Christmas Playlist

Earlier this month Springer and I put together a CD of our favorite Christmas songs. We put all of our Christmas CD's on iTunes and picked out our favorite of each carol, except for O Holy Night and O Come All Ye Faithful, which we couldn't pick just one! Here's the list... enjoy! And if you're looking for a new Christmas CD, these albums are great!

1. O Holy Night - "Joy" - Ed Cash, Allen Levi, Bebo Norman
2. O Come All Ye Faithful - "Christmas Offerings" - Third Day
3. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus - "Silent Night" - Red Mountain Church
4. Joy to the World - "Joy" - Ed Cash, Allen Levi, Bebo Norman
5. Do You Hear What I Hear - "Christmas Offerings" - Third Day
6. Silent Night - "Glory In the Highest (A Christmas Album)" - Shane and Shane
7. Little Drummer Boy - "Joy" - Ed Cash, Allen Levi, Bebo Norman
8. What Child Is This - "Silent Night" - Red Mountain Church
9. Angels We Have Heard on High - "Christmas Offerings" - Third Day
10. Go Tell It on the Mountain - "Joy" - Ed Cash, Allen Levi, Bebo Norman
11. Born to Die - "Glory In the Highest (A Christmas Album)" - Shane and Shane
12. The First Noel - "Christmas Offerings" - Third Day
13. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - "Christmas: From the Realms of Glory" - Bebo Norman
14. O Come Let Us Adore Him - "Glory In the Highest (A Christmas Album)" - Shane and Shane 15. Come and Worship - "Christmas: From the Realms of Glory" - Bebo Norman
16. Away in a Manger - "Christmas Offerings" - Third Day
17. O Come All Ye Faithful - "Silent Night" - Red Mountain Church
18. O Holy Night - "Glory In the Highest (A Christmas Album)" - Shane and Shane
19. Born to Bleed - "Joy" - Ed Cash, Allen Levi, Bebo Norman

10 Weeks Old... 15 & 1/2 Pounds!

Still growing!

Growing

We have had Jasper for 3 weeks now. It has been really fun. Not fun all the time, but the good times make up for the "if you bite me one more time, I am going to scream" times.

And, oh my, how he has grown...

Here's a picture 3 days after we got him, so a little over 6 weeks old and 8 pounds...

And here he is today! 9 weeks old and 14 pounds!

I don't think Paul is talking about dogs in 2 Corinthians 6:11-13, but I do feel like God is widening my heart as I learn to love my new puppy.

Tres años

On Wednesday, December 10th we are celebrating three years of marriage!

What's strange is that I don't have any digital (and therefore on my computer)

pictures of us together on our wedding day.

Oh well, if you're that interested, you can come over and look at our wedding album.

It has been a great three years, and we look forward to many, many, many more!

God has blessed us more than we deserve... because of His great love! Here's a picture of Martha Bowman my friend Lindsey took on our wedding day.

Here we are at our rehearsal dinner... so literally 3 years ago from when I am typing this blog!

Wow! Thanks to all of our family and friends who have loved and supported us the past 3 years! We love you!

Blog to Catch Up

It has been awhile since I have blogged... probably because I have spent most of my time lately chasing a little guy around the house. But hold your horses... here's the month in review.
Springer attended his 15th Georgia-Auburn game in a row. That's dedication. Here he is with some Columbus buddies.

The Dawgs took care of business. It wasn't pretty, but we'll take a win any day.
Here we are displaying our awesome seats for the game. We were on the Auburn side, 45 yard line, 3 rows from the bottom. Thanks to Pamela for sharing her tickets!On Monday, November 24, our lives changed forever as we welcomed Jasper Cain into our home. He's a Golden Retriever, 6 weeks old when we adopted him. He is a great puppy, and we are enjoying him alot!

We spent Thanksgiving in Atlanta with the Cain's at Jason and Elizabeth's house. Springer made a fried turkey which was oh-so-yummy... but very dangerous. Don't try this at home. He is a professional.

Jasper had a great time playing with his cousin, 3 year old Max. I think Jasper wore him out though, and Max was probably glad when we left, so he could get some rest.
Jasper after a bath... so far, so good!

We got to spend a lot of time with precious William. We call this pose "Touchdown Baby!" He fell asleep with his arms raised... so funny!
We went to Athens the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Springer went to the Georgia-Georgia Tech game with some buddies. And I got to spend the whole day with the Slaten family! What a blessing! They loved Jasper, and here's L rubbing the sleeping pup's back... so sweet!
Jasper showing Buzz who is boss... we can't say the same for Stafford, Moreno, and the rest of the Dawgs. Jasper says, "Come and visit me!"

Meet William

Laura Susan and I are an aunt and uncle!!! My sister Elizabeth had William last Monday. He was 9 lbs 13oz and is so cute! Here are some pics of him

Aunt Suz and Uncle Springer

Resting and Waiting

Rest vs. wait. These two words bring two completely different scenarios to my mind.

Rest = I am in the mountains... breathing in cool air... amidst a beautiful display of autumn leaves... at peace...

Wait = I am tapping my fingers on the table... anxious to find out what will come... and when will it come...

I was reading Psalm 62 this morning, and God (once again) rocked my world. I have read NIV most of my life, which begins the chapter with ...

My soul finds rest in God alone

So imagine my surprise as I open my ESV Bible (which, by the way, is pink... awesome) and I read...

For God alone my soul waits in silence

WHAT?!?!

God, are you saying that I am to rest while I am waiting?! Wait for you while I am resting!?

Today, Lord, as I wait for you to answer, I will trust, and I will rest.

Talented Cousins

I wanted to give a shout-out to my cousin Zach, who is playing his fiddle with Craig Morgan, a country artist ("That's What I Like about Sunday").

Below is a clip from their performance at the Grand Ole Opry, where Craig was recently inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. You can see Zach on the far left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGvUWg-23rs&feature=channel

Zach is super talented, and we are so grateful to have him as part of our family. He played the violin in our wedding, and it was beautiful!! Below is a picture of his wife, my cousin LeMoyne, and their son Jake.

Teaching Jake to play... how precious!

Some Day My Prince Will Come...

He's here!

Prayer

I think I have blogged about how much we love Young Life before and also about how much we love the Scarborough family. Well, somehow I am still on the Young Life listserv from college, and I loved these thoughts from Bart today... enjoy!

you've heard me say part of this quote many times...but, here it is in it's entirety. i'm rereading oswald's biography (abandoned to God) ...which is amazing...a must read.

anyway, here is the quote:

"The purpose of prayer, in Chamber's mind, was to get into step with God, not to manipulate or coerce Him into blessing personal plans. He told his theology students in Cincinnati, 'Prayer is not the preparation for work, it is work. Prayer is not a preparation for the battle, it is that battle. Prayer is two-fold: definite asking and definite waiting to receive.'" p.110

isn't this great! asking and waiting to hear...quick to listen, if you will. then, quick to obey!

i also love the intro to the quote itself...purpose of prayer is getting in step with what He is up to!

Pictures from the Weekend

FPD came in second place in the state soccer championship this weekend.

David played great, and we enjoyed being all together

(minus Mom, who was greatly missed)!

Here are some pictures from the weekend...The Fam before kickoff (is it called a kickoff in soccer???)

The four of us (Caroline was outraged that somehow she has become the shortest)

I love this picture of me and Dave

Group shot (Dad, C-line, Dave, Suz, Willie D, SpringDawg)

We are faking a candle blowout for the picture... can you tell?

In front are Dave and his girlfriend Jenny. I just noticed Will's funny face in this one... ha!

What a day!

Happy Birthday, Mom and Will!

This is actually an old picture from our rehearsal dinner (David, right, has changed the most!), but I wanted to include Will (left, who seems a little camera shy when I look through the pictures on my computer) and Mom (middle, in Japan through the end of the week).

They share a birthday, and we wish them both a very happy birthday!

You are loved!

The rivalry never dies...

I hate Stratford... probably more today than ever. I will stop typing now, as I might say something I later regret.

Darnell Pride

I wanted to give a shout-out today to my brother David (far right). He scored the winning penalty kick last night to put FPD in the state championship game on Saturday. Go David! Go Vikings! We'll see you on Saturday!


Here's an article about the game from The Macon Telegraph this morning...

Friday, Oct. 24, 2008

Vikings edge Cavaliers in penalty kick thriller
By John Kosater - sports@macon.com

FPD sophomore goalkeeper Bryant Allen had seen it before.
Last week, his team was in the same situation, battling to a tie with Westminster after regulation and two overtimes, and the game was decided on penalty kicks. Although the Vikings won the game, Allen had not stopped a shot.
Against Mount de Sales on Thursday night, Allen fared much better, blocking two crucial shots to key the Vikings to a 7-6 thrilling penalty kick win over the Cavaliers following a scoreless draw in regulation to advance to the GISA Class AAA championship game.
Allen's first block on a Matthew Miller shot came when all the Cavaliers (14-3-2) needed was a goal to end the game. His second came four shots later, this time stopping a Paolo Cavaliere shot. Teammate David Darnell ended the match, beating Mount de Sales goalkeeper John Kot to the right corner to avenge two previous losses to the Cavaliers this year.
"They are the ones who battled the whole game and kept us in it," Allen said of his teammates. "We had given up four goals both times we played them, and to shut them out is a credit to our whole team. I just guessed right on two penalty kicks. My team gave me all the motivation I needed."
FPD head coach Joshua Trieste thought his team's defensive performance, led by Brandon Smith, Drew Owens, Jared Williams, Mark Scott and of course Allen, was the difference in the game.
"We changed a few things a few games ago and got a bit more defensive minded," Trieste said. "We were giving up three and four goals when we lost, and I thought we needed to focus a little more in not giving up so many goals.
"So far it has worked out well. I told our team at the beginning of the year we had a lot of things we could accomplish this year, and we have reached one of our goals. I just don't want this game to be the pinnacle of our season."
Mount de Sales head coach Iain Jones credited the defense of FPD (20-3).
"The defensive change bothered us a little, but I still think we had our chances to score," Jones said. "We had our opportunities. It just wasn't our night. "

Merry Christmas!

I downloaded the new Shane and Shane CD tonight.

We usually don't listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving,

but this year we are making an exception!

"O Come Let Us Adore Him" is a personal favorite...

the song played as I came down the aisle!

Thanks, Shane's, for including a beautiful rendition!

Seriously? Could he be any cuter?

We have spent the past 2/3 weekends in Athens, cheering on our Bulldogs. Luckily we were more successful this past Saturday. We are 3/3 on weekends with the Slaten's (insert Mandy's wedding between the two Game Day weekends), and that has blessed by heart immensely! L (above) learned to say my name this weekend. Whoa... that was awesome. He has been saying "Springer" for a couple of months, but now he can say "Ar Usan". I love it... I love this kid... I love the Slaten family.
I met Camille the summer before my freshman year in high school. I wish I had a picture I could post, but then again NO I DO NOT. I likely would be wearing something ridiculous in any picture from that era. Anyway, we became good friends that summer and have continued our friendship through many seasons of life. Then along came Aaron, and later Springer! The advice and counsel of this family became so important for us and for our marriage. And now, L is here! And we have a blast watching this little ball of energy! He makes us laugh!

I am so grateful for this family and for their love and guidance in my life.

Talented Friends

Almost 10 years ago a special friend walked into my life and into the Griffin's living room for summer Bible study. Laura Rogers (now Kirkland) came to Martha Bowman UMC to be one of our youth directors, the summer before my senior year. Even in that short time we were together in Macon, we became good friends, and I have many fun memories of painting, dancing, laughing with Laura.

Laura has more talent and creativity in her pinky finger than most folks do in their whole bodies! If you don't believe me (and even if you do), check our her new business Glory Haus. You can now buy her artwork online! I am really excited about this... and am praying for God's rich blessings for Glory Haus and that many lives would be touched by God's beauty so evident in Laura's art!

Mom

I am a very, very, very proud daughter. My mom is an incredible, beautiful woman, and I love her very much. This weekend she has taken her awesomeness to a whole new level...

MY MOM HAS A BLOG!

You can check her out on my list of links on the right.

She is traveling to Japan for 3 weeks in October. She was chosen from hundreds of teachers all over America to be a part of a special exchange program, and she's blogging to keep everybody updated. She actually participated in a similar program before I was born (and I think before Dad was in the picture) where she traveled to Ghana with a group of teachers to learn about the culture and ways to integrate that into education here in America.

My mom is so brave! And talented! (I could go on and on and on and on...)

Love you, Mom! And welcome to the blogging world!

I Love Athens

We took a quick day trip to Paradise, aka Athens, Georgia, Saturday. It was a wonderful day. Our friends Bryan and Meredith got married. I met them through Young Life, where I was one of their leaders at Oconee County High School. I remember helping Meredith get ready for the prom, and watching Bryan come and pick her up at Bart and Victoria's house. I remember her sharing her precious heart with me at Frontier Ranch. As I saw her walk down the aisle, a beautiful bride, tears streamed down my cheeks. I love these folks, and am SO honored to be in their life. And I am FIRED UP because they are coming to COLUMBUS! Bryan is on staff with Young Life here in Columbus, so Meredith will be coming as soon as they get home from honeymooning! YES!
I love Young Life weddings... it is so good to catch up with old friends. It is neat because I got to be a part of several "generations" of YL leaders since I was in Athens for such a long time. YL was my community, my best friends in Athens... I love being with them.
Also for lunch Springer took me to my all-time-favorite restaurant on the planet, DePalma's. It is an Italian place downtown. I had the special, Vegeterian Lasagna, and it was AMAZING! Three cheeses, mushrooms, artichokes, onions, green, yellow, and red peppers, and fried eggplant... booyah!
It was cool being in Athens on a non-Game Day weekend. We go to Athens most often for games, and I'd almost forgotten how a regular weekend felt. Now I remember... we love this town!

Sick Nasty

It's great to be a Georgia Bulldog!

Get up, little girl!

You can find my favorite Bible story in Mark 5:21-43. When I was a little girl, Mom would read this story to me from my "Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes". I loved it when she said "Get up, little girl!"

Brad preached today from this text, and I heard it in a whole new way.

Talitha cumi

He said that Talitha translated from the original language is more like how a parent says "Honey" or "Sweet girl" to a daughter.

Cumi, meaning "Wake up", reminded me of how I woke up when I was little. If Mom or Dad woke me up, they would say "Suz, it's a wonderful day!" So I grew up thinking that meant "Get up!" I remember spending the night with my friend Natalie and telling her and her mom "It's a wonderful day!" and they were like "OK... go back to sleep", and I was like "I said... it's a wonderful day!"

Sweet words from Jesus... sweet girl, arise... He's said it to me so many times.

I'm also reminded of an old David Wilcox song

Beloved, it is time for you to rise, time for you to rise.

Interested?

Hi friends!

I am thinking of making our blog "private"... aka you have to log in to view it. So, if you'd like to continue joining the Cain adventure, just email me laurasusancain@gmail.com or leave your email address in the comments below.

Thanks!

Belize 2008

"Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith,

I am glad and rejoice with you all." Philippians 2:17

As promised... the blog about Belize! A group of 30 folks from Crosspointe spent 8 days in the beautiful country of Belize. We flew into Belize City and then drove about an hour north to the town of Orange Walk. We had 2 teams working at Josue Christian Church, a medical team and a construction team. Laura Susan was the pharmacist for the medical team, and Springer was on the paint crew for the construction team. We worked for 5 1/2 great days... hard work, but so worth it.

This is where we stayed in Orange Walk.

Springer and our friend Brandon enjoying a drink outside the D'Victoria.

This lady's chicken smelled unbelizeable... but we were warned NOT to eat anything sold on the streets. Oh the temptation...
Pretty sunset after a church service on Sunday night
Inside of the church
Someone brought a pet parrot that Springer thought was pretty cool...
Ok, so I was a little nervous about holding our feathered friend... this may be the most famous picture of the trip... thanks a lot, Brad, for sharing it on Sunday!
See, I really enjoyed it after the first moments of extreme anxiety!
Iguana... I did NOT hold him!
While setting up the pharmacy, these little guys showed up with lots of questions... mostly "Where are the bubbles?!?!"
Coke is so much better out of a bottle!
This is the pastor's daughter, telling me a joke about a duck.

Springer and our friend Jarvis taking a break from the workday for a picture
Here I'm teaching a family how to take their medications These big beautiful eyes filled with tears when I pulled out an oral syringe to show his mama how far to pull up one dose... he thought he was getting a shot!

Springer working on chairs for the children's rooms at the church
Springer and the paint crew did a great job painting the church inside and out!
Jason and Springer trying out the spearmint
Taking a break for some dodgeball... these little guys loved Brandon, Springer, Jason, and Jeremy Pharmacy Friends! Claire, Michelle, and Melanie jumped in and did a great job working in the pharmacy. I was so, so, so impressed with them! Together we filled prescriptions for over 700 patients seen in the medical clinic.

The guys lifting a beam to reenforce the ceiling and get it ready for a second story
One of the chairs we built... Marvin the pastor is an amazing artist, and he painted this one!
Springer and some of his buddies at the "Thank You" service the church gave us on Thursday
Me and my friend Letty, who is Pastor Marvin's wife... we share a birthday! I enjoyed getting to know Letty during the week.
Our team! We love these folks!
The medical bus... two of our physicians saw patients in the bus. A precious lady named Dita graciously let us have her home for the week to house the pharmacy and another physician exam room.
The paint crew, Jason, Samantha, and Springer... job well done!
On the last work day
Here we are taking in the sights at Altun Ha, some of the Mayan ruins in Belize... also supposedly a good birding spot (i.e. the binoculars), but it was raining while we were there, so no Toucans in sight.
Our friends Jamie and Claire at the top of one of the ruins
For fun on Saturday we traveled up to Ambergris Caye from Belize City for a day of snorkeling.
You can still see the imprint of our lovely snorkeling goggles... what you can't see YET is my severe sunburn... our sunblock, though claiming to be waterproof was not so... ouch
On the way back home

Overall we had a great week serving our God. We were grateful for this opportunity to follow His call to go and serve. We look forward to Him using us more and more to glorify His name in all the world!