Those who love Him serve Him well.

"Those who love Him serve Him well. Those who give him mere lip service will get up and act busy when He comes through the door" -'At His Feet' devotional by Tiegreen

"The Lord said, "Who is the wise and trusted servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. But suppose the servants thinks to himself, 'My master will not come back soon,' and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master will come when the servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don't obey.

The servant who knows what his master wants but is not ready, or who does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows! But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected." Luke 12: 42-48

I have heard Grant preach on living with an urgency that Jesus is coming back on several different occasions. I think we have even discussed it in bible study on Thursday nights and today I was reading in my "At His Feet" devotional by Tiegreen (WONDERFUL!) and it talked about this subject again. I wonder if God is trying to tell me something!?!? I think this is something that as Christians we NEED that constant reminder. The bible study said this morning that "Many Christians believe that Jesus is coming again but do not live with the urgency that indicates that it is a real belief." And, yes, Jesus did say that over 2,000 years ago but "he intends for us to live every day with an eternal perspective, sowing seeds that will bear everlasting fruit. He wants us to be single-minded in our service, preparing his household in the same way we would if He were standing beside us telling us what to do. "

That last part struck me. God wants us to be single-minded in our service. Single-minded with eternity as our focus. It makes me want to strive harder to tell people about Christ and to "sow the seeds that will bear everlasting fruit"

These pictures are from the weekend. I think that I have figured that Grant and I like to stay busy! It keeps things exciting! We had a pretty eventful weekend. We visited at The Morella household Friday night (my side of the family). Sabrina (youngest sister) and her boyfriend, David, were in town so we had dinner there and just chilled for a while. Grant played basketball later that night (not picture above) and the next day we helped out our bro-in-law Matt by passing out water at the Daffodil Dash 5K at the Botanical Gardens. One guy finished and had a 5 minute, 10 second mile! WOW! He was booking it!

We had a wedding shower (1st of the season for me!) for our college friends, Lauren and Chad, and then we headed to a party that was held at Mike Miller's old home by one of our friends we grew up with who lives there now. That is where the pictures from above came from. The court was up to NBA (I think it's NBA ...or something along those lines???) specifications and the guys had a blast pretending to live out their childhood dreams of being pro basketball players! I, being all preggo, just relaxed and watched. We had some Mellow Mushroom pizza (did the Memphis people know that it just opened here!?) and it was pretty good! Then, we closed out the weekend with Reverb at Bartlett which is always fun to see and hang out with the youth!

Now onto a new week...with a different challenge in mind of keeping single-minded with eternity as my focus! I don't think it will be easy and I am pretty sure that I will have to remind myself daily, but I am always up for the challenge!

Feeling the Itch

I stole this picture from Candace :) We are at the Bellevue 5K Hope for Haiti Race. Sometimes it's hard to get this many people together all at the same time! From left to right: Amber, Huddy, Ginny, Candace (with her sweet niece), Allison, Grace and I. Let me say, I am a little grateful that the sun is bouncing off of me because if you didn't know I was pregnant, you would just think I let myself go. HA! Amber and Candace ran the race in record time (really proud of them!) and I kept the other girls held back with me walking but boy did Grace try to kill us with the speed walking! We actually jogged a handful of time...well, not a full handful...a few finger-ful of times, though. Our finish time will be kept a secret.

Which brings me to my thoughts for the day. I am at 14 weeks pregnant today (yippee!) and I am just feeling HUGE! I know all you previously pregnant women out there are laughing hysterically trying to catch your breath right now, but it's true! I remember when my cousin was pregnant and when Allison was pregnant and just felt like they wanted to get past that stage of "OOH, is she pregnant or has she just quit Weight Watchers all together???". So, the motivation for the picture from last Saturday is the fact that I am in the mood to work out...I am "feeling the itch" but I know I am a bit more limited. I remember Allison telling me when she was pregnant that at that point more than ever she just wanted to work out! And, as soon as she said that I committed her to a 5K 2 months after Hudson was born...no really...I did. I have a feeling that will come back to bite me very soon.

I know the safest thing is to walk for my pregnancy so I will plan on doing that...I guess I have been lied to thinking that walking really isn't considered a workout but I know that is a joke! For goodness sake-I took a walking class in college so I know if you keep your intensity up you can still get a great workout...and it's better for your knees (that was the Grandma in me talking). I was a spin class fanatic about this time last year and loved it and was pretty pumped because I was thinking it would help me lose weight...after doing it for about 6 months straight I hadn't lost anything! I was so shocked! And, I was killin' it on that bike! So, I decided then to start Weight Watchers and I automatically started dropping weight (it was NOT easy at all but it was a fun challenge)....so I started to think "well, why work out when my goal is to lose weight and I am doing it by just eating right"...so all that to say that I didn't really work out more than once a week in the probably six months that led up to me getting pregnant. And, I know they always say that you can "do what you did before" and at that point I hadn't done a whole lot...so for baby number 2 I at least know that I need to work out before I get pregnant so I can keep that going.

Enough of that. I promise I did not mean to be "Debbie Downer" about my pregnancy. I am truly and I mean TRULY blessed with this pregnancy! I have had NO morning (or night) sickness and everything is running so smoothly so I am honestly VERY blessed and thankful!

I love looking at the calendar and having things planned for the next few weekends! This weekend starts a wedding shower for my little sis' from my sorority (ok, who am I kidding-they were called "tribes" at MC) and next Thursday Grant and I leave with the youth group to head to Atlanta for Six Flags! We are also going to visit Millenium Park and eat at The Varsity (greasy but yummy food!)! I will be sitting out the rides being pregnant so we will see how that goes. And, then shortly after that I have an ultrasound to find out the sex of our baby! And, on that same day starts the Saturday night service at Christ Church! That will be a WONDERFUL day! Here's the website again: www.ccsaturdaynights.org

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend! Enjoy the weather (hope the rain holds out!)!!!

Happy 4 Year Anniversary!

As of today Grant and I have been together for 8 years total (No-Break-ups...that was in our "if we date" clause) and 4 years as husband and wife!

I included a picture montage...no particular order because I haven't figured out blogger and how to move my pics...but from the top: Grant's graduation 2006; A picture from our wedding; Us in our favorite place-New York eating hot dogs on our honeymoon! The ONE thing I wanted to make sure we did!; The actual moment Grant proposed; and prom together as a couple in high school.

What I think is HILARIOUS is that my hair is a different color in every picture...ha! Can you tell I am adventurous with my color...and very trustworthy of my stylist/s.

Thank you, Grant for being the AMAZING husband you have been! I love you and I am so thankful that the Lord brought us together....and that we have a little Nixon on the way! Not to say we haven't had our fair share of differences, but we disagree in a fair way...unless I don't get my way (joking...)

In honor of marriage, I wanted to re-post what I had copied from a Karen Kingsbury book from the Forever book in the Firstborn Series (my favorite book series of all time...well, might be tied with Twilight...ok, ok...it wins over Twilight)...

Ten Secrets to a Happy Marriage

by Karen Kingsbury

From "Forever"-Firstborn Series

1. God has you here to serve one another. Love acted out is serving.
2. Women need respect and nurturing. Love your wife so she knows you'd lay your life down for her. Continue to date her and admire her. Share a hobby-find something you can do to have fun together.
3. Laugh often.
4. Be patient. Love crumbles quickly under the weight of unmet expectations.
5. Spend more time trying to fix yourself than your spouse.
6. Keep short accounts. The Bible says, "Do not let the sun go down while you are angry." Make it a habit to forgive.
7. Determine up front that divorce is not an option.
8. Learn about love languages. Not all people show love or receive it the same way. You want a back rub and your spouse wants a clean kitchen. The love languages are fairly simple: acts of service, time, physical touch, gifts, and words of affirmation. Learn them. Love is better received when it's in the language that person speaks.
9. Words of affirmation are a love language for all men.
10. Men are born to be leaders. He cannot lead unless she gives him the confidence to do so. If you love your husband, build him up. Confident men do not seek love outside the home.

Gospel Community

We had our preview service in Arlington for the Saturday night service at Christ Church this past Sunday. The band sounded great and the message was awesome! I know I am partial because the preacher is my husband, but it really challenged me as a believer. I wanted to share my notes.

The sermon was on Gospel Community and the passage Grant used was Acts 2:42-47:

"They spent their time learning the apostles' teaching, sharing, and breaking bread, and praying together. The apostles were doing many miracles and signs and everyone felt great respect for God. All the believers were together and shared everything. They would sell their land and the things they owned and then divide the money and give it to anyone who needed it. The believers met together in the Temple every day. They ate together in their homes, happy to share their food with joyful hearts. They praised God and were liked by all the people. Every day the Lord added those who were being saved to the group of believers."

Wow...EVERY day, God added to the number of people saved!

Grant started by saying that we have reduced God to a beggar in the church and that as Christians we sometimes see Jesus as a genie...kind of a "what can you do for me?" type of attitude.

Grant started by listing characteristics of a family: sacrifice, discipline, love, forgiveness, acceptance. Are we seeing these things in our churches today? He purposefully pointed out that he was not slamming our church or any other church, but instead challenging us a believers.

A few key points about the passage above that we can pull out as believers to see how the believers in Acts lived:

1. They were devoted to the teaching of God's word: "They spent their time learning the apostles' teaching, sharing, breaking bread and praying together" (v. 42). 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 says: "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right. Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be capable, having all that is needed to do every good work".

Job 12:13: "But only God has wisdom and power, good advice and understanding".

2. They devoted themselves to fellowship

Hebrews 10:24-25: "Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds. You should not stay away from the church meetings, as some are doing, but you should meet together and encourage each other. Do this even more as you see the day coming."

We need encouragement to keep going in our faith.

3. The broke bread together: Communion

The Lord's Supper brings with it a self examination. 1 Corinthians 11: 27-29: "So a person who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is not worthy of it will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. Look into your own hearts before you eat the bread and drink the cup, because all who eat the bread and drink the cup without recognizing the body eat and drink judgment against them selves". Harsh words, but true.

Our sin will choke out our desire to follow God if we let it linger. Regularly examine yourself. It's not always fun...well, it's probably never fun.

4. They devoted themselves to prayer regularly

Acts 2: 43: "The apostles were doing many miracles and signs, and everyone felt great respect for God"...They were constantly aware of the presence of God. If you know me, you know I am a firm believer in prayer. It changes lives. Just read my other posts.

Jesus holds everything together...do we live in that reality? Colossians 1:17: "He was there before anything was made, and all things continue because of him." It's all about Jesus!

If you read above in verses 44-46 the believers had everything in common together and they recognized nothing was theirs...it was all God's! In verse 45, it says that they would sell their land and things and give it to fellow believers if that's what was needed. They didn't sell everything, but they sold enough to help others cope. They sold what they needed for each other. Do we live like this as a gospel community?

As Christians, we are to carry each others burdens. If you are in our Thursday night bible study, you know that one of my favorite times together is when we do prayer requests. I love to hear the needs that are going on and how we as a community of believers can pray for each other! How awesome and rewarding to know that you can pray for a friend and God will listen! Galatians 6:2: "By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ."

And one of the last things that Grant emphasized is that the community of believers did LIFE together! Verse 46: "The believers met together in the Temple every day. They ate together in their homes, happy to share their food with joyful hearts". Satan and our culture has done a great job of compartmentalizing us...keeping us separate from each other. Grant was saying how we all are so content with chilling in our own homes and not fellowshipping with other believers. Why do you need to when you have a tv, multiple computers, etc. to keep you busy?

And, in verse 47 it shows that as the community of believers did life together and people were saved DAILY through God. Wow! Daily! How challenging is that?!

One of my favorite quotes by John Piper is this:

"God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him"

Let's start moving towards this kind of community in our churches and in our lives!

Can I get an "AMEN"?

Salsa & Ketchup, the new Veggies!

I have been stinking at bloggin! UUGH! I promised I would be better about it then I am. I just always think I have nothing to say but EVERY TIME I start writing, I end up having too much to say! So, I just need to make myself get on here more often. Right? Ha!

This post might be a bit scatterbrained because I have let my mind not blog for so long. But, here we go.

So, I have a problem with not eating vegetables...if you are a faithful blog follower of mine (all 3 of you) then you will know this is an issue for me. But, now with being all preggo, I have to think about the baby. My prenatal vitamins I have been taking have folic acid which I hear is a good supplement for the non-veggie eaters, so that makes me feel a BIT better, but still. I stopped and thought about how many vegetables I eat and here's what I came up with. I love salsa, I love ketchup, pickles, edamame and potatoes. So, I am good, right? Ha! Probably not! The other night I made a meal and I ate my edamame with it...it didn't really go together, but I made it work. And, I pretty much eat pickles every day...some might be fried...just kidding. I do love me some fried pickles, but those are a rarity. After looking at my fairly unhealthy vegetable list I just couldn't bring myself to eat any cauliflower, broccoli, or asparagus. So, hopefully the supplements will be enough.

All that to say, I don't consider my self an unhealthy person....I am a very faithful Weight Watcher follower, but I am aware that I need to get those veggies in my life. But, ughhh! The torture!

I had another doctor appointment yesterday and all was well. I am about half way through my 12th week! On Friday I will be out of the first trimester! WHEW! What a relief! This past Monday at my appointment the doctor just let me hear the heartbeat (a wonderful 162!!!!), asked me how I was feeling and that was about it. He said the next appointment will be about the same as this one...just checking the heartbeat and sending me home, but the NEXT will be when we find out if it's a WHOPPING BOY or a DAINTY GIRL! My luck, it will be the other way around...but I will still be happy even if my girl is a whopping boy size. Grant and I joke that we hope the baby doesn't get my child bearing hips, especially if it's a boy! Any votes on this matter? I feel like most of the women in my family think it's gonna be a girl...Grant would love a boy (I think because he knows a girl will have him WRAPPED AROUND HER FINGER!)...but in reality, we will be excited with either a boy or a girl. Not saying that just because I have to, ha! The Lord knows and has a plan either way. The doctor did confirm that there is only one child swimming around in there, though for all of those who got your hopes up.

In other preggo life, I ordered my bridesmaids dresses for both Amanda Nixon's wedding (wonderful, bestest sister-in-law) and Grace Walker's (WONDERFUL friend...even after really getting to know me!) wedding. You would all die to know the sizes. Pray for this ole preggo! If they truly fit in size I just might cry! The dresses are really my least of worries...if I get cankles... you might see me with pants on under the dresses! Naw-it's kinda fun to get pregnant in the weddings as long as I get the sizes right. I have also given in and am in the maternity pants. Yes, Yes, it might be a little early, but boy do they feel good. I can still technically fit into my jeans, but they pretty much cut into my skin and the belly band thing was making me nervous. I kept thinking it was going to ride up and show my opened pants to the world! So, I got me a good four pair of pants to wear for the duration of my pregnancy and I should be good to go!

I don't think I have updated my blogging world to what is going on with Grant's ministry and our wonderful church, Christ Church. That's what the picture on top of the blog is all about. A few months ago Grant and I went to California, California (I feel like a song should go there...) and while we were there on a Youth Specialties trip with my job, we attending a church called Newport Beach Church (I think I have talked about this in my past posts) and it was just AMAZING. Grant and I talk about getting out of the car and walking to the church and kinda getting nervous about the whole "who are we going to talk to"..."this is going to be awkward" kind of thing, but it was amazing! We were invited by some friends we met when we were at our booth representing Camp Electric who invited us to their church and the guys actually were volunteers who were a big part of who made up the church. So, from the second we walked in, we felt welcome. We were greeted by several people (come to find out all of this was strategically planned-the people that greeted us were part of a welcoming group...brilliant idea!) and ended up being spoken to in a great way from the Lord. We left there thinking that Memphis needs something like this. After overwhelming support by our church staff, Christ Church has decided to allow Grant to run a Saturday night service. Here is our website (Grant did the website...I think that if God hadn't called him into the ministry, he would have made a GREAT graphic designer!): http://www.ccsaturdaynights.org/

Here's a tid bit from the "what we are about" section:

Saturday night at Christ Church is a place to encounter the fierce love and forgiveness of God. It's a place of incredible worship that celebrates our freedom in Christ and dynamic bible teaching that helps bring truth to transform your life. It's a place to connect with people who are right where you are in life. It's a place to build meaningful relationships. It's a place where we do life together. It's a place for those looking for something different. Come and see.

So, if you are in the Arlington, Memphis area and are looking for something different, this service starts Saturday, April 3rd.

This was a blog about salsa and ketchup being the new veggies, my pregnancy, and God. I consider that pretty successful, don't cha think? Ha! Til next time...hopefully I will be more diligent about blogging!

BTW-I am frustrated with blogger and the layout of my pictures. I used to be able to move them around and not have as much trouble....any comments?

Bible Study

Our Thursday night bible study group/small group has started doing a "read the bible in a year" plan called "The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan" and I have found it to be awesome! I will admit that I get behind every few days but always catch up. Growing up in church, I thought I learned all of the "bible stories" but I am already blown away at how much I still have to learn, which is GREAT! I am not professing to be a know-it-all by any means, but I guess I have leaned on others for so long to tell me what's in the bible. Not that preachers or bible study curriculum is bad but there is NOTHING like just hard core reading the bible! I am learning a lot...really. I can send you the plan if you are interested.

A little more about the baby (ok...maybe a lot...what can I say? I am obsessed!)

Here are some pictures I found on a really cool website! It shows a quarter compared to a fruit or veggie. The fruit or veggie shows the size of the baby in comparison with the fruit. At 9 weeks, the baby is about the size of a grape and at 10 weeks (I am at 10 weeks tomorrow) the baby is the size of a kumquat and then at 11 weeks it's the size of a fig! How cool! The pictures uploaded backwards of the order I wanted them, but you get the point.

There are a lot of unknown things about having a baby for me...obviously. Some are kind of nerve wracking. For example, you hear things like "wait until after the first trimester to tell people", "you're gonna get HUGE", and "you're gonna be soooo sick!" Well, since day 1 we found out we were pregnant I have been trying to give my "worries" up to the Lord. It's hard...Grant will tell you so after listening to me...and for me it was a daily thing. Kind of like gossip for me. Gossip has always been something I struggled with (I think it's that way for a lot of girls) and it's almost one of those things that you have to lay at the feet of Jesus daily. That's how it's been with my pregnancy so far. I have just been laying down my worries at Jesus' feet daily...and any time I think about the baby. It's been kind of cool to rely on God like that. That's why I really admire Paul in the Bible. One of my favorite bible verses is this one (and, no, I don't think it's from Paul...I think it's from James b/c it's in the book of James, ha! but I know Paul has said something to this affect before)...

"...When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete and will have everything you need. ..." James 1:2-4

I was talking to one of my other preggie friends (there seems to be a TON of them out there right now!) and told her I was leaning on this verse and she said she was too! Here it is (most versions start with "Rejoice in the Lord always" and this version is pretty cool, too):

"Be full of joy in the Lord always. I will say again, be full of joy. Let everyone see that you are gentle and kind. The Lord is coming soon. Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 4-7

All that to say that the Lord is SOOOO good! I am blessed and thankful! I think this calls for a list of things I am thankful for:

1. This baby is doing good things for my hair! I guess it's oil or something but I LIKE it!
2. That Grant and I saw the baby this week!
3. And, we heard the heartbeat!!! 173!
4. Friends and family who have been there before me!
5. A clinic that is very helpful and informative and doesn't brush my questions away as silly.
6. God has kept my baby and I safe for one more day :) We are not guaranteed tomorrow and I am thankful for the days I/we have been given
7. A WONDERFUL husband! Case and point: my "Mommy gifts": a wonderful pink robe, pink house shoes/slippers, and a revolving heater! Pretty much any gift from here on out can be "Mommy gifts" and I am ok with that!
8. That my love for pickles is here to stay! And, I have REALLY been wanting ice cream a ton lately! I laughed at the "pickles and ice cream" stores and sayings, but I can't get enough!
9. That I haven't been sick! I do get uncomfortable and a bit queasy at night but that's about the extent of my sufferings. I am thankful!
10. My husband...worth repeating. Poor guy might have a lot to deal with with me :)

Here's a few questions for those who are pregnant or who have been (and, if anyone is interested, I can post the answers, too!...and incase any guys read this, I am not going to be graphic/gross or anything like that!)

• When do you start buying maternity clothes? I am still fitting in my jeans but am interested to know the deal with when I can go into the maternity stores and not look like some crazy-wanna-be-preggo. I am mainly talking about pants here. I have plenty of shirts that will last me a good bit.
• Does anyone recommend any remedies for my face breaking out? I feel like I am back in high school with pizza face! At least now I have learned a few tricks to hide these pesky blemishes, but they're still that...pesky! One of my Doctors said nothing with Benzoyl Peroxide in it. Does ProActiv count as one of those? I have been scrubbing my face and cleaning it but nothing seems to help...poor Grant.
• Is there anything I can start buying now that might help out in the long run? I have heard diapers but then again, I don't know the size my baby will be or what brand of diapers to buy.

For those "non-baby-obsessed" that read my blog. I will keep the topics open about other things as well :)

It may look like a BEAN to you, but to us, it's a BABY!

The word is out...we are PREGNANT!


I have been skipping out on my blogging for a while because all I wanted to scream about was this, but Grant and I decided to keep this on the down low for a while.


I think the whole pregnancy is a testimony to the Lord. Grant and my bible verse as a family for the past year plus has been Proverbs 16: 9: "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps". We knew the Lord's timing would be perfect! In the past Grant and I had talked about getting pregnant in 2009 and having a baby in 2010...and we found on on New Year's Eve Eve that we were pregnant! I think that the timing is humorous and from the Lord!


We got an ultrasound from the doctor today and heard the baby's heartbeat at 173! And, the due date looked right on track with September 8th. I am at a little over 9 weeks (see tracker on the right). In the picture above, the babies head is on the right.


So, as we go through this journey, keep us in your prayers and we will keep you updated through the blog. Notice the more "baby friendly" look :)