We love our dog... I think that's pretty obvious. But did you know he's reached "celebrity status"?
Prime Big Deals
2 weeks ago
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
celebrate
Hello blog-world. I really liked this quote that a friend included on her blog earlier this month. I'm not sure what heartache, if any, you may have this Christmas... but let's rejoice that HE IS EMMANUEL!
Not Celebrate? Your burden is too great to bear?
Your loneliness is intensified during this Christmas season?
Your tears seem to have no end?
Not Celebrate? You should lead the celebration.
You should run through the streets to ring the bell and sing the loudest!
You should fling the tinsel on the tree,
And open your house to your neighbors and call them to dance!
For it is you above all others who know the joy of Advent.
It is unto you that a Savior is born this day.
One Who comes to lift your burden from your shoulders,
One Who comes to wipe the tears from your eyes.
You are not alone, for He is born this day to you.
Ann Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Fall Updates
If anyone would be so kind as to help me figure out how to layout pictures on my blog, I would be much obliged. In the meantime I will continue to post them hapharardly around the page. Blogspot - sometimes you infuriate me.
So one with the random update! This fall one of my favorite bloggers asked her readers to comment on the following: "tell us what decorative item in your home gets used differently for every season". My answer was easy - this wreath! I bought it a couple of years ago and it has carried us through several seasons. This fall Springer politely requested I NOT use an orange ribbon again, for fear that some might think we were abandoning the Bulldogs in this dark and lonely season for another team such as Auburn, Tennessee, or Florida. But do not despair Dawg fans, we still don the red and black proudly.
This past weekend we hosted Flink Family Thanksgiving. Our sweet friends, Sara Beth and Stephen Shealy, asked us to host a Thanksgiving Dinner - Minnesota/Flink style. All I had to do was clean up my house and set the table - I think I got the better end of the deal! I was really excited about a chance to use our china, and I thought it turned out really pretty.
Here I am posing for the cover of Southern Views Magazine - ha!
Once everyone (18, in fact) got here, I was too excited about hanging out and eating to take any other pictures. Sorry!
My friend Claire and I have the great priviledge of spending time each week with sweet high school friends. A couple of them were on their school's Homecoming Court, so we went to celebrate!
What's Goin' On
Warning: Random thoughts coming your way in no particular order!
This summer Brad, our friend from college and one of Springer's roommates too, got married! Here's Springer (and the guys) looking all spiffy!
Bride + groom (Jennie and Brad) - so beautiful!
This summer Brad, our friend from college and one of Springer's roommates too, got married! Here's Springer (and the guys) looking all spiffy!
Bride + Groom (me and Springer) -- can you believe it will be five years in December!!
Friday, November 26, 2010
"I never thought I'd see this!" + Update Coming
I just learned how to download pictures from my phone to the computer, so an update of the past few months is in the works. But first I thought you might enjoy a little place I discovered while driving to a wedding in Atlanta this summer... but first a little background.
We love our church, CrossPointe; however, we know we are not perfect. Brad often refers to us as a group of "pardoned rebels". There will be reasons that people come and go from time to time, but it's made clear that if anyone is looking for the "perfect church"... well, that just doesn't exist.
Until now apparently!
We love our church, CrossPointe; however, we know we are not perfect. Brad often refers to us as a group of "pardoned rebels". There will be reasons that people come and go from time to time, but it's made clear that if anyone is looking for the "perfect church"... well, that just doesn't exist.
Until now apparently!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Love Our Family
These first pictures were taken at my grandma's 90th birthday. I absolutely LOVE them. Thanks Judy for serving our whole family in such a neat way.
In other news (I don't think I've announced this on the blog yet) - Caroline is engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We love Brian and are so excited he is joining our family!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tip for Guacamole
I saw this tip in a magazine this summer... and I think it is brilliant.
Step 1: Open avocado.
Step 2: Remove pit and make a grid with your knife in the avocado.
Step 3: Scoop it out with a spoon.
Step 4: Smush it to your desired consistency.
Add your favorite fixins - sometimes I just add salsa - when I'm real industrious, I add fresh tomato, cilantro, onion... mmmm.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
welcome...
... to my morning.
What should have been:
5:45 wake up/get ready
(an overachieving wife would have gotten up at 5:30 with Springer to help fix breakfast for his Bible study guys coming over at 6:30...
but we all know that didn't happen)
7 leave for work - need to be there before 7:15 since my students are presenting at 7:30 to a group of nurses
What actually occured:
6:49 woke up
6:56 out of shower, scruntch the hair
7 pick out some clothes
dress sounds good
(no ironing)
tights sound good
(covering up legs that I didn't have time to shave - but it's a little chilly today anyway)
7:10 realize a big truck is blocking my car in the driveway
7:12 leave the house (at red lights - apply powder and lipstick)
7:17 make it to work, profusely apologizing to my students
7:19 put on mascara and eyeliner while the students fix a couple of PowerPoint slides
7:30 presenting... is it time to go home yet?!
What should have been:
5:45 wake up/get ready
(an overachieving wife would have gotten up at 5:30 with Springer to help fix breakfast for his Bible study guys coming over at 6:30...
but we all know that didn't happen)
7 leave for work - need to be there before 7:15 since my students are presenting at 7:30 to a group of nurses
What actually occured:
6:49 woke up
6:56 out of shower, scruntch the hair
7 pick out some clothes
dress sounds good
(no ironing)
tights sound good
(covering up legs that I didn't have time to shave - but it's a little chilly today anyway)
7:10 realize a big truck is blocking my car in the driveway
7:12 leave the house (at red lights - apply powder and lipstick)
7:17 make it to work, profusely apologizing to my students
7:19 put on mascara and eyeliner while the students fix a couple of PowerPoint slides
7:30 presenting... is it time to go home yet?!
Monday, October 18, 2010
New Niece!
Isn't she adorable?!?!
So thankful for this little one... displaying the kindness of God!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Crafty
The latest in our craftiness...
I saw this on a blog who found it on another blog... so I really can't take credit for the idea. But I thought it turned out really cute!
In other news, our dining room windows have looked so lonely lately, so I decided to move towards my ideal dining room vision and put up some curtains.
I also want to put up bamboo blinds like the ones in our bathroom, but they are nowhere to be found (originally found at Target - but not in stock in Columbus or Auburn - and not on their website anymore... any tips?)
Finished product - yeah!
I've also been painting a lot for fundraisers, silent auctions, and friends having babies. Unfortunately I keep forgetting to take pictures of the ones I make - but here are a few!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Let the bones you have broken rejoice...
I found this article on Friday, and it was really helpful for me in thinking about how I deal with pain and sorrow. Enjoy... hope it speaks to you as well.
It’s a bit of a strange word picture, the kind that causes you to wonder and to feel just a bit uncomfortable. But it says volumes about what you need and about what it is that God is doing.
If you’re confused about what God’s agenda is in your life, or if it doesn’t always seem like his promises are being fulfilled, then this strange little prayer from Psalm 51 is helpful and clarifying. In his psalm of repentance after his sin against God, Bathsheba, and Uriah, David writes this provocative little prayer, “Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.” What in the world is he talking about and how in the world can it give perspective and hope to you and me?
Let me begin to answer with a personal confession. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I have a low tolerance for difficulty. I confess that I am a project-oriented person. I tend to have a specific agenda for each day. I awake knowing exactly what I want to accomplish and what a successful day will look like. I don’t want to have to deal with interruptions or obstacles. I want the people, circumstances and locations to willingly submit to my sovereignty and participate in my plan. All of this means that it’s counterintuitive for me to view difficulty as something beneficial. I have little time or tolerance for “broken bones.”
But I have a problem. My Redeemer is the redeemer of broken bones. Now, maybe you're thinking, “Paul, what in the world are you talking about?” Well, here it is. “Broken bones” is a physical word picture for the pain of redemption.
In case you failed to notice, God’s work of delivering you and me from our addiction to self and sin and transforming us into his image isn’t always a comfortable process. There are times, in order to make our crooked and fickle hearts straight and loyal, God has to break some bones. I will again confess, I don’t like broken bones!
Now, you have to ask, “Why would a God of love ever bring pain into the lives of the people he says he loves?” The difficult things that you experience as God’s child that may seem like the result of God’s unfaithfulness and inattention or anger are actually acts of redemptive love. You see, in bringing these things into our lives God is actually fulfilling his covenantal commitment to satisfy the deepest needs of his people. And what is it that we need the most? The answer is simple and clear throughout all of Scripture: more than anything else we need him.
Yet this is exactly where the rub comes in. Although our greatest personal need is to live in a life-shaping relationship with the Lord, as sinners we have hearts that have a propensity to wander. We very quickly forget God and begin to put ourselves or some aspect of the creation in his place. We soon forget that he’s to be the center of everything we think, desire, say and do. We easily lose sight of the fact that our hearts were designed for him and that the deep sense of well-being which all of us seek can only be found in him.
We very rapidly forget or ignore the powerfully addicting dangers of sin and think we can step over God’s boundaries without personal and moral cost. We think we are stronger than we really are and wiser than we actually prove to be. We assess that we have character, discipline and strength that we don’t really have. So God, in the beauty of his redeeming love, will “break our bones.” He will bring us through difficulty, suffering, want, sadness, loss and grief in order to ensure that we are living in pursuit of the one thing that each of us desperately needs—him.
It’s time for each of us to embrace, teach, and encourage others with the broken-bone theology of uncomfortable grace. Because as long as each of us still has sin living in us, producing a propensity to forget and wander, God’s grace will come to us in uncomfortable forms. Perhaps you’ve been wondering where the grace of God is in your life at the very moment when you have been getting it. But it has not been the grace of comfortable relief or release; no, you have been receiving the uncomfortable grace of rescue, restoration, transformation and refinement.
So, if you are God’s child, if you’ve ever prayed that God would be near you and would do what he has promised in and for you, then resist the temptation to doubt his goodness in the middle of your moment of stress. It’s time for you and me to stop thinking that we are going through difficulty because Satan is winning or God is punishing us. If you are God’s child and you humbly recognize and admit that the battle with sin still rages in your heart, then tell yourself that those difficulties are the sure sign of his rescuing and redemptive love.
God hasn’t forgotten you. He hasn’t turned his back on you. He isn’t punishing you in anger. He surely isn’t withholding the grace that he has promised from you. No, you’re receiving grace, but it’s grace that is willing to break bones in order to capture and transform your heart. This grace is unrelenting. This grace has no intention of giving up. This grace will not be satisfied with the status quo. This grace does not get discouraged. It will never compromise. It will never become bitter or cynical. This is loving, patient, perseverant, powerful grace.
In those moments when you are tempted to wonder if God has forgotten you, may you preach to yourself of this relentless, transforming grace. May you remind yourself that you are being loved with real love and showered with real grace. And as you limp to his throne once more to thank him for his unyielding grace, may the bones that he has lovingly broken sing a hymn of praise to this One who alone blesses you with his amazing grace.
Psalm 51:8 Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
It’s a bit of a strange word picture, the kind that causes you to wonder and to feel just a bit uncomfortable. But it says volumes about what you need and about what it is that God is doing.
If you’re confused about what God’s agenda is in your life, or if it doesn’t always seem like his promises are being fulfilled, then this strange little prayer from Psalm 51 is helpful and clarifying. In his psalm of repentance after his sin against God, Bathsheba, and Uriah, David writes this provocative little prayer, “Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.” What in the world is he talking about and how in the world can it give perspective and hope to you and me?
Let me begin to answer with a personal confession. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I have a low tolerance for difficulty. I confess that I am a project-oriented person. I tend to have a specific agenda for each day. I awake knowing exactly what I want to accomplish and what a successful day will look like. I don’t want to have to deal with interruptions or obstacles. I want the people, circumstances and locations to willingly submit to my sovereignty and participate in my plan. All of this means that it’s counterintuitive for me to view difficulty as something beneficial. I have little time or tolerance for “broken bones.”
But I have a problem. My Redeemer is the redeemer of broken bones. Now, maybe you're thinking, “Paul, what in the world are you talking about?” Well, here it is. “Broken bones” is a physical word picture for the pain of redemption.
In case you failed to notice, God’s work of delivering you and me from our addiction to self and sin and transforming us into his image isn’t always a comfortable process. There are times, in order to make our crooked and fickle hearts straight and loyal, God has to break some bones. I will again confess, I don’t like broken bones!
Now, you have to ask, “Why would a God of love ever bring pain into the lives of the people he says he loves?” The difficult things that you experience as God’s child that may seem like the result of God’s unfaithfulness and inattention or anger are actually acts of redemptive love. You see, in bringing these things into our lives God is actually fulfilling his covenantal commitment to satisfy the deepest needs of his people. And what is it that we need the most? The answer is simple and clear throughout all of Scripture: more than anything else we need him.
Yet this is exactly where the rub comes in. Although our greatest personal need is to live in a life-shaping relationship with the Lord, as sinners we have hearts that have a propensity to wander. We very quickly forget God and begin to put ourselves or some aspect of the creation in his place. We soon forget that he’s to be the center of everything we think, desire, say and do. We easily lose sight of the fact that our hearts were designed for him and that the deep sense of well-being which all of us seek can only be found in him.
We very rapidly forget or ignore the powerfully addicting dangers of sin and think we can step over God’s boundaries without personal and moral cost. We think we are stronger than we really are and wiser than we actually prove to be. We assess that we have character, discipline and strength that we don’t really have. So God, in the beauty of his redeeming love, will “break our bones.” He will bring us through difficulty, suffering, want, sadness, loss and grief in order to ensure that we are living in pursuit of the one thing that each of us desperately needs—him.
It’s time for each of us to embrace, teach, and encourage others with the broken-bone theology of uncomfortable grace. Because as long as each of us still has sin living in us, producing a propensity to forget and wander, God’s grace will come to us in uncomfortable forms. Perhaps you’ve been wondering where the grace of God is in your life at the very moment when you have been getting it. But it has not been the grace of comfortable relief or release; no, you have been receiving the uncomfortable grace of rescue, restoration, transformation and refinement.
So, if you are God’s child, if you’ve ever prayed that God would be near you and would do what he has promised in and for you, then resist the temptation to doubt his goodness in the middle of your moment of stress. It’s time for you and me to stop thinking that we are going through difficulty because Satan is winning or God is punishing us. If you are God’s child and you humbly recognize and admit that the battle with sin still rages in your heart, then tell yourself that those difficulties are the sure sign of his rescuing and redemptive love.
God hasn’t forgotten you. He hasn’t turned his back on you. He isn’t punishing you in anger. He surely isn’t withholding the grace that he has promised from you. No, you’re receiving grace, but it’s grace that is willing to break bones in order to capture and transform your heart. This grace is unrelenting. This grace has no intention of giving up. This grace will not be satisfied with the status quo. This grace does not get discouraged. It will never compromise. It will never become bitter or cynical. This is loving, patient, perseverant, powerful grace.
In those moments when you are tempted to wonder if God has forgotten you, may you preach to yourself of this relentless, transforming grace. May you remind yourself that you are being loved with real love and showered with real grace. And as you limp to his throne once more to thank him for his unyielding grace, may the bones that he has lovingly broken sing a hymn of praise to this One who alone blesses you with his amazing grace.
Psalm 51:8 Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Labor Day on the Ocmulgee
As promised, here are pictures from Labor Day with the Darnell's... sorry for the random nature of these pictures... I can't figure out how to move the pictures into the order I'm wanting!
Jasper LOVES the water!
Will and Christie -- whose camera, by the way, took all of these amazing pictures!
I love a good laugh...
Caroline, Brian, and Jasper's favorite cousin, Layla
I LOOOVE my sister! So thankful for her...
Quite proud of this picture I took of Mom and Dad... a work of art, don't you think?
The guys... right after a rock throwing contest across the river... I'm pretty sure Springer won.
Layla was not as crazy about the water, but eventually she got the hang of it...
Caroline said that now she loves the water, just like Cousin Jasper!
Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a fun weekend!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
dining room
labor day fun
Folks I love... from left to right...
Uncle Kim: Not technically my uncle, but is Dad's best friend.
They went to high school and college together, and we consider him our uncle, hence the name.
Sweet sister Caroline
Caroline's sweetheart, Brian
Next brother in line, Will -- who lived with us this past summer, so fun!
A new friend we REALLY like -- Will's girlfriend Christie
A new friend we REALLY like -- Will's girlfriend Christie
Wes-man, really his name is just Wes, but he's one of Will's best friends from high school
and somehow always ends up at Darnell family events!
My wonderful Mom
Baby Dave, ha, not so much of a baby anymore, I guess... note the insane amount of hair on his head...
that's a college freshman for you... rebelling against the FPD hair code he's had to follow for the past 12 years
Yours truly
Mine truly
Dear ol' Dad
A fun weekend! More pictures to follow from our adventure on the Ocmulgee...
Saturday, September 11, 2010
life is hard... trusting that God is good all the time
I'm reflecting on these quotes today...
From Charles Spurgeon, a British pastor in the 1800's...
“Weeping is a wondrous help to those who would find their way to the heart of God! So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, pour out your hearts before Him—pour them out like water before the Lord and when your heart is breaking for the longing that it has, even if you shed no outward tears, you have learned the sacred art of praying and you shall receive what you have asked in so far as it is according to the will of God.”
From Matt Chandler, a pastor in Dallas that we really like...
"God sends both joy and sorrow to detach our hands from things of this world and to attach our hands to Him."
From my friend Sara whose little girl is fighting cancer...
"I know that God is bigger than all of this -- that He can protect and strengthen Adah, counter every side effect. I also know that He may choose not to. But to whom else can we go? Who else has the words of eternal life? Without Jesus, we have nothing to hope in at all. With Him, we have all we need. How I want His life and goodness and sweetness to just swallow us up."
Come, Lord Jesus!
From Charles Spurgeon, a British pastor in the 1800's...
“Weeping is a wondrous help to those who would find their way to the heart of God! So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, pour out your hearts before Him—pour them out like water before the Lord and when your heart is breaking for the longing that it has, even if you shed no outward tears, you have learned the sacred art of praying and you shall receive what you have asked in so far as it is according to the will of God.”
From Matt Chandler, a pastor in Dallas that we really like...
"God sends both joy and sorrow to detach our hands from things of this world and to attach our hands to Him."
From my friend Sara whose little girl is fighting cancer...
"I know that God is bigger than all of this -- that He can protect and strengthen Adah, counter every side effect. I also know that He may choose not to. But to whom else can we go? Who else has the words of eternal life? Without Jesus, we have nothing to hope in at all. With Him, we have all we need. How I want His life and goodness and sweetness to just swallow us up."
Come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
all things new
Heath had planned to lead worship this evening for a city-wide gathering. But tonight he is worshipping in Heaven. He will be very missed here. Please join us in praying for his family and friends.
Revelation 21:3-5
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
And He who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Friday, September 3, 2010
The Big 3-0
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Victory
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
aarti's first show!
The Next Food Network Star revealed the winner a couple of weeks ago, and it is AARTI (my favorite)! Hooray!
In honor of the new FN star, tonight we cooked Sloppy Bombay Joes, the first recipe Aarti made on her new show Aarti Party. They were fantastic!
In honor of the new FN star, tonight we cooked Sloppy Bombay Joes, the first recipe Aarti made on her new show Aarti Party. They were fantastic!
For more deliciousness, you can watch Aarti on Sunday afternoons at noon on Food Network.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Midnight Express
If:
1. You live in the Columbus vicinity (but if you live somewhere else, you can stay with us)
2. You can stay up until midnight (it will seriously be a struggle for me)
3. The idea of running 3.1 miles does not seem entirely overwhelming (again a struggle - but I THINK I CAN! I THINK I CAN!)
Then:
You should run the Midnight Express! It will be fun! BBQ sandwich and sweet tea at the finish line... you can't beat that!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
miss you
For some reason I really miss my siblings tonight. I'm not sure why... maybe because I've been thinking that the next time I go "home" none of us will actually full-time live there. That's so weird. I wish for just a little while we could all live in the same place again. Split up between Columbus, Athens, Milledgeville, and Atlanta stinks sometimes. I miss you guys.
Watching this made me feel better though...
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