Radiant

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE me some good worship music. GOOD, soul stirring, hands in the air, tears in your eyes, heart comin outta your chest, face down in reverence, glory revealed worship music ... nothing beats it! It can bring me to the throne of His Grace quicker than anything.

And I could not ever live without it.

Now, there are a few select CD's that take me there in a way that others cannot. I call these my "go to" CD's. And I keep these in a special place. A place where I can find them if I'm having one of "those" days. I'm SURE you know what I'm talkin about!

Most of my "go to" CD's have been around a while. The first couple One Day projects, a Third Day disc, a couple FFH CD's, a Vineyard collection and a compilation project from the RocketTown people. The "go to"'s have not changed much over the years - they are all around ten years old, if not more - it is (in my mind) an elite collection that very few pieces can touch.

Very few.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I have a friend. She is young and beautiful - inside and out - and has a heart for God that is unique and pure and beautiful. She's one of those people that wear the Grace of God like a cozy blanket draped across their shoulders. Her words radiate with joy and peace and her smile lights a room. And, on top of all of that, she is talented.

Frankly, the girl can flat out SANG!

She lives in Nashville and could be takin that town by storm, if she chose to.

But, she chooses Him.

She knew at the age of 14 that God had placed a calling on her life. A call to worship. And now, at the age of 20, she is heeding that call. She follows His will and, in doing so, has seen doors open for her that she never even knocked on.

I LOVE how God works that way!

If you want to read her story you can find it HERE or, told in her own words, HERE. It is BEAUTIFUL, just like her heart.

(She's also on Facebook)

A couple months ago I got to spend some time with her in Nashville and she shared some music that she had been writing, as well as a few covers, for a women's conference series that she was asked to lead worship for. I am not even lying when I tell you that, right there in her mama's kitchen, with foil in my hair (she also does good hair!!), I was brought to my knees in worship. The power in her words and in her rendition of songs I already know well ... wow. All I can call it is anointed. She was in the process of creating a CD/EP of her own to share with the women who came to the conference. And, I knew right then, that my "go to" collection was gonna have a new piece soon.

SO, when it arrived at her mama's doorstep last week and she asked if anyone wanted to review it on their blog I JUMPED at the chance to get my hands on it.

But then I had a moment of panic. How could I give a fair and non biased review of music that I had already fallen in love with? Music made by a girl who already has my heart!?

So, last night when it arrived I decided to listen to it with a critical ear and put all my preconceived notions aside. So, I put the disc into my computer and hit play. The girls were watching one of their favorite shows but both stopped what they were doing to come over and listen. So I turned it up ... loud.

By the end of the first song we were all dancing and I was in full worship mode. Even Sophie had her eyes closed and her little hands up in the air with her face lifting toward the ceiling. And when it was over they asked for more. So, I wiped my tear filled eyes and hit play again. And again and again.

In fact, as I write this, I am listening to it yet again. And, yet again, I am wiping tears from my eyes and am blown away by the beauty of my King and the heart of my friend for HIM.

And, here is the best part ... I have an extra copy to give away!

So, friends, meet Kate Carlson



(I told you she was beautiful!)

Now, I am going to take comments on here until Saturday afternoon, at which time I will hold a drawing and the winner will receive their very own copy of this AMAZING disc. I am so excited to be able to share her with you!

So, what are you waiting for? Go on ... leave a comment!

Up Downs (and I am NOT just talking about the workout)

OK ... let me just say that I broke TWO rules this week. I completely failed on my water intake (especially over the weekend) and I weighed myself on Tuesday.

I KNOW!

I am soooooo fired.

But, I really amped up the workouts this week. And it seemed to pay off.

After the weekend, I knew that it was not gonna be pretty and when I weighed on Tuesday AM I was UP THREE POUNDS! YIKES! So I kicked the workouts into high gear and really watched what I ate, but again, totally failed on the water part. I REALLY need to work on getting it all together at the same time!

OK, so after all of that, I weighed this morning - I had lost since Tuesday, but am still up .4 from where I was last week. I am OK with that though because I know what I did wrong and am determined to fix it.

Also, on Thursday I did a MAJOR workout - Slaughter Boot Camp. It's a military style workout with obstacle courses, running with sandbags, up downs and everything. THEN, I got up this morning and did a Jillian Michaels' Last Chance Workout. My workout Diva friend Jane explained that you will always weigh more right after a workout, so I am hoping that explains it. Either way, .4 is nothing to cry over. I just need to keep my attitude up and carry on.

THIRTY TWO

Yep ... that's right ... THIRTY TWO POUNDS!

And, as you can imagine, I am just a tad bit excited about it.

Had a rough couple of weeks through the move and everything leading up to it. So rough that even my quiet time suffered. And, let me just tell you that if I am not doing right by God, you can believe that I won't be doing right by ME!

The sad thing is that I spent a couple weekends with some of my best girls and letting God love on me fully through them and through His word. Then I came home SOOOO on fire for Him and for life and for wholeness through HIM.

Then the move stuff literally slammed me in the face.

I had a plan in my head. I had it all figured out. Then we got the keys and the house was ... let's just say NOT clean. So the weekend that my man was away, the weekend I had planned to start moving small stuff over and getting the old house organized and ready to go, well, it was spent cleaning the new house instead.

So, I did what I always do during stress/emotion/fatigue - I let everything that keeps me grounded fly out the window. Quiet time, workout time healthy eating, even drinking my water, all of it out. HOWEVER, rather than eating JUNK and going backwards, I did have a small victory in that I managed, somehow, to pretty much just stand still. I gained two pounds through it all and they went away again as soon as I stopped needing all the caffeine that I seemed to need with the move and stuff. Because - OF COURSE - I got the caffeine in not just a cup of coffee (which had become the norm), but in frappe's and frappucinos and in LARGE doses of diet coke ... LARGE doses. Yes, it's diet, but still ...

And, at the same time that all of this was happening, my sweet Dedra - my early morning or ANY time of the day phone call/text accountability partner - was going through her own stuff. So we were BOTH off our game a bit.

But, it was just a short detour ...

And, now I am BACK ... back in the Word, back in the real world and back in the game.

And, I am gonna challenge any of you that need to get back on the fitness train ... or even board for the first time ... to join me. I am documenting the journey HERE. Come join me. There is ALWAYS room for accountability/support partners and friends on this train!

Sometimes ....

... a very sweet, mild mannered girl ...
... can just get a feeling ...
... that she needs to let it all go ...
... and let that inner Rock Star shine through ...
... and just have a little FUN!

And then, when she's done, ...
... she can pick up and carry on with her sweet, mild mannered self.

Rock on Hattie Grace ... rock on.

Project 365 - Week 21 ... I think ...

We have been busy lately ... VERY busy.

I took a trip out of town ...

We moved ...

Craziness has been the norm around these parts. And, while I have remembered to TAKE pictures for this project, I have not had time, gumption or either/both to post them.

All that to tell you - BEWARE!!!! You are about to go into picture overload.

Now, I am not even gonna try to organize my thoughts enough to put dates on all of them and we are just gonna do quick explanations of each. I hope that's OK.

Here we go...
Bed Head - she wears it well!

Bubbles! (I was trying some new camera settings)

Sweet Mercy ... it's available year round now! I cannot tell you how happy this makes me!

The Ryman - Took a little trip with my besties! We started off in Nashville. Trying a new setting on the camera, I got this pic of a rose with the Ryman Building in the background! (Just a few short weeks later it was threatened by the Nashville flooding)

ROAD TRIP!! The next day we ventured to Atlanta. This sweet thang is my Sweet Nikki! LOVE her!

Mama Beth - Live and in person, in all her hair glory - Beth Moore! It was so sweet of all those women to come out to hear Beth speak a personal word over me and me alone!!

Family - this is what they do when you pull out the camera ... they RUN! That handsome fella is my nephew Duncan who graduated from High School just this last Friday!

Back to the real world ... at least I had a helper with the house chores!

This was the end of this pair of glasses. Within 5 minutes of this picture the left arm was no longer attached.

Chris ... that's (one of) my boy(s)!

Drummer Girl - Elmo was learning all about drums, so she needed one of her own. An empty oatmeal container and a spoon did the trick!

Venturing through our new neighborhood we found a little park.

New House Playdate! It turned into a cleaning date, but we had fun along the way! (that's a whole lotta curly right there!)

Tuckered out. What you cannot see here is that from the waste down, she was buck nekked!

Smilin for her big brother's camera!

Finally clean and ready for the furniture!

Nothin says Cinco de Mayo like a good strand of MardiGras beads! This is what the mexican restaurant was giving away as favors! (wha?!)

OK, she's just cute!

Moving Day!!! Shauna was helping to put the legs on the couch. Do not even ASK what she is laughing at - this is a family friendly blog after all!

SURPRISE!! A birthday party for my Bro in love John, given by his sweet girlfriend Jean.

Mother's Day

This was taken a few days earlier (oops) I had just loaded the pantry shelves when everything came tumbling down on top of me. The shelves were not attached to the studs, just the drywall. Fun, huh?!

And, this one was taken the day of John's party (second oops) off of the pier in Jean's backyard. Beautiful!

The laundry room is more accessible now and she LOVES watching the clothes spin and the bubbles flow!

THIS is what you get when your toddler puts a piece of plastic tubing up her nose ... waaaaayyyy up her nose. Luckily we were the only ones in the ER and it was a quick trip!

I asked the girls what they wanted for dinner. One said granola bars and the other said popcorn. I was too tired to resist, so we had a little carpet picnic. Please, don't judge...

A fenced backyard offers a LOT of outdoor playtime!

I FINALLY have my big bed back. Of course the very next day I changed to the summer quilt. It's gettin warm around here!

just playin with my camera

I have a new job - I get to watch this little guy, Eli, 2 or 3 times a week ... and they PAY me!

Shopping Buddy! She was so worn out that not even a trip to the bux could keep her awake!

(NOTE: her drink was of the DEcaffeinated variety!)

Testing out the benefits of sunset lighting!

I don't even know what's happenin here ... I got nuthin.

But I know a few rock stars that better watch their steps! This one might just take over in a few years!

Our church is doing a series called Servolution - all about being called to serve people in the name of Jesus. This was a service week and Hubbs & I participated by doing a little yard work for a group home. This is just a small glimpse of what we did!

So, how was YOUR week? Or ... ya know ... month?

I ♥ Faces ... And Flowers ...

... And do not even get me STARTED on the lashes!!!

I haven't done one of these in a while, but when I heard what the subject was this week, and THIS picture immediately came to mind, I thought I might wanna jump back in.

So, here is my entry for Faces & Flowers

(Seriously - can we just talk about those eyelashes? And the way she is inhaling the flowers given to her by her daddy on her birthday? LOVE this one!!!)

Now, head on over to I ♥ faces to see more - or even enter yourself!!