Let the Summer begin!

So it's been a pretty busy life around here lately... but it's so good.

So Logan and I really enjoyed our Sabbath weekend! We did a lot of just hanging out at home, which is exactly what we had hoped for!

Logan grilled his first steaks on our grill!

I was hoping to get our beautiful flowers in this pic, but you can barely see them there under the window!

Grilled to perfection!

So that's a picture into our weekend!

Since then, it's been graduations, parties, out-of-school excitement and summer interns! Ted and Natalie are our wonderful interns this summer! They just got here last Saturday and have been jumping in feet first! It's cool to have Ted here, since I pretty much grew up with him, he's sorta like a brother and I love it! Natalie is wonderful, also! I'm confident that this will be a summer of transformation and community-building! That's what we're asking for and we know that the One we ask is faithful! Here are a few pics into the past week...

Yay! Ted and Natalie!

Taco Casa double dares! I love the girls' faces!

The dart game: it's everywhere you want to be.

Brooke's graduation!!

We had our senior graduation party on Sunday and it was very bittersweet! We are really going to miss our seniors, but we are so proud of them and where God has brought them! AND, we still have the summer! :-)

Doug, one of our elders, dressed up and read "Oh The Places Y ou'll Go" by Dr. Seuss. oh yes, and he dressed up for the part!

The cake and lovely decorations! I'll get more pics up here once I get Walter's professional pics!

Well there's an update on Lindsey's life! Gotta go get some lunch! Love to all!

it's been awhile...

Hey friends! I have been meaning to post on here for at least a coule of weeks. With summer quickly approaching, I feel like my head is spinning. My to-do list is is ridiculously long and I'm behind on so many important things... it makes me kinda want to shut down.

So I am.

Logan and I love to have Fridays off, because Saturday always follows! It's like 2 Saturdays in a row! So we have dedicated today, tomorrow and Sunday evening to be times of rest and renewal - our extended Sabbath. I am more and more convinced that God never intended for our lives to be the way we live them here in the US. For the past few years, I have struggled with slowing down the pace of life in order to really live it - the way we were intended to live. The pace of our culture mixed with my "I can do it" personality are a deadly blend. On paper, it looks like I can keep up with all the commitments and plans, when in reality, it just wears me out. I want to focus on a few things and do them well, rather than do a lot of things half-heartedly. Even good things in our lives can replace our love and passion for Christ. I just don't know how to do it

But I do know the source of Peace.

And that Source instructs us to take a Sabbath - every week. And so that's my goal -to be like God. Though I fail and fail often, He is the Standard. Shon is teaching a series on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-8). The theme verse he's using is Matthew 5:48, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." I know I'll never reach perfection this side of heaven, but shouldn't that still be our goal?

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Ok, so here's a few highlights from the past few weeks:

• Logan was out of town a couple of times in April, but God used those times to really bless me here at home! When he was in Honduras, my mom came down to spend the week with me! Then when he went to Nashville to spend some time with other youth ministers, Julie came down here and stayed for a few days! I just love that God is always giving us just what we need, right when we need it!


• Logan and I and 8 of the UY teens participated in Invisible Children's "The Rescue" in Birmingham on April 25th. If you haven't heard of the Invisible Children documentary about the 23 year civil war in Uganda, please go visit http://invisiblechildren.com/ The Rescue was a worldwide attempt to raise awareness and promote action against Joseph Kony, the rebel leader that is terrorizing the children and families of Uganda and the Congo. Please keep this situation in your prayers. It is sickening to see how Satan will use people to oppress humanity in the name of God. Like Hitler. Oh Lord Jesus, come.
  

Logan and Curtis before we made the walk to our "LRA Camp"

We walked about 3 miles to our camp, repesenting the child slave soldiers in Uganda.

Our great group at the camp site

• Logan's family came to visit last weekend! We had a really good time together and were super excited that the entire family got to come! Logan's parents were picking up Lisa from college in Montgomery and Laurie and JB came down from Nashville! We had a great time celebrating birthdays and Mother's Day!
  
  

  This is the only picture I got last weekend!
  
• I went to the neurologist on Monday for my semi-annual check-up. I was again reminded of how great my God is and that he has kept me healthy and MS-symptom free for 3 whole years now! He is so faithful.
  
• UY's summer interns will be here one week from tomorrow! Ted and Natalie will be awesome blessings to us and the teens! We're so excited for summer!
  
  Peace out, friends! Don't forget to take your sabbath!