November (aka the whirlwind month)

This past month and a half has been a sprint. My pace is about as fast as I care to run and I am looking forward to the day when I can slow down...just a tad. Wait, will that ever happen?
Here's a brief recap of what's happened in the past month.


Marrying the most wonderful man...November 5th was truly one of the best days of life.  It was a beautiful celebration of what God has done and has yet to do with us together and we shared it with our most favorite friends and family.

MEXICO!

Chase and I spent a week being waited on hand and foot at Royal Hideaway Playcar in Riveria Maya Mexico! Didn't hate it....

We came back to our lovely home that we are enjoying fixing up. I will put some before/after pics up soon!

Thanksgiving down at the farm my uncle lives on...this makes Thanksgiving #23 that has been spent at 7C's!

crazy times with a crazy family. love them.

Making our casa merry and bright! Mom, I used colored lights. You like them...I know you do.

All in all, it's been the best time. We love our new neighborhood and our great friends we have the pleasure of living life with here in Montgomery! Jesus is leading us into some great things.  We are looking forward to what 2012 has in store!

love your enemies.

via this site

Love Your Enemies from The Austin Stone on Vimeo.

DIY Surveyor's Tripod Lamp

We have seen them at Restoration Hardware, Potterybarn and on Pinterest.  They are striking accent pieces that demand attention in any space. They are innovative... and expensive.  They are (drum roll please...)

the much-desired Surveyor Tripod Lamps.

Chase and I decided we wanted to get our hands on one for our "new" living room.  The only part was we were not about to fork out a couple hundred (or more) for one. Naturally, we did the next best thing.  Chase went Craigslisting and found an old surveyor tripod (complete with the surveyor might I add) for sale in Atlanta for under $50.  Done and done.

Chase did a little investigating and found it would be fairly easy to get the tripod fitted out for a light bulb and other necessary gadgets to make it glow.  He took it to Stonehenge in Old Cloverdale and they did it for $30. Cha-ching!

A trip to World Market for a lamp shade and there you have it...

Who needs a reproduction when you can have the real thing?!  

P.S. See that room that light there is in? Yea, that room used to be pink, organgey-yellow and had black base boards.  I am happy to say it is now white and gray and delightful.  Can't wait to post the before and afters of our little Fixer-Upper soon...

P.P.S. T-minus 30 days until I am Mrs. Fisher and a permanent resident of said Fixer-Upper...whoop!

invites.

For those of you who are wondering...

Our beautiful wedding invitations were created by my friend Courtnie  over at PoppyPedals!

The fonts we used are "Linden Hill" and "Bellucia".

The envelopes were printed at Kwik Kopy (they are the BEST!)

 I ordered my envelopes from EnvelopperInc in "Crest Natural White" for the outside envelope and "Peace" for the inside...they are fabulous! I will use them for all of my envelope needs in the future!  We used A7.5 and A7 size envelopes.

Our Save the Dates were designed by our good buddies Scott and Casey aka Scasey.  They are architects who have a knack for this kinda thing.  We loved what they created and lots of other people did too!

3 strikes and you're still not out

Angela is a woman my friend Kellie and I have gotten to know recently at Friendship Mission.  I work for a company called Re-Invention (you can read all about it here) and we are working with women at this mission that serves the homeless and poor in Montgomery, Alabama.  Anyway, on Saturday morning Angela asked us,

"Does "3 strikes and your out" apply to God?  Will he send the hounds of heaven to punish me 'cause I'm pretty sure I have at least 3 strikes."  

Her question told me about the way many people feel about themselves. They feel like failures and agree with the lie that they aren't good enough and never will be for anyone.  They have messed up too many times to count and are certain no one will have them back.  Especially God.  Not to mention they also feel like he is after them.

Kellie and I told Angela that's not how Jesus works.  We looked her in the eyes and told her Jesus has and will keep coming back for her.  We told her that he is more committed to her than she is to him. We explained what unconditional love is and told her that applies to her too.

I don't think she had ever heard that before.

She smiled and said, "Hallelujah!"


It's a simple truth, but we need to be reminded that many people feel this way and have believed it for a long time.

I also need to be reminded.

People need to know the game is not over.  Grace is a bottomless well that we can keep drawing from and it never runs dry. 

Friday Happy Song

Incomplete People

The following came from a wonderful site that Chase introduced me to a few years back...this particular "thought" has challenged me and is something that has completely altered the way I relate to people and myself. Realizing I (and everyone else) am incomplete this side of heaven and that I will never "Arrive" at a specific place in my journey has allowed me to experience freedom like never before. Maybe this is something I just missed, but if you're like me I hope this rocks your world too...

Incomplete People

Philippians 3:7-14
Hebrews 12:1-2
Colossians 3:1-4

"When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer."    – Brennan Manning

One man loves well but he cannot manage money. She manages money but struggles to care for her husband. He cares for his family and serves in his community but is addicted to work. She loves the Lord but drinks herself to sleep at night. She swears and smokes and has a short temper, but a soft and generous heart. He’s defensive and fearful but passionate about justice and mercy. He gives to the poor, cares for orphans and widows, but struggles with pornography.

This is who we are. We are a people in process. We are all incomplete.

Yet why then do we fight to disbelieve that we should be complete? Why do we hate ourselves for unachieved completion? Have we ever looked critically at the people that God loved, chose, honored, befriended?

Elijah complained about the situations he endured as God’s prophet.

Noah, God’s choice for saving mankind during the flood, once drank himself unconscious.

Jacob, the father of Israel, lied and cheated.

Moses killed a man, fled justice and failed to believe God's promise about bringing water from a rock. But he did lead God’s people out of slavery in Egypt.

 

Jonah, whom God used to speak to a city of 500,000, attempted to escape because he was afraid and ran from God

David took a man’s wife, and when she became pregnant, then killed her husband, one of his most loyal soldiers. Yet the Bible still regards David as a "man after God’s own heart."

Solomon, full of wisdom, followed his wives to other gods. God chose him to build his temple.

Samson, on whom the Spirit of God rested, wrought destruction everywhere he went.

 

Abraham, always terrified and lying to save himself, heard God call him to be father of the nations.

Peter betrayed Jesus three times. Jesus named him the Rock.

Paul persecuted the early followers of Jesus, overseeing their executions. He then wrote the majority of the New Testament.

Zaccheus, who had cheated so many of so much, hosted the Lord at his home.

Some lived badly and transformed into good. Some lived well and behaved badly at times. The Lord has a history of claims on both types of people. But these people God loved. These people God continued to shape, to embrace, to teach.

We know these people because we are these people. We cheat, steal, lie, fornicate, gamble, lust, kill, betray, persecute, complain, run, seek false gods, destroy, hate. The list goes on. But so do his love and his careful attention to our process of growth and maturation.

We’re incomplete. But only for now. The God who chose us has not done so simply because he needed work done in the world. He chose us because he wants work done in us. And he’s still busy doing it, preparing us to live as we engage in the process.
       
To whom do you not show love and mercy because the process they are in frustrates you?
How are you in process?
Can you offer yourself forgiveness in this? Can you offer the same to others in process?