Faithfulness...

Have you ever gone to church and felt like the sermon was just for you? Well, that's exactly how I felt today. I have been struggling with trying to figure out what my purpose is in life. I have been so envious of those that are sure of their purpose, and at times I have been downright mad and lost not knowing God's will for my life. In fact, just yesterday I was having lunch with Lindsey and we were talking about this very thing. Brad and I debated on going to church with my parents today instead of Parkway, but for some reason we both just really wanted to be at our church, and now I know why.

The title of this series Pastor Ott is doing is "If you're going to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat". And today's message was taken from Matthew 14:25-27. The first point was that "walking on water sometimes means sleepless nights". He was talking about how the disciples were in a storm in the middle of thunder and lightening and crashing waves, but they were also in the center of God's will, and if they weren't out in that storm Peter would have never walked on water. Wow...that's where I am right now. I am just waiting on God to answer all the questions I have, but asking him to "map it out" is not faithfulness. Faithfulness is being still and knowing that he will provide for me and he will reveal my purpose, but for now teaching at PCA is what he has for me and being right here in Roanoke in this house is what he has for me.

Our God is so good to us. He is so big, and he has big plans for all of us. Let's be faithful in these small things here and now and he will trust us with the big things in the future. I'm positive he is going to call us out of the boat and let us walk on water!! :)

Big first day of school tomorrow, so the bed is calling my name :)

Team Wives

This past weekend our little family (including Lucy) and Chris took a weekend trip to VA Beach. The purpose of the trip was for Brad and Chris to play in an adult league soccer tournament, but my purpose of going was to hang out with Maleka whom I have dearly missed since I graduated! Lucy and Maleka's dog, Bella, had a great time playing together and Lucy has been so exhausted she has barely had the energy to get off of her bed all day...thank you Bella :)



Maleka and I had a great time catching up and hanging out, but we also went and watched all of the boy's games. They did really well and lost in the championship game. Donny, one of the guys on the team, has a wife who I hang out with at the games, and sometime during this weekend the guys started referring to us as the "team wives". I mean we were handing out cold rags and water like it was our JOB since the heat index was over 100 and the guys only had 2 subs...but the verdict is still out on how I feel about that title.

But anyway it was such a fun weekend lots of fun time with friends and we got to eat lots of good food, most notably The Cheesecake Factory...YUMMM!! And I always enjoy watching Brad play soccer he is quite the stud!! :) Here are the pictures from dinner one night.





Have I mentioned my brother in law is great...and SINGLE ladies!!!

Random Thoughts

I have discovered a great thing on kraft.com. There is a section of their recipe website that gives you a list of groceries for the week that will all fit into one grocery bag and you can cook 5 meals with those groceries!! I will be getting a lot of use out of this once we get into more of a routine this fall. But who am I kidding our life won't ever have a routine until we're like 80 years old, there will always be soccer games to coach and play in, and friends to see, and parties to attend. But that's just the way I like it :)

I am also LOVING these dogeared necklaces. One of my roommates bought me one for my birthday one year and I thought it was so cute. You make a wish when you put it on, and you wear it until it falls off.

And my last thought of the day is...am I crazy for taking Lucy with us on our trip to VA Beach this weekend??? Haha the answer is probably yes!

1,250 miles later...

We had so much fun spending time with our families, playing games, finding starfish and sand dollars, laying the sun, throwing football, reading, relaxing, and driving around together!! But all of that fun left me absolutely exhausted! We left on Sunday the 19th for Hilton Head to spend the week with my family, then Brad and I took our time the next Saturday and drove up to Topsail to stay with my aunt and uncle, then left there Sunday and drove through Carolina Beach to eat the best doughnut you'll ever eat at Britt's doughtnuts, then rode the ferry from Fort Fisher to Southport and finally drove down to Oak Island to spend 4 days with his family, and now we're back home. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures...




Look at that Sass...where do they get that from??


















Now if you'll excuse me there is a cute little doggy that I have missed very much that requires my attention :)

This time last year...

Really wishing I was there right now...Who's with me?? :)

As our anniversary approaches...

Mine and Brad's first wedding anniversary is this Sunday, and as I've been doing my devotions this week I have just had this prayer on my heart, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Gracious God...Thank you so much for an amazing year. You have given me the greatest gift you could ever give anyone. You have blessed me with my soul mate, best friend, and husband. You took everything you knew that I would need and you created those things in Brad. God, I don't deserve this kind of grace, but yet you give it freely. Lord thank you. Thank you that Brad will just sit and listen, thank you that he's attentive to me, thank you that he uses the gifts you've given him, thank you that he is EVERYTHING that I need. Most importantly God, thank you that he loves you more than he loves me, and that he's teaching me everyday through the way that he loves me, how to fall deeper in love with you. Continue to protect us individual, and to protect our marriage. Help us to remain in your will, and show us what your plans are for us, God shows us how you would have us serve you.

4th of July

This year Brad and I celebrated the fourth of July from Thursday until Saturday!! It was loads of fun, and we spent it with two of my most FAVORITE people :)

Thursday night Brad, Lincoln, Lindsey and I ventured down to the lake (my favorite place on the face of the earth) to stay the night and play all day Friday. Let's just say after a rough start involving a stop sign, a friendly game of Risk, and some bodily functions from Lucy the stay turned out to be a BLAST!! Linz learned how to ski, we relaxed on the dock in the sun, tubed and did a lot of Jetski riding!! Here are some of the pictures from the fun...






Then Saturday after spending a fun day at the pool with Mom, Haley and Riley...we had a cookout with Linz, Linc, Chris and Ben. And from now on you can feel free to just call me Martha :) We then watched fireworks from the roof of Parkway...It was kind of a VIP experience!