Hello From Georgia!

Hi everyone! It's been awhile, and I know I have much to catch you up on. I am currently in the great state of Georgia, relaxing at the Freeman's house. My mom came in town for the weekend, so Nikki and I decided to drive up for the weekend and hang out with some family and friends. We've had a lot of fun! It's been great to be able to see my mom and brother Matthew again. We had to bring Ellie too, so she has been staying at Matthew's house. She loves having a whole house to run around in!!

As far as last weekend goes, I had a nice visit to New Hampshire. Everyone was so nice and friendly, and the wedding was lovely. Spending the time up there helped me clarify some things too in moving forward in life. I am thankful for the time that I had up there!

On Sunday, I got to go down to Gloucester and go back to my church, which was awesome! It was so good to see everyone again. Michael led worship, and then after church, we had a cookout with all of the worship team folks. It was great to have a chance to just spend the afternoon with everyone. When we got finished with that, we went and played putt-putt with Michael and his girlfriend Bekah. Here are some fun pictures from that afternoon!






I enjoyed getting to see everyone again, but being up in the north did help confirm that I am so happy I have moved back south. I love the sunshine and the warmth and the culture, and I am really glad that I live in Florida now!

I'll post more soon, but for now I am going to go spend some time with the Georgia peeps. Have a great weekend!

Cakes and Such

It has been awhile since my last blog. I should be fired! But to be honest, there isn't a whole lot to share. Still don't have a job. Still looking for one. I figure you guys only want to read so many times how awesome it is to go to Disney and the pool. But I miss not writing blogs, so I am going to try to write more often! Plus, there are things coming up that will need to be blogged about. For instance, I am leaving on Thursday to go to NH for a long weekend. Steve's brother is getting married, and I get to be his (Steve's!) date. :) This also means that I am meeting his ENTIRE family - parents, grandparents, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. all at the same time. Pray for me! :) I am really looking forward to the trip though and can't wait to see Steve again! In this same trip, I also get to see my brother and my East Gloucester friends, and that will be fun too! I can't wait to see everyone. I'll take pictures and share stories of all of this when I return.

It is definitely frustrating to still not have a job. I have been doing so many different things to find one and keep running into dead ends. But even in the midst of the madness, it has also been a really great time. I have had a lot of down time, and that has allowed me to really look at some stuff and God has been continuing to heal me in so many ways. So it's good. But I'd like to find work soon!

Nikki has been really sick for about a week now, but she is taking a cake decorating class at Michael's. She is working on her very first cake, so I thought I'd document some of her progress. Here is her first cake she has ever baked cooling, and the first batches of icing she made!


And here is my fabulous roommate as she is making icing. Sorry for the blurriness of the picture!

Finally, just for fun, here are 2 pictures of me and Ellie. Ellie has been very needy this weekend, wanting to be patted lots. But she makes me smile everyday, so we'll keep her around! In the first one, she was trying to get away, so it's blurry. It's funny though - looks like she's waving!!


Gotta run for now - I have a Braves game to watch!! More to come soon though. Have a great week!

A Promise Of Life

I love rainbows. I always have. There is something so majestic about them, especially when they are bright and clear and you can see all of the colors. And of course, they always remind me of God's promises. Most of us know the story of Noah's ark, when God flooded the whole earth. At the end of all of it, He put a rainbow in the sky, and this is the promise that He made...

"I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh." Genesis 9:13-15

Now here we are thousands of years later, and God has kept His covenant - He has never again destroyed the entire earth with a flood. God made covenants with His people throughout history, but I love how with this one, there is a visible sign to us of His promise.....a promise of life, of hope...

Since moving to Florida, Nikki and I have seen rainbows almost once a week. They pop out a lot here with the rain showers and sunshine. And each time one has come, it has been so fantastic because it's been at a time when we were struggling with the unknown or not having jobs, and it's like God just gives us a reminder that He's still here. He's not going anywhere, and He's with us, and if we need some proof, well, have a nice big rainbow.

Last night, there was actually a double rainbow. It was awesome. And it stayed in the sky for at least half an hour. We tried to get pictures, but we could not fit the entire rainbow in one picture - it was too wide. So here are a couple of attempts to capture the beauty of what we saw, although it certainly doesn't do it justice. Look closely and see if you can see the double rainbow!


So thanks God for an awesome reminder of Your presence in our lives!

Friends

Happy Monday to all! I should be desperately searching for a job right now, but I am instead taking a break to put up a quick blog. For those of you who are my Facebook friends, you will have probably already seen these pictures, but I wanted to post this anyway.

When I was on staff at West Ridge, I had a co-worker named Tim Grandstaff, who at the time was the children's pastor. He and his wife Tandy just recently moved to Orlando, where they will be planting a church that is going to get started at the first of the year. Nikki and I have gotten to see them a couple of times since we've been here. Tandy is an excellent photographer, who has her own business, and she has been kind enough to let Nikki and I tag along with her on some of her photo shoots so we can learn and continue to improve our own picture taking ability.

On Saturday, we all met in downtown Orlando to take pictures of my friend Jenn and her husband Will, who will be welcoming their first baby into the world in about a month. We had a great time! Here are a few of my favorite shots that I took....



I'm really looking forward to continuing to learn as much as I can about photography and continue to improve in my picture taking. I'm thankful Tandy is willing to share her knowledge with us!

One of the things I have enjoyed most about being down here is having the opportunity after 2 years of living in different states to get to spend time with Nikki again. And I am looking forward to continuing to develop friendships with Will & Jenn and Tim & Tandy as well, plus any other people God brings into my life. While I desperately miss my friends from Gloucester, I am very thankful for those that I have here.

And now, back to searching for a job!! :)

A Renewed Hope

Hi everybody! Well, as promised from my last post, I am going to try and put "on paper" some of what God has been doing in my life over these last weeks. We'll see how successful I am, as so much of what is in my head is still being processed. But I do want to keep you posted on what's going on, so here goes....

First of all, living with Nikki has been totally awesome. It has been such a blessing to share life with her as a roommate. We've been able to talk about so many things, and while I would never wish our experiences on anyone, it's nice to talk with someone who really does know how you feel. In our discussions, we've had some great conversations that have really redeemed some of what we have walked through in these last years.

Along with conversations we've shared, we have also watched a couple of videos that have been very encouraging (Louie Giglio from Passion - Hope When Life Hurts Most) and great reminders of what is true. We've been visiting churches here in Orlando, and at every single church we've visited, the sermon has been on hope, trust, faith, or facing your fears. I've also read some books, talked with people, received encouraging emails.....and through all of it, I have ended up at the same place...

No matter what the circumstances look like, no matter how dark the night, no matter if I understand or not, Jesus loves me. Period. The end. It sounds simple, but believing that changes everything. If I ever doubt that Jesus loves me, all I have to do is look at the cross where He died for me, and that should pretty much clear up any question I have of His love for me. And in His hanging there on a cross, He experienced it all - He was betrayed, He was scorned, He was considered weak and powerless, He was beaten to a pulp, He tasted death....and yet, what looked like the worst moment in history became the turning point for mankind. Love won. And when I rest in His love for me, I can trust Him - NO MATTER WHAT.

Life is full of uncertainties. None of us know the number of our days. And trouble will come to us all. But we can live life safely, letting our fears chart our course, or we can let go of our fears, hang on to God, and live in the peace that trusting Him brings. I have lived the last few years of my life letting my fear dictate my decisions, determine much of how I viewed life, and certainly not trusting God fully. God is working on my heart, molding, healing, bringing me face to face with the fears that I have let stand in the way. Is this an easy process? Painless? Fun? Heck no! But there is no other place I'd rather be. Because the only sure thing in this life - the only place to build our foundation - is in Christ. And by trusting in Him completely, I can be free to truly live, to love, to risk, and to run through this life, praising the one who gives me life in the first place.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring. But I have hope. I am excited about what God is doing and what He has in store. And I look forward to sharing it with all of you! I will keep you posted and would appreciate your prayers that God will give me the courage to let go, fully trust Him, and once again fully live.