An Early Christmas Present

I had a few early Christmas surprises this weekend. My friend, David came down from Savannah to spend the weekend slumming it in Thomasville. He was a good sport letting me ride him around informing him about Thomasville's rich past. He even braved the Museum and let me give him a tour around the place. We did a little shopping downtown and enjoyed lunch at George and Louie's, a personal favorite of mine.



Photo via

Saturday it was a nice day, so we sat outside enjoying the weather. I was nice and let David go in to Harden's Taxidermy to talk up the owner. They just finished up an alligator head mount for Dave that his parents had picked up for him, so he wanted to tell them what a fantastic job they did. I was also nice and let him go in Kevin's to check out all the merchandise they had to offer. So, it wasn't too girly of a day.

A big highlight of the weekend was from a stop at the post office. I hardly ever go downtown anymore, so that means that I hardly ever check my mail. But since David and I were in the area, I stopped and picked up my mail. I had a wonderful surprise waiting on me.

I received my first letter from the little girl I am sponsoring through Compassion International. This letter absolutely made my day. If you can see, she drew me a picture. I am impressed because I can't even draw a decent stick figure. The letter really touched my heart and it was the perfect early Christmas present. I wrote her back today. She requested a picture of me, so I sent one to her, so hopefully she will now know what I look like. I am excited to see our relationship grow and I pray that I can be an encouragement to her and her family.

I want to share this post from Ann Voskamp's blog. Ann wrote the book One Thousand Gifts. I haven't read it, but I enjoy reading her blog. This post is titled When Christmas Gets Radical: Whose Birthday is it Really? I hope one day when I have children, that I can instill in them a loving and giving heart and teach them that it is truly better to give than to receive and that Christmas isn't just about presents and Santa Claus, but that it is really about Jesus and living our lives for Him. And to take care of those of us who are less fortunate and to give to organizations like Compassion who do a fabulous job of reaching out to children in the name of Jesus. I encourage you to go read that post.

And speaking of Christmas, I wanted to share a quick little project that I did to add a little bit of Christmas cheer to my bedroom. I warn you, it's nothing spectacular and it is actually an unfinished project.

I made a quick little printable in Photoshop to stick in a picture frame. It's just a little Christmas tree I made with clip art dachshunds. Wow. Amazing. Spectacular. Ha ha! It's pretty sad. I have two other frames in this grouping. I put a picture of my nephew Barrett and Santa Claus in the small frame and had intentions for the 4x6 frame for some Scriptures, but I just haven't gotten around to it and seeing that Christmas is Sunday, I doubt I will go to the trouble of doing anything now. So that's my little arts and crafts project I had going on for Christmas.

You've Got Mail

What is it about receiving stuff in the mail that is so exciting? Or is it just me that gets excited over stupid stuff like that? When I got to work this morning, my BirchBox was waiting on me to see what was inside! Oh, happy day!

I was anxious to see what they had sent me. So with bated breath, I opened it.

This is what they sent me....I have to say, I was a little disappointed. Cue the trombone sound here. Wah, wah, wah...Lotion and nail polish? Guess I need to go tweak my beauty profile for them to send me some make up and hair products. So let's see what we got:

• Kate Spade Twirl perfume (smells nice)
• Thymes Eucalyptus body lotion
• Thymes Kimono Rose body lotion
• Joues lip enhancer/conditioning lip treatment (I do need this! My lips are chapped city right now)
• Zoya nail lacquer in Noel

I am pretty pumped about the nail polish. Stacey always rags me on my nail polish color. My OPI color "You Don't Know Jacques" she likens to grey brain matter! However, she did paint her nails with that color and even she admitted that she was coming around :-) Glad I could help, Stace! This Zoya color is a deep blue. It could be interesting. I'm sure Stacey will hate that color, too! I do like some funky nail colors, so I will probably like it. So that is my November box from BirchBox. I will do it again for December, just to give it another shot to wow my socks off with their selections for me.

On Friday, I FINALLY made it to the Post Office to pick up my mail. My poor box was loaded down with magazines and other mail. But what I was most excited to see in there was my sponsorship packet from Compassion International with more information on my child I am sponsoring. Now that is something to get excited about!

They send a little book with information about your child, her family, her country, her town and other things about sponsorship. Isn't she adorable?

I have to say, I can only imagine how these children live. Kelly over at Kelly's Korner just got back from a Compassion Tour and the stories she had to share where something to truly think about. So I am thankful that I am in a position where I can help out myself. I encourage you to do the same! We are so very blessed here and we should make it a point to help out others. We are told that the greatest thing we can do for God is first love him and then love one another. Love. Plain and simple. So if you get a chance, think about sponsoring a child yourself.

So these are just two things that I have received via the good old Post Office. Come rain, snow, sleet, or hail they always deliver!

Wisdom Wednesday

Good morning everyone! It's Wednesday again. Another week has come and gone. Time for this week's installment of Wisdom Wednesday. I was looking in Proverbs at what passage to talk about. However, I came across this little devotional that is scattered throughout my Bible. So I will post that, since I'm sure ya'll would rather hear from someone who actually knows what they are talking about! :-) Plus, I pick things out that speak to me, so I'm sure there is someone out there that reads this that needs to hear the same thing. I picked this devotional because it centers around one of my favorite Bible verses.

A Community of Hope

Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. ~Isaiah 40:31

One thing I know for sure: We were never created to go it alone, ladies. If we attempt to face life's complexities alone, our heart and hope will shrivel. God has created us for community-for belonging...Consider this suggestion: When you share your pain and others acknowledge their care for you, then hope begins to grow. A hope that is eternal and not based on day-to-day circumstances. A hope that aids a restless heart. The truth is, all of us will have restless hearts as long as we sojourn on this earth. It's part of the human story...

So in this life we are pilgrims, wanderers who cannot stay on earth permanently even if we wanted to. (And who would really want to? I ask, especially in my most exhausted moments. Take me away, Lord! I cry.)

Yes, our hearts will be restless until they rest eternally in God. Until we see Jesus Christ as both the highway and the goal of our journey. And until we see, with our own eyes, our glorious destination of heaven...

If you find yourself in...the place of despair and emotional trauma...be encouraged. You are not alone, and God is not far off from you. In fact, stop and give thanks for the restlessness of your soul. (Uh, yes, I am serious.) Really, without such restlessness, we would not even seek God or find the hope that can carry us through the difficult times.

~ Julie Ann Barnhill  from Exquisite Hope

Short, sweet, and to the point today!

Compassion International Update
On another note, I want to update you on my decision to sponsor a child through Compassion International. I finally found out which child I will be sponsoring! I hope and pray that I can be a blessing to this child in the same way that she has already been a blessing to me. I couldn't chose which child to pick, so I decided to let Compassion pick the child for me and prayed that God would give me just the right child. I got a little 5 year-old girl named Karen from Bolivia. I am excited to learn about her and to be there to be an encouragement to her and her family. I sent off my first letter to her on Monday. I am anxious to hear back from her, even though I'm sure at 5, she can't really read or write. And thank goodness that they translate your letters for you! I will keep you all updated on this journey with this special little girl. I can't wait to see what good things God can do!

Compassion International

I am so excited! After reading the wonderful stories about the Compassion International organization on Kelly's blog for several weeks, I decided that it was something that I wanted to do. This is their mission statement:

Releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name

In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.

I just signed up to sponsor a child. You can pick which child you sponsor, but I couldn't decide, so I said a prayer and let them pick a child for me according to who has been on the waiting list for a sponsor the longest. I should be receiving my sponsor info packet in the next few weeks with pictures and information on the child that I will be sponsoring. We are so spoiled here and we take so much for granted. These children have basically nothing and just a measly $38 a month will help them out so very much. So I am more than happy to do that. Plus I get to build a relationship with a child and encourage them to a relationship with Jesus Christ. Nothing better.

On another note, I just looked at the Employment Opportunities with the company, out of curiosity. I love that the #1 thing listed under job qualifications was "has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." I did see a job or two that I might be interested in. I know I was wanting to move and start my life fresh, but I doubt that my parents would be happy if I moved to Colorado Springs and traveled all over the world to developing countries...but I guess they would get over it :-)

I am looking forward to seeing what God can bring out of this sponsorship. I'm excited! Go check Compassion out and see if it's right for you.

Happy Friday, ya'll!