Staff Training!

We have been on the road alll week!! I love going on road trips, and my FAVORITE part is getting to stay in hotels ;)! This weekend, Jake and I went with my family to Winston-Salem to one of my favorite Christmas traditions, The Nutcracker Ballet!!!!! I have been going to the ballet since I was 3 and only missed 2 years since then :) Then, on saturday, we went to Jake's little sister's Charity Ball!! It was so much fun, my only regret is that i didn't get to dance with Jake :( But it was great to spend time with his family and even get to go to the Christmas concert with them at Perimiter Church in Atlanta. They recently joined the church, and if you haven't heard of it...it is AWESOME! So many ministries to so many different groups of people in the Atlanta area..all the way to the nations!! it really gives me a true picture of the gospel, reminding me of James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Then, on Monday, we headed to Atlanta for the week for some staff training. I wasn't really

looking forward to it, because i was pretty exhausted from travelling all weekend, but it's been

SO fun! I've gotten to meet some other staff wives from Campus Outreach Atlanta which has

been so good for my heart because there aren't very many young wives without kids on staff

with us in Greenville. We're meeting to talk about the DC conference we're having in a few

weeks, as well as talking about how to be effective leaders on the campus. I'm excited but sad

to be away from home during the holiday season!! I'll leave you with a picture of my most

recent purchase from Ulta (the best beauty product store EVERRR!!) I got this bubble

bath/shower gel/shampoo for 4 dollars!! it was originally 16 but was on sale for 9 and then i

had a 5 dollar off coupon!!

SNOW DAY!!!!

Jake and I are in the mountains this weekend for a little winter retreat!!! :) We love to come to the mountains and fix dinner together, read together, and watch movies. So far we've watched 2 of my fav Christmas movies, Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Wish. Yesterday we went to the Christmas parade in downtown Burnsville and it started snowing!!!! Right now we are snowed in and doing one of my favorite things-listening to a sermon together :-) Here are some recent pictures from the last few weeks!!

Happy Monday!

My beauty favs.

What do you do when there's not much time to get ready for the day? How do you look presentable when you only have 20 minutes to look your best? Here are my top 5 beauty products this fall!!

1. Rosebud lip salve- If you don't have some, invest in this little $8 tube of goodness. It smells so good like roses, feels like a pillow on my lips, and also has a little natural tint to it. Lately i have just been using it and no lipstick.

2.Bath and Body Works pumpkin body butter. This stuff is the best!! Great for a fun fall scent and not too pumpkin-y, goes on smooth and works well as a lotion for hands and arms too. I have been using this instead of perfume during the day in the fall. It smells like a mixture of pumpkin spice and candy corn, and is great for this time of year when your skin starts to dry out!

3. Essie Nail Color in #731 Sew Psyched-I just can't do the black nail polishes that are so in right now, and it's even hard for me to wear a dark brown for more than a day or two because i feel like i'm dressed up as a witch for halloween. Sew psyched is a great alternative to a light brownish-grey that is very in this season. It has an army green tint to it that i LOVE. it has become my fall neutral, and looks great with a short nail!

4. Christophe Beverly Hills shampoo- I just discovered the Christophe Professionals Hydrating Shampoo collection exclusively at CVS, and I can't get enough of it. My hair is thick and fine, and it's hard to find a shampoo that gives it enough shine without making it look greasy and limp, but this one does the trick. The bonus is, it smells so good, and you only need about a dime-sized portion each use! I couldn't find a big picture of it to show yall, but if you want to try it out it's at all CVS's.

5. Black riding pants-I got a pair on clearance at J Crew for about $12 and have worn them all fall! i like to pair them with a long tunic or a long cardigan and my brown leather riding boots from piperlime :) They are so comfortable and look great with navy and brown-2 of the staple neutrals of the season. One thing with these though, it's important to wear something up top that comes down at least 2 to 3 inches above the knee..modest is hottest!!

Hope for the believer in Christ

This psalm really spoke to my heart today... in my current circumstances-trials, weariness, and unanswered questions, there is hope in my soul that the Lord restores me and sustains me. It reminds me that i don't wait for the Lord's answers to my prayer to come with disbelief, but that i wait expecting Him to move in mighty ways because He is all-powerful! In a world where wickedness surrounds me, the Lord is the all-pure One and perfect One who delights in good and hates the idolatry of the world. I have the picture of me coming into the awesome house of the Lord and being loved and held by Him as i go through the days trials. Isn't it awesome to think that God surrounds us with His favor like a shield, and that He is always protecting us??! I hope these words from Psalm 5 encourage you today:

¹ Listen to my words, LORD,
consider my lament.
² Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

³ In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
⁴ For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
with you, evil people are not welcome.
⁵ The arrogant cannot stand
in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
⁶ you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
you, LORD, detest.
⁷ But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
toward your holy temple.

⁸ Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make your way straight before me.
⁹ Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongues they tell lies.
¹⁰ Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
¹¹ But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

¹² Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!

I love halloween. Besides Christmas and Easter, it's my favorite holiday. I love it for so many reasons but just to name a few:

-as many Reese cups as you want

-getting to dress up and be a kid again (who doesn't love that?!)

-Halloween carnivals

-Halloween movies-Hocus Pocus and Double Double Toil and trouble are my favs!!

-handing out candy to cute kids!!

and finally..carving pumpkins! jake is such a good artist, i can't wait to put up a pic of the pumpkin he did for me this year. We even had Camus a little miniature princess crown to wear, too bad she hated it! Just wanted to update cuz i realized it's been forever since i've written. I'm off to finish my 2nd viewing of Hocus Pocus with jake for the night!!

a Christian's Rant.

One thing i've been thinking a lot about lately is how we as Christians apply the Word to our lives and live out the gospel daily. it's not enough in this life to just proclaim "Jesus is my savior" but our lives have to prove that He alone is the worthy One, the One we live every day for and make every decision in light of. The call to live for Christ is so much more than tacking the American dream on to the gospel. If you want to know more about why this has been on my mind, this book is one of the reasons. I am going through it with my junior discipleship group at PC and it is convicting. I have found myself in so many conversations lately with people who plan out every detail of life and have reasons why they can and can't follow Christ in the is life. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "We walk by faith, NOT by sight." If you love and follow Jesus, what does this mean for you? For some Christian women, it means not working outside the home so that they can love and nurture their children in the Lord, not knowing how they will pay for a college education for the kids. But we walk by faith and not by sight. For others, it means taking a step out of their comfort zone to start a spiritual conversation. How will it turn out? we don't know, but we do know that we walk by faith in all that we do. If you look at the lives of the great missionaries of the past who reached out to the lost, who weathered illness and discomfort, who traveled to different cultures with new customs, what differentiates them from many Christians today? I believe it is that they didn't walk by sight, they did not worry about how God would provide for them but trusted in His sovereign hand and that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose". This has challenged me when i think about chasing the materialistic American dream. And while I do trust God, it is a daily battle for me not to choose to spend money on things that don't last, to live for today and not for eternity. In John piper's book Don't Waste Your Life, he pleads that we not get to the end of our lives and say, "I have wasted it! I have wasted my life!"...on working my life away, storing up possessions on earth that have no eternal value, pursuing the body of a supermodel...but that we would all live our lives as worship to the One we love. That we would experience the joy and freedom that come from giving everything to Him and walking out our faith every day.