bump...set...SPIKE!

tonight was the first round in the district volleyball tournament. i have had so much fun going to all of stephanie's games and watching her play. she is quite the volleyball player! (personal prejudice towards her aside!)


tonight's game was INTENSE! citrus played crystal river. the games went back and forth, with it getting to the tie-break 5th game. that game is usually played to 15...but the score ended up 20-18 crystal river, giving them the match.


but citrus played their butts off. they worked so hard, and i am so proud of all of them...as were all the fans in the stands tonight.

[here i am with the volleyball queen! =) this was actually taken the first game of the season.]

ok....here is the link to my facebook photo album with pictures from our visit to the camp last night....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171934&l=25c7e&id=568725458

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171934&l=25c7e&id=568725458

baby it's cold outside....

DANG! it was cold when i got up this morning!!! i think the thing said 47 degrees. i thought for a moment maybe i had woken up somewhere other than florida! it's supposed to be even colder tonight. it would be ok if i didn't have to come out from under my blankets in the morning. (and yes, i said blanketS...plural. i'm always cold anyways...so i pile on the blankets in cold weather)

yesterday was really a great day!

we got mom out for a little while. (laurie and i along with the kids) our plan was to go sit at the park, maybe stroll mom around for a little while and then hit the ice cream dr. (best ice cream in town hands down) for a little yummy treat. we did sit at the park for a while but mom didn't want to get out of the van, which was ok. we just enjoyed the time out. then we go to the ice cream dr. and downtown inverness was in a brown out and they had no electricity. grrr.

but we went to wendy's and all got frosty's. so all was well.

it really wore mom out...she told me this morning she slept all afternoon...but i think it did her a lot of good to just get out for a little while.

i'm very thankful for laurie and her willingness to help in these little outings. mom has too much trouble getting in and out of my car, but she handles laurie's van just fine. so THANKS! laurie!!!!

last night was a highlight for me. me and a few others from my bible study group went out and visited camp e-ninni-hassee. for those not from around here, it's a wilderness camp for girls that have been in trouble with the law. it's an alternative to the prison system....though they'd have it a lot easier in the prison i think. i was planning on posting a link to the pictures i took, but i haven't posted them on my facebook yet. i'll try to do that before the end of today.

we were able to tour one of the camp sites, sit and talk to one of the directors and then visit with our girls.

i say "our girls". my bible study group has pretty much adopted one of the "tribes" (not sure if they actually call themselves tribes...but they all have indian names, and they refer to their counselors as chiefs...so for a lack of a better word). it started a couple of months ago when we were approached about supplying them with some dresses from cinderella's closet (a ministry we have) so they could have something to wear for their reward party. they came in (there were 7 of them) and we became their "fairy godmother" for the night, helping them pick out and try on their dresses. they were amazing...so thankful of every little thing. it was the start of a wonderful thing. since then, we've seen them become involved in sunday school and church (they aren't allowed out of camp often, but there are some times when they can...and they are at ss and church almost every sunday)....we've been able to come visit them a couple of times at the camp....attended one of the girls graduation (and we'll be attending others too)....and just give these girls some love and support. that is so what they need. many of them are from the foster system....some of them don't have good home lives. we're not trying to step in and replace/ or become their family....we just want to support and encourage them...let them know how very much God loves them....and how very much we do too. last night as one of them was hugging me goodbye she told me she loved me....it meant a lot to me, because these girls have such trust issues...but they know we care about them.

the whole evening was a huge blessing to me.

[here i am with the girls from the Muntelatas. except for one who just didn't want her pic taken last night]

i'll hopefully have the link to my facebook pictures soon....

weekends

i love weekends! don't get me wrong, i love my job...but weekends are my downtimes and i need them badly! =)

friday night was a football game. we got beat...again. poor guys...we've only won 1 game this season. but i will say, the team we played, i heard was ranked like 6 or so in the state...and they only won 49-14. (only...haha!)

megan was in town this weekend and we met up for the game. megan lives in new orleans and is going to seminary there. inverness is her home-away-from-home. after hurricane katrina, she spent several months here waiting for things to get to the point to return. it was good to see her.

this is megan and i eating beignets at cafe dumond in new orleans this summer! YUMMY!!!!

saturday was a very relaxing day. the only thing i really did was go see my mom and then have lunch with cherise. the rest of the time i just hung out watching football. GO GATORS!

today was pretty relaxing too. i loved church this morning...as always. i'm so very thankful to be a part of cornerstone baptisit church. pastor greg does an amazing job of teaching the word and it always feels like he's talking straight to my heart.

i started reading a new book today. Having a Mary Spirit...allowing God to change us from the inside out.

i was planning on just reading it, but it has a study with it that i think i'm going to do. it'll take me a little longer to get through it, but that's ok.

here are just a few blurbs i got out of the first 2 chapters:

• Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Ps 51:10 [i love this verse...that's what we all should be longing for...a clean heart.]


• God never withholds good except when He has something better to give.


• "Our task here on earth is to show the world an accurate reflection of what God is like. To show them, through our lives, who God is."


• God wants us to have a life so surrendered to Him that He can do His work unhindered. [He sure doesn't need our help!]


• Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:6 [it's so great to know that God isn't giving up on me!]


• "Lord, i can not do this unless you enable me."


• I can't imagine anything more terrible than getting to the end of my life only to discover that God had so much more in mind for me-more freedom, more joy, more peace, more true effectiveness. and i missed it all, simply because i refused to change. [hmm..that's a good one.]

so in all of that..this is the prayer (i stole it from the book) i want to pray over my life....

Lord Jesus, I give you my life.
I invite You to have Your way in me.
Take me and break me. Shake me and make me.
Fill me and spill me. Change me and rearrange me.
But whatever You do, Lord....don't leave me the same.
Spirit of wisdom and revelation, I welcome Your work.
Open my eyes so I can see...my ears so I can hear....
I choose truth over comfort, challenge over complacency.
Lord, make me forever Yous.
And most of all, make me like You.
Amen.

and as great as this weekend here at home has been...what i REALLY wanted to be doing is attending the wedding of my friends josh and leslie. their wedding was yesterday afternoon in covington, louisiana. i just couldn't take friday off of work and that's the only way i would've been able to pull off that 12 hour drive there. (stinking job....it always seems to get in the way!!!)

so josh and leslie...i wish y'all the best. i'm so thankful that God put you both in my life! =)

me and the sweet couple this summer when they came to see me while i was at world changers.

hey there!

ok....here i am. diving into the blogging world again. i tried it once with another site, but i got kind of bogged down with it. but lately i've just really felt the need for an outlet to clear my mind. there's really only so much you can say on myspace or facebook, right? so i'm going to give it a shot. hopefully i won't bore the crud out of anyone...=)