Tuesday, January 18, 2011

washable.

i love markers.
growing up, we were a very arts and crafts family. i was home schooled (yes, i know that explains a lot) for kindergarten through 2nd grade. my mom is an excellent teacher, and i give her credit for my academic success so far. even the great spelling...

being home schooled has it's perks. you get to do school in your pj's (occasionally), you can play with your own toys at recess, you get to eat REAL food [opposed to weird, unidentified lunch meats in a cafeteria] and to top it all off, you get your mom as your teacher.

in order to maintain some form of sanity with three small children, mom always came up with great ways to keep the slightly-un-diagnosed-add kid busy. one was markers.

to this day i still love markers. crayola is my hero. there are all sorts of markers, the thin tips, extra wide, standard... you want i special kind? well crayola has ever color. literally.

today i was in need of a writing utensil during a meeting and the only thing i could find was a ultra thin brown crayola magic marker.

i was pleased with the little treasure. and took it home with me [which i am not sure if i was allowed to, but i did it anyways]

as i am sitting here, studying for my devotionals to do tomorrow, i looked down at my marker and read "WASHABLE."

well, isn't that nice. your children and mark on clothes and other special things that need no extra marking, and guess what? you can wash them off.

imagine that!? what a great invention. washable markers. but then it hit me.

as Christians, we are like little kids. we get to play with markers and we get to create things and doodle things. we have supervision. but sometimes, we may color off the page onto the tablecloth. or we may go nuts and color our own sweatshirt.

but we have this really cool thing called redemption and salvation and grace that mix together in the form of Christ's blood and wash those markers out.

our sins are washable.

sure that sounds a little too easy. but you know how you do something as a kid and your mom says to you "now you now what happens when you..." fill in the blank. well that is how it works for us. God gives us markers. we sometimes mess up big time, but he is there to help us wash those mistakes out. although there might be a little trace, he has forgotten about it and moved on. he washed us all white as snow.

once you color on the tablecloth, remember that you can go to the Father, and ask Him to wash you. and He will. because that is how he made you.

washable.

Friday, January 7, 2011

rewinding.


it is a week into the new year, and i decided it might be appropriate to recap on some large things that happened this past year. just for nostalgia.

2010 was busy for me, including a lot of firsts. first dates, first trips, first bethea baby [not mine obviously] and first summer away from home.

there are highlights, really low-lights, and dry seasons. but overall, 2010 was another year. another year of memories. laughter. tears... and learning.

the first thing i did in the year 2010 was visit my lovely roomie's family in TAMPA!



kimbo [as i so affectionately call her] has a beautiful family. we went to Tampa to cheer on our Auburn tigers in the outback bowl. several of our friends made the long journey to t-town [not tuscaloosa] and enjoyed time together and an big Blue victory.




the other sweet roomie sara and i had the opportunity to lead worship for a girls retreat at the 4H center in clanton. it was amazing and humbling. i hope to get to lead with this girl again. it was a very special time for me and sara to spend together; leading, learning, and leaning on each other.

i LOVE my roomies.



i also went to O-town (orlando) with these good-looking boys. my date [furthest to the right] and i had a blast. FH formal never disappoints and i enjoyed being there with all my friends. although the bus ride was a little long... there was loads of laughter and hilarious memories.




we welcomed the first baby-bethea into the family in may. sweet eloise. we watch her like tv and to say the least, she is spoiled. but not in a bad way....
she is an angle, and i know have a small look into the world in which i came into when i was born. i was the first girl born into the bethea family in two generations. so they were pretty excited. same for little monkey up there. but we have LOVED having a new baby. her sweet mom can be found here and she is AMAZING.



Kim Box Photography


my positively amazing cousin mark married his jr.high school sweetheart (they dated since junior high to post-college) and i got to sing with Laura (eloise from above's mommy) during the ceremony. it was the most beautiful wedding of the two most beautiful people. both inwardly and outwardly.



i spent a week here at lake barton with the cantrell clan...



went to fran and brooke and mary ev's deb ball...


and turned the big 20...



in october we traveled to connecticut to the coast guard academy to visit kimbo's best friend from high school- eric. it was a trip for the books. beautiful place and sweet people. very different and pretty cold. but the bears were fun to watch play- eric even scored two touch downs!



i also saw these amazing people play twice. this is drew and ellie holcomb [drew holcomb and the neighbors]. i have talked about them and how much i ADORE their music and just who they are. i saw them play with ben rector in auburn and with dave barens [also love] in decemeber for a christmas concert. it was amazing. and i cannot wait to see them again.


i also shot my first engagement. not engagement pictures but actual engagement. these two are fellow students in auburn and i got to play paparazii!! it was so fun and i hope to get to do this again.... any guys out in blog world... you know where to find me!


i also ran in the Atlanta Half Marathon.... however those pics will not be posted haha....

i had my first month off of school in a year. it was amazing.

and now i am heading back to auburn today.

i hope you have enjoyed the recap of 2010! to many more memories...


Wednesday, January 5, 2011

new year. new places.



new years eve was interesting for me. i did not do anything too exciting. just drove to ozark alabama and back. then toasted the new year in over glasses of white grape juice and white trash with my sister.

different, yet fun.

new years day was fantastic for me. i traveled with my high school crew to fairhope, alabama for a wedding. we put 7 girls into my mom's suburban and headed down to the bay. we got to fairhope, checked into the Grand Hotel (which btw is AMAZING), dressed and made our way to the reception.

we enjoyed every single moment of being together. from laughing about dumb stories from high school, or teaching the electric slide, or even sleeping on cushions after eating french toast at iHOP.


brook was a beautiful bride. zach, dashing. and the random friends from high school... we were looked g-o-o-d.

this cake was amazing. i should have gotten a second piece:)

but what i fell in love with the most was fairhope.

let's just say i would not mind moving there sometime.

__________________

i am moving back to auburn on friday. I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things-- back into a routine.

i am excited for new classes this semester. i am excited to make new friendships and work on old ones.

i'm excited about the things God is doing in my life, and the lives of those around me.

many things to look forward to in 2011.