesto

Found this today on another blog I read and it really moved me. Stay tuned to the last 45 seconds - that's the best part. wow. I especially liked “if i make it, will someone take it, and think that its genuine?” For someone like me, who has spent my whole life searching for my medium - that was pretty profound.

An Interview about me...

(Sarah's perspective)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
She loves me.

2. What makes mom happy?
by hugging her.

3. What makes mom sad?
by saying I do not like her.

4. How do you make your mom laugh?
ask some silly questions.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
she liked to play with Barbies.

6. How old is your mom?
nine.

7. How tall is your mom?
3 feet inches.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
play with me.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
play on the computer.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
for being really good at making my birthday party.

11. What is your mom really good at?
being kind.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
opening things.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
cleans.

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
cake.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
doing the passwords.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Barbie.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
wrestle with my daddy and my brother.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
we love each other.

19. How are you and your mom different?
by putting different wigs on.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
she hugs me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Sonic.

(Eli's

1. What is something mom always says to you?
brush your teeth.

2. What makes mom happy?
presents and my love.

3. What makes mom sad?
like if I kill my sister.

4. How do you make your mom laugh?
jokes, all kinds of jokes.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I don't know cause I wasn't born yet.

6. How old is your mom?
twenty-nine, that's easy. (for right now)

7. How tall is your mom?
I have no idea.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
to have fun with us.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
do chores.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
um. I think photographing.

11. What is your mom really good at?
photography.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
letting us break the rules.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
she takes pictures of people.

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
she never told me.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
she makes dinner for us and she cleans up the house mostly.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Timmy Turner's Mom. (from Fairly Odd Parents)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
have fun little dates.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
we're both intelligent.

19. How are you and your mom different?
mommy's a girl and I'm a boy.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
because she does lots of stuff for us.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Cheddars.


(Rob's perspective)

1. What is something your wife always says to you?
I love you.

2. What makes your wife happy?
by hugging her.

3. What makes your wife sad?
when she can't get it all done, when she lets people down, when people are upset with her. (he put a lot of thought in to that one!)

4. How do you make your wife laugh?
Rob.

5. What was your wife like as a child?
she was a good kid.

6. How old is your wife?
29.

7. How tall is your wife?
5 foot 6 inches.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
make people happy when taking their pictures.

9. What does your wife do when you're not around?
scrapbook. laundry. dishes. talk to Lori.

10. If your wife becomes famous, what will it be for?
photography.

11. What is your wife really good at?
she's a good wife.

12. What is your wife not very good at?
remembering the words to songs. (that is SO TRUE!)

13. What does your wife do for her job?
photography, part-time church secretary, part-time stay at home mom

14.What is your wifes's favorite food?
Italian.

15. What makes you proud of your wife?
when she is by my side in ministry.

16. If your wife were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Thelma from Scooby Doo.

17. What do you and your wife do together?
have fun.

18. How are you and your wife the same?
we both love music.

19. How are you and your wife different?
we love different kinds of music.

20. How do you know your wife loves you?
she says it and shows it.

21. Where is your wife's favorite place to go?
Iowa.

What I Never Knew I Needed

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So I was crusing through Office Depot while on the phone with Kimmie today and stumbled across this great 'project planner'. I didn't even know such a thing existed! What a brilliant concept! Imagine, all my notes for all my projects in one convienient organized location! I love it! I slapped down my $10 and immediately started filling it in. I guess I hesitated for a brief moment, considering I could make my own project planner, but then decided that I really didn't need another project. :) I love irony!

Do I have to tell you that I have ten pages filled out already? I normally keep everything on my red clipboard along with my current to-do lists, but this is so much more organized and then I can keep my projects from one year to the next, so referring back will be easy. I love this idea, it totally made my day!

Super excited for youth group tonight - totally expecting God to show up in a big way. He's so good! Rob and I have spent a lot of time planning for this evening's service, so I hope He blesses it!!

Feeling Domestic

You wouldn't probably know it to look at my house right now, it's a bit over-run still at the moment. But the gentle hum of the dryer and folded clothes in the laundry basket are a welcome sight and a promise of a calm in the chaos. :) Dinner is made and waiting to be slid into the oven at the appropriate time and even dessert is a lovely surprise browning while I type. It's amazing to me how these simple pleasures of domestic nature warm my heart when I have slowed down to attend to them. There's such a deep feeling of satisfaction in serving your family.

It's incredible to think about how much my life has changed in the past 2 or 3 years - going from absolutely full-time mom to Jack-of-all-trades. Enough to make my head spin. I love my life now, and I loved it before, isn't that interesting? A peace that only comes from right relationship with the Maker, I suppose.

I'm not saying there aren't days when I'm frazzled and feeling torn between two (or three or four) worlds and wondering what I need to lay down to be able to focus on my priorities... But overall, I love my life so much, I love the choices that I get to make each day. There is so much freedom in each of my 'jobs' - an incredible amount of responsibility too, but I love the challenge of making it all work. So much so that I'm not ready to put down any one of them, instead I constantly re-balance, weighing the immediate needs of each area against the others.

I guess it's a crazy way to live, but it's the only way I know how to survive right now. No, I should edit that, it's the only way I know how to thrive right now. Being a mom is so important to me, and stretching our paycheck as far as it can go and being frugal is part of that responsibility; feeding my family and keeping up our home, those are privileges of motherhood and wifery. :) (yep, I just made that word up).

Being Rob's right hand as youth and music pastor is also important, his ministry is extended greatly by having an extra set of hands at his disposal. We do so much together that he couldn't do on his own. In addition to that, being pastor's wife is every bit as much my calling as being pastor is his! If I were to back off or slow down, it would be so detrimental and I would be stepping out of God's will for my life. He called me to be a pastor's wife when I was sixteen and I've never questioned the validity of that call for moment. And yes, I knew that in my heart BEFORE I met Rob. He's just one of the perks of the job. :)

Starting at the church as a part-time secretary a year ago seemed like an extra item when we made that decision, but it's wound up being such a good one. I love having an office to work out of two days a week and a lot of the things I do as secretary I'd be finding time to do on my own anyway. It's so great to have a place to land on that side of town when I need to, and not to be underfoot in Rob's office but still available to him at the push of a button. Plus it's brought such a connection with our secretarial staff and I feel like I really know what's going on in the church.

And that brings me to photography, which I love so much. I feel so stretched by this business, and it's that good yoga kind of stretching, where it hurts a little bit but it feels so good and you know that you are growing and getting stronger! Photography is the thing that's mine, that has nothing to do with being pastor's wife and everything to do with being Anna. It's the art that's been squelched up inside me since I was a little girl and its' so cool to see it spill into prints and images. Can I say that I feel like it's my future? Being a stay at home mom it's so easy to wrap your life up in your children, which is such a good and worthy thing to wrap up in. Reality says that one day they will kiss me goodbye and head off into their own lives, hopefully staying in close relationship with us still, but living their own lives just the same. I needed something that would still be there when that happened. Photography has been such an amazing outlet for me this past year. And such a witnessing opportunity. The truth is, living a life like mine, I don't get a lot of opportunity to talk with anyone who isn't saved. :) I've met so many fantastic people this past year with the vehicle of photography, and it's been so cool to just be me and let the Lord use it.

So I'm domestic today. And it's good. And I'm glad this isn't every day. I love the life that God is allowing me to live right now. And I'm incredibly excited about all that He is doing in my heart, all the growing we've been experiencing. It reminds me again of His great love for me (and you too!), that He's never content to let us just stay the same. We are to be growing in Him, and in our own abilities, and always, always growing into His will for our lives, which is continually bigger than we are. Wow. What a mighty God we serve!!!

Women's Convention. Whew!!

What an experience!!


I so enjoyed getting to know 7 of the ladies in the church better, the fellowship was awesome! These gals are just a hoot! We visited Harwin St. in Houston and that was quite an experience in itself. I picked up 3 Pashmines for $3.99 each, so hopefully I won't be cold in church any longer!

And worship, my goodness - it was amazing!! This song in particular really got me, it wasn't the first time I heard it, just incredible!

The worship team was from Spring, TX and they were absolutely gifted. Our speaker was Lori O'Dea from Michigan, but I recalled her from her time at AGTS. She spoke directly to my heart. She actually prayed with me personally and was just so encouraging!!I also had a fantastic time with my friend, my boss, and my mentor, Linda Hayes. Our best talk took place in the wee hours of this morning. I'm so thankful to have her in my life, she brings out the best in me. We took this silly picture, thinking we both really needed to wear these hats on Easter Sunday and bring back the trend of hats in our church.

But the very best part of the weekend was all my time at the altar, just soaking up God's presence.

Sometimes, being who I am makes it tough to just really get intimate with the Lord during our regular worship services. I certainly try, but at the same time I need to be aware of others needs during that time, and available to pray or whatever else might come up. And of course, being the worship pastor's wife, I'm a little distracted for my husband, always praying for him while he's up there, leading us all into worship. I love going to conferences and retreats where I'm not pastor's wife any more, I'm just Anna, humble servant of God, trying to get my time in with my Maker. It's incredible. I love to worship, it really is my heart and always has been. And I did a lot of worshipping this weekend, but I also spent a lot of time just wrenching my heart out before my God, and that was incredible. I feel so spent for Him right now, and I'm really looking forward to a wonderful night's sleep in my own bed with my own husband.

Meanwhile, I am so incredibly excited about what God is doing in my life, and I'm more willing than ever to allow Him to do it. I want to serve Him more than I ever have before... It's such a good place to be.


So on to tomorrow;

We are hosting Roy and Annette Brewer in both services tomorrow and another Monday night. And I'm shooting a birthday party tomorrow afternoon. Should be a wonderful Sunday. God is good!!




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BTW? (I really missed these people)

Radio Silence

It's going to be a little quiet on the blogs for the next couple days. I'm headed to Houston this morning for a much needed women's retreat. I can't help but feel like there's been radio silence in my own heart lately, and a little time on my face before the Lord will be good for my soul.

Pray for my family while I'm gone, I haven't been away from them in over a year and a half, so I'm sure it will be a little trying for Rob, but I've left them well-prepared.

Lost Change, Lost Souls

One day last week Eli and I were making a quick Wal-mart run when he halted dead in his tracks in the parking lot - squealed with delight and picked up a penny off the asphalt. "Lost Change, Lost Souls, Mom". I was confused at first, thinking he was spewing some new age nonsense, and then he slowed down a bit (and explained things to his old mom) that it was a new Buddy Barrel/BGMC drive at church. When you see lost change, think of lost souls. My heart about broke right there in front of the cart return. My eight year old boy was pointing out to me the hurt and lost people in this world. This kid has a heart of gold, I'm serious. Anyway, I've been thinking about it all week and I'm going to share it with our teenagers tomorrow night during our Speed the Light offering. And because I'm a visual learner and I assume everyone else is too, I wanted to include a little bit of visual aides. Eli was more than willing to give me a hand - actually two hands. So the first photo is to remind us about the importance of each soul, and just a little bit of money can make the difference in helping a missionary reach the life of one person. And the second is to remind us how many souls are out there and how giving more can do even more for God.

It's cool to think about how each one of us are important enough to God to stop in the Walmart parking lot and pick up as thought we are a brilliant treasure, rather than a dirty, tarnished, nearly worthless penny.

I'd like to think I'll never look at a penny the same way again.







Then, on a total aside...

We are having a babysitter for the kids this evening and they asked "what are you doing at church tonight?"

How sad is it that our kids only think we would ever get a babysitter for church activities?

'hello beautiful'

I've been excited about this page since I found this great cloud paper from Prima last week. I've been hanging on to this precious picture of Sare for a few months now, and it just seemed perfect. The crochet flowers were an el-cheapo find at Novel Approach for fifty cents a piece. I had too much fun working on this page and it only made me want to scrapbook more!!

Rodeo Sunday

Lots going on at church lately, you probably gathered that from last night's post. One of our big events is Rodeo Sunday and this year we brought in some real live Longhorns. It was a huge success, our people loved it! It was a bit cold, so it would have been even more fun if the weather had been a bit better, but us Yankees were just fine. :)

Hanging In There

Super uber long day. Topping off another long weekend. Looking forward to a day at home catching up tomorrow, trying to keep my house from caving in on itself.

But it's all good, I promise. I love, love, love my life. Can't wait to be able to blog about it all soon. So you, like me, hang in there for a lengthy update tomorrow. toodles till then, sweet dreams!

so very tired...

We've just had a big day today and I'm worn down.

Currently I'm trying to reach the great reps at Turbo Tax to try and get back into my taxes.  I guess I accidently 'paid' for my return (which is dumb cause it's free) and once you 'pay' you can't change anything even though I haven't sent it in!  grrr.  

Taxes have been a major annoyance in my life this year.  Not that they are ever easy, but this year it's especially complicated, first of all because Rob has been self-employed for the entire year so blah, and then cause I started ATP this year.  And we totally did the self-employment thing right with me this year, but with Rob, I didn't take any of the deductions we are allowed (mileage and extra expenses, etc)....   So we were getting whipped by self-employment tax and due to receive a very tiny return.  My friend (and tax guru) Mirna, highly recommended that I look into our mileage, etc, so I did and turns out I have very good records of where we went and what we did last year, but silly Turbo Tax won't allow me to change anything.  Very annoyed.  Bout ready to drive down to Badgett and let them deal with it instead.  I've definitely spent $200 in headaches already.  grrr.

So I'm standing by.