I can't believe that Alabama beat Georgia last night. Apparently I'm now more into football that I ever was in college and follow it ardently. Seriously. Last night we were all in shock. Then the fighting that broke out around us snapped us back to reality, we picked-up our tail-gate, and went home. Sad day.
On a lighter note, we loved watching Ole Miss demolish Florida. THAT was awesome. Actually, yesterday there were a lot of upsets, I just never saw the Bama/ UGA one coming. Family gatherings with Mama and Daddy Heath should be interesting for the next few years... xoxoxo
28 September 2008
21 September 2008
amazed
today, buckhead church was awesome. not that it isn't other sundays, but today was different. today was a baptism sunday that engaged my heart, mind (and tears) till the end.
The first lady, a very attractive 30-something explained her story: college, met a guy, got married, got pregnant. sounds great until the guy left her 8 months pregnant, broke and alone. she started coming to buckhead church, working in waumba land volunteering with kids and coming back around to the idea of God when she met a guy. they got engaged, but the engagement was broken "abruptly" and she hit an all time low. she realized that she needed jesus, and surrendered to the Lord. what is interesting in this story is that you don't immediately feel content b/c it's not over yet. she doesn't yet have the perfect house and kids and husband, but the Lord is faithful and can give her hope and love in the midst of all that "unfinished-ness"--enough to allow them to be baptized. she (and all the girls on my row, myself included) cried through the whole thing. it was beautiful.
The second was a guy from britain. his tape messed up. no sound. seriously. the tech guys could not make it work, and there was an anticipation that turned to panic when we all realized we wouldn't hear his story--you mean God brought him all this way to this place to have a congregation not hear his story? five minutes later they gave the man a mic and he gave a concise slightly emotional account of his story. it was amazing, b/c it wasn't recorded or proofed or perfect: it was REAL. afterward, we all stood (several thousand) and applauded his courage to speak about a personal relationship, a personal transformation live in front of so many strangers. it was a beautiful thing: what God had done in his life and what God did in the hearts of our church today. needless to say, i was a wreck by the end.
the worship was touching and andy's message was--of course--totally real and pertinent, but the service was unforgettable because of the people who shared their stories and were baptized. wow.
The first lady, a very attractive 30-something explained her story: college, met a guy, got married, got pregnant. sounds great until the guy left her 8 months pregnant, broke and alone. she started coming to buckhead church, working in waumba land volunteering with kids and coming back around to the idea of God when she met a guy. they got engaged, but the engagement was broken "abruptly" and she hit an all time low. she realized that she needed jesus, and surrendered to the Lord. what is interesting in this story is that you don't immediately feel content b/c it's not over yet. she doesn't yet have the perfect house and kids and husband, but the Lord is faithful and can give her hope and love in the midst of all that "unfinished-ness"--enough to allow them to be baptized. she (and all the girls on my row, myself included) cried through the whole thing. it was beautiful.
The second was a guy from britain. his tape messed up. no sound. seriously. the tech guys could not make it work, and there was an anticipation that turned to panic when we all realized we wouldn't hear his story--you mean God brought him all this way to this place to have a congregation not hear his story? five minutes later they gave the man a mic and he gave a concise slightly emotional account of his story. it was amazing, b/c it wasn't recorded or proofed or perfect: it was REAL. afterward, we all stood (several thousand) and applauded his courage to speak about a personal relationship, a personal transformation live in front of so many strangers. it was a beautiful thing: what God had done in his life and what God did in the hearts of our church today. needless to say, i was a wreck by the end.
the worship was touching and andy's message was--of course--totally real and pertinent, but the service was unforgettable because of the people who shared their stories and were baptized. wow.
19 September 2008
linked in
as i was recently writing and researching web 2.0, i discovered more about the "business-world facebook" linked in. then, on my way home from tuscaloosa yesterday, i listened to rob bell talk about being connected, and i wondered: am i too linked in?
i have facebook, gmail, gchat, a blog, twitter, a cell phone, internet, text, voice mail. that's quite a list of distractions. i love them all, but sometimes i'm on information overload. i need to just turn off my phone, stop checking the web, and just be--by myself and with people. i need to stop serving communication and just enjoy it. i need a time out. so tonight i'm doing just that. grant and i are having a date--he's cooking for me! yay! i'm turning off my phone. i'm not checking the internet. and we're coming back to some real QT. i can't wait. i'll come back to the infromation highway tmrw, i guess, but just for tonight, it's like i'm not linked in.
i have facebook, gmail, gchat, a blog, twitter, a cell phone, internet, text, voice mail. that's quite a list of distractions. i love them all, but sometimes i'm on information overload. i need to just turn off my phone, stop checking the web, and just be--by myself and with people. i need to stop serving communication and just enjoy it. i need a time out. so tonight i'm doing just that. grant and i are having a date--he's cooking for me! yay! i'm turning off my phone. i'm not checking the internet. and we're coming back to some real QT. i can't wait. i'll come back to the infromation highway tmrw, i guess, but just for tonight, it's like i'm not linked in.
12 September 2008
God in the straw
just a quick thought from fredrick beakner:
“The child Jesus is born in the night among the sweet breath and steaming dung of beasts, and nothing is ever the same again. Those who believe in God can never, in a way, be sure of him again. Once they see him in a stable, they can never be sure where he will appear, or to what lengths he will go, or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of human kind.
If holiness and God in all his glory were present in this least auspicious of events--this birth of a peasant's child--then there is no place or time so lowly and earth-bound, but that holiness can be present there too. If God's in the straw and the dung, then all events can become holy. And this means that we are never safe and that there are never places we can hide from God, no place where we are safe from his power to break into and recreate the human heart, because it is just where God seems most helpless that he is most strong and just where we least expect him that he comes most fully."
and check out this 2007 article in TIME magazine on rob bell.
“The child Jesus is born in the night among the sweet breath and steaming dung of beasts, and nothing is ever the same again. Those who believe in God can never, in a way, be sure of him again. Once they see him in a stable, they can never be sure where he will appear, or to what lengths he will go, or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of human kind.
If holiness and God in all his glory were present in this least auspicious of events--this birth of a peasant's child--then there is no place or time so lowly and earth-bound, but that holiness can be present there too. If God's in the straw and the dung, then all events can become holy. And this means that we are never safe and that there are never places we can hide from God, no place where we are safe from his power to break into and recreate the human heart, because it is just where God seems most helpless that he is most strong and just where we least expect him that he comes most fully."
and check out this 2007 article in TIME magazine on rob bell.
10 September 2008
thankful
i am so incredibly thankful. i'm actually surprised as i look back on my journal the past 3 months to see what i'm thankful for. it seems that God is so good he's turned what i expected to be bad into something i'm grateful for:
lucy's expectation/ God's reality:
13 weeks of commuting to tuscaloosa for school would suck/ i get to spend roughly 8 hours in two days listening to Rob Bell pod casts, praying, and talking to the ones i love most
gas prices would break our budget/ gas is 40 cents cheaper in tuscaloosa
grant signed us up for a bible study i knew nothing about/ i am totally in love with our new bible study, its leaders, and my wonderful husband
grad school would kill me/ so far so good and only 9 more weeks!
working and school would kill me/ love my job, love my hours [up to my discretion], love the money [more than we expected]
staying with people each week would put them out and be inconvenient/ i've LOVED having one-on-one time with some of my favorite people
work and school would take me away from grant/ we plan incredible intentional time, dates, and dinners with amazing quality time
the tight budget would kill us/ we get to cook together, eat together, play together
This newly-wed season has taught me so much about turning my expectations upside-down and being aware of what God's doing without trying to make assumptions about what he'll do next. I've never been happier; i have much to be thankful for.
lucy's expectation/ God's reality:
13 weeks of commuting to tuscaloosa for school would suck/ i get to spend roughly 8 hours in two days listening to Rob Bell pod casts, praying, and talking to the ones i love most
gas prices would break our budget/ gas is 40 cents cheaper in tuscaloosa
grant signed us up for a bible study i knew nothing about/ i am totally in love with our new bible study, its leaders, and my wonderful husband
grad school would kill me/ so far so good and only 9 more weeks!
working and school would kill me/ love my job, love my hours [up to my discretion], love the money [more than we expected]
staying with people each week would put them out and be inconvenient/ i've LOVED having one-on-one time with some of my favorite people
work and school would take me away from grant/ we plan incredible intentional time, dates, and dinners with amazing quality time
the tight budget would kill us/ we get to cook together, eat together, play together
This newly-wed season has taught me so much about turning my expectations upside-down and being aware of what God's doing without trying to make assumptions about what he'll do next. I've never been happier; i have much to be thankful for.
02 September 2008
seek adventure
grant and i had a blast in augusta this weekend, but the real adventure was our labor day fun!
augusta: had THE BEST TIME with his mama and daddy, sister, brother-in-law, and little noel--the new addition to the family. we ate shish kabobs, baked potatoes (my FAVE!) and cheese cake, and cheered the dawgs and the tide to victory. awesome.
labor day: sunday was our three month anniversary, so i decided to plan something fun [a SECRET!] day trip where we could spend quality time together and immerse ourselves in nature.
what we did: drove through most of western north carolina [gorgeous!]
made our way through a local 6 ACRE corn maze [barely! whew!]; SERIOUSLY, the picture is of the maze itself. it was a doozie.
drove the Blue Ridge Parkway
went to Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest and slide down into icy water!
visited several precious lake/ mountain communities including Bat Cave, NC, Cashiers, NC, and Transylvania County, where they dedicate the entire month of October to Halloween and Fall Festivals [now that's my kinda place!]
checked out the beautiful Looking Glass Falls
loved Brevard
loved even more, the Highlands
hiked the 4,930 ft Whiteside Moutain in the Nantahala National Forest [amazing view from the top]
and stopped last at the Dillard House
hiking waterfalls, viewing cliffs, and taking a roadtrip with my love. could it get any better than that?
augusta: had THE BEST TIME with his mama and daddy, sister, brother-in-law, and little noel--the new addition to the family. we ate shish kabobs, baked potatoes (my FAVE!) and cheese cake, and cheered the dawgs and the tide to victory. awesome.
labor day: sunday was our three month anniversary, so i decided to plan something fun [a SECRET!] day trip where we could spend quality time together and immerse ourselves in nature.
what we did: drove through most of western north carolina [gorgeous!]
made our way through a local 6 ACRE corn maze [barely! whew!]; SERIOUSLY, the picture is of the maze itself. it was a doozie.
drove the Blue Ridge Parkway
went to Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest and slide down into icy water!
visited several precious lake/ mountain communities including Bat Cave, NC, Cashiers, NC, and Transylvania County, where they dedicate the entire month of October to Halloween and Fall Festivals [now that's my kinda place!]
checked out the beautiful Looking Glass Falls
loved Brevard
loved even more, the Highlands
hiked the 4,930 ft Whiteside Moutain in the Nantahala National Forest [amazing view from the top]
and stopped last at the Dillard House
hiking waterfalls, viewing cliffs, and taking a roadtrip with my love. could it get any better than that?
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