Big Announcement!!!

WOOHOO! Introducing my soon-to-be-sister-in-law:



My brother-in-law, Kevin, proposed to his girlfriend, Emily last night! YEAH!!! That's right...there is going to be another Emily Parker. So excited!!

Congrats you guys!


Also, I have become slightly obsessed with coupon & deal searching. Kyle & I have been on a grocery budget to help with LifePoint's Revolution campaign for awhile. But, I've recently been inspired by our friend/photographer, Lissa Anglin, to look for good deals.

I got all this + an 8 pack of individual wrapped Reeses (that I left at school) for $1.56 today at K-Mart. (well actually for $6.56, but I had a $5 coupon that printed after going yesterday)

The mascara, Reeses, and bowl cleaner were all FREE. (they are having double coupons)

Yesterday at KMart I got all this for $33. (was supposed to be $28 but I had a slightly less than brilliant cashier that didn't know how to use my $5off$50 coupon...but I did get a $5 & $3Q for next purchase!) It may seem like I still spent a lot, but look at the items that were purchased!



Earlier in the week I got this for $20 at WalGreens...plus I got $7 back in register rewards. ($5 on a gift card thanks to my less than brilliant cashier...I had to get the manager to get 5 of my $ back :))


The two previous weeks I've got this in my $40 budget.

This one included a $10 Kellogg rebate & the Snapple & 1 DP were free. (my total went from $64 to $27 at Shop-n-Save that day!)


I got a $10 off immediately at S&S (for spending $50), I got a $20 rebate from Kraft, and a $5 off my next purchase coupon as well! Plus with $5 meat deals, I basically got about 10 lbs of meat for $15.

I'm having to be creative with some of my purchases to eat healthier & stay within WW points..but it's working!
I'm learning that shopping at WalMart really isn't always cheaper!!

Three Years

This is belated but with school starting for me it has been slightly crazy! On August 12th, Kyle and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary!! It feels like just yesterday we had a wedding and at the same time it feels like we have just always been together!

I don't say often enough how much Kyle means to me and how blessed I am to have him as my husband. He has made me a better person and is a wonderful best friend. I respect him and the decisions he has helped us make in our lives. It has been incredible going on this journey with him! I love that dude.

Since our anniversary was on a Wednesday (promotion Wed at that) we celebrated by going to youth! :) It was an exciting night because all our new 6th graders joined us! (we have 10 moving up!!) On Thursday we stayed in downtown St Louis at the Hilton (thanks to priceline!), ate a little Texas Roadhouse, and hung out! Then, on Saturday we went on a River Boat dinner cruise down the Mississippi with Chad & Emily Imboden!

Our "official" anniversary picture at youth:

Us at the Downtown Hilton:

Sort of an arch view room: (pretty good considering we did Priceline!)

Going on the dinner cruise:

Our friends, Chad & Emily: (and my hair cutter girl!)

Good News

Here is some more of the Rob Bell book that I wanted to post: Good News.
(again lengthy, but good stuff)

Another truth about the church we're embracing is that the gospel is good news, especially for those who don't believe it.

Imagine Person X becomes a Christian...Let's say she starts living out Jesus' teachings, actually taking him seriously that she can become a compelling force for good in the world. She is becoming more generous, more compassionate, more forgiving, more loving. Is she becoming a better or worse neighbor? If we are her neighbors, we're thrilled about her new faith. We find ourselves more and more grateful for a neighbor like this...The good news of Jesus is good news for Person X. It's good news for Person X's neighbors...It's good news for people who don't believe in Jesus...And if it is good news for the whole street, then it's good news for the whole world.

If the gospel isn't good news for everybody, then it isn't good news for anybody.

And this is because the most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people and convince them to join. It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display. To do this, the church must stop thinking about everybody primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believe or nonbeliever. Besides the fact that these terms are offensive to those who are the "un" and "non", they work against Jesus' teachings about how we are to treat each other. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, and our neighbor can be anybody. We are all created in the image of God, and we are all sacred, valuable creations of God. Everybody matters. To treat people differently based on who believes what is to fail to respect the image of God in everyone. As the book of James says, "God shows no favoritism." (James 2:1-13) So we don't either.

Oftentimes the Christian community has sent the message that we love people & build relationships in order to convert them to the Christian faith. So there is an agenda. And when there is an agenda, it isn't really love, is it? It's something else. We have to rediscover love, period. Love that loves because it is what Jesus teaches us to do. We have to surrender our agendas. Because some people aren't going to become Christians like us no matter how hard we push. The just aren't. At some point we have to commit them to God, trusting that God loves them more than we ever could.

And one thing to keep in mind is that we never arrive...The way of Jesus is a journey, not a destination. On a journey, the scenery changes. A lot. We can prepare for some things but not all. We make mistakes, figure it out as we go along, and try new things. Failures are really just opportunities to learn.

Serving Others

I opened up a book I read a couple of years ago, "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell, to look at some of the stuff I highlighted. I opened up right to an excerpt that I think describes exactly our goal at LifePoint. It's a little lengthy, but good stuff!



Serving Others
I am learning that the church is at its best when it gives itself away. And this is because blessing is always instrumental. Let me explain. In Genesis 12, God tells a man named Abram that he's going to bless him, and through him, he is going to bless the whole world. This is the birth of the Jewish people, whom God wants to use to reach everybody. This blessing is instrumental in nature. God wants to use Abraham, to flow through him, to have him be the conduit through whom God can bless everybody else. Abraham is just a vessel. God doesn't choose people just so they'll feel good about themselves or secure in their standing with God or whatever else. God choose people to be used to bless other people. Elected, predestined, chosen - whatever words people use for this reality, the point is never the person elected or chosen or predestined. The point is the person serving others, making their lives better.

The second significant idea in Genesis 12 is that Abraham's calling is universal. It is for everybody. All kinds of people all over the place are going to be blessed by God through Abraham. God has no boundaries. God blesses everybody. People who don't believe in God. People who are opposed to God. People who do violent, evil things. God's intentions are to bless everybody. Jesus continues this idea in many of his teachings. In the book of Luke he says, "I am among you as one who serves." He not only refers to himself as a servant, sent to serve others, but he teaches his disciples that the greatest in his kingdom are the ones who serve. For Jesus, everything is upside down. The best and greatest and most important are the ones who humble themselves, set their needs and desires aside, and selflessly serve others.

So what is a group of people living this way called? That's the church. The church doesn't exist for itself; it exists to serve the world. It is not ultimately about the church; it's about all the people God wants to bless through the church. When the church loses sight of this, it loses its heart. This is especially true today in the world we live in where so many people are hostile to the church, many for good reason. We reclaim the church as a blessing machine not only because that is what Jesus intended from the beginning but also because serving people is the only way their perceptions of church are ever going to change. This is why it is so toxic for the gospel when Christians picket and boycott and complain about how bad the world is. This behavior doesn't help. It makes it worse. It isn't the kind of voice Jesus wants his followers to have in the world. Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn't as bright as it could be.



The following section was great too...I'll post soon! :)