Think about these things!

Do you ever feel like Satan is constantly attacking your thoughts and stealing your JOY?  Are you believing lies about yourself or others that are simply not true?  If you are feeling negative today or full of negative thoughts or a negative attitude - repeat the scripture below over and over until you are thinking such thoughts below!

 

Philippians 4:8

 ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Jesus, help us think on things today that are just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise!  Father help us recognize when Satan is defeating our thoughts and remind us to fix our eyes on YOU and to find our JOY in You alone. 

In Jesus' Name we pray!

*AMEN*

SuMmeR AdVeNtUrEs

Our bible study went white-water rafting a couple of weeks ago to celebrate the end of summer and our 4 homies that are heading off to college (actually they are officially at college now hmph). 

Jessica, Lindy, Amber, Me, Desta (lil' girl), Savannah & my 2 cousins Abigail & Olivia

Background:  Hunter & Rance

The group minus a couple of people!

My sweet cousins who were on vacation in Gatlinburg

We had to take 3 rafts there were so many of us!  A-long's (Amber) parents were driving down the river and stopping and taking pictures of us all along the way!

Here we go...

Tyler is guiding this boat

(He actually worked on the river this summer!  Now he is at N.C. STATE!)

A-long & I before we took the plunge into the COLDEST water I have ever felt in my entire life.  I am not exaggerating.  I had even promised myself I would NOT deliberately throw myself into the water or fall in unless it was out of my control.  Then what do I go and do?  JUMPED IN AT MY OWN FREE WILL!  (However, those tall black socks that you see on me are the most amazing inventions ever - my feet never got cold thanks to my husband!)

I had NO idea Rance was jumping right behind me.  He said when he saw me getting ready to jump he knew that the water was going to put my body into shock so he had to be there to save me :) Let's just say I'm glad he jumped! 

Trying to recover from what felt like soaking in cubes of ice and frostbite!

And we made it...

(Tacey, Jessica, A-long, me, husband)

After changing we ate at a restaurant on the river!  We were literally starving!

Have I told you how much I love the outdoors AND this group of teenagers???

AND ANOTHER ONE...

Yes my friends we have coon #2!  Rance caught this one on our back porch last night.  He decided to move the trap from the garden to the back porch since we have frequent visitors at night there also.

 Oh what to do with him?!  



GUESS WHAT???

If you did NOT read my post yesterday - you must read it to appreciate todays BREAKING NEWS! 



And this, my friend, is what I came home to yesterday!

HA!  SHABAM!  Coon caught!  Do you see how scared he looks?  As he should be!  I will not discuss what has or will happen to this coon but the trap has been re-set to get ready for another one since the rest of our corn that was left standing was EAT yesterday.  ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.


Have a great day!!!

Garden ups & downs

Rance & I decided that we would plant our FIRST garden this year together!  Rance worked SO hard getting the garden ready to plant and thankfully we had some awesome people donate to our garden ;).  Anyways, since we have a TINY yard, we planted our garden on the side of the mountain going up our driveway.  This garden has been Rance's pride & joy over the last few months.  Everyday he has made sure I stop to 'check it out' on my way out to work in the mornings & every evening on the way home. 



Here is a picture of some of our taters from the garden!

Also, please note all the corn in the background that is only about a week away from being ready! :)



On Friday night as I was driving up our driveway - I stopped to view the garden as I do daily and wow, whoa, OMG, you would not believe the travesty.  In fact, I literally sat there and stared out it for 5 minutes before I began to dial Rance to warn him of what was to come since he was only a few minutes from home.

Deep breath...

Corn - flat to the ground

Please notice how every ear of corn has been shucked and every kernel has been eaten off the cob as if a human ate it.

Rance was devastated.  This was his first garden.  Like me, he worked in a garden growing up every summer but this time it was different because it was ours, our first together...

Heartbroken.

After analyzing what animal could have done all this.  We come to the conclusion it had to be a coon.  Yes, a COON.  All I gotta say is that coon either brought his friends or his belly was about to BUST.

Payback time!  For all of you who do NOT know what this is pictured below it's called a LIVE trap!

Rance is determined to catch him and well, I am not sure what he plans on doing with him once he does :)

So much for our huge corn crop this year! 

DADDY, YOU ROCK MY WORLD!

I never dreamed I would live in the mountains!  Nope, never in my dreams!  You see, I am an eastern NC girl who loves the beach.  I did not see mountains and winding roads in my future at all.  My roommate of 9 years and I use to quote the country song all the time that says "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans."  Well, I am laughing Lord because my plans are not Your plans obviously!  At age 18 - I thought I had my next 15 years of life planned out.  Isn't it funny how you think at 18?  My future went something like this:  I would go to college, get my degree, get a job, get married to the man of my dreams around 23 or 24, have our first child at 26, another at 28, possibly another all before I would turn 30.  My husband and I would live near my parents and we would just all be happy, happy!  Did any of that happen?  Uhm, NO!  Negative! 

Let me tell you how it really went:
18 - went off to college at North Carolina State University (yes, I'm a wolfpacker!)
19 - such a clueless teenager
20 - what am I doing???  I'm missing something
21 - Jesus.changed.my.life  (thank you Marie for being an intricate part of His plan in my life)
22 - 25 (and still now) - learning how to live this life for Him, lots of discipleship, mission trips to Trinidad, growing, changing, transforming, sanctification, praying, fasting, change, change, change!  (also met some of my best friends during this time period - Laura, Rachel, Mandy)
26 - met my husband in Trinidad
27 - A HUGE YEAR OF CHANGE - got engaged, married the man that far surpassed my prayers of a Godly man & moved 6 hours from my family/friends to the MOUNTAINS of North Carolina (yep, just as far WEST as you can go before you fall off into Tennessee)
28 - well, I'm not there yet but it's a little over a month away and do I have any babies yet???  And no, I'm not pregnant either!

Do you see how we can make all these plans but they never work out quite the way we had in mind? 

Note~Be careful planning out your future.  God is in control, not me (or you).

If one thing has changed about me, I am not the planner I use to be.  Yes, I plan trips, visits, & things like that in advance but I have surrendered the plans of the future to the Lord.  Only He knows where Rance and I (and our future family) will end up.   We are open to whatever the Lord wants and however and wherever He can use us best.  This was one of the hardest things for me - letting go of my plans & what I saw as best.  You see, this life is not about us & what makes us happy.  It's not about our plans & what else we can get or accumulate.  Don't forget that life - right here - right now - on this earth - it's temporary.  This is NOT our home so don't get so attached to it and the newest piece of technology and the big dream house and the fancy car and the sassy ____ (whatever, you fill in the blank).  We can't take any of these things to heaven so why do we work so hard for stuff (instead of eternal rewards)?  Ask my friend Susie, whose house was completely destroyed in the tornadoes that hit Sanford, NC a few months ago.  In a few minutes, she lost everything - her house, her belongings, everything.  Was this part of Susie's plan?  Of course not!  You know what Susie did not lose though?  Her salvation.  Her faith in Jesus Christ.  In fact, she has glorified God in a way that knocks me off my feet in how she has handled the entire situation.  Susie, you are storing up treasures in heaven ~ the kind that last an eternity! 

Surrender your plans to Jesus - He knows what is best for you! 

And just to share a little of God's majesty, artwork, and complete creativity ~ Here is a picture of Stecoah Gap!  Basically, I pass this spot every single morning on my way to work as I round the mountain and every day God has something different in mind.  It's usually impossible to capture it on a camera - but this week, we were able to get this shot:

Tell me God does not make Himself known & reveal HIMSELF through His invisible qualities = CREATION (Romans 1).

I am BLESSED to be living in Robbinsville, North Carolina.  Lord, do not let a day go by that I take advantage of Your Beauty all around me & thank you for Your plans because being in Your will is far greater than being in mine.