It's Beginning to Smell a lot like Christmas

“Our odor memories frequently have strong emotional qualities and are associated with the good or bad experiences in which they occurred. Olfaction is handled by the same part of the brain (the limbic system) that handles memories and emotions. Therefore, we often find that we can immediately recognize and respond to smells from childhood such as the smell of clean sheets, cookies baking in the oven, the smell of new books or a musty room in Grandma’s house. Very often we cannot put a name to these odors yet they have a strong emotive association even if they cannot be specifically identified.” [www.senseofsmell.org]

I find this fact fascinating. It’s something I’ve known for a while, but it sounds more official to put it in quotes and cite a source. Smells can trigger a memory in a flash. This happens to me in the most unexpected times. I think it’s funny when you smell something and it triggers a memory that you didn’t even realize was associated with that smell.

So…what’s with all the talk about smells? I was doing some Christmas baking today! One of the many reasons I love Christmas is because it gives me an excuse to bake lots of goodies. I baked 3 different things today and will bake 2 more things next weekend. I love to give goodies as gifts and I will also be taking some with us to visit Lee’s family and my family.

To avoid forgetting any ingredients, I set out everything I would need today.


I had my recipes handy.


I had my best friend there to help me.


I began by making some of my favorite cookies. I call them KISS COOKIES. They’re delicious!



Kiss Cookies
Ingredients:
48 Hershey’s Kisses
½ cup shortening
¾ cup peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Sugar

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove wrappers from chocolates.
2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into mixture.
3. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 8-10 minutes (I baked them for 7) or until lightly browned. Immediately press a Hershey’s Kiss into the center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Then, I prepared the dough to make some Christmas sugar cookies. You had to prepare the dough and then let it chill for at least one hour. So, I made the dough and as I was about to cover it with cling wrap, I caught a whiff of its scent. This is where the memory/smell thing comes in. I had a flash of a memory of baking Christmas cookies with my grandma. This is weird because #1-I was not using her recipe for Christmas cookies and #2-I haven’t baked Christmas cookies with my grandmother since I was in early elementary school. So, I have no idea if this dough is what her Christmas cookie dough smelled like. Something about that scent, though, triggered my memory. It also triggered my emotions and I felt an instant joy. I don’t know how to put this into words. It’s just so weird/fascinating to me how a scent can do this. This was just a flash of memory/emotions and then it was gone.



I ended up baking over 5 dozen sugar cookies.

Then, I attempted to decorate them. Decorating is not a strength of mine. It didn’t help that it was late and I was tired from baking and cricuiting all day.



Christmas Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
1 ½ cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface ¼ to ½ inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6-8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

The last thing I made is my favorite Christmas goodie- chocolate covered peanut butter crackers.



Something about the combination of peanut butter, Ritz crackers, and chocolate is just SO good!

Well that’s all for this weekend’s baking adventure. Next weekend, I will be baking some more yummy goodies.

What Would He Say to You?

*Disclaimer: By writing this, I am not saying that I have my life together and am living 100% for Jesus. These are the things I feel Him showing me and I need to do these things in my life as well.*

The author of the Bible study I’m participating in gave us something interesting to think about: “determine some of the indicators that the church has fallen asleep in regards to the lost.” This topic has come up a lot in things I’ve read and heard recently. One of the main places I’ve seen this has been in Radical by David Platt. So, I would like to share a few of my thoughts on the subject.

My first thought is fairly short. Most of us by now have probably experienced the death of a younger person. I have only personally known a couple of people that passed away too young, but have known of several others. Death is hard to deal with at any time, but it’s especially difficult when it’s unexpected or the person is so young. When this happens, everyone becomes real concerned about that person’s salvation. Did they go to Heaven? One day I was listening to the song, “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry. In it she says “funny, when you’re dead how people start listening.” It kind of hit me. After people die, everyone wants to talk about them and show so much concern for them. Most of all, people begin to show concern for that person’s salvation. Unfortunately, by that time…it’s too late! I don’t mean to sound negative or hateful, but my question is- why are we not concerned with these people’s salvation when we can do something about it? Why do we only question if they had a relationship with God or not when there’s nothing we can do about it?

My second thought is more complex, so bear with me. Also, in the Bible study, the author highlights this verse: Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, ‘because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of traditions learned by rote.’” This hit me hard. It’s what many of us do. We “play church.” We go to church because it’s what we have always done. It’s what we grew up doing. Sunday’s and Wednesday’s are church days. It’s what our parents taught us to do or we think it’s the “right” thing to do. If these are our reasons for going to church, we’re in trouble! I know I often feel like I’m going to church, singing songs, giving tithe, attending church events, etc. out of habit and routine. What good is it for us to go to church if we are not truly worshiping Him and listening to and obeying His word?

As if this wasn’t bad enough-I looked this verse up in my Bible. My Bible is a study
Bible, so there are notes at the bottom of the page. My notes said that Jesus quoted this particular verse in Matthew 15:7-9 and Mark 7: 6, 7. So, I wanted to see what that was all about. I looked at Matthew first. What I found there was that Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. During this time, these people were practicing Corban vows. This meant that the person was required to give money to God’s temple. By doing this, many of these “religious people” were neglecting their responsibility to take care of their aging parents. Now, giving money to God is a great thing to do, but not at the cost of disobeying one of God’s commands. These people were taking an easy way out. Giving money doesn’t require a lot of work and it made them look good and religious to others. Taking care of their parents would have required a lot of time, effort, and probably money. It probably also wouldn’t have put them in high standings in the church of that day. This part in Matthew didn’t really hit home with me until I turned over to Mark and read Mark 7:9. Now, this is the same story about the Pharisees doing the Corban vow rather than take care of their parents. Mark 7:9 says “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe you own traditions!”

WOW! I have to start a new paragraph for that one. Do you feel, as I do, that Jesus would probably say that to most “church going people” today? We would rather take the easy way out than actually obey God’s commands. Sadly, in most churches, we would also rather keep our traditions than obey God’s commands. Often, these traditions are good things-just as the Corban vow was a good thing. However, if our traditions are keeping us from obeying God-they’re wrong!

Now, I’ll get on my soapbox. Something needs to change. Christian churches are a negative thing to many people because many of them are filled with “pew packers” or “church members” rather than Christ followers. If we all were Christ followers, we would see an impact being made in our world. There are many people attending churches that seem like good people because they do good things, but are they following traditions or are they following Christ? Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that there are people who are true Christ followers. Sadly, though, I believe that they are in the minority.

By ignoring God’s commands, many churches are disinfecting Christians rather than discipling. I would like to quote David Platt from Radical on this subject. This ties in so well and is very powerful. “Disinfecting Christians from the world involves isolating followers of Christ in a spiritual safe-deposit box called the church building teaching them to be good.” He goes on to describe how in this scenario, you measure success by how big your building is and your goal is to gather as many people as you can in it for a couple of hours each week. In this scenario, you define personal success by what you don’t participate in and what you avoid. He ends by saying, “Though thousands may join us, ultimately we have turned a deaf ear to billions who haven’t even heard His name.” Does this sound familiar? It does to me. Now, let me tell you what he says discipling is. “Discipling Christians involves propelling them into the world to risk their lives for the sake of others. Now the world is our focus and we gauge our success in the church not on the hundreds or thousands we can get into our building but on the hundreds or thousands who are leaving our building to take on the world with the disciples they are making. Disciple making takes place multiple times a week in multiple locations by an army of men and women sharing, showing, and teaching the Word of Christ and together serving a world in need of Christ.”

So, thanks for sticking with me and reading all of this. I know it was a lot to read and take in. Trust me, I know-this is only part of what is going through my head all the time.

Praying through this one,
Megan

Random Thoughts on Boy Meets World

During my student teaching (due to being up very early), I discovered that Boy Meets World comes on in the early morning hours. This was one of my favorite shows growing up. When Boy Meets World came on the Disney Channel, Mom would get mad at me for watching it because she said we’d seen every episode already. I couldn’t resist watching it, though. It’s just a great show.

Recently, I remembered that Boy Meets World still comes on. So, I set our DVR to record it. Every day I have two new episodes of one of my favorite shows. They come on in order. When I first started recording them, it was showing the college episodes (probably my favorite). Then, it got to the last episode (which I teared up during) and so now it has started over from the beginning. So recently I’ve been watching the first episodes (probably my least favorite).

While watching this show from the two extremes, I’ve made some observations. The first thing I noticed is that Eric was a normal person in the beginning episodes. He became weirder and weirder as the show went on. He was one of the funniest characters, but weird. Also, I noticed that Topanga was weird in the beginning episodes. She became normal in later episodes. Another thing that has always been weird to me is how in later episodes, Cory and Topanga talked about how they had always been in love and they’d fell in love on the playground as young children. Yet, in beginning episodes, they didn’t even like each other! Topanga was not a main character in the beginning. The last thing I learned on the episode I am currently watching is that in the beginning, Shawn had a sister. He mentioned a sister, yet didn’t have a sister in later episodes.

Anyway, this blog has been completely pointless. It is just some things I noticed while watching Boy Meets World. I think it’s funny how after the show started, it seems like they decided to take it in a different direction. I’m glad they did, though, because I like the direction it went in.

Life Interrupted = Divine Intervention

Do you ever feel like God is trying to tell you something?

That is how I have felt since we have moved to Roxboro. Between discussions Lee and I have had, Sunday School lessons, Revival preaching, reading Radical, and my personal Bible study- I keep hearing the same things. Maybe one day, I’ll take the time to sit and type those thoughts out in a blog. Today is not that day.

Moving away from home has not been easy, but I have learned so much that I wouldn’t have learned if I had stayed in my “comfort zone.”

Currently, I am participating in a Bible study at church called Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted. When the author of this study is speaking on the video, I feel like she’s talking to me.

Let’s admit, we all have plans for our life. Some people have very detailed, specific plans. Others just have an idea in their head of how they’d like their life to go. My plans included marrying the man of my dreams, building my dream home on my parents’ land, being an elementary school teacher at Headland Elementary, having children who could stay with my mom while I went to work, then my children would go to Headland like I did, etc. Of course, God had different plans for my life. In January 2007, Lee and I began dating. Did I see that coming? NO! From the beginning, I had this feeling that he was “the one.” Two years and eight months later, we’re engaged. Then in July 2010, we were married.

Due to this marriage, my life headed in a different direction. This occurred because Lee was called into the ministry. He also felt called to further his education in seminary-Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to be exact. So, here I was going to be-fresh out of college-moving 10 hours away from home! God wasn’t through working this out, though. Lee put his resume out to churches in the Wake Forest area. When we went to visit the seminary in April, Lee had two informal interviews with churches in the area. After prayer and consideration, we felt called to continue on with a church in Roxboro. In May, we flew up for a formal interview. The church called Lee to be their youth minister. He accepted. Then, our plans shifted. Roxboro is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from Wake Forest. We felt like it would be most effective for us to live in the community where we went to church and served. We prayed about this decision too and it was tough-mostly because we were waiting to see where I could get a job. Soon, it came down to time to make a decision. I still didn’t have a job. So, we had to go on faith and we chose to live in Roxboro. God worked it out for us to be able to rent a cute house in a wonderful location from some very nice people. He also worked it out for me to have a job (for more on that see my Sarah blog).

The point of all that was to show that my life is not going according to my plans. Now, understand that I’m not being negative about where we are living-I’m simply pointing out that my life is going in a different direction then I would have ever imagined.

“’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways’ declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8. God’s plans and our plans are usually totally different. This Bible study on Jonah is going to show us how to embrace these interruptions in our lives and view them as God’s intervention. The author of this study points out that all major characters in the Bible had their lives interrupted. When your life is interrupted, it is often God working things out for you to have an impact for Him. The way things have worked out so perfectly for our move to Roxboro really makes me think that this is exactly where God wants us right now. I have no idea why He put us in this specific place at this time. I also don’t always like it (again no offense-you imagine what it would be like to be 10 hours away from family, friends, and everything you’ve ever known). I just know that I want to be in His will.

There’s a quote from the Bible study book that I liked (it’s underlined and starred in my book). It says “It is easy to say that God and His plans are our most essential endeavors. It is entirely another thing to live like this is so.” I hope that through this Bible study and the other things that God is teaching me, I will live like His plans are most important to me. It is so easy to “play church,” but it is time for us to stop playing church and start following Christ. I’ll stop there, though, because that is a completely different thought and it could be a blog in itself.

I’ll end with this-You can’t escape life’s interruptions, but you can change your perspective on them. If you think of your interruption as God’s intervention, you could make a huge impact on the people you come in contact with and do something that will outlive you. As mentioned before, my life is not going according to MY plan, so I’m excited to see God continue to work in my life. I will keep you updated as I learn more.

Living a Life Interrupted,
Megan

My Latest Creations

I am so ready to be more settled in (SOON) so I can do some crafty Christmas stuff. I LOVE Christmas time and I LOVE crafts. I’m also looking forward to all the baking I get to do at Christmas time. I also LOVE to bake. I have had time to do a little bit of it, though.
I made a cute appreciation gift with my class for Cafeteria Workers Appreciation Week. Each class had to make something and give it to the cafeteria workers on a certain day. I gave each student a baking cup…I don’t know what they’re called-it’s the thing you make cupcakes in. The kids wrote a nice note to the cafeteria workers and decorated it. Then, I hot-glued them on a green pipe cleaner and arranged them in a basket with fake grass. So, it looks like a flower arrangement. I thought it turned out very cute and I got lots of compliments on it.


At school, they also had a bake sale for Relay for Life. I decided to help out by baking something. I had a box of Devil’s Food Cake mix with a recipe on the back for Whoopie Pies. I decided to try it out. I didn’t actually eat one myself, but I got a lot of compliments on them and people said they tasted very good. Here’s the recipe:

Whoopie Pies
Cake:
1 box of Devil’s Food Cake
½ cup of oil
3 eggs
¾ cup of water

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
3. Beat cake mix, eggs, water, and oil on medium speed for 2 minutes
4. Drop batter onto cookie sheet and spread in 2” circles
5. Bake 7-9 minutes
6. Cool completely

Cream Filling:
1 container of cream cheese
1 container of vanilla frosting

1. Soften cream cheese
2. Beat cream cheese and frosting until light and fluffy
3. Spoon onto center of a cake and then top with another cake
4. Press two cakes together to spread filling.
5. Chill in the refrigerator to harden


Lee’s favorite cake/cupcakes are yellow cake with chocolate icing. This is usually what I make him for his birthday or special occasions. However, I always make it out of the box mix and can frosting. So, I decided to try making one from scratch. With Lee’s parents coming to visit this weekend, it seemed like the perfect time for homemade cake. I successfully made both the cake and the icing from scratch. I haven’t tasted the cake yet, but I did lick the icing off my fingers and spatula …and let me tell you…it tastes FINE! I just hope the whole thing tastes as good.


So, I’m glad I’ve been able to have somewhat of an outlet to do something I enjoy. I look forward to sharing more of my craftiness and baking as it gets closer and closer to the best time of the year!! I also hope to completely finish my classroom bulletin boards soon and post them on here. My cricut has been VERY helpful in my classroom.

Until next time,
Meggie Homemaker

We're Almost Settled

Well…our house is almost unpacked and organized. Notice, I didn’t say that our house is almost finished. We still don’t have a lot of decorations. We have things that were given to us as wedding presents and things that we already owned. More than likely, though, that will be all we will have for a while. Decorating and preparing a house in general is expensive! I’m hoping to be finished by the end of this month and have pictures up on Facebook. I’m also hoping to have my wedding album ordered and prints from the wedding ordered by the end of this month. I’ve been using Shutterfly to make photobooks recently. I already put together, ordered, and received a photobook of our Rehearsal Dinner and I’m currently working on one from our Honeymoon.

I really love my job. I just feel like I’m never prepared or organized. I’m hoping that will come soon. It all just happened so fast, though, and I’m very blessed to work with great people who have helped me out.

Within the next two months, we’re expecting two important visits. Lee’s family is planning their first visit to Roxboro. They want to come see where we live and work. Then, my family is planning their second visit. Hopefully, Meemaw will be coming with them. I’m excited about these visits! I miss my family!

Speaking of that…here are some other things I miss:
• My family-I don’t even need to explain this one and I mentioned it above. I grew up very close to my family. We had a lot of family gatherings and family vacations. I miss all of them.
• My friends-This is another no-brainer. I have known some of my friends for my entire life. This gets worse when I’m watching TV shows or movies that I used to watch or talk about with my friends.
• Football-Yes, they have football in North Carolina, but it’s NOTHING like football in Alabama. In Alabama, 95% of the people live football during the fall. Everyone goes to Headland football games…you can see people there that you haven’t seen in years. Everyone’s statuses on Saturdays revolve around football. Most discussions on Sunday and Monday (and sometimes on into the rest of the week) revolve around the previous games.
• LaBamba’s-Even Lee admits that he would rather eat LaBamba’s than the Mexican restaurants here. No offense to those places, but I just LOVE LaBamba’s. I get cravings (especially on Sundays) where all I want is a bowl of LaBamba’s cheese dip. The workers there are so friendly and they know you if you’re like my family and go all the time.
• College Ensemble and Simple Offering-I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I really enjoy singing and I miss singing with these two groups. I know that my singing improved greatly because I was a part of these ensembles.
• Comics-I loved reading the comics in the Dothan Eagle. We do get a local newspaper here, but there’s no comics-just political cartoons.
• Harvest Day and the Peanut Festival-I know that these events haven’t occurred yet. When they do, I am going to be very sad that I’m not going. I have attended these events every year for as long as I can remember. The Peanut Festival is a huge deal for the whole Wiregrass area. I have so many memories there from putting together an FCCLA exhibit, to making it a family event, to hanging out with friends there, to going on dates there. I saw a lot of good concerts there. I will miss walking around and viewing the exhibits, crafts, and pictures (my favorite). I will also miss eating all the good food.

Those are just a few things I could think of off the top of my head. However, don’t think I’m miserable here. I really am doing better than I thought I would. Lee and I are settling into our home and married life. We have great neighbors! I have a great job that I love and I work with awesome, helpful people. We go to a loving, caring church where the members have welcomed us and taken care of us. God has truly blessed us and I know that we are where we need to be right now.

Well, I just wanted to give an update of what’s going on with me. Hopefully, my next blog will be giving you a tour of our home.




Until next time,

Megan

Life Lessons Learned Through Sarah's Life

Wow! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind! The Monday after we got here, I had an interview at a school called Stories Creek. This school seemed perfect for me. It’s about 5 minutes from our house and most of the children that go to Theresa Baptist attend this school. So, I went in for the interview and thought it went ok. It was a little intimidating because this was my first true interview and I had to interview with the principal and about 5 or 6 teachers. Several days later, I heard back from the school and I did not get the position. I was highly disappointed to say the least. At this point, Lee and I began to stress.

During this time, I was reading about the life of Sarah in my Women of the Bible book. Most of you know this story. Sarah was the wife of Abraham. Abraham was called by God to leave his home and travel to a new land. Shortly after arriving in the new land, there was a famine. So, Abraham had to take his family to Egypt. The question was why would God call Abraham and his family away from their home into a new place and then cause a famine in their new home. This story seemed to parallel my own life. God called Lee and I to move to North Carolina so that Lee could complete his seminary education. Then, he called us to live in Roxboro to serve at Theresa Baptist Church and be a part of this community. He called us here yet did not provide the job for me at Stories Creek. My first reaction was to question God-why would He bring us here and then not provide me a job? He knows I need a job. After reading about Sarah and Abraham, I realized that my reaction was not having faith that God was going to provide for us. He did know I needed a job and He did call us to live in Roxboro, so He was going to provide for us. I began to have more faith and not to stress. Lee and I just continued to send out resumes and make contacts. That was all we could do. The rest was up to God.

During the next week, I had an interview at a preschool and an interview at a school near the seminary. Both of these places were about an hour away. Then, the craziness began on Friday. Person County’s budget was released and several schools had money to hire more teachers. In all, there were 5 positions available in Person County. On Friday morning, the principal from Woodland called me to set up an interview. I had that interview the following Monday. I also scheduled two more interviews with two other schools in the county. The interview at Woodland went well. I was more prepared for it than I had been before. I felt comfortable and confidant. After the interview, the principal took me on a tour or the school. This was a good sign. Then came the hard part-the wait.

Waiting to hear back from an interview is stressful. You want to be hopeful that you got the job, but you don’t want to get your hopes up only to be disappointed. My other two interviews in the county were scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, the school near the seminary that I had interviewed at called and offered me their position. This was a difficult situation. I didn’t want to turn down a position, but I was hopeful that a position in the county would come available. This was a true test of my faith.

Once again, my life was paralleling Sarah’s. During Abraham’s life, God promised him a son. Both Abraham and Sarah doubted this because they were so old. Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands and offered her servant to her husband to give him a child. Neither Sarah nor Abraham trusted God to fulfill His promise. The results of their decision are still evident today. I worried that accepting the job near the seminary would be “taking matters into my own hands” and I would not be trusting God to provide me a job closer to home. So, I turned down the job offer.

Late Tuesday morning, the principal at Woodland called me to ask some questions about my references. This was more good news. He was contacting my references. About an hour later, he called back to offer me the job. I was thrilled. I had heard so many good things about this school and it was also about 5 minutes from our house. I accepted and began calling everyone with the good news. I went to the central office to sign some papers on Tuesday afternoon.

I began work on Wednesday. We were in a faculty meeting all morning and then I was able to work in my classroom that afternoon. Everyone at the school has been so helpful. I also worked in my classroom on Thursday and Friday. Saturday I went to two teacher stores to try and get enough supplies to get me started. I will be able to work in my classroom Monday afternoon (we have another faculty meeting that morning) and hopefully all day Tuesday. School starts on Wednesday. I will be teaching 2nd grade. Hopefully, I will be able to post pictures of my classroom on my next blog.

God knew the best place for me to be. He had this plan for me all along. How silly it was of me to doubt Him. God’s timing is so different from our timing. I just hope that I will remember this time in my life when I face another trial.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19

~Mrs. Hall (2nd grade teacher)~

The Honeymoon's Over

Well, a lot has happened since my last blog. First of all, we tied the knot! The wedding went so smoothly. It was awesome to see everything come together. It all seems like a blur to me, but we’ve gotten a lot of compliments on it. I am so thankful to everyone who was a part of our wedding. It wouldn’t have been possible without everyone’s help. I hope to work on posting pictures to Facebook soon or you can view our wedding photos at www.annamoreheadphotography.com. You click on the client viewing tab and then click on our names. Next, you enter your email address and the password is hall1.



After the wedding, comes the honeymoon. On Sunday we drove to Helen, GA. Helen was a really neat place and I would love to go back. Lee did an awesome job and picked a cute bed and breakfast for us to stay at. Our room was the only one with private access. It had a living room area and then the bedroom/bathroom area. The owners of the B&B fixed us a yummy breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs and gave us some tips of things to see in the area. Luckily, we took their advice and we were able to see some stuff that we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. While in Helen, we ate the BEST sandwiches we’ve ever had in our lives! If you ever go to Helen, eat at the Old Sautee Store Café. Words can’t describe how good these sandwiches are. Lee wanted to stop back by on our way home!

Then, we had a fun drive to Gatlinburg with plenty of beautiful scenery along the way. We stayed in a cabin in Gatlinburg called the “Cuddle Shack.” It was very nice and secluded. We saw turkeys on a couple of occasions and saw a bear one evening! While in Gatlinburg we visited the Titanic museum, Ripley’s aquarium, rode ATV’s, shopped, visited Cade’s Cove, and tried out a lot of different restaurants. My only complaint was how crowded everything was. I would have loved the Titanic museum and aquarium even more if there had been less people there.

After the honeymoon, we were in Graceville/Headland for a few days and then it was on to Roxboro, NC. I had to say goodbye to my friends and family (for a little while anyway). This was very hard. Our experience in Roxboro has been very positive so far, though. Everyone has been so helpful in getting us settled in. We are renting a home owned by three sisters. It was their childhood home. It is a very cute little house and we are working hard to make it our “home.” This has been frustrating and expensive at times. We are both so ready to have everything unpacked. Living out of suitcases and boxes is no fun.

We are currently on the quest for a new mattress. Our current mattress was my mattress at home and my dad’s mattress before that, so it’s older than I am. Lee hates it. We made the mistake of visiting the Sleep Number store. Those mattresses are amazing! Unfortunately, they are way out of our price range. So, we’ve been shopping around and hope to purchase one soon! I hope it’s soon anyway because I’m tired of testing mattresses. Going into a store and laying on different beds while a stranger watches you and asks you how it feels is kind of awkward.

Until next time,
Mrs. Hall :)

I Can Hear the Bells

OMG! The wedding is almost here!!! I can’t believe it. Time is flying by. I’m trying not to stress out and I think I’m doing a pretty good job at it. The main thing I’m afraid of is that there’s some detail that we haven’t thought of.

I’ve been working really hard in my room over the past two days trying to get things organized. My room has been a huge mess all summer. For those of you who know me well, that’s a big deal. I like my room to be clean and organized. Trying to pack is a difficult task. I’m not a big fan of it, so I hope we don’t have to move too many times. We still need more boxes. I’ve managed to organize my things into piles so that all I have to do once I get boxes is put the stuff in. Of course, there will be things that I will leave behind in my room. There are things that I want to keep, but don’t need them right now. So, my room will be their holding place. It’s going to be sad when I do get everything packed up…my room will look so bare.

Which reminds me, Lee and I went and saw Toy Story 3 on Sunday. It was a cute movie, but it was also very sad at the end. It reminded me of my life right now…sort of. Then, on Tuesday night a group of us went and saw Eclipse. And I will say again that I don’t get the obsession with Edward or Robert Pattinson. Oh well…that’s why there’s vanilla and chocolate. Movies are getting SO expensive as Lee likes to point out to the people working there. Pretty soon, we won’t be able to afford to see movies in the theaters. Those two movies are actually the first movies I’ve seen since probably the end of April or the beginning of May. We plan on becoming big supporters of Redbox.

Well, this will probably be my last blog before the wedding. I still don’t have a job. I have gotten my North Carolina teaching license, though. So, that will continue to be a prayer request.

Hope to see you at the wedding! Next time I write I will be Mrs. Megan Hall :)

Summer Happenings & Readings

I have to begin this blog with the GREAT news….Two Sundays ago, Theresa Baptist Church in Roxboro, NC, voted Lee in as their new youth minister!!! We are so thankful to God for this opportunity. This provides Lee with a job, but not just any job-a job doing what he feels God has called him to do. This also provides us with a church family and a place to serve and worship Him.

The not so good news is that I still don’t have a job. It’s very discouraging because I’ve heard of a lot of the people who I graduated with or other new teachers that I know who have jobs. I’m very happy for all of these fellow teachers, but I need a job too! Please keep me in your prayers and pray that God will provide me a job also.

I’m very excited for this weekend. I will be spending several days in Panama City for my Bachelorette Weekend. Several of my friends will be spending the weekend with me and I can’t wait to hang out and have girl time one last time before getting married. I have been so blessed with such wonderful friends. Some of the friends going this weekend are “old friends” that I’ve know most of my life and others are “new friends” that have come into my life recently.

I can’t believe the wedding is getting so close! It’s about 3 and a half weeks away. I don’t feel ready. We have all of the major things taken care of. It just seems like there are so many little things and I feel like there are probably little things that I haven’t even thought of. It also feels like every time things are going along smoothly, something happens to throw a glitch in it. I know it’ll all work out in the end.

One of my absolute favorite things to do is read. I’ve always been an avid reader. When I went off to college, it got hard to find time to read, so I got to where I only really read during the summers. This summer I have already read several books. With the kids at the daycare having nap time, it provides me with plenty of reading time. I know I should read more nonfiction books, but I just love getting lost in the world of a fiction book. And even though a book is fiction, doesn’t mean you can’t learn something from it.

Here’s a little review of some of the books I’ve read so far this summer:

“It Only Takes a Moment” by Mary Jane Clark-
I got this book because I thought it was written by Mary Higgins Clark who is a really good suspense writer. It turned out that this was a different author, but it was still a suspenseful story. It’s about a host of a morning news show whose daughter and housekeeper are kidnapped. I enjoyed this book until the end. It kept you in suspense and moved along pretty rapidly introducing you to several “suspects.” Then when it got to the end, the resolution seemed kind of cheesy. It also never had any explanation for several of the characters who were “suspects” in the reader’s mind. The only purpose of including those characters was to throw us off. I felt like I’d wasted my time on this one.

“Best Friends Forever” by Jennifer Weiner
This is about two girls who grew up best friends until an event happened in high school that ended their friendship. It takes place after one of their class reunions where one of the girls commits a crime and turns to her long lost friend for help. Of course, there’s also a love story thrown in there. I enjoyed this book overall. This book is definitely a beach read because it has no other purpose besides enjoyment. It gives you a look into the characters lives and how events that you face as a child and as a teenager can affect your whole life. Overall, this was a good book if you’re simply looking to be entertained.

“Hex Hall” by Rachel Hawkins
Our librarian in Headland sent this book home with my mom for me to read because she thought I’d like it. It’s about a girl who is a witch and is sent to a school for witches, shapeshifters, and fairies who’ve misbehaved in the “human world,” so their punishment is being sent to this school. The main character is a misfit at the school and has trouble making friends and fitting in. There’s a mysterious creature going around killing or harming students and the main suspect is the main character’s roommate and only friend. I’ll admit, it took me a while to get into this book. The beginning was very cheesy. After I got into it, though, I enjoyed it. I was ready to know what happened next and looked to see about the second book in the series and found out that it doesn’t come out until March 2011!! This book is being compared to Harry Potter and Twilight. In my opinion, it doesn’t hold a candle to Harry Potter, but I’d probably put it on the same level as Twilight. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I’m ready to read the next book in the series and see what happens. Oh yea….and the author of this book is from Dothan, so that’s pretty cool.

“The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud” by Ben Sherwood
I got this book because I saw a trailer for the movie based on this book that is coming out later this summer. I enjoyed this book from the beginning. It’s a sad story about two brothers who are in a car wreck. The younger brother dies. The older brother lives his life as the overseer of a cemetery. He can see his dead brother at night and plays catch and hangs out with him every night. So his younger brother dictates his life until he meets a girl and she changes everything. This is a very well written book and I would definitely recommend it. It’s not your typical type of story. It took me no time at all to read it. I also want to see the movie, but like all movies made from books-it won’t be as good. 

If you read any good books this summer-I’d love to know about them. I’m always looking for something new to read.

My Life Philosophy Based on the Movie Titanic

In 1997, the movie Titanic came out in theaters. I was 9 years old. All of my friends and I wanted to go see this new movie, but it was rated PG-13. After some convincing, my parents allowed me to go see it. I remember going with a group of friends and we each had little packs of tissue that were put to good use.

I became obsessed with this movie and with its star Leonardo DiCaprio. I had two Titanic posters in my room. I had a Titanic t-shirt. If a magazine had Leonardo DiCaprio in it, I owned the magazine. I had both movie soundtracks that were released and the Celine Dion CD. After buying the movie, I watched it several times a week. I also became interested in the Titanic itself. My parents bought me a Titanic board game and a collector’s box of memorabilia and information about the Titanic. I also started reading books that were set on the Titanic. I wanted to see all movies that Leonardo DiCaprio had been in. Unfortunately, due to my age, I wasn’t allowed to see most of them.

As I got older, this obsession died down. I still liked the movie, but I didn’t watch it all the time or obsess over it and Leo. Also, as I got older, DVD’s began replacing VHS tapes. Last summer I realized that I owned only 4 VHS tapes and all the rest of my movies were DVD’s. I wanted to get rid of those VHS’s and replace them with DVD’s. I got online and found a couple of the movies on DVD for a low price. Titanic was one of those movies. I ordered a DVD copy of it and it arrived in the mail a few days later. Of course, this made me want to watch this movie again.

It had been several years since I had seen it. When I watched it last summer, I saw the movie through new eyes. I had understood the concept of the movie as a child, but I never understood the deeper meanings of the movie. I cried at the end for completely different reasons. Titanic has become my favorite movie all over again and I have watched it several times since last summer.

However, it is now my favorite for new reasons. It’s still an enjoyable movie with a good storyline. It’s my favorite, though, because it teaches us a good lesson about how to live our lives:

Rose boards the Titanic feeling like a prisoner. She feels trapped by the expectations that are placed upon her. We find out that Rose’s father died and left her and her mother with nothing but a good name. He was deeply in debt. So, Rose and her mother have no money to continue living the lavish lifestyle they are used to. Luckily, Rose has caught the attention of a rich man who wants to marry her. Her mother likes this arrangement because it means they will be taken care of, so she is pushing this marriage on Rose.

Jack, on the other hand, lives his life as it comes at him. Despite his lack of money, Jack has traveled all over the world. He only has a few possessions. He got his ticket for Titanic by winning a hand of poker. He even has the good fortune to have dinner with the 1st class passengers one night. During this dinner, Rose’s mother asks Jack if he finds his rootless existence appealing. His reply is one of my favorite quotes of all time that sums up how we should live life: “I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count.”

As the movie goes on, Rose begins to like Jack. This upsets her mother who forbids her to see Jack and reminds her of how her marriage will keep them out of poverty. Rose goes along with this for a while, but during tea, she watches as a young girl is reminded to sit up at the table and place her napkin in her lap. I believe this makes Rose realize that this is what her life will always be like if she goes along with her mother’s plan. She will always live life by the expectations of others. She runs to find Jack and their love story continues through the ship sinking. As Jack and Rose are holding on to a piece of wood in the freezing water, Jack makes Rose promise to survive and to go on and really live her life. Of course, we all know that Jack dies and Rose is rescued from the water. She stays with the 3rd class on their rescue boat and does not go back to her mother or fiancé.

This is the part that always gets me! If I haven’t cried by now in the movie, this is where I start. Near the end of the movie, as we see old Rose sleeping, the camera pans over pictures of a younger Rose about to ride an airplane, riding a horse-like a man- with a rollercoaster in the background (like she and Jack talked about!), and doing other things. She kept her promise to Jack! She really lived life, making each day count, rather than being stuck in a routine lifestyle. If you haven’t watched this movie recently, I would encourage you to watch it and look past the tragic love story storyline and pay attention to the life lessons that can be found.

I wrote all this to say that this is how I wish to live my life-knowing that each day is a gift and making each day count. Today, we may not have expectations placed on us by our class in society and we may not be expected to marry someone to keep ourselves out of poverty, but we still fall into routines. I am also bad about looking forward to things and not enjoying the day that I am living in. I’m not saying that we should live like Jack and sell all our possessions and move from place to place by whatever means possible. I’m just saying that we should all take the time to enjoy life and really live it because you only get to do it once.

Lee and I are about to embark on an “adventure” in our lives. I hope that we will view our move as an adventure and we will take opportunities to try new things and to go out and experience life. I don’t want us to become so consumed with worry about having material possessions and money. That’s not what life is about and none of that will matter in the end. I will close this blog with a quote from another great movie about living life (Tuck Everlasting)-“Don’t fear death, rather fear the unlived life.”

~Megan~

P.S. The Titanic obsessed side of me must share this-I am extremely excited that we’re going to Gatlinburg on our honeymoon, because they’ve opening a Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge. It has all kinds of things like items from the real Titanic, a bucket of water where you can feel how cold the water was on the night the Titanic sank, and A REPLICA OF THE GRAND STAIRCASE!!! You can actually get married on the grand staircase…don’t think I didn’t think about it. I guess we’ll just have to settle for renewing our vows there. :)

Don't Worry....Be Happy

Well…it’s done…school that is…at least for now. I am a college graduate. It hits me sometimes that I am moving into a completely new phase in my life. So far, I have not heard back from any school in North Carolina. It kind of worries me because I really want a teaching job. Another part of me, though, is calm about the whole situation because I know that God is in control. This move to North Carolina is requiring a large amount of faith on our part.

This weekend Lee and I will be flying to North Carolina to meet with the people of Theresa Baptist Church. This church is considering Lee for their youth minister. We have met informally with a few members of the youth pastor search committee. This weekend will be a formal meeting with the whole committee. We will also be attending their church service. I am excited about this opportunity for Lee. I know he desires to serve in a church. However, I’m scared at the thought of flying. I’ve never flown before and I’m kind of nervous. On the other hand, I’m grateful to the people of Theresa Baptist Church. They are trying to help me find a job in their town and they’re trying to help us find a place to live. If you read this, I ask that you will say a prayer for Lee and I this weekend.

We have a lot of unknowns in our future. Where will we live? Where will we work? Will we have enough money to pay our bills? Are we making the right decisions? It can become very overwhelming and very easy to be overcome with worry. What good is worrying, though? Will worrying change anything? We have done all we can do to prepare for our future. We have to trust that God will provide where He leads us.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." –Matthew 6:25-34

~Megan~

Love is a Verb

I’m 2 days away from being a college graduate! My feelings are so mixed right now. I’m excited about the things that I have coming up in my life. I’m excited about the opportunity to try new things. At the same time, I’m nervous and scared of the unknown. My whole life up until this point has been going to school as a student. I’ve been under the care and responsibility of my parents. I’ve lived in the same area and had the same friends. All of that is about to change. I’m getting married. I will have to think of someone else ahead of myself. We’re moving to North Carolina where I will only know a handful of people. We’ll be responsible for taking care of ourselves. I don’t know what the future holds, but we feel that this is the path God is leading us down. So, we have to trust Him and trust that He will take care of us.

One of my new favorite verses and a verse that has been on my mind a lot lately is 1 John 3:18- “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” This is a truth that I hope to apply in my marriage and my life. It is so easy for us to “talk the talk,” especially as Christians. We know all the right things to say. How often, though, do we act on what we say. Love should be a verb. We should show Christ’s love through our actions. Talking is easy, but acting out our love requires faith and it’s not always easy.

I have been growing my hair out for the past few years. I want to have longer hair when I get married. However, this long hair is getting on my nerves. So, I’m ready to get it cut after getting married. The other day, I walked past the mirror and noticed how long my hair had gotten and a thought occurred to me. When I get my hair cut, I can donate it to Locks of Love. This is probably the only time my hair will be this long. Locks of Love requires at least 10 inches of hair. So, my hair still needs to grow some more, but I have time. If cutting off 10 inches requires my hair to be a little shorter than desired, it will grow back. I share this to say that I am trying to begin to act on my desire to help people and love through actions. I’m also hoping that by sharing this, it will keep me accountable to actually follow through with it.

I hope to use this blog to keep my thoughts in order and to share what’s going on in my life with friends and family. I know that there are a lot of changes coming in my life, so hopefully this will make for a good read 

Until next time,
Megan