Music Monday - Oh Come All Ye Faithful

Today I began a new Bible Study from Good Morning Girls.  An Advent study designed to help us keep our eyes on Jesus during this busy holiday season.  I am so excited about it. 

Advent by definition means "a coming into place, view or being; arrival".  I love the Advent season.  The anticipation, the excitement and the remembrance of our Savior, Jesus Christ coming as a little baby is amazing.  When I was on staff at a church as a music minister, one of my very favorite traditions of the church happened during Advent.  Each Sunday, the choir would process in from the back of the church through the pews singing, "O Come All Ye Faithful".  It was majestic and reminded us to come along, and join in the worship of not just the baby born at Christmas, but the Savior and Lord of all creation, Jesus Christ.  I love this hymn.  I think we should sing it year round.  I can hardly sing it without getting all choked up.  So if you see me not singing when we sing it in church, you will know why.  

This version with Josh Groban and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is wonderful.  This hymn is still great sung by a soloist, but truly majestic when sung by a choir.  This version is on my ipod, and I know will be played over and over this Christmas season.  

New Study

I briefly told you about starting the new study from Good Morning Girls.  I have been going for 3 days now and am loving it. It is so amazing to really dig in and study one book of the Bible.  The last study I did was Beth Moore's study on the book of James, and I felt the same way about it.

We are in the book of Colossians.  My group was started by my very dear friend Jill, and is comprised of women in several different states.  I think overall there are 11,000 women worldwide doing this study at this time.  That is awesome.  We are only through the first few verses, but already I am learning.  The message of the book of Colossians is hope.  Faith and love come from hope.  We as believers have hope that the world doesn't have.  This should produce faith and love in abundance.  Today the Good Morning Girls posted this picture.

And so far, that is what we have learned.  The early church swept through the world because the first believers showed such faith and love the hope was evident.  Convicting and exciting all at the same time.  I'm linking up and loving this study!

www.goodmorninggirls.org

New Sister

My new sister!

This past weekend our family was blessed to gain a new member.  My brother-in-law got married.  He followed much of his brother's (my husband) path by dating his new wife for 7 years before getting married.  It was a long anticipated event, and it didn't disappoint.  

Hal and Jessica chose to get married at Lake Burton at the Lake Burton Club.  The Higgins have had a cabin on Lake Burton for years, and it is a special place to all of them.  The Lake Burton Club sits high on the hills above Lake Burton with views stretching for miles.  It is breathtaking.  I had never been there, but it was amazing.  Friday night was the rehearsal dinner and it was fun.  Lots of stories from both sides of the family, good food, and much laughter.  

We stayed at the lake house for the weekend so we didn't have to drive back and forth.  Saturday we were able to sleep in (as much as possible for a family with 4 kids between them) and relax on the dock.  The 4 nieces and nephews were in the wedding, so it was so much fun to get them all fancy and ready for the big event.  The boys were so cute in their tuxes.  They loved the shiny patent leather shoes.  And the girls looked like princesses.  The four of them are so close and love each other so much.  Times like these just bring it out even more. 

Relaxing after the ceremony. Thankful for the pool table and movie theater downstairs!

D. was in the wedding too, so I met him at the Club with the kids.  I found a fun orange dress (my favorite color) and some really high heels, which I never, ever, ever wear.  It was a fun change, but since several of my toes are still numb 3 days after the event, I probably won't wear them often.  

The ceremony took place at 6pm on the porch of the Lake Burton Club. It overlooked the lake and the surrounding hills.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The ceremony was a great reminder of the covenant made between us and God when we stand before Him to be married.  With all the talk in this political season of what marriage is and is not, it was a sweet remembrance that it truly is a covenant not to be taken lightly.  God was in the ceremony.  It was so special, and I know that Jessica and Hal felt the same way.  

After the ceremony, the dinner and dancing were fantastic.  We got to sit with Jessica and Hal for the dinner, which was a neat time together hearing their feelings and relief.  The reception was so much fun.  Everyone danced (with a few exceptions including my D.) and laughed a lot.  The newlyweds left under a shower of sparklers and drove away in a vintage Model T car, much like the Ramblin Wreck of Georgia Tech.  Perfect for the pair of Jackets just married.  

check out those heels!  ;)

I have been so blessed in my life with such special sisters, biological and by marriage.  Jessica is a sweet addition to my life, and I'm so thankful for God for the wonderful weekend and the new family addition.  

Music Monday

Today I started a new Bible study on the book of Colossians.  I am doing it online with the Good Morning Girls.  I am so excited about it.  There isn't a local study right now that fit into my schedule, so I am so thankful for the internet and the ability to still study God's Word even though I can't physically go to a study.  

Today my song for Music Monday is Ever Lifting by Christy Nockels.  I have loved Christy's voice and music since her days in Watermark, and am loving the music she is doing by herself now.  This song has become a fun favorite for me, but the words are so good too.  I chose it today because the study I am starting is just one way the Lord lifts me up.  He is so, so good and so faithful to keep us lifted if we let Him.  

I will be back tomorrow (ish) to share pictures of the wedding we were in this weekend.  So special and so much fun!

Salty enough?

This past Sunday we had a guest speaker at church.  He is a resort ministry missionary.  He is in Big Sky, Montana, and he skis, snowboards and ministers to people on vacation and working/living at the resorts.  Sounds fun, huh?  

One of the main points I got from his sermon was to remind us that we are to be salt in the world.  I never really ate much salt until I moved to Georgia.  It seems here that salt is used with everything!  So, I have learned a little about not having enough salt or having too much salt in my cooking.  One thing that I really thought about after church is that if there isn't enough salt in something it can be bland - and it doesn't change the taste of the dish.  Jesus telling us to be salt is like telling us to change the flavor of the world.  If we taste more like the world than we taste like the salt of Jesus, we can't flavor the world. It is a thought that convicts and challenges me.  Am I being salty enough?  Hmm.  That may be my new motto.  What do you think?

Music Monday

Music Monday is back from it's long summer's break.  I first heard of Andrew Peterson when his song Dancing in the Minefields came out.  It is a sweet song about being married and loving each other through the years.  So I was extra interested when I heard this song.  It is called Rest Easy and it speaks to me so strongly.  The lyrics say, 

You don't have to work so hard,

You can rest easy.

You don't have to prove yourself, 

You're already mine.  

The verses are powerful too.  I hope it speaks to you the way it does to me.  Reminding us that we can't do any more or any less to make God love us and accept us.  We're already His!  Doesn't that just make you want to cry with thanksgiving?

Andrew had a contest for a video for this song and this was the winning video.  You may need a kleenex nearby.  I did.

Comparison

I'm back from a long hiatus.  Lots going on here.  Spring Fling, Pre-K graduation, End of School, Camps, and now my husband is running for our local Board of Education.  The first thing to get neglected is my blog.  Hoping to become a more regular blogger in the fall when both kids will be in school.  Can't think of that now - I'll start crying.  ;)

But, lately I have been reading and thinking a lot about comparison and friendship, and I wish I could remember where I read this last week, so if you know, please comment.  Someone said something to this effect.  When we compare ourselves to others we are comparing our insides to their outsides.  Basically, the thoughts and inner musings of what we would like to change about ourselves to the best parts of others that they let people see.  So it's a really losing situation.  It has made me think a lot about that.  One of the other things I have been trying to remind myself is the quote "Comparison is the thief of joy."  Boy is that true.  You can make yourself crazy reading blogs and looking on pinterest.  While I love to do both of those things, I am constantly reminding myself to be thankful.  Thankfulness can quench comparison and self doubt/self defeating attitudes.  Being thankful in everything.

Print by girlheartscamera

Today I was reading a favorite blog, gypsy mama, by Lisa Jo, and she has a beautiful printable called  The Tired Mother's Creed.  It is wonderful.  Go check it out and print it out like I did.  She is such an encourager, and this was just what I needed.

Let's remember to encourage each other, be thankful in everything, and compare ourselves only to Jesus, who is perfecting us in Him every day.