Gracism

This morning at church we had the privilege of hearing Dr. David Anderson speak about Gracism. Gracism is looking at color, class, and culture in a positive way by extending the love of God to people of all backgrounds. He mentioned that by being a Gracist we are being bridge builders, connecting to each other as the body of Christ.

Gracism is based on 1 Corinthians 12.

A couple of take-aways that stuck with me are these: There is a difference between a church that is multicolor and a church that is multicultural. Multicolor is just that: faces of different colors within the church, but their stories aren't acknowledged. A church that is multicultural is one who has faces of all different colors who are recognized and their stories are heard making them connected with each other in the body of Christ. Our stories and journeys are what bring us closer as the body of Christ.

The second take-away: One of the 7 Sayings of being a Gracist: I will stand with you (1 Corinthians 12:25) If we are the majority in any given situation, our job is to reach out to the outside of the circle to help the minorities no matter who they are or the color of their skin. God has shown positive favor for you and me regardless of the color of our skin, our culture or our class. We are all part of the body of Christ working together for the same cause.

I encourage you to do 3 things if you feel led to do so:

1) Listen to his message by clicking this link http://956fa994854188911909-c71cb442ed95f1221771aafb2743621…

2) Pick up a copy of Gracism: The Art of Inclusion by Dr. David Anderson. We are reading it as a church (though Stefan and I just picked up our copy today!)

3) Find ways in your community, church, etc. where you can become a bridge builder connecting cultures to one another in the body of Christ.

To learn more about David Anderson and his ministry, click here.

Peace and Love.

Spring Is FINALLY Here!

Green grass, blooming flowers, warmer temperatures. Spring is finally arriving here in Connecticut, and this Mississippi girl is shouting for joy! Shorts, sandals, and sundresses have made their way into my closet. The hubby's polo shirts always stay in the closet, so he's always set for warmer temperatures. If you looked into our closet, he has more clothes on his side, but I have more shoes so I guess that evens it out.

My parents and grandmother came to visit us last month. (My dad and other grandparents will visit next month!) We were so very excited to get to spend time with them. While Stefan was working, we went to a few antique stores. Check out my cranberry rake I scored for $5.

I placed it on the top of our cabinets in the kitchen. The goal is to have a few antiques there to fill in the huge empty space between our cabinets and ceiling.
We took a Saturday drive down scenic route 146. It takes you from Branford, CT to Guilford, CT. It was a beautiful drive. We ended up in Guilford, which is everything you think of when you think of a New England town. We weren't very far from the Long Island Sound, so we ventured there. It was windy and a bit chilly, but the sun was out and that made it worth it.

Since we were close to the coast, we had to stop for seafood. My dad is a huge lover of seafood, and can't pass up an opportunity to eat it. Really our whole family is that way.

Stefan and I drove to New Haven to visit Yale's campus. New Haven is a fun place and the campus of Yale is beautiful. Since it's not very far from us, only 30 minutes or so, we plan to go back and get some good pictures. This one was taken from my phone. It's not the best, but it will do.

Stefan continues to enjoy his job at ESPN. I could not be more proud of him for living out his dream. While being a substitute at a school here was a nice job to have, there were some unforeseen events that really shed some light on if this was where God wanted me to have a career. I had some time to pray about it and through the guidance of the Lord, Stefan, and my family, I decided that being at this particular school wasn't the best fit for me or my teaching career. The Lord continued to work in my favor, and while we were concerned that it was only Stefan bringing in the income, we knew that the Lord would provide for us, as He always does. And provide for us, He did. I was offered a job at a childcare center teaching pre-school. This next week will be my fourth week there, and it reminds me of teaching at Church Hill in MS. The staff have been so welcoming and we're like a little family. I enter the school each day, eager to see my sweet preschool friends and my coworkers, something that I did not feel when I was working as a substitute. All in all, I know the Lord had his hand in the situation, and made it work for the better.

We have met some wonderful people here through our jobs and our church. A friend Stefan met at MSU through his communications program who is also working at ESPN invited us to Calvary Fellowship in West Hartford. Though it is a much bigger church, it reminds us of the Connection services we left behind in Starkville. We are hoping to join a home fellowship (like a small group) in May. We felt as if something was missing once we started attending the services. The Sunday before last we realized what it was. We missed serving. We made the decision to serve on Easter Sunday. Stefan served as a greeter, and I served in the Children's Ministry teaching one of the Pre-School classes. (Where else would I be?!)

That's an update on our lives here the past month. We miss Mississippi and Starkville so much! (Really we just miss the South in all its warmness!) Right now it's been raining a good bit, and it will continue next week. We'll take rain over snow any day!

My hair is short now, but my hubby is still as handsome as ever!

Books

Any person who knows me will tell you that I came from a family of readers. My sister and I love books, libraries, book stores, and any place that has books. Seriously, one of the first orders of business upon moving was finding the local library. One summer, when we were little girls, our mom read the entire Little House on the Prairie series. If you've never read this series of books, I am sad for you. Once you finish reading this post, you should find the books and read them. Go to your local library. They will have them. They are classics. I can and will spend hours on end in the library. It's a great way to pass the time, and borrowing books is great if you love to read, but are on a budget.

I love to read, but I don't always have make time to read. I take that back. I make time to read things like backs of cereal boxes, signs as I'm driving, sale papers, articles, and magazines. I can come up with a million and one excuses about not reading a book,  when in all honesty, it's because I don't make time to read. It's sad for me to admit that, but now I am doing something about it.

Before we moved I read about "The Empty Shelf Challenge". This is a challenge for the lovers of books to take in order to read more books than they did the previous year. 

The challenge goes like this: 

1. Empty one shelf on your bookshelf, nightstand, or wherever you keep your books.
2. Each time you complete a book take a picture of it on your shelf. The book doesn't have to be a literary classic. It can be a book that doesn't make you think, self-help book, chick lit, any other book that you want to read. The point is to read more.
3. Upload to any type of social media you may use: Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. with the hashtag #EmptyShelfChallenge
4. Repeat with each new book you read and pretty soon you'll have a shelf full of new books that you have read.
5. If you want to make it more fun, you can set a goal for yourself. I set the goal of "Let's see how many books I can read this year".

Now, if you borrow a book from the library, it can't just stay on your bookshelf forever. (The library frowns upon book stealing, as does society. Don't steal books, no matter how much you love them!) Put the book on your bookshelf at home, snap the picture, then return the borrowed book.

If you prefer to read your books on a Kindle, Nook, or other tablet, take a picture of the screen and upload it with the number the book is in your reading challenge. If you're like me and you don't care which way you read the book, digitally or physically flipping the pages, you might have to figure out a system that works best for you. 

I was in the middle of packing up our belongings when I decided to try this challenge, so the bookshelf was already packed up and wrapped up in shrink wrap. I also failed to take pictures of the books I have read, so you will just have to take my word. I will start taking pictures of what I read. I just opted to keep count of the number of books I have read since starting the challenge on December 24th.
Here are the book titles I've read

1. Dancing On Broken Glass- Ka Hancock
2. Things We Set On Fire- Deborah Reed
3. Timebound- Rysa Walker
4. One For the Money- Janet Evanovich
5. Two for the Show- Janet Evanovich
6. Three to Get Deadly- Janet Evanovich

I've only read six books, but it's not a bad start since it's just now February. I am just beginning the fourth book in the Stephanie Plum series. I plan to read the entire Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. If you need a good suspense-comedy book to read, I recommend this series. Evanovich's character Stephanie Plum is a lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter. This character will make you laugh with her quick wit and not-so-good bounty hunter abilities. Read them. They are great!

I would love for you to take the Empty Shelf Challenge with me! If you need suggestions for books click here to go to the #emptyshelfchallenge page for Twitter. I would love to hear your book recommendations!

Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member and you have a Kindle tablet, you can get one pre-released book each month. They are called Kindle Firsts, and they are set to be published in March. These are the Kindle Firsts for February.

Settling In

We've been in Connecticut a little over a week. We are enjoying the town of Southington very much. In some ways it reminds me of the South (not temperature wise, mind you), but it reminds me that home is over 1000 miles away. The snow has finally melted, but more is expected to fall this week. I can't help but get excited each time I see just the smallest percentage of snow.

The first order of business after we dropped our fathers off at the airport was to meander to IKEA (of course!). Stefan had never been to one, so I felt that it needed to happen ASAP. We picked out a few pieces of furniture to put some money back to purchase later on this spring/summer. He started work Monday, and is loving every minute of it. These next few weeks will take some getting used to for both of us. Please keep us in your prayers as we adjust to working completely different hours. His hours will vary greatly from mine (4pm-12am with Tuesdays and Wednesdays off of work). Being a production wife can be challenging with changing schedules and hours, (he will say it's true as well) but it's also filled with adventures. Thankfully, I will start my job as a building substitute tomorrow for a local elementary school. This town as 8 elementary schools!! I called this week to ask what time I needed to arrive on Monday. I was told the students come in before 8:20, when the students arrive in the classrooms. Students start school later here, my fellow MS teacher friends, of course, they also don't get out of school until June 13 (they start after Labor Day.

Friday I didn't have anything to do (I have I mentioned how excited I am to have a job now?) so I drove around town looking for some cute little shops to browse. There aren't any. Not one. This town in all its hustle and bustle has not one cute little boutique to its name. There is TJMaxx, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and a few little other franchises. Don't get me wrong, I love all of those stores, but I was looking for local boutique shops. In the surrounding towns there are a few little shops here and there. We are living in Central Connecticut, so we are a short distance from surrounding cities. NYC is 1.5 hours by train, and Boston is about 2 hours by train. We are excited to have new places to explore!

We found a church that we like. A few of the people Stefan worked with during his internship (from the South!) who are now working with ESPN, invited us to a contemporary church in West Hartford. We love it there. The people are friendly and we have enjoyed meeting new people. My mom and dad are coming to visit in a few weeks, and Stefan's parents are coming to visit this summer. We will be ready to see them for sure!

We miss everyone so very much! We miss Starkville and the South, and can't wait to come back to visit in the future!

Connecticut

We are currently in Pennsylvania. It's 5 degrees. Cold is an understatement. We will (finally) be in Connecticut tomorrow. Stefan and I are so very excited to call the beautiful state our new home. He will start his job with ESPN on Monday. Leaving Mississippi was sad, but we know the Lord has so much in store for us in CT. We both know that this is where He has led us and for that we are so grateful.

While in transit to CT we have seen so much snow! The snow storm hit us once we arrived in Virginia. We immediately decided we should stop for the night. This morning we drove until we arrived in Scranton (which made me think of The Office, even though I don't watch the show). It is currently 3 degrees right now. That's too cold for this Mississippi girl.

Stefan and I can't want to get settled into our new home. There will be so much to explore and photograph. I. Can't. Wait!

Something Old, Something New....

"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". I've heard that phrase often over the past couple of years as I have watched many of my close friends walk down the aisle to marry the "man of their dreams", "the one", "their best friend".

On July 20, 2013 I will be doing the same thing. I will be marrying my best friend. My soul mate. The man who challenges me to be a better Christian. The man who has a big heart, and loves to help people. It feels wonderful to be engaged to such a caring and compassionate man. The Lord brought us together, and for that I am so very thankful.


How We Met
Stefan and I met at First United Methodist Church in Starkville. Our paths crossed often, most of the time on Sunday mornings when we both worked with the Television Media Ministry. He also locks up the church during the week. We would hang out together at the church, and I would accompany him when he locked up. We always had things to talk about.

The first time he asked me on a date, I declined his invitation.
The second time he asked me on a date, I again declined his invitations (I told you guys I wasn't looking to date anyone)
The third time, it was almost a date. We went to eat a late dinner after a church event. When the waiter asked if the checks were together or separate, I immediately said separate.
The fourth time he asked me on a date, I thought to myself "This guy has got to be something special to keep pursing me the way he is". I finally agreed to go on the date.

It's been 2 years, and I'm so thankful I said "yes".

The Proposal
Stefan has always planned wonderful dates. So when he told me that he had a "special date" planned, I didn't think anything of it. (Looking back on it now, it did seem strange that he wanted to have a date on Sunday.)

He was a little late coming back from work, and I had been waiting a while. I was not very happy about him running late. He told me that he had to stop by the Mississippi State University Stadium (his work) to get something from his boss. I wasn't happy about that either. He drove us to the stadium, and asked me to come with him. (At this point I should mention that it was raining, and had been raining all day.) I told him I wasn't getting out of the car, but he eventually convinced me it would only take a few minutes. 

Reluctantly I left the car and walked into Davis Wade Stadium with him. The video board in the stadium was flashing the Mississippi State graphic (I still had NO idea at this point). Stefan called his boss and said "I can check that graphic now".  The graphic flashed up and this is what it said:

At this point he was down on one knee with this GORGEOUS ring (that he picked out himself). When I looked at it I cried, y'all! CRIED! To the point where all I could do was nod my head yes. He had to confirm that it was a yes. It was perfect. The rain made it that much more prefect. My family was there, my best friend and her husband were there, our good friends (who happen to be our photographer & videographer, and who also captured the proposal), my future mother & father-in-law as well as one of my sister & brother-in-laws (I'll have 2!!!!) It was perfect. Even now, as I type this, I have a grin on my face remembering it all. 

I'm so excited to be a bride! I'm even more excited to be marrying the man of my dreams, my best friend, my forever.

Some after pictures of the proposal:

Seriously a mess. Mascara running, hair wet (you would have never known I had curled it just for our date!)

My wonderful mom & dad! My sister was home from Oregon for Christmas!! She was able to celebrate with us.

Much better picture of us! We were all dry...finally. This is a picture of me (on the right) my future sister-in-law (Shannah), Stefan (my FIANCE), and my future brother-in-law (Rob). (My other sister & brother-in-law weren't able to make it there for the proposal.)

I should be in bed by now.....off I go! More wedding posts to come soon!!

A New Recipe and Then Some

10 days until Thanksgiving Break. 10 days. It seems like it's 10 months away! I'm in need of a break, as are my sweet little 1st graders! I enjoy every minute I get to spend with them.

The boyfriend can tell you that I spend A LOT of time on Pinterest (you know, finding new teaching ideas and other professional development. Maybe one day they will see it and give us those CEUs we always need.) I don't think he minds as much when he sees I'm pinning recipes to feed him. I recently pinned this recipe on my Winter Food board (it's barely fall here in good ole Mississippi, but wishful thinking has me cooking up a storm).

Tonight I decided to give that recipe a try. I failed miserably and did not get one picture of me ACTUALLY making the casserole, but the end product is really what matters most, right? This was the result:

It was delicious. Next time I'm going to sautee some onions and maybe put some bacon in it. Everything tastes better with bacon.