For Better......For Worse, but not for granted.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

My socks have been blessed off!

What a week! I have lost count of all the things that have literally blessed my socks off this week. Tuesday, I got a sweet postcard from Angela, the lady who works in the children's ministry at Crossridge Church. (Jaxon's first Sunday did not go well, but the past two Sunday's have been great!) Wednesday, I got to have a fantastic dinner at the Olive Garden (my favorite) with a few of my BFF's, Marissa, Courtney, and Traci. Thursday, we got a letter from Pastor Marc thanking us for coming to church and telling us how good it was to see us.(I understand that these are small tokens of appreciation that they share with us, but I still thought it was nice none-the-less.) Then came Friday. Aside from it being a payday Friday, it was a great day. All week long I had contemplated about what our plans were going to be as far as our family was concerned. I had actually RSVP'd to a "meetup" family event at Chuck E Cheese's in Grapevine, but after my dinner with the girls on Wed. night I thought it might be fun to maybe have them over and just hang out at the house. So on Thursday morning I had just decided that I would cancel the Chuck E Cheese thing and just have the girls over. Well, Thursday at 5pm my cell phone rang. What is really strange is that whenever there is a number that I don't recognize I ALWAYS hit "ignore," and I figure if it is important enough they will leave a message. This time I didn't do that. I answered my phone and it was Kim Farnell, Pastor Marc's wife. I stepped out into the lobby at my office and chatted with her for a bit. We talked about my family, and she was saying how good it was to see us the previous week at church. Mainly, she called to invite me to the Women's Ministry Kick Off dinner that was to be held Friday night @ 7pm. Even though in the back of my mind I knew that I had already made plans I told her that I would try to be there. She said that she totally understood if I could not make it, but wanted to extend the offer. We hung up and I packed up my stuff and was walking out to my truck and I called my husband. (Prior to Kim's call another big event occurred, but I won't be able to discuss that until later on this week.) Needless to say, I was giddy, and full of excitement and I needed to share it with him right away. I told him about my phone call with Kim, and about how she had invited me to the Women's dinner and I told him that I really wanted to go, but childcare wasn't going to be provided. I wanted to make sure he would be able to be home in time to watch Jaxon so I could go. Of course, he had no issues with that and told me I should definitely go.
Friday could not have been over fast enough! We were busy due to the end of the month, and Friday late afternoon I was informed that I would have to work Saturday morning. (Please don't misunderstand my complaining for ungratefulness. I am very thankful for my job.) Anyway, knowing I had to work Saturday put a damper on my mood for the rest of the afternoon. Once 5 o'clock hit I hurried to go pick up Jaxon, hurried to the bank, and got home by 6pm. I played with Jaxon for a few minutes, freshened up and hurried out the door. (It takes me roughly 20 minutes to get to the church from my house since the new toll bridge has recently opened up). I didn't get nervous until I pulled up to the church. Typically, I don't have a problem going to functions like this by myself, but for whatever reason I was a little bit anxious. I walked in and paid my money (for the dinner, which was Italian, my favorite!) and I was given a name tag with my name and table # on it. I stuck my name tag on, and walked down the hall, and (thankfully) ran into Kim. She gave me a hug and told me she was glad I made it, and walked me into the room where the dinner was going to be held. She noticed that I had the #3 on my name tag and she began searching for the lady who she had made hostess to my chosen table. (Each assigned table had an assigned hostess.) Kim spotted a lady and waved her over to us and introduced me to her. Her name was Tami and she was super sweet! I knew right away that I would like her. She was very bubbley and had a very friendly smile. We chatted for a minute, and she told me she was a new Christian and that her and her husband loved it at Crossridge. She was the mother to two older boys, and she also told me that she was an avid Harley rider! I told her that my husband and I lived in Corinth, and she told me that they frequented the Harley store there, lol. After I got something to drink I sat down at our table and was only by myself for just a second when more people started to join us. Once everyone got settled Tami got out a sheet of paper that had a list of questions on it. Kim had given each table these questions to help sort of break the ice and help the ladies get to know each other. (I thought this was a great idea!) Kim got up on stage and gave a short introduction about the evenings plans and then asked a new member, Vanessa, to come bless the food. Vanessa gave a short testimony of how her and her family came to Crossridge, which I thought was so good, and then she blessed the food. One by one the different tables got up to go and get their food. While our table was waiting our turn Tami started to ask the questions. We started with Janet who was sitting to my right. She was an older lady, married for 34 years, and her husband serves on the parking team. Then of course there was me, and to my left was another older lady named Cecelia who works for Bank Of America and is a very proud Grandmother. Next to her was....gosh....I really want to say her name was Wendy....this was the only name that I could not remember. Anyway, she was a loving mother of 4, and also a newcomer to the church. Next to her was Nicki. Nicki was the funny one at our table, or atleast I thought so. She, like myself, said that Olive Garden was her favorite place to eat, and after exchanging emails she gave me the recipe to my favorite soup there! Then there was Debby, who got married the same year as Janet, to her high school sweet heart. She enjoyed rodeos and had actually gone to the Denton fair 4 times so far this year! Next to her was Robin who was the mother of one son who was in the 6th grade and played football. She was happily married and just loved hanging out at home with her boys. (Like me!) Finally, there was Tami, our sweet hostess. About 2 years ago she married the love of her life. She has been a nurse for the past 20 years, and I sort of got the impression that she was a survivor of some sort of cancer. Some of her answers to the questions were very touching and she said that she was just thankful to be alive. The last questioned that was asked before I got up to get my dessert was, "What is something that you are grateful for tonight?" My answer was simple. I told them that I was thankful that my husband was able to watch our son, and I was thankful that Kim had invited me. I was glad that I had went, and I was glad I got the chance to meet those ladies. Kim was right, God had picked out a specific chair at a specific table just for me which led me to meet that fantastic group of women who blessed my socks right off!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Crossridge Church of Little Elm TX.



My favorite memories of high school were not the football games, the teachers, or even the drill team which I was a member of. The best part of my high school career was being a part of the youth group at FBC Corinth. Marc Farnell was the youth minister there along with his wife Kim. I didn't realize how good we had it of course until I was older. Marc and Kim are about the nicest most genuine people I have ever met. The four years I served in the youth group we went on mission trips, we were locked in bowling allies with unlimited amounts of pizza, and we even went on ski trips. Looking back I have no idea if Marc really knew what he was getting himself into when he took a group of 50+ teenagers out in public, let alone out of the state! I made so many wonderful friends and I am still blessed by some of the relationships I have with them to this day. Needless to say as time went on after graduation I drifted from FBC Corinth. In 2003 I joined Crosstimbers Community Church in Argyle. Mainly, I joined because that is where my Mom, Dad, and brother were going. Jason and I actually got married at that church and I was thrilled when Marc (who was now pastoring is own church, FBC Little Elm!) agreed to marry us. Jason and I did the premarital marriage course with Marc prior to getting married and I was excited for Marc to get to know Jason, as he had been such a big part of my life. (I wanted to make sure I had Marc's approval, LOL) After my family made the big move to Charlotte NC. Jason and I periodically attended Crosstimbers, but deep down I knew we were not going to continue going there. I had taken Jason back to my old stomping grounds at FBC Corinth a few times hoping to rekindle some old relationships, and even in the back of my mind thinking we might rejoin that church. Well, I thought wrong.


Fast forward to two Sundays ago we decided go and visit Marc's new church. We had heard about them building a new facility (with a new name, Crossridge Church) so we thought that since the new toll bridge had opened up near our house it wouldn't take us long to get there. My friend Courtney (who was in Youth with me) lives in McKinney and said she would meet us up at the church since she loves Marc and Kim as much as I do, and she lives so close. Our first visit was great. Despite the fact that Marc and Kim were on vacation in Florida and weren't even there, LOL. We were greeted ecstatically by sweet Marion and her huge smile (she was once a member of FBC Corinth as well). I was nervous about how Jaxon was going to do in the nursery as it was a new place and lots of new faces. Marion led us back to the children's wing and we got Jaxon all signed in and dropped off (we sort of snuck out) and headed to the sanctuary to get our seats. We were told when we dropped Jaxon off that if they had any problems they would show "J. Miles" on the screens in the front of the church and we could step out and go get him. Jason, Courtney and I joked before the service started that it wouldn't be long and we would see giant red letters with arrows flashing saying, "Jason and Sarah Miles come get your child!!" LOL. Well, always remember to be careful what you say! Two songs into the service, clear as day, "J. Miles" popped up on the screens (just small tiny black letters though!) I stepped out and was met by the same lady who had helped us sign Jaxon in, Angela, I believe was her name. She said that he was crying hysterically and they didn't know what to do. I knew he would be scared, poor guy. (Jaxon goes to daycare 5 days a week so I knew the issue was just getting familiar with all the new faces.) She took me back to his room and sure enough he was crying his eyes out. I took him into the "cry room" and sat with him for awhile until he calmed down, and then I took him back into the room he had been in and sat in the floor and played with him and the other sweet babies for the rest of the sermon. After we left I knew I wanted to return the following week, one, to actually hear the the sermon, and two, I wanted to get to see Marc and Kim. We did go again this past Sunday and Jaxon did wonderful, and the service was GREAT!! It was so evident that Marc was on fire for God. I enjoyed getting to visit with them for a few minutes and getting to see some more familiar faces. Mainly I was just glad that Jason seemed to enjoy himself. I want more than anything to join a church and I would love to serve wherever God sees fit. I am looking forward to going back next Sunday as Marc is preaching on Spiritual Warfare and he says that "it is the most important sermon he has ever preached." I am very excited about what the future holds for our family as far as finding a church home is concerned. As long as we have a place to learn, serve, and call "home", I will be happy.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Books and Music

I got two new Cd's for my birthday, Brad Paisley's American Saturday Night, and Darius Rucker's Learn to Live. They are both excellent!! I do not buy Cd's unless there are 3 or more songs on the album that I like. The Brad Paisley CD was a gift from my wonderful in laws, and if you like country music you should own this CD. I have always LOVED Brad and his music, and I feel that this CD is totally worth owning. I purchased the Darius Rucker CD with some birthday money from my Grandparents. "Don't think I don't think about it," "Alright," and "It won't be like this for long," are three songs that I constantly hear on the radio and I love them! "It won't be like this for long," makes me tear up every single time I hear it. I think the CD is wonderful, and I think that Darius has a very unique sound. Also, in case you didn't know Darius Rucker was/is the lead singer for Hootie and the Blowfish.....whom I also like =)

As far as my reading goes, I did finish The Shack, as previously stated in one of my recent blogs. I feel that everyone should read this book. Its a quick, easy read and totally worth it! My husband even read it, and he said he liked it. I am currently more than half way done with the second Harry Potter, "The Chamber of Secrets." I hope to finish it by this weekend so I can move right on into the third one. Jason joked last night and told me I had, "millions more pages to go!" (He has already read them all.) I am very proud of myself so far and am looking forward to completing them so that I can move on down my list of other books I want to read.....like, The Travelers Wife and The Pact by Jodi Picoult. She wrote My Sisters Keeper and that was FABULOUS!!

Always looking for new suggestions as far as books go, so please share if you have read something wonderful!

Monday, August 03, 2009

My 28th Birthday

Last Thursday (July 30th) was my 28th birthday. I didn't expect it to be as eventful as it was as I had to work and we all know that is never how you want to spend your special day! First, while checking my twitter I was surprised by my friend Courtney who asked Blake Shelton (a country music singer) to wish me a Happy Birthday! He did, more like Happy F@#&!$* Birthday, but still fun none the less! I thought for lunch I would treat myself to some yummy Wendy's (my favorite of the fast food chains close to my work) and get a Frosty for dessert and sit back at my desk and read my book. Turns out, I had some wonderful friends text message me asking what my lunch plans were and asking about meeting for lunch at Fudruckers. So along with friends, and Erich and Miles (my co workers) I had a wonderful, not- so -lonely lunch. I had every intention of cooking dinner that night just like normal, but my sweet husband took me and Jaxon to my very favorite place, Olive Garden, instead! I only get to go there with friends, which isn't very often because Jason is not a fan of the Olive Garden. (I know, crazy huh!?!?!?!)
Jason had special dinner plans for Friday night and the only thing I was told was to dress nice. Jason's parents drove in from Corsicana after they got off work and were at our house by 6pm to watch Jaxon so that we could make our 7pm reservation. I was very excited as I had no idea where we were going! We got in the car and headed toward Dallas and ended up at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse. (http://www.delfriscos.com/) I cannot even begin to describe how good it was. The service was excellent. For every bread crumb I dropped they were right there to clean it up. Our drink glasses never got even close to being empty, and when I returned from using the ladies room my napkin was folded nicely and placed back on the table. I had the filet mignon, and Jason had one of their specials which was a trio of 4 oz steaks each topped with a different sauce. We each ordered two sides to go with our steaks which they served family style. I picked the creamed corn, and Jason chose the spinach supreme. I don't even like spinach, but whatever it was that they did to theirs was wonderful!! After we ate we considered dessert but we were so full, we declined. When we left we couldn't stop talking about how good it was, and Jason could not figure out how someone could cook a steak so incredibly tender. Heading home I checked out some local movie times for Harry Potter since I had really been wanting to see it. Neither one of us realized how long it was going to be and felt bad when we got home at midnight as Jason's parents still had to drive back home. They were very nice about it though and said they didn't mind one bit. All in all it was a wonderful birthday. Oh! I almost forgot! I got to get my hair done too! That was what I had been wanting since it had been awhile and I was in desperate need!

The Shack


I finished The Shack by William P. Young last Friday. It was the best book I have ever read. I borrowed it from my friend Marissa, and I will be going to the store to buy it for my very own as I know I will be reading it again. I don't want to give anything away as I think everybody should read this book! It is completely life changing and makes me look and think about things a whole lot differently.

"Not only is this a compelling and provocative story, but it has a literary quality to it that distinguishes it as a special gift. It offers one of the most poignant views of God and how he relates to humanity that has been written in our time. It will not only encourage those who already know him but also engage those who have not yet recognized his work in their lives."