i’ve got a crush.

I am crushing on these. And my momma said she’s getting them for me. I love her.

“The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter” – Mark Twain.

words

You know when God is teaching you such big things & you can’t put them into words? I love that feeling. But, it’s frustrating, too.

God gave me insight today. More insight than I’ve been given in a long time. He is faithful. Oh, how He loves us.

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.
C. S. Lewis

need.

I look out the window. the birds are composing. Not a note out of tune or out of place. I walk to the meadow and stare at the flowers–better dressed than any girl on her wedding day. So why should i worry? Why do i freak out? God knows what I need. He knows what I need.

he is.

today marks one year for brandon and me being in marital bliss. and it’s been just that. we don’t have money to buy presents. so, this is my rinky-dink present via blog. reasons why i love him!

• He does not care what other people think.
• He’s thorough. Very, very thorough.
• He will ask all the questions and make all the phone calls.
• He loves Jesus more than he loves me.
• He knows how to put me in my place.
• He knows how to calm me down after he puts me in my place
• He has two jobs simply because he loves the mission God has given him and he’s going to do it no matter what it takes.
• He has a heart for the broken…compassion for the hurting.
• He makes a difference.
• He thinks I’m funny.
• He tells me I’m beautiful at least once a day.
• He tells me he loves me every time I speak with him.
• He encourages me to find my passion and live it.
• He can’t be mad at me… no matter what.
• He fakes being a morning person just for me.
• He’s picky. Actually, the pickiest!
• He lets Pacey sleep in the bed with me sometimes just because he knows it will make me happy.
• He works so hard in our yard to make it pretty as can be for me.
• He never forgets to take the trash out on Tuesday’s.
• He calls his mom every day. He cares about his family.
• He will drop anything to listen to me.
• He feels the urgency that the Kingdom shouts at us.
• He loves unconditionally.
• He accepts change and keeps on going.
• He writes beautifully.
• He doesn’t hold grudges.
• He will one day be the most wonderful father.
• He plays music loudly every night and sings and sings and sings.
• He loves and prays for his friends.
• He speaks Truth in my life.
• He loves the Gospel. He speaks it…and he lives it.
• He loves to read.
• He loves to listen.
• He is flexible.
• He’s tidy.
• He is quiet.
• He is quirky.

He is mine. For better or worse. For richer or poorer. Til death do us part. Happy anniversary, Bran. I love you so much.

& thank you, Jesus, for my sweet husband. Thank you for renewing Him, loving Him, and holding Him like I could never attempt to do.

“Greatest Love of All”

Whitney Houston’s song: “Greatest Love of All” says this:

I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

Well, she thinks the greatest love of all is learning to love yourself. I think I must believe that, too. I have been listening to Francis Chan’s series on The End of the World. Please go listen to the first one because you can hear Francis singing “Greatest Love of All.” Worth it. The first sermon is something I needed to hear. The Holy Spirit has been beating on my heart (and mind) to remind me of my priorities and where they need to be.

I like a clean house. I have company coming this weekend, so I flipped out all week because I had no time to really clean my house. I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to be spotless. My motives? So my house (notice the word: my) would look awesome. And my guests would say, “Kristi, your house is beautiful.”

2 Timothy 3.1-3 talks about people being “lovers of ourselves.” I hate this about myself. But I obviously don’t hate it enough, because I love myself too much to care enough. Oh, the irony. I walk around looking at other Christians with fancy cars and nice clothes and say, “Everyone’s that way. So what does it matter?” Francis spoke about how there are people around the world that do not have soup kitchens, water fountains in parks, etc. like we do in America. Most people in America are not going to starve–somehow, they can find assistance if they look hard enough. But in some places, women are walking miles and miles all night long just to bring a sip of water to their children. Some of these people around the world are dying. Dying. They don’t have food. But, we as Americans spend 8 billion dollars a year on Christmas decorations because we want our house to look beautiful. And we look at these people walking miles and miles to get water…the people laying on the street with nothing to eat in our own cities…and the children dying of lack of nourishment…we look at all of these people and we simply let it happen.

“We need to see how these people live. We need to care more about them living than about our standard of living.”

This is one of those quotes that smacks me in the face. Our standards are ridiculous. We say that we have to “provide for the family” when all we are providing is a false sense of establishment upon things that do nothing but perish away.

Do you know the saying, “You know how much you love something when you lose it.” What happens to you when you look at your checking account and it’s closing in on you because your pipes had to be replaced under the house and you had a large amount of money to spend out of the blue? What happens to you when stocks drop? What happens to you when you look in your wallet and have $5 left when  you started the day with a $50? Hm, how much do you love money? (and in turn, love yourself?)

Jesus is telling me: Loving yourself is the opposite of love. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, and soul. Love the your neighbor as yourself. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

one, two, three.

I haven’t written in a while.

• We had to dig up our front yard and replace pipes. That was…. awesome? We got it done by good friends for much cheaper than it would (should) have been. Praise God.. He’s always providing.

Matt working hard as you can see…

• We went to ATL for Catalyst. It was pretty good. Thank you Dustin for free tickets. He’s a blessing. I will also talk about Dustin a little more in a second…
• Okay, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here’s the bad of Catalyst. Don’t get me wrong, it rocked. But, there was a lot of things I learned not to do in church planting, leading, teaching, etc. 1) Can we please stop idolizing church pastors/speakers? I had to ask myself a million times what deserves a standing ovation.  2) Dustin (I don’t think he reads this)…but thank you for following Jesus and not your own “dreams”. Thank you for keeping your dreams in check and knowing that if Jesus isn’t your ultimate goal, you are simply being an idolater for whatever your goal really is. Thank you that your goal isn’t a big mega church or a kick-butt sermon that will keep everyone speechless…your goal is for Jesus to be taught about, loved, and worshipped. Your goal, in the end, is anything and everything of Jesus. Thank you for leading us in that way. You teach us well. (Because you teach Jesus and Him alone.) Note: Dustin isn’t perfect…who is? But he’s a great leader for our church family and I’m thankful for him.
• The good! (yay!) There was so many good things to say about Catalyst. I saw old friends. (Seriously, Anderson Christian Ministry major reunion?) I heard many good speakers (all of them were great.) God is doing many good things through them. It’s exciting. I heard a lot about togetherness. I listened to a lot of people tell stories of different missions and world differences that were being made. I cried and prayed for the people that didn’t have “it” anymore. I learned about Trade as One (and love it!) I talked to God a lot. I got to chill with my hubby for three days straight (very abnormal!!) I got to hear an African Children’s Choir sing and perform and tell their favorite Bible verses (the best part.) It was really wonderful. This is the best way to describe it: wisdom everywhere you look.
• And here’s the ugly. We got a tshirt on the first day and they told us to wear it the second day and we could win a free ipod. 200 tshirts given out… 100 ipods would be won. Well, Brandon was made to wear his shirt and couldn’t even wear his coat (just in case it covered it up, duh…) and we matched all day. I never stinkin won and ipod. I was so sad. But at least I got a free shirt! (The “ugly” is my attitude–thinking I should win that ipod.)

• Dyed my hair black. Dumb decision.
• Went to Andrew’s football game and Hannah’s Homecoming game for cheerleading. It was so fun to see family!

autumn

Fall is here. I love it. You know what I mean when I say the “crispiness” of the air? I don’t know if that’s a real word. But the air in the morning is that word to me. It’s just perfect. I think it is so great how God gives us different seasons. Just when we can’t stand another 90 degree day, he makes the morning’s “crispy” air and the afternoons turn a perfect 70 degrees. And then on Thanksgiving and Christmas time, the cold air that makes us want to gather around a fireplace rushes in. And when we can’t take the cold and bare trees anymore, he gives us spring–beautiful flowers and that 70 degree weather. And it starts all over with pools and lakes and outside cookouts with summer weather. 

Oh, how He loves us.