Free! Warning...this blog post might make you think, cause I did

About a month and a half ago, I met with our next steps director at church to talk about getting plugged in at Journey. We ended up discussing spending time with God and reading the bible. Lisa challenged me to not just have a quiet time, (which I've struggled with for quite sometime...I'm a time hog and I don't make the time for God that I should.) but to take some time to read God's word and use that as a tool for my time with him. I've done many bible studies, read many great books, but I've come to believe that God has so much more for us than just the Christian resources out there. Of course they are great sources in helping you grow in a relationship with Christ, but reading straight from his word and really studying the meaning of scripture has really opened my eyes.

In Lisa's challenge, she told me to begin by picking a book of the bible that I've read before and really read it word for word and pray for understanding from God. It doesn't matter where you start, God has a new challenge for us daily. I began with Galatians, it's taken me most of the summer to read. God has shown me the challenge Paul is writing about to the churches of Galatia and it's relation to where I am in life right now.

This morning I read Galatians 6:21-30, in this passage Paul is comparing Abraham's wives (the slave wife, Hagar & Sarah, his wife) He uses this as an illustration of freedom in Christ vs. slavery of the law. I can relate to this today. There are so many people in life that try to get you to live by the laws of Christianity, you know...the ones so many church goers have made up. As Christians, we are not bound to a law. We are set free in Christ, to serve him & to live our lives for him. We were made to worship him with our lives, not to follow some rules. Christians are free, guys WE ARE FREE IN CHRIST. Of course we aren't perfect, Christians aren't called to be perfect but...WE ARE FREE because of what HE DID FOR US! Our lives should be more than just going to church, trying to be perfect (newsflash...we never will be, only he is), and occasionally sharing the gospel. Our lives are meant to love God and share God's love with people. (Matt. 22:37-29)

Matt and I have been really praying about how we can do this in our new area...I could write a whole other blog post on this. Maybe I will, but by reading Galatians this summer I've learned a lot about my freedom as a Christian. I am so thankful for the loving God who gave his life for me. To call me his daughter and give me a life on this earth...the same man that conquered the grave, lives in me. I can't even imagine his greatness, he is so great. I have such a long way to go & to grow. I pray that I am not bound by the law, the rules people make up, but that I continue to strive to live my life free in Christ, giving him my all daily!

Real Case of the Lazies

So, it's been a week. I've had my wisdom teeth out (wasn't too bad, except day of), gone on vacation to Washington, D.C., and moved into my new classroom (which is AMAZING!). I really want to write a blog post on these things, well...D.C. and my new classroom, but I've been bitten by the case of the lazies and just don't feel like it. Our house is a wreck, I need to clean, and I just don't feel like doing anything...

Hopefully, I'll regain my will to do something productive today...hopefully :)

ps- Did I mention the new Krispy Kreme opened in Knightdale today, oh yeah!!!

Blah! Wisdom Teeth

Well as my grandpa would say, hopefully I won't lose my wisdom with my teeth tomorrow. (That is supposed to be a joke from him, my dad said the same thing to me...oh the Seagroves men, always have a smart comment)I've been dreading and putting off having my wisdom teeth for quite some time now, but my dentist demanded last Christmas that I have them removed and I told him I was waiting till the summer to do it because I am a teacher...the summer is here and tomorrow they come out.

Like most people, I hate pain. I also hate being forced to lay around the house. Prayers would be appreciated tomorrow and over the next few days. I'm very thankful I have a great husband that will take care of me tomorrow and is able to do his job from home!

Stay tuned, on a brighter note...we leave for Washington, D.C. on Friday and thanks to our great friend John Astle we have a great trip and a tour of the capital building lined up. Who knows who we'll run into!

LONG TIME, no post but I'm working on it...

So a year ago, I began blogging again but school overcame my life (literally) and I didn't blog very long. Matt and I are really working on trying to make time for ourselves to relax, intentionally spending time with the Lord, making that a desire of our hearts, and not letting work overcome our lives again...I'd love to spend more time blogging! Here's a blog I began writing last year and I wanted to post it because it's true. I really look up to Shannon for being able to post almost daily like she does. What a wonderful way to document life!

I've had a blog for a long time, probably since Matt and I began dating in o5, but I haven't really kept it up. I always Shannon White's blog (www.chasingpaperstars.com) and think...wow, I really wish I blogged. She always has something cool to read, whether it be something God is teaching her or something silly like Shannon's "things to do at dinner while you are waiting on your food" list. I love that she can let out her mind for the world to see...

Thankful This Morning!

I've been reading through Galatians this summer, taking it a few verses at a time and really breaking it apart. This morning I woke up feeling really thankful, so I decided to begin my Jesus time by reading through some scripture about thankfulness. The book of Psalms is filled with verses on thankfulness, but this morning I found a verse in Hebrews that really stood out to me. Hebrews 12:28-29 says "Since we are receiving a kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. Our God is a devouring fire."

In Galatians I've been reminded of the freedom that we have in Christ when we become Christians. This means we are not bound by law, how AMAZING! I've also been reminded that as Christians, he is our father and that means we are heirs to THE THRONE OF GOD. This is what Hebrews 12:29 is talking about. We have been promised the unshakable kingdom. Can you imagine what God's love is like for us? He has given us the freedom to live in him and made us his children.

We should be thankful and worship our God for what he has done for us...the amazing love he has for us! We should want to wake up every morning and say PRAISE GOD for what he has done, he has given us another day to live, and so many wonderful blessings. Why would we not want to spend time with him...he gave us life and made us who we are.

The last part of Hebrews 12 says "He is a devouring fire." Think about a fire that is taking over a house or a building. It is massive. God's love is like that for us, but he is so holy that he destroys everything that is not holy like a fire destroys a house. Sometimes it is so hard to fathom the greatness of our God.

This morning all I can do is worship, I thank God for ALL that he has done for me. I thank him for letting me be a part of his kingdom, a heir to the throne. I thank him for being who he is and pray that he helps me, little ole me, to strive to be the person he has called me to be and bring glory to HIS name!

Decorating Help!

My summer project has become decorating the interior of our house, but doing it as cost effective as possible. I've spent a lot of time looking at Homegoods, Ross, and even Walmart for cheap but great decorating pieces for our house. Once school starts back, I'm not going to have a lot of time to work on things. I need a little help though, I don't know what to do in the corner of our living room. Our tv has to go where it is and we aren't looking to buy a new tv stand right now. Any ideas on how I can decorate around it. I feel like this corner of our house is blah...

Walmart is Rediculous!

I'm not usually the person to get all upset when I have to wait forever when my car is getting worked on. I've come along way in learning patience and today as I sat in the Walmart Tire and Lube waiting area for my car to be fixed, God tested me.

Matt has been doing a lot of extra freelance lately and hasn't had time to take either of our cars to get the tires rotated and balanced. We have been traveling quite a bit lately and both cars have needed this done for a while. We are leaving Saturday to go to Boone for a wedding and to D.C. in a few weeks, so I decided today to help him out and take my car to Walmart to get the tires done. We both have a warranty on tires from Walmart, so we take our cars there to get tires done. The Walmart in Knightdale is super ghetto and doesn't have a tire center anymore, so the closest Walmart that has a tire center is the one on 64 in Raleigh near the beltline. I don't particularly love this Walmart, but I thought I would be brave (of course after Matt promised me several times that I would be ok, no one was going to get me) and I went.

When I pulled into the tire center, there were no other cars there...so I thought, "sweet, this will take no time." The guy came out and asked me why I needed him, I told him and after explaining what I needed several times, he finally said ok, gave me a little ticket, and told me he would page me when he was done. I walked around Walmart for a few minutes, felt unconfortable for many reasons and decided to go have a seat in the tire center waiting area. After about 30 minutes of waiting the same guy came back, mumbled something to me about how I needed to replace a tire on the right passenger side, and told me that I probably wanted to get it fixed. I called Matt out of frusteration...now, I know I'm a girl and I don't know a lot about cars but I've learned pretty well from my dad when my tires need to be changed. Matt told me that since I haven't had new tires in a few years maybe the guy was right, and so I told the guy to go ahead with it. (Matt couldn't really tell me one way or the other, he was at work and already feeling sorry for me for having to go to THIS Walmart, he just wanted me out of there) The guy got a bit of an attitude about having to re-enter my transaction and walked away. By now, 45 minutes had passed and my car still hadn't been touched. I was starting to get a little frusterated by now because other cars that came in after mine were getting worked on...I didn't say anything and patiently waited. The guy came 5 minutes later and said he was going to lunch, I asked when my car was going to be ready and he said "I don't know, I'm going to eat...somone else will take you car." I figured someone else was taking over my car right then...

Well, after an hour and a half my car was still sitting and several other cars had been worked on, including some cars that needed tires. Finally, I got up told the guy at the counter I had to leave and asked for my keys. Now, I was hoping they would ask why, start working on my cars...someithing! No one volunteered to go ahead and work on my car or anything...no one even apoligized, they just told me what I already knew...the guy working on my car went to lunch and they didn't know when he would be back.

I got my keys and I left Walmart without having my tires done, I patiently got in my car and left. Although I was pretty proud of myself for not getting all upset over my tires not getting fixed, I wasted about two hours driving all the way to Walmart and sitting there. I do know one thing, we will NEVER go to that Walmart to get our cars worked on again!

Summertime

I am a horrible blogger, I know that, but I am enjoying my summer so I thought I would post about the wonderful things I've been able to do while I've been enjoying my summer break. I finished at Apex Middle on June 11th. I haven't wasted anytime since. Last summer I was bored out of my mind and I was determined that this summer would be different. Bare with me, this post may be a little long...

The first week of my break, I went to Myrtle Beach with my mom, surprised Anna at Caswell, and took them to Provisions. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and my mom loved eating at Provisions.The last part of that week, I spent in Asheville with Matt celebrating our 1st Wedding Anniversary. We stayed in a Bed & Breakfast in Asheville, ate dinner at a great Italian resturant, visited the Biltmore, and took a spontaneous trip to Boone. We really had a great time relaxing. I was excited for Matt to stop work for a few days, he needed a vacation. I can't believe we've been married for a year, what a blessing it has been! Here's a few pictures from our anniversary trip weekend.



The second week of my break, I ended going to a workshop in Chapel Hill for my new school. It was on classroom management, actually pretty worth my while, and it lasted all week. Hopefully I'll be able to use some of the stuff I learned with my new students in the fall. I'm pretty pumped about it.

The end of my 2nd week through the end of my 3rd week of summer break has to be by far my favorite so far. The weekend began with a surprise 50th birthday party for Merrie Johnson (our camp director from Caswell/good friend) and a wedding for a great college friend. Matt and I had a great time celebrating these events and I was able to stay at Caswell through Wednesday. During this time God reveled a lot to me. Matt and I both are learning a lot about what it means to worship God with our marriage, but also to worship God with our individual lives. We've learned that there is no way we can worship God with our marriage if we don't spend time alone with God daily. We've both known this, but last week while we were away from each other it became so evident that we need to work on this. God is so good, Afshin reminded me that as a child of God I must love him with all of my soul...which means giving him EVERYTHING daily. It was awesome to come home from Caswell and learn that Matt was learning the same thing. Anyways, may have to do another blog post on this later...I could go on and on. My sister, Anna, is having a wonderful summer and I was able to spend some sister time with her and hear about what God is teaching her this summer at Caswell. At the end of the week we celebrated my mom's birthday and the 4th of July at my Aunt Kim's beach house in Myrtle Beach. We had a great time and Matt even got to do a little surfing. I love my family!





There is so much more of my summer left and more adventures to blog about. This weekend we are headed to Boone for another wedding. My roommate/friend from college, Allison, is getting married. Can't wait to see great friends from ASU and enjoy some mountain weather!