Pumpkin Personalities

Joy making perfect polka dots on her colorful pumpkin.



Tessa dressing up her stylish little pumpkin in black and white.


Crystal and her pumpkin making silly faces together.

Kate showing off her artistic caricature in her mini-me pumpkin.

Loren concentrating hard on her creative skills (and making us laugh in the process).

Me sittin pretty with my pretty little pumpkin.

I'm Dreaming of a White Pumpkin

Here in Houston, we're having what my friend Emily and I like to call, "Faux Fall". We'll enjoy a couple of days of lovely fallish weather followed by a couple of days of sweltering heat and humidity. This fickle fall forces us to grab on to any moments we can to celebrate the change of seasons.

In honor of the cold front coming in this weekend, some of us girls are going to have a little fall party tonight. We're going to enjoy some fun fall foods and try our hands at pumpkin carving/painting. If our pumpkin projects turn out to be as cute as I hope...I'll share the results here. In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy these yummy fall recipes.

WHITE CHILI
Yield
Makes 4 quarts
Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 skinned and boned chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 (15-ounce) cans cannellini or great Northern beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chicken broth
1 (16-ounce) package frozen shoepeg white corn
2 (4.5-ounce) cans chopped green chiles
3 tablespoons lime juice
Garnish with cilantro sprigs

Preparation:
Sauté chopped onion in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 7 minutes; add garlic, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in chicken pieces, and cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is lightly browned. Stir in 3 cups water and next 5 ingredients; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 10 minutes or until chicken is done.

Place 2 cans of beans in a blender; add broth, and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.

Stir bean pureé, remaining 2 cans of beans, corn, and chiles into chicken mixture in Dutch oven; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in lime juice just before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Note: Use a handheld submersion blender to pureé the beans and broth, if desired.
Southern Living, JANUARY 2002

PUMPKIN CRUNCH CAKE
1 pkg. Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
3 eggs, beaten
1 16 oz. can pumpkin
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pecans
1 cup melted butter

- Spray bottom of 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Preheat oven to 350-
- Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, spice, and salt; mix well.
- Pour into 9x13 dish
- Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture.
- Top with pecans
- Drizzle melted butter over the top.
- Bake for 1 hour until golden brown & bubbly - it sometimes needs longer.
- Cool completely before serving.
- Serve with Cool Whip topping.

(Especially good with the "French Vanilla" flavored cool whip!!)

Recipe from: Jennifer Mills

Fall Riot..."in their own words"

For the past few months, our staff has been praying and preparing for an event called "Fall Riot". Last night over 1800 High School and Junior High students from around Katy showed up for that event. And while the turn out was amazing, it's what God did in the hearts of those students that was even more amazing. Today I sat down to a list of about 30 names...only a small portion of the 250 students total who said God was working in their heart last night. While I normally am not a fan of calling through lists, this one was different...it was a joy to hear the sweet stories of these students who wanted more of God in their lives.

As I read through the notes students had written in their own words about the event last night and about God's work in their heart, I was moved. One student wrote: "This was my first time at church." Another student wrote: "Tonight was really fun." Another confessed: "I need help with my life...I've never really understood until now." On the phone later, I heard several students say "I've never gone to church" or "My parents don't go to church". Many of them said, "I want to start coming to church, but I don't have a ride." How heartbreaking to think that many of them want to be here, but they don't have the support of their parents.

One thing I always try to do when I'm counseling a student is to give them an opportunity to tell me what God did in their heart, rather than asking them if it was "this" or "that". Most of them struggle to put it in to words. Some of them don't even know why, they just know that God was telling them something. They'll say things like "I just don't feel like I used to with God." or "I just want to get closer to Him." When I asked one student why he walked back during the invitation time he said, "Well they said if you wanted to follow Jesus Christ as your Savior to come back there, so I did." Plain and simple. Another said, "I've just never known God like I did last night."

I love hearing these stories because it's a way that we see God working in the lives of the students we have the opportunity to minister to. It's not just about feelings, but it's also not all about knowing the exact right words to say. It's about God drawing their hearts to Him. And we get to share in those stories, when we hear them put it "in their own words".

A Window Box as A Window to the Soul?

When I was a kid I thought I wanted to be a farmer. I liked “working” in my Granddaddy’s garden and I thought that meant I was destined for the fields. Fast forward 21 years, and you’ll see that I’m definitely not a farmer material. I don’t have a green thumb, finger, or toe anywhere on my body. I have planted herbs only to get dirt. I have I have killed more flowers than I’ve planted, but I haven’t given up.



Every now and then, I get the urge to put something pretty in the window box that hangs off of our apartment balcony. This summer I was determined to grow something that I wouldn’t kill right away. Summers in Texas are pretty hot and dry, so as I shopped, I read all of the labels and looked for something that liked sun. I picked Petunias because they were bright and cheery.

I took them home and planted them in the little box. Every time I walked by the window, their bright color caught my eye. At first, I checked on them and watered them every day. I thought I had finally gotten the hang of this gardening thing. But as time went by, I didn’t notice them as much. I began to neglect the flowers in the window box. I’d get busy and forget to water them. And then when I went out of town, I just forgot about them completely. No longer did the flowers catch my eye when I walked by the window. They were shriveled, dry, and brown. I felt like a failure again; I was ready to throw in the gardening gloves.

And then one day, late in the summer, we had a downpour of rain like we hadn’t seen in a while. Soon after, I walked out on the balcony and I saw my little flower box again. The flowers were still dried and shriveled, but in the midst of the deadness was one little green shoot-a reminder of the life that was once there. It gave me hope that that same life could be there again, so I began again. I pulled off the deadness and threw it away. And I began to water the flowers just as I had before. Sure there were days that I forgot, but there was a lot more rain falling in the late summer so they weren’t getting completely dried out. Finally a couple of weeks ago, I looked out and there was a flower. A few days later, there were two flowers, and then three.




Yes, it’s just a little box with three flowers, but it’s my little box with three flowers. My flowers that were once dry and dead are now beautiful and cheery again. They remind me of myself. There are a times in my life when my walk with God is thriving. There are days when I spend every day studying God’s word and journaling, walking through the day in prayer, meditating on scripture, and just feeling full of life. But there are other times, when I unintentionally neglect those spiritual disciplines because of busyness or circumstances of life. Then there are days when I just feel like a failure because of my neglect or sin. It’s on these days that I feel like I can’t go to God because there are too many dead weeds in my life.

But He has shown me that confession is like pulling off all of that deadness and throwing it away. It’s a step toward being renewed in Him. Spending time with Him in scripture study, prayer, and meditation is like pouring water on a dry soul. Yes there are days when I get busy or forget, but that doesn’t mean that I am a failure at the Christian life. God is faithful when we are faithless. And just like He sends the rain to water my flowers even when I forget, He continues to pursue me when I don’t pursue Him.

I may not have a green thumb and I may not be the most disciplined Christian, but I haven’t given up on gardening and God hasn’t given up on me.

Singly Selfish

Last week I read "The Five Love Languages: Singles Edition".

A lot of people including me, read this book wondering "What is my love language?" We're so obsessed with self-help and personal improvement. We want to know "How do I receive love?" and how should other people be loving me, but truly that's not the point of this book. Over and over again, Dr. Chapman draws the reader away from a selfish look at love to a lesson in chosen sacrifice.

This snippet from his love languages website sums it up:

Jesus taught an important lesson about relationships. Essentially, what He
said is that if any of us tries to improve a relationship by getting the other
person to change (working hard to get the speck out of the other person’s eye),
energies are being expended in the wrong direction. The place to begin is with
our own failures (the plank or beam in one’s own eye).

Love is something you do for someone else, not something you do for
yourself. Most of us do many things each day that do not come “naturally” for
us. For some of us, that is getting out of bed in the morning...And normally, before the day is over, we feel good about having gotten up. Our actions preceded our emotions. The same is true with love. We discover the primary love language of [someone we love] and we choose to speak it whether or not it is natural for us. You might not love the language itself, but speaking it will clearly communicate love. Love is a choice. And either [person] can start the process today.

Love is not about knowing what we need from other people. It's not about making sure we're comfortable or getting our way. It's about learning how to love others in the way that they need to be loved...even those that we may not get along with.

I've been learning a lot about my selfishness lately...and I think a lot of it comes from my singleness (not being married). On an average day, the only person I really have to worry about pleasing is myself. I eat what I want to eat when I want to eat it. I do what I want to do when I want to do it. I don't like being told what to do because I'm my own person. In a way, I think I'm entitled to this...as though it's the reward I get for still being single or something. When someone else comes into the equation and messes up my plan, I feel that they are inconveniencing me. I sound awfully selfish, don't I? But that's the truth and that's one of the many things that God's working on in me.

I'm learning love-not just romantic love, but a love for family, friends, and co-workers. This book really challenged me to pay attention to the way people around me respond to certain gestures of love and I've been secretly studying a few people in my life over the past week. But if you want, you can help me out by letting me know your love language. You can take this 30-second assessment or search the internet for a version of the love language assessment. And of course, all of the love language books include the assessment. You should read one if you get a chance!

Nora Nancy

Happy Birthday Nora. My neice was born at 2:33 am on Sunday July 12th, 2009. She has dark red "spikey/curly" hair. She weighed 8 lbs. and 4 oz. And she's beautiful. I haven't been able to meet her yet, but I have seen pictures and cannot wait to see her in person!

I've been excited about her since I first heard that Teresa was pregnant, but I never would have expected to feel the way I do about her now. When my mom called the other night to tell me that she was finally here, I couldn't go back to sleep for an hour. I was excited she was here, but I was sad that I wasn't there. I cried out of relief, love, and longing. When I saw her first picture yesterday, I cried again. I can't explain the feeling...I am overwhelmed with love for this little person that I have never met.

Her name, Eleanor Nancy, is a combination of my grandmothers' names. Although we have been given permission to call her Nora, it seems that my brother is determined to use her full name. Eleanor is of Greek origin and means sun ray, shining light, or compassion. Nancy is from Hebrew origin and means grace.

My brother, Ryan has done a great job keeping everyone updated on the pregnancy and arrival on his blog. You can check it out at http://www.dokteryan.blogspot.com/. He and Teresa are missionaries in Haiti and are planning to return at the end of the summer. But not before finishing out their tour of the states complete with a trip to Grandpa Tom's Cabin in Alabama at the end of this month.

Andrew and I will be making a road trip to Alabama on July 30th-August 5th to meet the newest member of the Price family and to spend much needed time with the rest of my family, a few friends, and his grandparents. I can't wait!

Beach Re"Tweet"

Beach Retreat began on Sunday for our High School Ministry as they rolled out to Gulf Shores, Alabama with almost 800 people from the West Campus. Junior High will be headed to South Padre Island, Texas this Sunday for our week in the sun.

We've been keeping up with everything that's going on at Beach Retreat on the Beach Retreat Blog, through Email Updates, and on Twitter...and you can too! Just click the links to read the blog, sign up for email updates, send notes from home, and read real-time updates from the staff and volunteers. This will continue next week for Junior High as well-so be sure to send me a note from home!

Obviously you know what a blog is if your reading this and you probably know how to work email, but if you don't know what Twitter is...it's a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others' updates, known as "Tweets" (Hence, the title). You can check out my "tweets" by reading the "Play-by-Play" over on the right column of my blog or clicking on the link.

Beach Retreat is one of the biggest highlights of our year...and we're excited that more people get to be a part of it this year simply by sitting in front their computer...technology is a great thing!

My Muddy Feet

I don't always blog about my personal spiritual life. Maybe because it's too personal or maybe it's because I'm not spiritual enough. But anyway...God hit me with something literally in the middle of the night and I feel like I'm supposed to share it. I know it's David's story, but it's mine too. As I read through these words last night, I identified with each verse in a very real way.



I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
Psalm 40:1-3

Those who know me well may not even know every detail of my story and that's okay, but God did something big in my heart and my life this past year. I truly feel that He put a new song in my mouth, not because there wasn't a song before, but because there was a need for a new, fresh song. I hope that it's been evident to others, and I hope that "many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD" because of what has done in me.

Don't Stress, Don't Stress, Don't Stress

This week, I've been feeling the tension building as the big monster that is Beach Retreat gets closer and closer. People in our office have started talking faster and moving faster. No one slows down on the job...and that's great! But we've got to do some things to manage the stress when things get hectic or we'll all kill each other. I was trying to figure out ways to de-stress and get rid of this knot in my stomach today, so I googled ways to relieve stress at work. These aren't my own idea, but they're pretty good ideas...

*Remember, most times, you do not have to do every single thing yourself, so be willing to give up some of the control and ask for help. DELEGATE.

*If you have a big project or deadline, set up a reasonable time line of activities you need to perform or complete and stick to it.

*Get out! Instead of sitting at your desk eating lunch or even eating in the break room, go out for lunch with some friends and pledge NOT to talk about office issues.

*It may be impossible to leave the office to go out to lunch, so simply grab a colleague and go for a walk around the building.

*Listen to some calm, soothing music.

*Handle important tasks first and eliminate unessential tasks

*Reduce the urge to be "perfect"...Be flexible

*Avoid excess competition

*Reduce criticism

*Give yourself "me" time (but more importantly spend time with God!)

*Be cheerful, it deflates others stress and anxiety

*Silence your phone at night

*Laugh more, and often

*Remember you can only change yourself

Okay...BACK TO WORK!

Em and Em

Lately, I've been talking a lot about Emilys and it's getting pretty confusing.  Between Facebook and my phone it seems that there are or have been at one time or another, at least 14 Emily's in my life. Today I just want to introduce you to two Emilys who are pretty important people in my life right now!

Introducing Emily Hodges...

She's one of my best friends.

Loyal.

Trustworthy.

One of the most encouraging people in my life.

Amazing shopper.

Fabulous dresser.

She's not a mom, despite what the picture looks like.

Single. (I'll let you know if your worthy of her.)

There are not enough words to describe how much I appreciate her!

Friday was her 26th Birthday...Happy Birthday Emily!

You can follow her on Twitter elh2005.

And Emily Kormash...

I don't know Emily very well yet, but here's what I do know...

She's our summer intern for JHigh.

Sarcastic.

Works hard.

Doesn't complain.

Not single, but not married (see picture with boyfriend Matt).

Going to be a senior in at A&M.

Funny.

You can follow her on Twitter as Kormasher.

Sorry if you were looking for a blog about candy or a white rapper...you won't find that here.  This is just a little introduction of two important people in my life.  I hope you enjoyed this blog just as much as the candy that melts in your mouth not in your hand.

Typical Day on Junior High Beach Retreat

There's only about four weeks left before Beach Retreat...

We'll be heading out June 7th-12th for HS Beach Retreat (9th Grade-Graduates) and June 14th-19th for JH Beach Retreat (7th and 8th Grade). We're asking all of our staff and students to make the Beach Retreat logo their Facebook profile picture to get the word out in the community. Here's my version of the logo:



This will be my third year to attend Beach Retreat, my second year at JH Beach Retreat, and my first year not to attend HS Beach Retreat.



Here's a description of a ....
Typical Day on Junior High Beach Retreat


This year’s Junior High Beach Retreat is in South Padre Island, Texas. This family resort is as nice as you would expect for your personal vacation. While on Beach Retreat, you will stay in a condominium with 7 to 10 junior high students.

SILENT SOUNDS
Every day begins with Silent Sounds on the beach. The students and leaders receive a camp booklet for the week that includes daily devotionals. All the kids and adults spread out on the beach so that everyone is alone. With Bible and notebook in hand, each person spends 30 minutes reading Bible verses, answering questions in their notebook, and praying. It is quite a sight to see hundreds of Junior High students and their leaders spread out as far as the eye can see reading their Bibles and praying!

BREAKFAST, FAMILY GROUP, AND RECREATION TIME
After Silent Sounds is breakfast, Family Group Time and Recreation Time. Rec Time will be led by the Second Baptist Rec Team and will feature fun competition between condo groups. Family Group Time allows small groups of kids and adults to get together in a condo for games, Bible study, and discussion to tackle topical issues related to our theme for the week. Each group has lunch in their own condo. Students and condo leader invite other condos to join them for condo is always clean; a surprise inspection could come at any time.

LUNCH AND CLEAN UP
Each group has lunch in their own condo. Students and condo leaders often invite other condos to join them for lunch. After lunch, we have condo clean up time. Students must make sure their condo is always clean; a surprise inspection could come at any time!

FREE TIME
The afternoon is Free Time for the kids. They have a choice of swimming in the pool, playing tennis, hanging out at the beach, playing sand volleyball, and more. We have adults supervise swimming at the pool and at the beach.

EVENING SERVICE WITH DR.YOUNG
After dinner, we head to the beach for evening Silent Sounds. Then we load up the buses and head to our evening worship service. The services begin with music led by a great worship band and end with a strong message by our pastor, Dr. Young. He deals with hard-hitting topics such as how to become a Christian, self-image, submitting to authority, repentance, and forgiveness.

BEDTIME
After the service, we head back to the condos to get ready for bed!

Relationship Q&A

Wednesday night at Plugged-in we split up the guys and girls for a little Relationship Q&A. I told the girls I would answer their questions on my blog since we didn't finish. Feel free to add your input as a comment.

Should you be in a relationship with a Christian boy? If so, why? What’s the big deal?

If you’re a Christian, you shouldn’t date someone who isn’t a Christian. There are a couple of reasons why:

1) If the person you choose to date isn’t a Christian, they may not have the same standards and morals as you. They will bring you down. Dating someone to convince them to become a Christian doesn’t work either.

2) My parents always told me that you shouldn’t date someone you wouldn’t marry. If you’re going to take dating seriously, you need to be dating someone that you can one day connect with on a spiritual level.

Here’s the verse that we base our belief on in this issue:
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 1 Corinthians 6:14

How long should you be in a relationship before marriage?
Should your parents approve of the man you’re dating? If so, why?

There’s not a specific amount of time that is the magical answer here. Here’s what I would tell you…marriage is a life long commitment and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Although many people divorce today, that’s not God’s plan and He didn’t design the marriage relationship to be broken.

Before marrying someone, you should be certain that the people in your life approve of that person. So, yes, I believe that your parents should approve of the man that you’re dating. In a way, they are accountable to God for the choices that you make. I also believe your friends should approve. If you find that most of the people who know you best don’t think the relationship is a good idea-listen to them. Sometimes love is blind and we can’t see what they see.

Also, if you’re in JH, you’re parents definitely need to have input in your dating life. Partly because they’re going to be the ones who drive you around and make it possible for you to see the person you’re dating. But also because they should still have a lot of say in what happens in your life. You shouldn’t be dating if you’re parents aren’t cool with that. And if they give you guidelines in dating, you need to obey them.


My mom has a new boyfriend who started living with us and he is not a Christian. And because of his beliefs she won’t come to church. And every week I beg my friends to come! What should I do?

Man that’s a hard situation! Don’t give up on your mom. Continue to ask both of them to come to church with you. Sit down with her and let her know how important it is to you. Remind her of the reasons why you go to church and why you want her there. You’ve still got to keep a level of respect with her, but it can’t hurt to ask. Continue to be obedient to her and through that you will show her the love of God. Even if you don’t see that it makes a difference, you can continue to pray for her and trust God to work in the situation.

What if all your closest friends have kissed a guy and you haven’t. And your boyfriend wants to kiss you. How do you say no when all your friends tell you that it is okay?

Stand strong in your convictions. Just choose to be different. If you’re not okay with it, don’t do it just because your friends/boyfriend thinks you should. You’re in a place that they’ll never be in again. A kiss should be your choice and at the right time…no one else can decide for you that it’s time. I’m proud of you for waiting until the right time.

Is it alright for your boyfriend to hit you if you deserve it?

First of all, you never deserve it. It hurts my heart that you would even think that you deserve that. Maybe people have told you otherwise or treated you as though that’s what you deserve, but you need to know and believe that you don’t deserve abuse in any form.

Secondly…NO it’s never okay for anyone to hit you…especially a boyfriend. If you’re dating a guy who hits you or thinks he has a right to hit you, I recommend getting out of that relationship ASAP. If it’s not something you think you can do on your own, please ask someone to help you.

What do you do when someone you know who you think is a good Christian guy asks you for naked pictures of yourself and asks to have sex with you?

Please, please don’t give in to something like that. There are a lot of guys who sell their image a squeaky clean Christians when in all reality they aren’t living that way. Then there are other guys who truly are striving to be Christ-like, but struggle with sexual temptation.

In a way, we girls have a responsibility to help our “Christian brothers” out in this area because it is such a temptation for all guys. You can help them out by dressing modestly, guarding your conversation topics with them, and by not being alone with them. It’s not your place to be his accountability partner, but you can let him know that you’re not interested, that you’re “not that kind of girl”, and that you didn’t know he was “that kind of guy”. If he truly is a “good Christian guy” it will be good for him to hear that from you.

What do you do if you were forced into doing something that you didn’t want to do?

If this happened to you, I’m so sorry. Don’t blame yourself. So many women who experience rape or sexual abuse keep it a secret because of shame. Know that God knows your heart and doesn’t hold you responsible for actions that were not your choice. I would encourage you to get help (immediately if possible). If you are raped or sexually abused, call the police and let an adult (usually a parent) know. I would recommend talking to someone at church and getting set up with a Christian counselor if it is something that is affecting you.

How do you redeem your sexual purity?

Just as with any other sin, you have to repent of it. Repent means that not only do you stop doing something, but you turn away from it. Ask God to forgive you. God doesn’t always remove the consequences of our sin (i.e. pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, knowledge of our poor choices), but He will forgive us. So…stop doing it. And start working against it. Ask a girl friend to hold you accountable to sexual purity-abstinence.

What is a purity ring? What is the point of it? Is it necessary to have one?

A purity ring is a ring that people wear as a symbol of a commitment that they have made to be sexually pure. Obviously, the ring itself doesn’t have any magical powers and doesn’t make you pure. It’s usually a reminder to people who have made that commitment to stay strong. Often it can serve as a conversation starter as well. No, you don’t have to have one to make this commitment. Just because someone doesn’t have a ring, doesn’t mean that they have had or are having sex. And just because someone does have a ring, doesn’t mean that they are remaining sexually pure.

How do you get over a guy that you dated for four months? And he keeps flirting with other girls and it bugs me kinda.

Okay so he’s my ex, but he’s a total Christian and when I talk to him I like him again and I talk to him a lot. What do I do?

Getting over guys has always been hard for me, but somehow God has always gotten me through those rough times. You have to choose to get over him. If you broke up, there’s probably a reason why you broke up. Remember that.

Don’t let yourself be consumed by him. Don’t call him or text him. Don’t re-read his texts. Don’t look at pictures of the two of you together. Don’t get yourself into a place where you’re crying yourself to sleep because you miss him. Allow yourself to forget some things because it’s healthy for you. Just live your life and focus on the good that has come from the break up. Use some of your extra time to spend time with God. Read the Bible, pray, memorize scripture. Not only will these things help fill the empty time, but they’ll also put your focus back where it needs to be.

Do things that are good for yourself and make you happy. Girls who are happy with their life are going to much more attractive as friends and girlfriends than those who are sulking about lost love all the time. It gets much easier with time. I promise.

On another note, it will be easier to get over someone when you don’t give your heart away. Since you’re in Junior High, you can expect that at some point you’re more than likely to break up with this person. Don’t tell them you love them. Love is something so special and so selfless that most of us can’t realize the true meaning of it until later on in life. Secondly, being physical with someone on any level will make it hard for you to get over them. God designed sex for marriage because it brings two people together on a very intimate level. The Bible literally refers to this as becoming “one flesh” after leaving one’s father and mother which implies marriage.

Genesis 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

I like this guy and he is perfect for my standards. He’s cute, a skater, big on Christ and respectful. Our schools separate us and we liked each other for a while. But because we can’t ever see each other, he let me go. And I can’t get him off my mind. I want to get him back without being un-lady-like. What do I do?

I know I keep saying this, but you’re in Junior High. This doesn’t mean that your feelings aren’t real or that they don’t matter. They do…and they’re probably more intense at this point in your life. But let’s be honest, you were more than likely going to break up with this guy at some point anyway.

Now if this was a point later down the road this is what I would say. You deserve a guy who wants to be with you and will do whatever he can to make that happen. You said he let you go. And honestly it sounds like a rational decision considering the circumstances. It’s very hard to have a relationship with someone you can never see. Now you have to let him go. You say you want to be lady-like. Don’t be desperate.

I know that might sound harsh, but that’s the reality of it. Even though you may think that he’s “perfect for your standards”, it’s not possible for you guys to have a relationship right now. There’s probably more than one guy that would meet your standards.

Ok so when a boy tells you he thinks you’re cute and says he would go out with you WHILE he’s in a relationship with another girl then he breaks up with her and forgets about you and then finds another girl leaving you broken hearted. What do you do?

First of all…HE WAS IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH ANOTHER GIRL WHILE HE WAS FLIRTING WITH YOU! That should have been your first clue that this wasn’t going to work.

Here’s what you do…read what I wrote above about getting over a guy. And then, learn from this experience. Don’t go after someone else’s boyfriend and don’t trust someone else’s boyfriend when he flirts with you. You’re asking for heartache when you entertain this type of relationship. And, you’re setting yourself up for bad habits which mimic adultery and can lead to problems later in life. Look for a different kind of guy and be thankful that this one didn’t cause you anymore heartache than he did.

New Girls' Ministry Book!

God has clearly ordered so many steps along the path of my ministry journey. One particular confirmation step came a few years ago when I had the privilege and honor to work under the direction of Jimmie Davis, Director of Girls' Ministry at First Baptist Spartanburg, SC. Mrs. Jimmie has been such an inspiration and encouragement to me, and I was truly blessed to have this opportunity as a part of my journey into the world of girls' ministry.

Mrs. Jimmie and Mr. Sam

In 2007, Lifeway published Jimmie's Girls' Ministry Handbook. It's a great book that I've referred to many times. I just found out yesterday that Jimmie has a new book that came out on May 1st called the Girls' Ministry Idea Book . I can't wait to go buy it!

If your looking for this or some other girls' ministry resources, you can check out the girls' resources page at Lifeway.com.

From Project ME to Project Runway

Although it's been about two weeks since the event. I wanted to report that Project ME was a success! We had 80 girls and 40 leaders who showed up for the night. We all had a lot of fun, but only a little sleep. Here's a highlight video that Gayle put together for us.

After the lock-in I spent a couple of days on the couch catching up on some rest an a whole season of Project Runway.

I finished about 12 hours of Project Runway as I laid on the couch recovering from the lock-in and nursing a pretty intense backache. After a sleepless night of pain, a sick stomach, and a visit to the doctor, I was told that I probably had a muscle injury and needed to keep taking advil and using a heating pad. Two weeks later...I'm not 100%, but I'm tons better.



I'm back in the game and gearing up for BR 09! I've been processing applications all week long and finally made it to the bottom of the stack yesterday. We're planning to take 500 JH students and adults to Beach Retreat at South Padre Island on June 14th-19th. More to come about Beach Retreat...

Project ME

I'm so excited that Project ME is this Saturday night! It's a Junior High Girls Lock-in with a purpose in mind. The purpose is to help girls see that they were not only created, but specially designed by God. So many girls (and women for that matter) don't realize their worth...and a lot of the struggle with self-worth begins in Junior High. I wanted to plan a night that would help these girls see themselves as God sees them.

The planning for this event has been going on in my brain for quite some time. I wanted a way to incorporate our small group leaders and some of our high school girls into an all-girls event. And since we're talking about Junior High girls, what better way to pull this off than to host a sleepover, right?

The girls will be divided up into the same small groups that they meet in on Sunday mornings and any new students will be assigned to a group. All of the group names are design prints like zebra print, stripes, gingham, paisley, and polka dots.

During the lock-in, each girl will be designing a unique project of her own using fabric or paper with her groups' print. Some girls will be decoupaging and hot-gluing while others are painting and glittering. Then we'll take a look at what God's Word has to say about how He created us and what He has designed us for. Girls will be challenge to look at themselves and others in a different way. They will reflect on the projects they've created and think about themselves as God's special creation.

Following our small group time, we'll be creating another project: ice cream sundaes, individually hand-crafted by the girls. Then the girls will choose from a few free time activities like nail painting, hip hop dancing, or shooting some hoops. After they've burned off some energy and are coming down off of their sugar high, we'll settle down for a movie (and hopefully they will all fall asleep-I know this isn't reality, but I'm hoping).

Sunday morning, we'll wake up for some doughnuts and cereal (and coffee for the leaders). Project ME will conclude after Bible Study. This will give our new girls a chance to experience our Sunday morning program and allow our regulars to welcome them to the small group time.

If you're a 7th or 8th grade girl, or know a girl who would like to sign up for Project ME, it's not too late. Just download the form from our website. And bring it to Second Baptist West Campus with $15 on Saturday night. Check-in is at 8:00 pm...see you then!

Project ME

Project ME

Posted using ShareThis

An Empty Spot in the Day

Normally at this time on Mondays, I'm running around making sure I have all the supplies I need for the 7th Grade Girls' Bible Study. I felt a little sad today realizing that I wasn't going to hang out with the girls because we wrapped up our study last week. Although we're done for the semester, we’re planning on picking this group back up next year.

On the last day I asked the girls to give me their feedback about the Bible Study. I asked them to let me know their favorite part, least favorite part, and if they'd do it again.

This is what some of them said:

"My favorite things was learning that boys aren't everything, and that God
is my one true love."

"I would definitely do this again because I'm not only learning more about
God...I'm doing it with my friends!"

"The Secret of Self-Worth was my favorite lesson because it taught me that
I am worth something."

"This was amazing and changed some parts of my life. I would LOVE to
do this again."

"I would so do it again, I would want to learn about getting friends to
come to know Christ."

God truly must have blessed anything that came out of my mouth, because I can assure you it was nothing profound when I was forming it. For the most part, their only complaints about the study were that they had to walk from school, that the lessons were too short, and that they were sad it was ending.

To be honest, any success of this study had very little to do with me. The girls created the buzz and brought their friends. I'm so proud of the way they committed to the study every week. We had a consistent group of about 18-26 girls over the 8 weeks, most of them brought their Bibles, and all of them participated in the conversations.

It touches my heart to know that this study made a difference in several of these girls' lives. I loved getting to know them and can't wait to do this again next year.

Still Unpacking...

Our Junior High Ministry went on a mission trip to Biloxi, Mississippi for Spring Break...it's two weeks later and I'm still unpacking.

Yesterday, as I was going through one of my bags, I found a list that I made on the bus ride home. We had each of the students on our bus share one word to sum up their favorite part of the trip. This is what they said:

• Acceptance
• Worship
• Roof
• Jesus
• Helping
• Mall
• Praising
• Growth
• Sleep
• Joy
• Shopping
• Snuggles
• Water
• Moose
• Michael
• Sprayed
• Everything
• Kenny
• Serving
• Changes
• Shrimp
• Basketball
• Hammering
• Patience
• Bus
• Friendship
• Food
• Work
• Tater-tots
• Laughter
• Teamwork

It's funny to see how each student took away something different from this trip. While some of these things were silly, a few of them were deep. Whether it's a fun memory that allows a student to feel like a part of the group, or a life changing moment that impacts them forever, it's worth it.

One thing I took away from this trip was the feeling of a "youth group" that is often missing in a large student ministry. It was nice to connect with a small group of students and see them interact with and encourage each other. I have so many memories of silly, embarrasing, and life changing moments from the trips that my youth group took together when I was their age. I'm happy to see them having the same kind of experiences.

So while I'm still unpacking my luggage, I hope that their still unpacking the memories and lessons they learned on Spring Break '09. And I'm off to do some more laundry!

Meet The Prices: Mom

She smells like coffee, Chloe', and Clorox.

Her hands are soft, but often cold. She studies her Bible pretty much every morning with rollers in her hair and a blow dryer in her hand. She comes up with her own way to say words which makes me laugh. She's always in the kitchen cooking something wonderful when I'm at home. She loves food the way I do and enjoys trying new recipes like me. She loves peanut butter on a spoon with a glass of milk on the side. She's tried her hand at quilting, piano, flute, and is now knitting (thanks to Teresa). She's made three scarves for me since Christmas. She's exactly like me or I'm exactly like her-the way that we think and feel and respond. She worries too much and doesn't give herself enough credit at times. She makes me laugh like no one else. She looks a little like Sally Field in a certain light, but she's always beautiful. She's my momma.

The older I get the more I realize I'm so much like her, but not enough like her. Although she probably doesn't realize it, my mom has been such a role model for me in many areas of life. I hope that someday I will be the kind of mother that she has been to me, have the kind of heart that she has for others, follow Jesus the way that she does, and love a husband the way she has loved my dad. She's more of a friend these days than ever before. I miss her often, but don't see her or talk to her nearly enough. Wish I could be there for her birthday on Sunday, but for now this will have to do. Happy Birthday Mom!

Meet the Prices: Teresa

Once again, I have neglected a family member's birthday. And if you know me, you know that this is pretty much how I do birthdays. I always try to play it off as a birthday celebration extension, but in all reality it's just what happens when life is too busy. So here's an apology and a happy birthday wish all wrapped up in one for my new sis-in-law. And here's the story of Teresa (from my perspective).


A little over a year ago, I found out that my brother had his eye on a "lady" and right away I knew she had to be something special. I say this because, of course, my brother is special, but also because he hadn't had his eye on anyone in quite some time. Over the next few months, I had the opportunity to hear my brother talk about someone in a way that I had really NEVER heard him talk about anyone. I heard excitement and even giddiness from the guy who once told me that most girls were too silly to waste his time on. (I don't know that those were his exact words, but that's the impression I got.)

Over the next few weeks, every time I talked to him I could tell that he was falling more and more in love with this girl...and I just couldn't keep up! And then it seemed like it was no time at all before he was ready to propose to her Obviously, she said yes. And in August he brought his new finance back to the states to meet the fam.
Honestly, I felt pretty nervous about meeting the girl who had stolen my brother's heart. But right away I liked her. She was cute. She was funny. She loved to laugh. And she just fit right in with the family.

Ryan and Teresa were married in October and started working on a family right away. (sorry...there's no better way to word that). When they came home at Christmas, they announced to the family that she was expecting. And just a few weeks ago we found out that "it's a girl". She's due the first week of July.

Because they live in Haiti, it's been difficult to be a part of their lives and get to know my sis-in-law. But the time that we have spent together has been fun...and I'm happy to have her as a part of the family. Happy Belated Birthday T!

You can read more about their story on Ryan's blog or Teresa's.

Meet the Prices: Dad

This is Tom. He's my dad (and probably one of 6 readers of my blog). Yesterday was his birthday...he turned 55 (apparently that means he's up for some extra Senior Citizen discounts now). Happy Birthday Dad! Sorry I still haven't mailed your card...and I haven't thought of an appropriate gift. My dad is a no nonsense kind of guy. He doesn't really ask for anything and most of the time he doesn't think he needs anything.

No matter how many people I meet or how many opinions I hear, I think that my dad will always be the smartest person I know. I'm not trying to get any points, that's just how it is with dads and daughters. He's still my financial advisor and my car mechanic even though he's many miles away.

My dad has been one of the most influential people in my life. When I was seven, my dad had a radical life change which turned our whole family around. It was at the point that my dad truly began following Christ. He became involved in our church, started sharing his story, and living in a way that was totally different than what I had seen before. I would say that God used my dad to play a big part in leading me to Christ, because it was through his experience that I started asking questions and really learning what it meant to be a Christian. I accepted Christ pretty soon after that. Although that's not the only way that my dad has influenced my life, it's probably the most important.

Just wanted to say thanks Dad...and Happy Birthday (yesterday)...hopefully I'll get your card in the mail soon...and I love you!

Lessons from a Child

Last night, after what had seemed to me to be a long, hard day, I had to stop off and pick up a few things. It was raining and I had been driving in traffic for an hour. I pulled in the closest available spot which was at the end of the row and as I opened my door to step out, I sunk my entire foot and shoe into a deep puddle. I thought, that figures..."it's just been one of those days".

As I was shopping, a little girl around two or three years old caught my attention. She peeked around a corner to laugh and smile at me. I think she probably would have taken me up on a game of chase through the aisles of Target if I had played along. I laughed at her friendly innocence.

After I had made my purchases, I wandered back through the parking lot in the rainy drizzle looking for my car. (I can never remember where I park.) Finally, as I peeked around the corner and found my car, I saw the little girl again. She was splashing happily in that same puddle right next to my car.

And then it hit me...

Life isn't about our circumstances, it's all about our
attitudes.

Andrew's mom gave me a book for Christmas called, Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late by James MacDonald. We all laughed about what she was trying to tell me by that. But seriously, from what I've read so far it's a great book (and very appropriate for me). One of the main principles I've taken away from the book is that...

We choose our attitudes.

The quote below is something that my dad has said to me for many years of my life, but I often have to be reminded of it's truth...even if it takes a child to show me.

"The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we
will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the
fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is
our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how
I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
-Charles R. Swindoll

I'm going to be an aunt!

In case you didn't know...about 2 months ago, I found out that I'm going to be an aunt. My brother and sis-in-law got married in October and are already working on adding to the family. He's my only sibling and I'm not married yet, so this is the first baby in the family for us. They're all going to be living in Haiti and will rarely visit the states, so this baby will probably be overwhelmed with gifts and attention whenever she comes stateside. Seriously, we just found out last week that she's a girl and I'm already wanting to load up my cart with little cuddly pink things at Target. I'm not going to try to buy her love, but I just want to be a cool aunt. I did a little google of the word "aunt" and found these images...so I'm using these images as my checklist for being a cool aunt. How do you measure up?

Nose Ring? Check!

Big Hair? Check!

Skilled with the rocking chair? Oh yeah!

Fabulous even when wearing an eye patch? No doubt.

Can cook a delicious breakfast and wears stylish scarves? Could not describe me better.

Jesus Jeans

While Andrew and I were on our lunch break today, we stopped by a Christian book store called Mardel's. This is a great store for Christian books, educational supplies, and apparently...Christian apparel.

As we walked through the store, we were talking about how cheesy most Christian T-shirts are. Exhibit A:

But then I rounded the corner and I found the Jesus Jeans (my name for them).

They're a product of the company "Not Of This World". In addition to jeans, they also manufacture Christian shoes, hats, wallets, and of course...T-shirts. NOTW has an edgier look than most Christian apparel, but seriously I'm not sure that wearing Jesus Jeans is what being "not of this world" is about.

Thoughts?

Minty Fresh

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a desire to get serious about my financial life. I've been working on this lately and actually made a budget for myself the other night using some percentages from Dave Ramsey's book, More Than Enough. Then today I was introduced Mint.com. This website is AMAZING!



You can import all of your bank accounts, credit card accounts, investments, loans, etc. so you can keep up with all of it in one place. But...what's even better is that it helps your categorize your expeditures and let's you see where all your money is going. As you can tell, I'm pretty excited about this website and I just wanted to share my discovery. So check it out!

"Egging" it on

Let's just face it...I just have bad luck when it comes to cars and computers. Even though I love my car and have even given him a name (Hunter)...recently he's been giving me the most trouble. In the past year or so, I've experienced everything for totaling to towing with my

car(s), but recently I experienced something new...I got "egged".

The surprising thing is that it was complete strangers who decided to egg my car. I can't really explain the appeal of this random adolescent type of prank, but it did cost me $12 to get my car washed. $7 for the wash and $5 extra to scrub the egg off. As the short-statured Hispanic man held his nose while he scrubbed the side of car with a big brush, I decided it was worth the extra $5 not to have to clean it myself.

If you'd like to see and read more about my car adventures you can check out my photo album called A Tale of Two Tuscons.

In Her Shoes

Today was a great day. We kicked off the 7th Grade Girls' Bible Study this afternoon. 19 girls from four schools showed up at 3:00 and over half of them walked from their school. When they plopped down on the couch at the Wasson's house, they were ready to talk, share, and learn. I loved seeing all their precious little faces, hearing their chatter, and knowing the potential of this group.


Tonight one of the girls texted me about a problem with her friend. It reminded me how hard it is to be in her shoes. Honestly, you couldn't pay me to go back to 7th grade. It was such a hard time of life for me. I struggled with my self-image, mean girls, attention from boys, and wanting to just be like everyone else. But I made it through...and they will too.

In Her Shoes

God,
Will You use me to touch this girl's life..
Will she stand up when she knows something's right...
Will she stumble and trip through the halls of her school...
Or will she learn to walk confidently IN HER OWN SHOES?

Confessions of a Shopaholic

While we're on the subject of New Year's resolutions. I'll let you in on my resolution for 2009: to get better control of my financial life. Dave Ramsey and my dad would be so proud. I want to 1)start thinking more about where my money is going, 2) pay off some debt, and 3) get serious about saving for the future.

In order to get started on this, and partially out of necessity, I've really been trying to cut back on my daily spending. My spending adds up on things like eating out for every meal, Starbucks and Sonic drinks in the afternoon, or just picking up frivolous items from Target.

This week, I decided I was going to have a day when I spent absolutely no money. So when my friend Emily called me to hang out I was a little worried that I couldn't do it. But we conquered the challenge:

We used giftcards for Starbucks (free)

She got a refill on her iced coffee (practically free...54 cents)

Browsed through a bookstore (free)

Picked up free cosmetics at the Galleria (free)

I didn't think I could do it, but I had a night out with my friend without spending money. So here's my challenge for myself and every other shopaholic out there:

Set aside at least one day a week when you intentionally spend no money. I think it will be a good practice in self-control and in the long run it might even make a difference in the piggy bank.