Monday Morning Mind Dump

I feel like I have been on a whirlwind tour somewhere. It started last Wednesday with a luncheon with our noonday bible study and our home church noonday bible study (which is taught by my Uncle John) at the Founders Inn.

Wait...I forgot that the Friday before we attended our monthly Minister Wives and Widows meeting. Our meetings seem to have become just as popular for the husbands as they are for the women since they took up two tables at our dinner that night.

Then yesterday WABC treated our senior members to lunch after our morning service. Yet somehow most of the members that were there on Sunday showed up to attend also. There ended up being too many people to fit in the space they had reserved for us. I'm thinking thats a good problem to have. Looking forward to the day we will have that same problem at WABC!

Of course in between that I have been decorating for Christmas at home (photos coming up in my next post), and at WABC! This is the earliest our decorations have been up. In part because I had access to them a lot sooner this year (long story) and for the first time in five years my mom and sister will be coming here for the holidays!

Sadly we have also been attending funerals in the midst of the holiday season. Starting with the passing of a member at WABC, and tomorrow we will be burying my cousin. I love spending time with my family just wish it was under different circumstances.

Sunday Best Family Style!

Its been a minute since my last Sunday Best! I love What Not To Wear, but the cost of some of the clothing on there just makes me cringe! I rarely pay full price for an item and none of my accessories or clothing would cost me an arm, leg or a foot! I just can't do it.

Nicki is actually wearing one of my sweaters (a Roses find for $16.00)! Of course I could never pull off the leggings and the boots. Love her belt from Charlotte Russe and purse from H&M. The purse only cost her around $5.00 (the belt was $4.00)! She says the boots were around $10.00 (Charlotte Russe). As you can tell baby girl is a bargain shopper (and closet snatcher). Of course two can play that game because the necklace and earrings I'm wearing belong to her!!! LOL

I eyed this sweater along with another one in sage green for weeks before finally taking the plunge and picking them up from KandG (Buy one at regular price of $22.00 and get the other at half price). The belt is from a dress that I got last year, slacks are Catos ($22.00) and the tank underneath is a Hanes women's t-shirt! I don't get paying over the top prices for your wardrobe. You can collect some nice quality pieces at the fraction of the cost if you take the time to shop around and mix and match old pieces with new. You can't see my boots but they were a Black Friday find from JCPenneys from at least four or five years ago. I try to invest in good quality shoes and purses and exchange out my tops with bottoms to get more bang for my buck.

Modeling a Sunday Best outfit was not in my husbands plans for an after church activity. He was too busy trying to get to the TV and his big bag of popcorn! And Quisha declined the invitation to pose! Oh well! I'm now off to heat up leftover Thanksgiving Day dinner and chill with the rest of the family. Hope everyone has a great week.

Thanksgiving Day/Black Friday

The Food!!!!!

We had a great Thanksgiving Day. Spent the morning chilling with the family watching The Macy's Day Parade and then the girls and I created some of our favorite dishes to take to share at my cousins home for Thanksgiving Day dinner. My oldest daughter Quisha made hummus dip with chips to share as an appetizer. I'm surprised we brought any home. I made macaroni with cheese, cornbread and Marc smoked a turkey. My youngest daughter Nicki found a bean salad recipe online. Anyone who knows Nicki knows she rarely darkens the door of a kitchen unless its to drop off take-out to put in the refrigerator. LOL

Family!

We had a great time hanging out with my cousin Pat and her family. My mom decided to take a break this year, and my sister went to meet her boyfriends family for the first time. I'm hosting Christmas dinner so my cousin Pat invited us to join them. It was great for the girls because they got to visit with their cousin Trice who now lives to far for the girls to hang out with on a regular basis.

The Shopping!

We left G-Town around 10:30 after hitting the WalMart in my hometown. Somebody had the bright idea to shop at the country WalMart (I don't know what I was thinking) I (she) forgot it was the only WalMart for miles so of course everyone and their mama was there. We then headed back to the beach so that I could shop at Kohl's. We pulled into the parking lot right at 11:45...again who's idea was this? Honestly....I love Black Friday...so its not that big a deal. The picture above is the line of people wrapped around the building waiting to get in at 12. Thanks to a church member that works at Kohl's I found my two argyle sweaters right away, only problem...we spent 45 min. in line! We finally made it back home around 2 am, and crashed...just to get up and head out again at 7:30 AM. The good news is that the majority of our Christmas shopping is complete. I even picked up a few things for Mrs. Claus! Over the next few days I'll work some magic with the flowers I brought from Michael's and start taking down the fall decor so I can decorate for Christmas. So that's my Thanksgiving Day weekend in a nutshell. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day. Time to deck the halls and prepare for the most important birthday of the year!!!

Bonus: Did you happen to notice the chocolate fountain? I picked it up at ACMoore. Its originally $70. but Friday it was on sale for $40. Thanks to a 30% off coupon we ended up paying a little less then $30.00 for it. I'm so excited...this has been on my wish list forever. I can't wait to use it for our first women's ministry event of the new year!

Almost 50!!!

Next spring I will turn 48! That's so close to 50 its not even funny! Have to say in the last few years I have learned your age really is only a number. Its how you feel about yourself that makes the difference. Some days I look in the mirror and I see that nineteen year old girl that just got married, then some days I look in the mirror and see my mom, some days I even see my grandmother in the mirror! Now I know to most people I don't look my age, let alone like the mother of three adult children..but this old girl can feel it in her bones, in the nighttime bouts of insomnia, the sudden onslaught of a hot flash or now more then ever in the fact that I have to tip my glasses down to the bottom of my nose to see the words on the page (granted that may be caused by a need to go get the eyes checked). Recently I realized I have been in ministry for close to 18 years. We have seen generations of youths that we worked with grow up, and have babies of there own. If you look at the media today you would think ministry is only for the young (not the young at heart).

The wording has changed, the wardrobe has changed. Everywhere I look I see young leaders conferences, young leaders magazines, young leaders small groups, and the list goes on and on. Now I'm not knocking young leaders or the people who follow them....but there are a great group of "older" leaders out there who still have something to offer. It disturbs me that we continue to separate ourselves down generational, economic, racial and denominational lines. Thanks to the internet we have an opportunity to learn from some of the best leaders around. Don't confine yourself to listening to just one voice!

Sidenote: this post was inspired by a post by Kelly. Kelly was insightful enough to see that just because she was young did not mean that all of her readers were. Some of us over the age of 40 enjoy peeking into her life as much as those who are her age. And she was even willing to give us a place within her space to gather! Thanks Kelly for not forgetting us old folks! I'm proud to be an older blogger! LOL

Sunday Morning Wrap Up (Random, Very Random! LOL)

Our weekend started with us buying turkeys for our Thanksgiving Day basket giveaway. Although things were a bit tight this year we were still able to bless several families with a meal (and I mean with all the trimmings). Next year we are considering making meals for many of the widows within our church in addition to the baskets for family's in our community.

This little sweetie pie was one of four babies in our nursery. If you missed it last week we had an influx of toddlers and had to make a "instant" nursery within a matter of minutes. This week our teens stepped in to help out so that our children's church directors could still conduct their class with the older children. At the end of service Marc prayed over the children and for the children's ministry. It does my heart proud to see so many young ones at WABC. 

My youngest daughter was absent from our media ministry today because her church held a powder puff game (Nicki attends early morning service at her church and then comes to WABC to help out. Recently she even took on the role of personal assistant to Marc). She's the last one in the bottom row on the right hand side. Her team won, but apparently she busted her lip, ran into someone's elbow (for which she has a bruise) and peeled her nail back! When I asked how she was she kept saying...but we won the game. Apparently that is all that matters! LOL

My oldest daughter has been busy at school with her new class (she recently moved up a grade at the Christian preschool she teaches at) and trying to keep up with her two godchildren. Not sure what she will do the day she actually has some of her own! Or what her daddy will do since he is soo eager to be a granddad! 

Speaking of Marc, he did an awesome job Sunday morning with his message on "We Can Always Give Thanks". There was lots of praising going on in service. I'm in awe of the way God is using him and the blessings that I see on the horizon for this ministry.

I've been on a sweater buying binge the last few months. Marc has been speaking a lot lately (not to mention we have attended several events), and my winter wardrobe was in serious need of an upgrade. As much as I would like to dress casual all of the time the area in which we live and the people we come into contact with just doesn't allow for that. Granted I don't have to dress like the typical "first lady" but I should at least look presentable while standing beside my husband. I mean....have you seen how he dresses? Hello? LOL

It seems like all of my friends have already put up their Christmas decorations! Well even though I picked up these cute chair covers this weekend for my kitchen chairs, we will not be putting up any decorations before Thanksgiving Day has officially passed us by!

Well that's my very random weekend update through the eyes of the Pastor's Wife! Marc has to speak Wednesday night and then Thanksgiving Day we will be hanging out with family, followed by Marc and my usual Black Friday dash. The good thing is we actually got an early start on Christmas gifts this year so mostly it will be for fun (yes, I'm one of those strange people who loves the hustle and bustle). So heres hoping everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Our 3rd Year Anniversary at WABC

Marc and I celebrated three years at WABC on this past Sunday. His professor spoke during the morning service. Dr. DeLong did a great talk on the importance of unity. After he spoke we sang a song together about us all being one in Christ! Dr. DeLong did not know in advance our stand on unity among the body so the fact that he talked about that very subject was even more of a confirmation to Marc and I that we are headed in the right direction!

WABC really outdid themselves in the gift department. Marc received a flat screen tv for his office and I received several beautiful gifts including gorgeous red roses! Thank you WABC family! Speaking of family.......

I was so happy to see my mom, several members from my church as a child, and also my aunts and uncles at the service. I'm so grateful for my family and the way they have always been there as a support system to not only me but to Marc. As my mom stated on Sunday....he is part of our family!

The cake above was done by my Aunt. She makes some of the best cakes around. The last time she made a cake for us was during our house warming. Once people got a taste of it they tried to take huge chunks of the cake home. That's just how good it is!

I can't end this post without thanking Dr. McDonald who spoke in the afternoon. Dr. McDonald is a family friend who's been very supportive of Marc and his ministry. It was a great way to end a great day!

Monday Morning Wrap Up

We had an awesome Sunday at WABC. We had close to fourteen children/babies at church yesterday. This may not seem like a big number to you guys but for us its been a major "hallelujah" moment for our church. A church with youth is a sign of a growing church! Our Youth Directors stepped up to the plate and created a makeshift "nursery" in the office. Next time we will be better prepared but I have to say there were a lot of folks beaming with pride at the sudden growth...most especially my husband! 

There are some major changes happening in my life. I spoke for the third time ever this past Saturday at our Fall Prayer Breakfast. I spoke on the subject...The Power in the Prayer! I'm so amazed that God has chosen to use me in this way. And I'm so thankful for the support of my husband. He's been my number one cheerleader and encourager! Speaking of prayer and change....I'm proud to announce a partnership with some really special friends, including my pastors wife for a local PW Network in my area. We will be concentrating on the Hamptonroads area right now but hopefully in time my prayer partners will establish their own networks in their perspective areas (which includes the Midwest, Canada and Belize). Blended Souls connects my heart for Pastor and Ministry Wives with my passion for racial diversity and unity among churches and christian organizations. 

I have to give a shout out to my daughters. They have been a great help over the last few weeks. We held our second Fall Fest last week and they stepped in and helped wherever they were needed. I even got into the spirit of the day and dressed up in a sparkly cowgirl hat and feather boa!

Of course I can't forget my sweet hubby! Next Sunday we will celebrate our third year at WABC! I'm soo proud of this man and all that he has done and continues to do for the Kingdom! Happy 3rd Anniversary honey!

Well hopefully this will explain why its been so long since I have blogged! I have promised myself I will do better!