Beth Moore and Zicam

Well, we're settling into a local church here which is awesome! We've been attending Sunday services and care groups. This week, I began a Beth Moore Study called "Stepping Up - A Journey through the Psalms of Ascents." This is a great chance for me to meet other ladies in the church body which I'm super excited about! LifeWay publishes all of Beth Moore's Bible studies, so it was also kinda cool that I was able to give Aaron a sale at his new store.


Other news is that I've gotten a cold this week, which is obviously not fun or convenient. But, we live in a fallen world - those things happen. I'm still doing better than I deserve, right?! I've been drinking lots of G2 (the low calorie Gatorade for those of you who didn't know what I was talking about), sucking lots of strawberry flavored cough drops, and consuming Zicam chewable tablets every 3 hours during the day. Zicam products claim that if you use at the first signs of a cold, they shorten the duration and control the symptoms of the common cold. I'm not sure if that's true or not, because it's one of those homeopathic medicines. I've read mixed reviews online about their products. I used it in the winter and it seemed to work or maybe I was just convincing myself that it worked. They taste awful, but it's worth a shot if my cold could potentially not last as long!

Aaron turns 27!!!

Friday, September 26th was Aaron's 27th birthday! The SWAT (not sure what that stands for) Team from LifeWay (which consists of other store managers and various people from the corporate office come and help stock all of the product for new stores) came to set up his store on Friday and have been working all weekend because his store opens tomorrow - WooHoo! This has been a long work in process but it's finally happening! We celebrated his birthday the week prior by going out to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Aaron is not a big cake fan - he prefers pies and his favorite is cherry pie. So, I baked him something in between...it's kind of a cherry cake/pie/cobbler thing. Whatever you call it - He loved it (he even dreamed that it won a prize at a bake-off HAHA - my cooking would never win a prize!) which made me smile as I was able to make his birthday special. :)

Broken Vases and Sanctification

As you can see from the picture above, there are two vases on our entertainment center. Prior to Saturday, there were 3 vases grouped nicely together (grouping objects in "threes" is a decorating technique - Thanks for that tip, Mom!). However, my sweet husband who is working long hours trying to get his new store ready to open next week, took his last day off for awhile (other than Sundays) to help me dust our apartment (he is so amazing - did I mention that?!) and yep...he broke one of the vases.

Prior to my conversion to Christ 10+ years ago, I would've been very angry at that. Even after my conversion, I would have still been angry. But, this time was different...my reaction was led by the Spirit and I wanted to react differently - I wanted to react in a God-fearing manner. I do not credit this change of heart to anything in myself (and I was still disappointed that the vase was broken) but I see it as God's kindness to me in choosing to remind me that He is sanctifying me and making me more like His Son and less like my sinful self.

The Christian life is filled with fighting off and/or giving into sin. When we give into the sin, we are often discouraged. Thus, it's kind of God to occasionally throw something in life to remind me "...that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6b HCSB) Thank you for breaking our vase, Aaron - It pointed out evidences of God's grace in my life that I might otherwise would have missed!

The Wilsons Get Cable (finally!)

We have thoroughly enjoyed having cable the past couple of weeks! Aaron has been able to watch several football games with no static. I have been able to watch all kinds of fun shows on TLC such as "A Baby Story" & "Bringing Baby Home" and other girly shows.

Even though the Carolina Gamecock's lost to the Georgia Bulldogs 14-7 today, Aaron and Toby still enjoyed cheering them on. :)

Missing SC

I've been having a little bit of a hard time in NC lately. I miss our family and friends in SC (and GA now too) very much. You'd think that only moving a state away wouldn't seem so strange, but it does and still doesn't feel like "home" yet. Aaron keeps reminding me that this isn't my "home" and that nowhere on earth should feel like it is home because God has set eternity in my heart. My heart yearns for heaven more than I realize and manifests itself through my longing for others. Each time that I think of a family member or friend whom I miss, I need to take that moment to thank God for saving me and so many of my loved ones so that one day, we will all be united in heaven where time and space will no longer create barriers between us.

And for those of you that aren't saved, please come to the cross today and find salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ so that you will also share heaven as your home one day!

Toby

Meet our beloved miniature dachshund (son), Toby. We got him the month after we were married and he has been so much fun in our home. We are convinced that life wouldn't be the same without this little guy in our lives.

Toby got a long overdue bath and haircut this past weekend from PetSmart. We were visiting Aaron's family in Columbia and we all agreed that he looked and smelled awful. But after they gave him the "summer special," which included a lemonade scented shampoo, haircut, and professional teeth cleaning...he was so perfect. :)

Please note his little "mohawk." I'm not sure why his hair grows like this, but he (we) always get compliments from it!

New Job

The past month and a half as been filled with very tiring days of me being very aggressive with my job search. The job market is really hard right now and the bachelor degree is losing its value in the workplace. Technical skills and trades (which I lack) are becoming the most needed credentials rather just a "piece of paper stating BS or BA." The job search was quite discouraging and caused a lot of lack of trust in God on my part. Aaron would always remind me that I was sinning and God has called me to always trust Him.

Thankfully, in spite of my sometimes faithless pursuit of employment, God has provided me a full-time job in a church office beginning August 25th! I'm so grateful for this offer. A Christian school had also offered me a K-4 teaching position, which I had originally accepted because it was the only offer I had. But, I really didn't feel very good about taking it. I'm not sure that teaching in the classroom full-time would be a good fit for me. During my second day of orientation, I received an unexpeced call from the church saying that they had a position and wanted to interview me. The church has offered more money, less hours (37 vs. 40 hrs/week), and is only 8 minutes from home (the school was over 30 min away). So, God has been very kind to me and even if He hadn't provided a job for me at all...He has already given me more than I deserve. The only thing that any of us deserves is an eternity separated from Him in hell. And He has saved Aaron and me from that through the crushing of His Son on the cross - Thus, we are always doing better than we deserve!