Community.

Before Stuart and I got married or were even dating I attended church at The Well. It was so great to attend their marriage retreat and meet new people while catching up with some old familiar faces.

As we walked away from the church I was telling Stuart how refreshing it was to meet so many Christians who were willing to branch out and be accepting to new people. They never made me feel awkward or uncomfortable for not knowing anyone. And they each took time to introduce themselves and start a conversation with me. Not because they felt obligated but because they genuinely wanted to get to know me.

Now it may seem weird that I found this so astonishing, but I have encountered so many social and church scenarios where I will walk in and I'm lucky if anyone will even say hi to me. And if they do say hi, they rarely say more than a few words before shifting focus back to the crowd they're most comfortable with. Even as a Christian and youth pastor's wife, there have been many times where I have felt more comfortable and accepted around non-Christians than Christians.

I always wonder what this says about us. As Christians, isn't the church meant to be our home? Why would we not welcome people into our community?

As someone who has moved around a lot, I am very sensitive to newcomers. I know what it's like to be the new kid on the block and having to deal with the uneasiness of new schools, jobs and even churches. Sometimes I think that we as christians, need to be reminded of how important it is to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and meet new people. It takes more then saying hi and having surface conversation for three seconds. All people want is to feel welcomed, accepted and engaged with in genuine conversation.

I love meeting and learning about people who are different from me. I enjoy connecting with people who are similar to me. I value deep conversations with anyone who can sharpen me. I am praying now more than ever for continued opportunities to meet new people and to make new friendships.

Til Death Do Us Part.

Over the weekend Stuart & I attended an in-town marriage retreat at The Well. It was such a great opportunity for us to meet married couples our age and draw in some wisdom from the "veteran" married couples as well.

Here are some of the things we learned.

Wives want to be led by their husbands. When we receive wisdom, insight and direction from our husbands it makes us feel cared for.

Husbands tend to be passive in areas where they think they are not well respected. They seek assurance that we are confident in them.

Husbands must give love to their wives, so that in turn their wives will give their husbands respect. They are dependent on each other.

We must both remember that love is given and respect is not earned.

Your spouse is not your enemy. When they hurt you, it will help to view them as being wounded rather than offensive. Try to view things beyond your own perspective.

Satan loves nothing more but to divide and conquer. It is so important to be unified as a couple.

In the last seven months, we've realized how important it is to be a team as a family. I am so thankful for my husband's love, support and patience. While we certainly have and will face trials as every married couple does; I am so thankful to know that Stuart and I have made a commitment to one another that we know will last forever.

Dream House.

I've been doing my fair share of blog-stalking and dreaming up of what I would like my future house to look like. This will most likely be an ever-changing process over the next five years or so. For now, I will just share some of my favorite inspiration pictures.

I love this living room. I love having a house or in my case, apartment, with lots of light.

One day I will live in a place where I can have a pantry big enough to make it look just like this.

And a bathroom like this.

 I might even enjoy doing laundry if my laundry room looked as cute as this.

Happy Friday everyone! Stuart and I are attending a couples retreat this weekend at our neighbor church The Well. We're still new at this gig, so we are looking forward to all the wisdom there is to be learned. Stay tuned for all the afterthoughts.

Tallahassee Meets Earth Fare.

I first met Earth Fare when I was home visiting one summer in Charlotte. I would always stock up on a few of my healthy favorites before I would head back to college. Needless to say, I was very excited when I learned they would be opening one in Tallahassee.

I like Earth Fare for many reasons but particularly because they promote healthy lifestyles and support local farmers. They strive to make healthy eating convenient, affordable, fun and delicious!

The only downside of healthy organic foods is that sometimes they hurt your wallet because they are so pricey. So I did some research on what types of food you should buy organic versus your neighborhood grocery store. Here is what I found at http://www.thedailygreen.com.

Focus on those foods that come with the heaviest burden of pesticides, additives and hormones. According to the Environmental Working Group, consumers can reduce their pesticide exposure by 80% by avoiding the most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating only the cleanest.

They suggested you buy the following organic:

Meat: Beef & Pork

Milk

Vegetables: Celery, Bell Peppers, Potatoes, Carrots

Fruit: Peaches, Strawberries, Apples, Blueberries, Nectarines, Grapes, Pears

Low Pesticide Foods:

Vegetables: Onions, Corn on the Cob, Asparagus, Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes

Fruit: Watermelon

While I am the first to admit I rarely cough up the money to buy organic; I want to make more of an effort to start buying organic and less processed foods in 2011. Especially since Earth Fare has such good deals.

Life is Full of Surprises.

One of the hardest lessons Stuart and I have had to learn in the "grown up" world is that life is full of surprises. It seems that no matter how hard we try to prepare, be organized and be smart with our money something unexpected pops up out of nowhere that we have to take care of. Today was one of those days.

Stuart was driving the trash to the dumpster going approximately 5 mph through our apartment parking lot when out of nowhere an old man comes flying out of his driveway and hits our poor car [the Blue Jay].

Thankfully no one was hurt and it wasn't our fault so we won't have to pay for any of the repairs. But we could not believe our luck.

The unexpected events have been a hard lesson to learn for an O.C.D. planner such as myself. However, because things like this seem to happen almost monthly, I am realizing how important it is to save and be prepared for these things. And the reality is these things will most likely come up the rest of our life. Here's hoping these unexpected incidents will be few and far between in the next few months!

Soul.

 

 

I have a long way to go, but I am learning to trust God with my future. He has slowly been prying my tightly gripped hands open and I am learning to give more over to Him.

 

I've spent the last two years battling all this change. Trying to find a way to still make all of my life plans work instead of embracing the new plan that God has placed in front of me.

 

I want to learn to embrace the change He has given me. I want to go willingly wherever God sends me. I want to forgive and forget past mistakes. And I want to love the things that He loves.

 

I recognize that all of this takes time. It takes spending time with Jesus. It takes spending time with friends and family. It takes time serving others. And it takes time waiting for God to direct my next steps.

 

I want to spend more of this year reflecting. I want to take life day by day, instead of clinging to things that once were or never will be. I want to continue this journey that I am on, rather than settling for where I am at.

 

I am filled with hope as I remember all the gifts God has given me. A wonderful husband and loving family. Faithful friends and promises for the future.

Body.

So I finally joined a gym. I actually belonged before our wedding but I got so busy that I never actually made it there to work out. And since times were tight while saving up for our honeymoon, I decided to forfeit the gym membership. But here we are now, six months later and I am crawling back once again. 

 

I immediately discovered that half the battle is motivating yourself to get off the couch and go get a gym membership. I wanted to sign up before my birthday because the joining fees are higher once you turn 25. So on January 11, I realized I had waited as long as I could and I drove myself down the street to the YMCA. When I arrived I noticed flashing lights and as I drove around to the back of the gym I saw the whole gym was being evacuated. That's when I realized the fire alarm was going off. Part of me wanted to bail as I wondered, could this be a sign that I should not join? But I decided to wait it out. Eventually I saw people going back upstairs and even though the fire alarm was STILL going off, I figured I should go ahead and ask if I could join. After all it would be $50 more if I waited. As it turned out, they waived the joining fee for the month of January, so it didn't matter when I joined, but I am still so glad that I did!

 

 

 

Stuart and I are slowly getting used to being grown-ups and waking up early. So we are hoping to start making early morning work-outs part of our regular weekday routine. Wish us luck!