Marcus Writes

My wonderful hubby did a guest post for the blog of the Youth Worker Movement yesterday. If you've ever worked in youth ministry, it might be of interest to you. The Youth Worker Movement is a great resource for anyone working with youth.

Here is the link to his post: Confessions of a Youth Worker.

I hope you enjoy! Maybe some day I'll get him to "guest" post on here! :)

40 Days

As a kid growing up in a United Methodist church, Lent was the time of year where you spent Sunday evenings making crafts to get ready for Easter. As an adolescent, teenager, and college student attending a Baptist church, Lent was all but non-existent to me.  Now that I'm the wife of a soon-to-be Methodist minister, I am learning what Lent really is.

For the past two years, I participated in Blood:Water Mission's 40 Days of Water campaign.  I drank only water for 40 days and it was a challenge, but I felt like my main motivation for participating was guilt. I figured if I worked for Blood:Water, I should probably take part, and then I didn't have to come up with something else to sacrifice.  *Disclaimer: 40 Days is an awesome, life-changing thing. It made a difference in my life and makes a huge impact on the lives of those in Africa. If you have never observed Lent before, or are still thinking about a way to participate, 40 Days of Water is a great way to start.

This year, however, I wanted to give up something that was truly a sacrifice for me, because the Easter season is about the sacrifice God made for my life.  So, I've given up TV.  Now, I have to be honest.  There are a few shows that are "in season" right now and I'm going to watch them weekly on my iPad. So to clarify, I'm giving up EXCESS TV.  This means no more Today Show in the morning, no more cooking shows at lunch, no more "whatever is on is better than anything else I could be doing when I get home from work," and no more Saturday marathons of "Real Housewives of Wherever They're From." I'd estimate that I spend at least 20 hours every week actively and non-actively watching the tube.  For at least 40 days, I'll only watch 4-5 hours each week. In the mornings, I'll be actually getting ready and making it to work on time. I'll spend my lunch break taking Max to the dog park and reading my Lenten devotional. My evenings will be full of spending quality time with Marcus, reading, quilting, and blogging! I'm looking forward to cutting out the mindless laziness and spending more time with God and doing really productive things.

I'm sorry if this post is a little boring, but I needed to write this for my own accountability. Feel free to ask me how it's going, or if you're observing Lent, I'd love to hear what you're giving up/taking on.  And stay tuned for updates- I'll hopefully be blogging more regularly now that I won't be watching any more Tabitha's Salon Takeover...man I'm gonna miss that show!

November Babies

Thanks to an article in the Valentine's Day edition of my high school newspaper, February 14th will forever be a reminder of the day all of us November babies were...how shall I put this...thought of.  If you were born on or around November 15, give your parents a high five today. Or don't...that might be weird.

Anyway, it's Valentine's Day and Marcus and I are celebrating with a little weekend getaway to Chattanooga in a few days. For tonight, though, I'm giving him his favorite Little Debbie snacks and these! If your sweetie is a fan of Arrested Development, they might be just what you've been looking for:

via

via

I originally saw these on Rage Against the Minivan, and couldn't resist! You can find these and print for free at Kyle Hilton Illustrates. There are other TV series too, like Breaking Bad, The Office, Parks and Rec, and more. Enjoy!

I hope that whatever today means for you, you feel the love. Happy Valentine's Day!

Wish I Was Here!

Anybody wondering where I wondered off to? Don't worry, I haven't gone far. I took a short break from the old blog and that just turned into a month of zero motivation. Sorry, I've been way too busy finishing season 4 of Felicity and playing Temple Run.

I'm hoping to start a new quilt SOON. The pieces are cut out and now I just need to start sewing them together. I'd love to show you my progress, but the next couple of months are busy busy for the Womacks (the real kind of busy, not the "Season 7 of The Real Housewives of Orange County just started" busy). We have friends and family visiting, a ski trip, one of my best friends' wedding, and lots more coming up in the next several weeks. SO, I'll try to be better about getting on here. I know you've all been hitting refresh on your RSS feeds for days now.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!