I Want to Know Jesus More

On Wednesday afternoons I pick up the Elementary kids from school, give them a snack, have a Bible lesson, and play games with them. This Wednesday was not exception, but what happened was amazing.

After the Bible study when it was time to go outside and play, a kid told me that another kids was crying. I went up to (let's call him Bob because I am posting this story on the internet) Bob and asked him what was wrong. He told me with tears in his eyes, "I just want to know more about Jesus!" Just take a minute to let that simple phrase sink in. Bob is in the 4th grade and realizing something profound. What if we all had that strong of a desire to know our Savior more and more, to never be satisfied where we are, but always wanting to grow in our knowledge of and relationship with Jesus? Don't you think that this is what God desires of us?

We went off to a room to talk. He said that he regretted not being in church more. Since he plays travel ball and has had some family issues, he hasn't been in church on a regular basis, yet wants to go so bad! This boy has a  craving to be a part of the body of Christ. Do we always? Is going to church just a routine or do we really get excited to fellowship with believers and learn more about who God is?

We talked about the difference between knowing about Jesus and trusting in Him. We talked about how Jesus, God's own son, died on the cross for all the wrong that we have and will commit here on earth, so that we might live with God for all eternity. He did more than die and pay the penalty, He rose from the grave conquering death! Hallelujah, what a Savior!!!

How this simple conversation with blunt honesty holds so much truth. Sometimes I think we need to get back to the basics, to see the overall picture of what God has done for us. May it never be old in our ears!

Friendships--Blessings from God

This should make writing on my blog a New Years Resolution, but I don't like to lie to myself. So, here is one of I'm sure many sporadic blog posts to come.

This past weekend, John and I were blessed with the opportunity to use a cabin from a family in our church, the Eatmans. They have been such a blessing and always encouraging of my work at the church. Their kindness is overwhelming! The opportunity to be able to see friends, share our struggles and sins together, talk about how the Lord has worked in our lives and marriages, and have fun making new memories together is irreplaceable!

The Eatman's Cabin

Haley Morgan, Amanda Morris, and I really bonded our senior year of college as we conquered Marketing together, attended RUF, and went through engagement/marriage season together. Our friendship has only grown since graduating and departing to different cities. The Lord has given us lots of things in common which enabled us to confide and encourage one another!

Haley and Amanda

We took Millie and Eli for a walk on Saturday. It was such a beautiful day! 

One thing you have to know about Eli is that he's not very fond of water. He tolerates his baths, but always tries to run when he realizes what's about to happen. When he was younger, we carried him in a lake to see if he could swim. He went straight for the shore. That being said, we didn't think anything about taking him down on the dock. As John was looking away, I watch Eli stare into the water, put his paw out, and with total faith, stepped straight into the water. I think that since there were some leaves on top of the water, Eli thought that he could walk on water! So if you can picture it, Eli went head forward into the water. John wound up yanking him out of the water by his leash. Trust me, if you had seen it, you would have laughed too!

 Doesn't this face look guilty! There goes all the benefits of his bath the day before.

We still love him!

We also had lots of fun playing Quelf and Logo. 

 Haley and Will had to do some leap frogs in Quelf.

 Millie loves cuddling with Haley! 

 We are so attached to our dogs!

 Quelf, oh the memories and awkward moments you bring!

Unfortunately, we forgot to take a group picture even though we kept talking about it all weekend! Maybe another time!

Wonderful Church Family

I don't know if it's the fact that I work at a church or the fact that I am growing up and my eyes have been opened to the blessings of a church family, but I have been learning how beautiful the body of Christ is! When my ceiling caved in (yes, ceiling tiles fell on my bed out of no where), different people in the church were willing to use what God had given them to help me out. Due to the year in which my apartment was built, my dad was a bit nervous that the tiles might be asbestos tiles and suggested I get them checked out. With that warning, I spent the night with the Farmers...and several nights thereafter. The next day I spent most of the day trying to find a lab that would test a tile. I was unsuccessful and frustrated. Upon hearing about my dilemma, Mr. Lawrence, who works in construction, called the same people that I called earlier that day and was able to get an answer--no asbestos!  Isn't it great to know people who have different expertise? After hearing about the good news, I was able to go back into my apartment, and Mr. Willie took time out of his busy schedule to put the ceiling back up! There is no way that I could have done this process on my own!

When my grandfather passed away two weeks ago, almost everyone in the church sent a card, messaged me on facebook, or said something to me. Everyone was so sincere.  I can't begin to tell you how that made me feel. I was very close to my grandfather and was a bit emotional around his passing. I praise the Lord that I know He is in a much better place, free of pain and suffering.

Also, the Lavenders offered their beach house for John and I to spend some quality time together. They are SO generous and have continuously showered us with blessings since I moved here. They let John stay at their house whenever he came to visit...which was almost every week.  Anyhow, due to their big hearts, John and I were able to relax on the beach!

There was NO ONE on the beach this day. I read The Help while John played on his iPhone, looking at football info in preparation for this next season!

Unfortunately, there were jellyfish EVERYWHERE, so we couldn't get in the water. 

We also were able to fix our seafood cravings! We ate at Tacky Jacks and The Original Oyster House.

 We got ready to go out to eat and I wanted to make sure and get a family picture. For my birthday, my parents got me a tripod, so I decided to put it to work. We had a bit of trouble trying to get Eli to cooperate. We took several pictures, but these were my favorite!

Eli got a bit bored...

This was our most successful!

Eli--Our Newest Member of the Harrelson Household

John surprised me this past weekend with an early birthday present--a puppy! Welcome the newest member of our family, Eli Harrelson. He is a 7 week old Basset. We named him Eli because he has 3 dots on his back that are right in a row that look like ellipses points. John's mom thought of it--yes, she used to be an English teacher! 

John presented him to me with a big bow and everything!

 

 

He trips over his ears on a regular basis. The song, "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" but have been written about a Basset hound!

How cute is this face!

I have already taken a TON of pictures of our newest member, but I will try to keep it to a reasonable amount!

Saturday Project--Recovering chairs

This past weekend I went to Birmingham to visit John and join him in a congratulatory dinner in honor of his job offer. (Praise the Lord--He is good!) On the way back to Aliceville, we decided to stop by his parents house for a chat and a little project. After being inspired by Pinterest to be creative, John and I decided to recover our dining room chairs. This has been a project I have been wanting to do for a long time. (I noticed that Haley Morgan did the same craft with her husband this past weekend too! Feel free to check out her blog and take on this project.) John and I visited Hobby Lobby, agreed on some fabric, and set to work.

Here is what the old seat covers looked like--not quite my style.

 Here are the supplies you will need: fabric, staple gun, yard stick, and a good pair of scissors.

Cut the fabric to a desired side. Thankfully when the fabric is stapled underneath, you can't tell how straight you cut the line.

You will only want about 3 inches extra on either side. If you have too much extra underneath, it makes the corners difficult to execute neatly.

Pull the fabric tight and staple all the sides. Next--the corners.

Flatten out the corners and staple.

And here is the final product! Much nicer! It was super easy and only cost $15 to cover 6 chairs! John and I might go into the reupholstering business!

Cherokee Mission Trip

Though this is much overdue, I thought that it would be a shame not to share how God worked in our mission trip. 

We took a group of 12 to Cherokee, NC to work on an Indian reservation where our church supports a missionary.  It was really exciting to be able to work along someone our church supports and who does this year round. We stayed at an old campsite in which cabins and better bath houses have been built. Other churches were there working in various avenues on the reservation, and we were able to come together at night to share in fellowship, worship, and talk about how God was working through the different teams. This was the fourth time for our church to go and my second time to go. For those of you who don't know much about the Cherokee reservation (which would have included me until I actually went there) there are issues with substance, physical, and sexual abuse. It's estimated that out of the 14,000-15,000 resigestered Indians on the reservation, only 1,000 attend church. It's definitely a place where hope is needed--and that's exactly what we were able to bring!

The men in our group worked throughout the week on a porch. They finished the roof but I didn't have a good picture of the completed project.

The rest of us did VBS at a local day care called Agelink. Along with VBS, we were asked to do some "light cleaning" which included washing walls, shampooing carpets, pressure washing the outside of two buildings, and cleaning all the windows inside and out. 

 There were some of the most PRECIOUS kids there! I could go on and on!

Rebekah Johnson is a friend of mine from Tuscaloosa that came with us on the trip. It was so nice having someone on the trip my own age! The boy in the picture's name is Caleb. Unfortunately he only came one day, but in that day, Rebekah went through the gospel by drawing pictures. First, with a cross, then he drew Jesus on the cross, and ending with what heaven looked like. His parents don't take him to church and he doesn't have a Bible, but I said that he was interested. We gave him a Bible and highlighted some key passages for him to read. I pray that that seed would bear some fruit.

This kid was one of the most energetic and entertaining of them all! When Mrs. Tricia asked if anyone knew why we would come all the way to Alabama to North Caroline to be with them, he responded, "You came to play with us!" He also told us he had a pet friend named Rudy, a dinosaur, who was going to eat us so we had to run! He would also tell us when we weren't pretending correctly! 

Mrs. Tricia gave the lesson everyday. Natalie 's (a little girl at the day care) mom told us that her daughter came home asking if what we said about God was true and where it was found in the Bible. Thank God that she comes from a Christian home with a mom who can help develop her understanding of our Lord and Savior.

As an easy way to remember how to become a Christian, we brought these ABC building blocks. A-Admit to God you are a sinner. Repent and turn from your sins. B-Believe that Jesus is God's son and He came into the world to save his children. C-Confess your faith in Jesus, as your Savior and your God and choose to live your life for him forevermore! We also had a rap that went along with it!

This little girl's name is Jaelyn. Day one I was told that she has a speech impediment and doesn't talk to anyone but her mom. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to not be able to communicate with your words, but she could clearly demonstrate exactly what she was thinking. It was incredible! She was so sweet and had a big heart.

Drayton was one of my favorites. He acted like a punk when we first got there (probably because he was one of the oldest) but quickly warmed up. His rarely sees his mom, occasionally sees his dad, has a 2 month old brother he has never met, a 5 year old sister he sees on occasion, and lives with his grandparents. We were able to talk about someone who would never leave us no matter what and about the forgiveness He shows us, which we are able to show to others.

We made jean pillow cases as a craft one day.

One day for snacks we made lemonade--God will make everything that is bitter, sweet!

The youngsters on the trip!

On our afternoon off, we visted Mingo Falls.

Would you hire me?

John started work, so we had to make him look "hireable".  I mourned this day because I think that John looks SO much better with his beard. Apparently people with facial hair come across lazy and less trustworthy. We decided to have a little bit of fun with the process. Would you hire this face?

No? Well, I could understand that.

What about this?

I don't blame you either! What a creeper! I definitely wouldn't hire him as my lawyer.

Well, at least he is a happy creeper!

Now here is a face you can trust. Hire me!