Maria

My heart broke when I read the headlines this morning...

5 YEAR OLD MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOME

...and then my heart broke again when I read that she was killed accidentally by her older brother. I can't even imagine the pain he is feeling right now and the guilt that is going through his mind. This is beyond comprehension to me in this moment. Please pray for him, the teenage son who will now live on with this weight...a reality that I don't know if I could bare. Please be in prayer for this family as they experience this painful situation...

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Steven Curtis Chapman, he is a five-time GRAMMY winner and 54-time Dove Award winning artist who has sold over 10 million albums and garnered 44 No. 1 singles. More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife MaryBeth founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world. Maria, who they adopted years ago from China, was their youngest. She is sitting in Steven's lap in the photo above.

Please keep this family in your prayers!

"the Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" - Psalm 34:18

Maria - she's too young to understand, but old enough to feel the pain
Of living where no love can grow with no hope for change
Maria - her world is an angry place but she makes sure that scars don't show
And with every hurt her tender heart is growing cold (but)

CHORUS
Who, who's gonna love Maria
Who, who's gonna touch her with the tenderness she longs for
Like a desert longs for rain
She's got a hunger deep inside and with every tear she cries
She wonders if there's someone out there somewhere
Who's gonna love Maria

(Maria) She looks in the mirror now and the little girl is gone
But still the search for someone's love goes on and on for Maria
But does anybody care or even notice her at all
Is anyone listening close enough to hear her call (and who)

CHORUS
Who, who's gonna love Maria
Who, who's gonna touch her with the tenderness she longs for
Like a desert longs for rain
She's got a hunger deep inside and with every tear she cries
She wonders if there's someone out there

BRIDGE
Maria if you can hear me, please know that you're not forgotten
Somebody's trying to get to you

Written by Steven Curtis Chapman and Mary Beth Chapman and James Isaac Elliott
Matt 25:37-40

Eat.Drink.Be Married

So as I mentioned yesterday my best friend got married this past weekend at Emerald Isle, NC. It was such a beautiful occasion and was filled with many surprises! I've known Janis and Joe for over 5 years now and they have taught me such much about life and just being who I am. They have loved me and protected over the years and I am so very thankful to have both of them in my life.

The wedding was absolutely perfect for these two. It was a laid back ceremony with their closest friends and family. The guys wore sunglasses and the girls wore flip flops... we drew the layout of the wedding on a paper plate and to keep the drinks cold we filled a floaty boat with ice, three the cans in and put it in the pool:) It was so great and they wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

So Janis and Joe I dedicate this blog to you both!

Fun moments from the wedding:

Eating some amazing food.

Janis still not being ready at 3:55(wedding started at 4)

Getting to lay out on the beach

Getting a show for only 6 quarters

Tex's toast at the reception

Having lots of Chili's people in one location

Watching Jarrod be a minister man

drama, drama, drama

Watching Joey kiss the bride:)

I now pronounce you Husband and Wife!

J-Nasty Scoz...haha

Me and Nicky G

Here we all are!

I can't believe it's already come and gone but, I am so excited to watch their lives together... and even more excited about watching their family grow;)

Happy Happy Happy

So it's been a while...and so much has happened since my last post on Wednesday. I visited the beach of North Carolina, I married off my best friend, I got to spend some quality time with my parents and niece, I watched my friend Don's face swell up, I had to say good-bye to Cambi and I turned a year older! That's a lot of stuff for one week!

Because I have some great pictures that go with the wedding and beach weekend, I will save the fun stories of wedding bells for tomorrow. What I will tell you about is how great my friends are...

So yesterday it was HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME!

It was a full day of love and specialness(yes that's a word, ha). I received countless comments and phone messages wishing me birthday happiness. I saved four messages on my phone where some great people from home sang me the Birthday song...So classic:) I always get a little sad when I can't be at home on my Birthday because my friends at home definitely know how to make a girl feel special. When I think back, I can remember a few birthday parties that will remain in my mind forever.

*age 20 - surprise party thrown by Brooks Harrell...I had no clue what was going on and he was so sweet to get all my friends together for a full night of hanging out and celebrating. The pictures definitely tell the story! I'll show them to you one day.

*age 21 - birthday outing with my precious Chili's girls and Dax(the forbidden manager)haha! All I have to say is Pour Some Sugar On Me and three is better then two!

*age 22 - Charleston, SC. Amazing room at the Governor's Inn, horse and carriage ride around the water, yummy food, a little shoppy shopping and some of the sweetest memories ever.

*age 23 - The Fray Concert with Jen Jen, Nicole, Travis and the Chapel Hill crew. It was a night filled with Krispy Kreme donuts and way too many laughs.

*age 25 - Nashville moments...ahhh so great! Brock, Auny and my loves surprised me at the tatoo place! Yep the stars on my foot are from this event. I had so much fun getting inked, eating SATCO and playing in the fountain:)

This year is another to add to the list. Dinner at Loca Luna with some amazing ladies. It was so great to spend time together and eat some yummy food...These girls made my day super special. I love birthdays!

Do you have any fun birthday memories??

On my way

While you are reading this...I am on my way to North Carolina to watch my best friend get married and lay on the beach of course!

I have an 8 hour drive and I'm pretty sure that you're reading this as I pass through South Carolina...I'm burning rubber baby:)

I probably won't write till Monday, which by the way is a special day, wink wink...so find something else to keep your busy till then, haha!

Single Serving Friends

“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time. If you wake up at a different time, at a different place, could you wake up as a different person? Everywhere I travel; tiny life. Single-serving sugar, single-serving cream, single pad of butter, the microwave cordon bleu hobby kit. Shampoo-conditioner combos, sample packets of mouthwash, tiny bars of soap. The people I meet on each flight; they are single-serving friends. Between take-off and landing we have our time together, that’s all we get.” ~ Fight Club

You see I watched Fight Club the other night for the first time(yes, I am known for being that girl that hasn't seen many great movies)... anywho when "the narrator" who obviously doesn't have a name in the movie but is basically Richard, was describing his travel style life as being single serving, it got me thinking about this theory.

You see for the last year and a half I've traveled all over the US and I've had the opportunity to meet some interesting people. I've been in countless airports, stayed in a variety of hotels and have been chauffeured from from one side of cities to the other side. I've enjoyed the individual packets of peanuts on the planes and ate more complimentary mints than I can remember all while crossing back and forth through time zones...Leaving one city at 7 AM and landing 5 hours later but it only being 9:00 AM, Sheesh:)

I try to sleep as much as possible on planes because I get figgidity but every so often I end up in the middle seat and I can't seem to get comfortable unless I want to snuggle up to a total stranger(not happening). Me and planes have a love/hate relationship! But travel leads to sparatic meetings. Meeting strangers and engaging in conversation...the only problem is one minute they're there and the next they're gone. Single serving friends! Some are interesting and make bus rides fly by. Others have this magical way of putting you to sleep just so you don't have to answer their question about molded cheese or cigarettes(yes I pretend to sleep alot). Nevertheless, these people add perspective and interest to life. Definitely makes travel a little more intriguing.

So, who has been your most interesting single serving friend?

My grace is sufficient!

2 Corinthians 12:7-10...Go read it and after you've read it then continue on with my blog...


Ok have you read it? OK good...

Now, how many of you can think of something in your life that you want God to change? It could be something that has to do with your appearance or your physical build. Maybe it's that you want God to make that specific person fall in love with you or it could be that you want that person to magically fall out of love with you so you can stop worrying about the psycho phone calls and texts, ha. Maybe you want God to give you the job you've always wanted or the money to buy that house or car of your dreams. Whatever it is, you want it and you've asked God several times for it but he hasn't quite answered your plea.

What do you do when God basically says NO...no I will not make him fall in love with you...no that is not the job I will give you...no you can not have a million dollars...no, no, no, no, no! For some, they split, giving the reason why do I want a God that won't give me things that I need. For others, when God says no that is the time that they lean harder on him. Which one are you?

Now let's look at the story I asked you to read about Paul. As we learn in verse 7, Paul was given some sort of thorn in his flesh. In the New International Version Bible, scholars suggest the thorn was a physical ailment, such as an eye disease, malaria or epilepsy. Others described it as a series of failures in his ministry...Either way the Bible gives no clear evidence. Whatever it was, Paul asked...actually he pleaded for God to take it away as stated in verse 8. I can picture Paul with his hands held high, desperation on his face and maybe even a little tear or two, pleading with God, "Please lord take this from me!"

But you know what God says..."My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." ~verse 9

What does that mean you ask...well think about it this way, when do we usually become most dependent on God? When something goes wrong right...well God wanted to teach Paul about humility and grace and the dependence that we should have on God at all times. God didn't take away whatever Paul was begging for him to take, instead He gave him the strength to endure. Andy Stanley described it as God saying "I'm gonna show off in your weakness...people are going to be astonished by my power through your weak time.

The amazing thing about Paul is he never doubted! Yes he pleaded and wanted more than anything for God to take the thorn but because God said no, Paul leaned harder on Him. Think about it this way...your greatest weakness is God's greatest opportunity if you only trust Him!

If you keep reading you see that Paul took his weakness as an opportunity to become closer to God, putting all dependence on Him and showing extreme faith!

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God may not gives us everything we want but there is one thing we can be sure of...He will give us the strength to endure despite weakness, despite disappointment, despite the way life can be! Wow

why are we so childish?

Nikki and I made cookies tonight and while we were reading the directions something stood out! If you can guess what we laughed about all night, I'll give you a cookie:)