A New Thanksgiving

I know I'm repeatedly posting excerpts or whole chapters from Elisabeth Elliot's amazing book, "Keep A Quiet Heart." I read this chapter today, and I felt compelled to share it with you. It's long but worth the read!

A New Thanksgiving

Those who call Thanksgiving "Turkey Day," I suppose, take some such view as this: Unless we have Someone to thank and something to thank Him for, what's the point of using a name that calls up pictures of religious people in funny hats and Indians bringing corn and squash? Christians, I hope, focus on something other than a roasted bird. We do have Someone to thank and a long list of things to thank Him for, but sometimes we limit our thanksgiving merely to things that look good to us. As our faith in the character of God grows deeper we see that heavenly light is shed on everything--even our suffering--so that we are enabled to thank Him for things we would never have thought of before. The apostle Paul, for example, saw even suffering itself as happiness (Colossians 1:24).

I have been thinking of something that stifles thanksgiving. It is the spirit of greed--the greed of doing, being, and having.

When Satan came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, his bait was intended to inspire the lust to do more than the Father meant for Him to do--to go farther, demonstrate more power, act more dramatically. So the enemy comes to us in these days of frantic doing. We are ceaselessly summoned to activities: social, political, educational, athletic, and--yes--spiritual. Our "self-image" (deplorable word!) is dependent not on the quiet and hidden "Do this for my sake," but on the list the world hands us of what is "important." It is a long list, and it is both foolish and impossible. If we fall for it, we neglect the short list.

Only a few things are really important, and for those we have the promise of divine help: sitting in silence with the Master in order to hear His word and obey it in the ordinary line of duty--for example, in being a good husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, or spiritual father or mother to those nearby who need protection and care--humble work which is never on the world's list because it leads to nothing impressive on one's resume. As Washington Gladden wrote in 1879, "O Master, let me walk with Thee/In lowly paths of service free..."

Temptation comes also in the form of being. The snake in the garden struck at Eve with the promise of being something which had not been given. If she would eat the fruit forbidden to her, she could "upgrade her lifestyle" and become more like God. She inferred that this was her right, and that God meant to cheat her of this. The way to get her rights was to disobey Him.

No new temptation ever comes to any of us. Satan needs no new tricks. The old ones have worked well ever since the Garden of Eden, although sometimes under different guises. When there is a deep restlessness for which we find no explanation, it may be due to the greed of being--what our loving Father never meant us to be. Peace lies in the trusting acceptance of His design, His gifts, His appointment of place, position, capacity. It was thus that the Son of Man came to earth--embracing all that the Father willed Him to be, usurping nothing--no work, not even a word--that the Father had not given Him.

Then there is the greed of having. When "a mixed company of strangers" joined the Israelites, the people began to be greedy for better things (Numbers 11:4). God had given them exactly what they needed in the wilderness: manna. It was always enough, always fresh, always good (sounds good to me, anyway, "like butter-cakes"). But the people lusted for variety. These strangers put ideas into their heads. "There's more to life than this stuff. Is this all you've got? You can have more. You gotta live a little!"

So the insistence to have it all took hold on God's people and they began to wail, "all of them in their families at the opening of their tents." There is no end to the spending, getting, having. We are insatiable customers, dead set on competing, upgrading, showing off ("If you've got it, flaunt it"). We simply cannot bear to miss something others deem necessary. So the world ruins the peace and simplicity God would give us. Contentment with what He has chosen for us dissolves, along with godliness, while, instead of giving thanks, we lust and wail, teaching our children to lust and wail too. (Children of the jungle tribe I knew years ago did not complain because they had not been taught to.)

Lord, we give you thanks for all that You in Your mercy have given us to be and to do and to have. Deliver us, Lord, from all greed to be and to do and to have anything not in accord with Your holy purposes. Teach us to rest quietly in Your promise to supply, recognizing that if we don't have it we don't need it. Teach us to desire Your will--nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. For Jesus' sake, Amen.

Happy New Year

Andy, Jackson, and I drove to Orlando, Florida, for a fun New Year's Celebration, and to celebrate my cousin Laura marrying Clint. Below is a picture of them at my sister's Phantom Host Ball a few years ago in Mongtomery:



Now here they are all dressed up again, but this time for such a sweet wedding.



We all had fun dancing, and Jackson even stayed up until 10 pm, a good 3 hours past his bedtime. He's quite the trooper. (And did I mention that he did amazing in the car, all 9 1/2 hours there and back?!)




My mom, me & Jackson, and my grandmother (doesn't she look so elegant!?!)

The next night was New Year's Eve, and we cooked dinner at our family friend's home (The Bryan's, the best family ever) with some of our dear friends, Rachael and Clay Cowherd, and Shelby Spears and her new-fiance Chris (and my sister and Lee Bryan were there...a fun family gathering!). In the midst of cooking, Shelby walks in the door and holds out her hand, and I saw a great big diamond ring just sitting on her left ring finger. So fun! I definitely sorority-rushed-jumped when I found out she was engaged, and I think I practically tackled her fiance Chris (whom I had just met a few hours prior!). We are so excited for Shelby, and I'm especially delighted that I was the first to hug her, as she was the first friend I saw when I got engaged in college.



Chris, Clay, and Andy



Rachael, Shelby, Chris, and me

After a fun New Year's Eve of cooking and celebrating with dear friends, we drove over to Tampa the next morning to stay with one of my best friends Rosemary and Tim. She is 34 weeks pregnant, and she was the most gracious host to the three of us! We enjoyed lunch out in the 80 degree weather, talking and catching up, and a traditional collard greens and black-eyed peas meal cooked by Tim. Delicious!



Happy New Year everyone!

11 Months Old

Trying out a pineapple core for the first time (and he loved it!)

What a fun 11 months we've had with this sweet boy! I can't believe I'm having to plan Jackson's one-year-old birthday for this next month.

(for my baby keeping record) He has his two bottom teeth, with one more coming in on the bottom right side. His two front teeth are still coming in, and now the teeth on either side of his two front teeth are coming in as well. He'll eat most baby food, although the Earth's Best pureed chicken he's not a huge fan of. I did give him my mother-in-law's spinach (kale) mashed potatoes after Christmas, and he gobbled them up (probably because of the yummy spices, sour cream, and butter that is in them). When I tried to give him a plain baked potato, he refused.

He is quite the flirt, grabbing anyone's attention that he can. Jackson is still in the normal baby clingy phase, and when he's tired, he doesn't like to be taken away from Mommy or Daddy. He does great in the car (as in, he did awesome going to and from Orlando on our LOOONG car ride...more details to come in a future post), as long as he has his Wubbanub pacifier and some toys or books to play with.

Jackson is always saying "ma ma," "da da," and he's still imitating words, sounds, and noises that we make. He's a great sleeper, and still takes 2 to 3 naps a day. He also does these elongated blinks whenever he's "responding" to someone talking to him...hysterical! I have no idea why he does it, but it cracks us up every time he does it. We truly are blessed with a sweet and happy baby, and I'm very grateful for this blessing God has given us!

That pretty much wraps up our sweet little 11 month old. More to come on our fabulous trip to Florida!

Christmas Festivities

This was such a fun and blessed Christmas with our firstborn, celebrating the birth of Christ! Here are some pics of our fun and busy family festivities:


All the cousins


They switched babies!


Jackson, hanging out in his stocking at Ya Ya's house




In front of Ya Ya's tree, patiently waiting to open gifts

Then back home to Birmingham:


Trying to eat his new barking dog from GiGi and Pops


Checking out the barking dog from GiGi


One of my favorite pics of all times (getting close to nap time, but Jackson just decided to be silly for the camera)


Watching the choo-choo train with Pops, or rather, eating one of Pop's stocking gifts


Look who found Tucker sitting on the front porch!

I hope you all had a blessed and Merry Christmas!

To Eat or Not To Eat

I couldn't resist...

This amazing looking Monkey Bread, made by the Pioneer Woman, was just too irresistible. Now, I didn't grow up eating Monkey Bread, probably because my mother knows this treat is oh-so-bad-for-you. But let me tell you, it's awesome, and packed with virtually NO nutritional value. Oh well, it's okay to splurge at least once a year, right?


Picture borrowed from The Pioneer Woman blog
*Note, I reduced the butter to around 12 TBSP instead of 2 sticks the recipe calls for, and I think you could reduce the white sugar from 1 cup to probably 3/4 cup

On the flip side, I made this amazing pizza, with a cauliflower crust! So delicious, easy, and very nutritious.


Picture borrowed from Eat.Drink.Smile blog

Merry Christmas everyone!

New York, New York

Andy and I took Jackson to New York City this past weekend. As many times as I've visited NYC, I've never seen it at Christmas time. We had the BEST time, and I think Jackson loved it too! He loved the attention from everyone he encountered. Flirting at its best!


All bundled up and ready to face the cold winter in NYC

We had a FULL schedule from Thursday morning until Sunday night.



We saw the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center





Visited my friend Shelby in her amazing Upper East Side apartment



Saw the World Trade Center and the massive Liberty Tower that's being built there now



And the "Occupy Wall Street" protest site (But where are all the protesters? They must have gone home for the holidays)



Times Square



Caught up with our best friends Lucy and Mark on the Upper West Side (and we're thrilled about their upcoming wedding April 2012!)



Ate a delicious brunch at Peels with my best friend Shelby, who also so graciously babysat a sleeping Jackson in the dark in our hotel room (thank goodness she had her IPad) so Andy and I could go on a fabulous date night dinner. Thank you Shelby!



After browsing all over the Internet and consulting friends for the perfect date night spot, I found this amazing Italian restaurant in the West Village through a blog site. It truly was so quaint, charming, and authentic Italian; so authentic, in fact, that Andy and I were probably the only non-Italian-speaking people there. We loved it and soaked up every minute we had there! So, the next time you're in NYC, you must go to Quinto Quarto.






We love a sleeping baby!

Jackson was probably worn out from going ALL over the city: from Chinatown, to Little Italy, to Wall Street, to the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Times Square, Central Park, Lower East Side, West Village, whew! What a fun and fabulous trip!

10 Months Old

This post is 2 weeks late, as Jackson is now 10 months old (I forgot to do a post for 10 months in the midst of the busyness of the holidays).

He's just now realized that he loves real food. While he still nurses every 3 hours, he now eats a good bit of pureed fruits and vegetables at lunch and dinner time. Recently, he's been eating zucchini, squash, plums, pears, banana (not his fav), avocado, apples, and Puffs!

Remember how Jackson loved his first visit with Santa? When Santa visited our friend's twin's birthday party, Jackson wasn't too thrilled to sit in Santa's lap.



Common phrases from Jackson include: "Ma Ma" (and I know he knows what it means), he'll say "Da Da" if you prompt him, and basically he tries to imitate any sound, whether you're blowing your nose, sneezing, making a shush-ing sound with your mouth, or growling like a lion. Hysterical.

Jackson is still such a sweet and happy baby, always pulling up on everything, crawling everywhere, getting into everything! We love him so so much!