Fall....such a wonderful time of year!!!

I just love Fall time!  I love the cooler weather and seeing all of the beautiful changing colors of the leaves!  When I see the beauty of what the Lord has created....I am in awe!!! How awesome and creative God is that every year he paints the trees with beautiful radiant colors to proclaim his greatness and glory!!! There is a scripture that speaks this.  In psalm 19 it says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech;  night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard."

While this particular passage is describing the sky....I couldn't help but think also about the beautiful changing leaves!  For this too displays the glory of God!! Whatever language a person speaks, whatever background a person comes from or situations we find ourselves in, we ALL have this in common.....we get to see the glory of God all around us in his creation!  In creation there is no language or cultural barrier!

Sometimes we all get so busy that we forget to stop and enjoy the beauty of the Lord all around us in his creation!! I encourage you today, whatever is going on....no matter how tough things may be for you....to stop and look at the splendor of the Lord in the colors of Fall!  Be reminded of his great power and might!  If he is in control of the changing seasons......be encouraged that whatever worry or concern you have today....is in his control also!!! 

AACC Conference!

Clay and I had the awesome opportunity this past weekend to spend 3 days in Nashville at the AACC (American Association of Christian Counselors) World Conference! The conference was held at the beautiful Gaylord Opryland Hotel! It was a wonderful time of learning, listening to top-name speakers and worshiping with amazing Christian music artists! So thankful for this experience!

A Great Weekend

We had a great but busy weekend! Friday, Clay attended an all day youth conference in Birmingham with the other staff from church.  I enjoyed having lunch with one of our youth girls and getting some things done at home. Then Friday night we went to a local high school football game (East Limestone) where a lot of our students in the youth group go. Saturday morning I went to an arts festival in downtown Athens with a sweet friend and Clay did yard work. That afternoon we watched the Alabama game together and then that night had a young couple from our neighborhood over to eat dinner! Clay smoked a pork roast on the smoker and we made barbecue sandwiches out of it, with corn on the cob and baked potatoes! We had a great time with friends and enjoyed some great food!

Today (Sunday) was filled with church and lunch with the youth girls...then a nice afternoon nap for me....and back to church for our youth service! We are so blessed to have the opportunity to work with such an awesome group of youth!!!

Remembering 9/11/01 today! Hard to believe 10 years have passed since that day! I was a senior in high school at that time! We took time to pray for our country today at church and I watched some of the memorial services/documentaries on t.v. Such a hard day for so many people who lost loved ones or endured the traumatic events first hand that day! 

Had a great time with the youth girls at Mellow Mushroom

Clay teaching about living a Gospel Centered Life to students during our Youth Worship Service

Celebrating 4 Years!!!

 It is amazing how fast 4 years can fly by! On September 1st Clay and I celebrated 4 years of marriage!! Over the last four years, the Lord has taught us and grown us so much as individuals and as a couple! I am so thankful for his work in our lives! Last weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate our anniversary with a trip to Gulf Shores/Orange Beach.......the place where our marriage began! It was so nice to get away and enjoy time together! The weather was terrible with the tropical storm stirring up in the gulf......it rained everyday we were there so we didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked actually on the beach but we still found things to do and had a great time! Here are some of our pictures from that trip!

On the balcony of our condo

Eating at The Original Oyster House....great food!

We revisited the place where we had our wedding

Enjoying what little time we could on the beach when it wasn't raining