It wouldn’t be McMichael (+ Kay + Cash) Family Vacation without…

• Bowl of reese’s and kit kats (I should’ve taken a picture)
• Cherry Coke
• Hours of walking with my sister
• Reading….lots of reading.
• Low country boil
• Meal Schedule
• Sub zero temperatures in the condo
• Uncle Jonathan making the kids stop with the nonsense (jonathan, I don’t think you read my blog…but just in case you do…I’m kidding)
• Putt putt tournament
• Barefoot church
• Tag & Hide n’ Seek
• Sitting on the beach
• Playing in the Waves
• Swimming in the poo’
• Putting up (and taking down) the EZ up
• Swapping Chairs
• Pizza on the beach (this year it was pizza at the pool)
• Mother’s Day breakfast for MaMa (a little after the fact this year)
• Golden Griddle
• Many many trips to the grocery store
• Coffee Drink with Amy from that little icecream shop
• Tennis Clinic
• Coffee every morning (it’s especially enjoyable on the porch)
• Helping Papa load and unload the car
  
• Crying once everyone goes their separate ways

New additions (not necessarily traditions – but maybe):

• 5 guys burgers and fries (you need to hear caroline say that!)
• Sky wheel (“get a little closer to heaven”)
• Golf cart rides (and the golf cart not being stolen)(that’s always a plus)
• One Night Guests (playing it by ear went a little differently than we thought)
• Trip to Urgent Care (got to make 2 new friends – Dr. Rhoades and Icthamal)
• A Tan (ish)! (it’s official – using sunscreen allows you to get more tan than not using sunscreen)
• Getting to stay an extra night (and come an extra night!)
• Eli the babysitter (?!)(not really...it’s a long story)
• Guitar Hero
• Huge gigantic sand castle fortress fort thingy

I have a wonderful family...i'm so very thankful for our yearly tradition...thankful that we can be together and leave wanting more...thankful that we can laugh and share life and do it relatively peacefully...and sad to think it’ll be another whole year before we’re together at the beach again.

thankful thursday

• i did something right in the IT department! quickbooks is loaded and working on my new computer.
• i have a new computer! (i am unthankful for the crazy virus that completely disabled my other computer….but VERY THANKFUL for the new one)]
• thankful that all the files were able to be gotten off the old computer before the crazy thing decided to be completely inoperable.
• amanda brought me a coffee drink to work this morning!!! she’s a pleasure to work with (and for more reasons than just the gift she brought!)
• there’s a slight possibility we may be going to the beach a night early
• we’re going to the beach for a week!
• God’s faithfulness to a friend in a tough situation….and her obedience.
• God did something sweet for me…i don’t really want to talk about it cause it’s quite personal in nature (usually i’m all about sharing anything and everything….but not this time). it’s just something sweet and i’m thankful.
• my friendship with carey. time sitting on the couch with her yesterday.
• the way it all just seems to work out.
  

congrats Buddy!!!!!

Blog: plan a-russian adoption
Post: We did it!
Link: http://hisplanforusinrussia.blogspot.com/2011/06/we-did-it.html

i am in awe and amazement of God's goodness and faithfulness. this precious boy doesn't have a clue what an amazing family he's being welcomed into...and what an incredible aunt God is giving Him. kaci lesley - aka buddy - ranks up there with my sister and with bean as one of the world's greatest aunts. fo sho.

and i'm giggling a little bit because it took me a while to realize that the title of the dunlap's blog is not "plan a russion adoption" but rather PLAN A - russian adoption....as in God's plan A!!!

rip the sticker off

heads up - this is going to sound bitter....but it's more hyperbole than bitter. i'm not bitter...slightly disappointed....but not bitter.

so...i signed up a few weeks ago to give blood at the bloodrive at CCC today. i made an appointment. i lined up a babysitter. i drank plenty of water. i went ready to be poked and endure a little bit of pain (it hurts...some people say it doesn't hurt - and i believe them - but it hurts me). i went ready to get my cookies and juice for a job well done!! i got there on time. i read the information. i got a fun little sticker that says "i made a difference today." i did the intitial paperwork/interview/question answering. i had my finger pricked. i had my iron tested. it's low - an 11.5. the red cross requires it to be 12.5 or higher...but, being the sweet organization that they are, they allowed me to get a second opinion. so i had my finger pricked again (from a finger on the other hand). the iron from that finger was even lower than the iron from the first finger - 11.3. 2 fun band-aids, a wasted babysitter (not wasted on alcohol, thankfully), and one disappointed girl later i returned home. of all my times giving blood, this is the first time i've been rejected. wonder which is worse - the pain of the needle or the pain of rejection? JUST KIDDING.

if i was dramatic i would have ripped the sticker off and stomped out of there. just kidding. i do kind of feel like ripping off the sticker....not sure i've made much of a difference today (maybe i'll wait until AFTER i've given blood to put the sticker on!). giving blood is such an easy and tangible way to help others - not to mention that it costs you nothing AND you get yummy cookies and juice!! (commercial break is over now) i wonder if i'll be eligible to win the $3000 giftcard they're giving away....one might have to have actually given blood to be put in that drawing. oh well. maybe next time (i heard the trick is to load up on iron vitamins a few days before you go to donate....). i wasn't doing it for the giftcard anyway.

i love eminent

though i don't know that i'm spelling it correctly...i love it. it's the first tuesday of each month...a variety of churches and leaders and locations....time set aside for corporate worship - and they've maintained that it truly is for worship! no hidden agendas have crept in...no crazy programming has whittled the worship time down. an hour and a half of worship. beautiful. if you are in or near columbus on the first tuesday of the month, feel free to join us. not sure where it is in july....i'll find out.

here are some of my favorite lines from songs that were sung last night:

• “…the worst of me succeeded by the best of You.”


• “…all i want in this world is more of You….”


• “ i will carry your name - all of my days…in every way….


• “what can make me whole again? nothing but the blood of Jesus….”


• “…there’s a hope that’s setting me free….there’s a light defeating my darkness….there’s a joy that’s setting me free….He’s the light defeating my darkness.”


• “renew us with Your life.”


• "i long to stay in Your presence, it's where i belong..."

He's so good to let us worship Him...or even attempt to worship Him.

i love crave.

i love crave. love it. love HIM.

today’s verses were from Jeremiah 33. i read the verse about how God tells us “marvelous and wondrous things…things you can’t figure out on your own…” and i just stopped and asked Him if He would tell me something marvelous and wondrous…and here’s what i heard (for me “hearing” from Him in most cases means that there is a thought/sentence in my head that isn’t from me….and i know i am to write it down…and the next thought comes as i’m finishing writing the first thought/sentence...and the next part comes as i'm finishing up the other one - ie, it comes little by little - if i try to "listen to it all" and get it without writing it down, the thoughts stop...anyway...here's what i feel like i heard today - and i felt like it wasn't just for me...but for all of us!)

“I take what is broken and make it whole. I take what is tired and weary and pour fresh strength in. I take what is you and make it into Me. sometimes it's sort of like a broken toy – I delight to fix what you are bringing to me because 1)I made it and 2)I know the delight that will come to you in the fixing. You whole – how I made you and how I intend you to be – that delights me! (I am delighted in you in your brokenness, too…) I love fixing you – whether it’s a tiny repair that’s needed or a remodeling of an entire part of you – I love it when you come and let me work on you – so much of the “work” is simply Me being with you – loving you, enjoying you, lavishing you with my love and affection. Yes, child, My lovely child, just come…let Me hold you – in the holding will come healing. you can’t explain it…just trust that it’s happening. it may not “feel” like much – but it is! so significant is the time you spend with me!”

much love for the Vignery's

Top ten (+5) favorite memories/things I’m going to miss/reasons why I love the Vignery’s:

• julie’s willingness to dive right into community (showing up at Friday Fun way back when…that really wasn’t so way back…)


• going to Callaway Gardens together


• bags of clothes that just appear in our car and happen to fit caroline perfectly


• the way they give and serve – community group leaders, worship team, sound tech, and in other ways that I’m not even aware of!


• the honor, integrity, courage, and sacrifice that is demonstrated in their service to our country…and the humility that surrounds jeff’s leadership.


• julie’s willingness to host Friday fun from time to time


• her desire for things to be in their place


• the way jeff and julie are raising their children unto the lord (“if it feels hard, then you’re probably doing something right” – quote from jeff)


• julie’s the one that introduced me to Sacred Parenting – my life will never be the same! :)


• the way jeff & julie go on dates (ballroom dancing!) – they intentionally make time to be together and invest in one another and in their marriage. they set an example that other couples would be wise to follow!


• seeing Jaxon and Jadyn baptized


• their “lucky family” Christmas card – so beautiful!


• the way julie lives, appreciates and models modesty


• sopapilla cheesecake (and having the recipe in my box!)


• the way they have handled this move – i really think julie should write a book or article or SOMETHING on how to transition well - the vignery's have done a great job of celebrating/releasing the past and looking to the future/embracing what God has in store!

there are probably other things i'll think of as soon as i hit “publish post” …but these are the ones that immediately come to mind! here's a link to julie's blog if you want to keep up with them...or want to get know this fabulous family!! http://www.jugglingthejs.blogspot.com/

Jeff, Julie, Jaxon, Jadyn & James – the cash family is going to miss you! Corpus Christi’s gain is definitely feeling like our loss. Our thoughts, prayers, friendship and love go with you! Grace and peace to you during this next season of life – and always.

modesty monday

i’ve been thinking about modesty an extra lot again lately (and laughing at friends' accounts of immodest women...laughing....but feeling sad at the same time...makes me sad to think that some women don't have a clue - or just don't care - how their dress, actions, etc. affect men...and saddened by the thought that some women gain a (false) sense of worth from the attention they are drawing to themselves....but that's probably another conversation for another day)...

back to what i've been thinking - i've been thinking about how modesty is so much more than how we dress (though that’s a huge part of it!!) — i think modesty can accompany every aspect of how we carry ourselves in the clothes we’re wearing. we have the opportunity to be modest with our whole selves!!! what a privilege! what a challenge! i’ve been thinking about modesty in action, in our of choice words, in the way we say our words, in our “looks” (how we use our eyes!), in the way we pick things up (bend at the knees, ladies, bend at the knees! and keep your back perpendicular to the ground if possible!!!), in the way we are aware of our clothes – if they slip and slide - even if they “cover” everything when you’re looking in the mirror -- modesty may be compromised! there are so many ways we can be modest…maybe i'm just old fashioned in my thinking....and that's ok with me...just my thinking nonetheless. i'm not offended if you don't agree...

if you're at all interested in modesty, can we talk about it more? can we have these conversations openly and without judgement? can we gently call one another out on these things? that may be asking a lot. but i sure want to be called out on immodesty….so please, if you ever see me wearing/doing/being anything that is immodest PUH-LEASE tell me. i won’t be offended – i’ll be thankful. if you want me to do the same for you, just let me know.

(by the way, i desire to be called out on anything you see in my life that doesn't match up with being who God has made me to be....so please feel the freedom to confront me/constructively criticize me/speak the Truth in love to me/say what you feel like the Lord wants you to say to me!)(just be gentle if it's something that may be "hard" for me to hear!) :)

48 + 48 = 100??

for those of you who are super prone to pay attention to detail, you may have noticed that in the "archives" there are 48 entries for 2010 and 48 entries so far for 2011...that totals 96....not 100 (so why the "100th blog post?!"). BUT there are 4 posts that i've written that i haven't posted (posts in hiding!)...so 48 + 48 + 4 = 100! want to know what the unpublished posts are?

1- some more thoughts about the little boy that drowned here in columbus (an answer of sorts as to why it affected me the way it did)(random fact: i do not know how to properly use effect and affect)

2- a post entitled "facebook does not define me" :)

3- a particular tough "amy q" (about complete freedom and God's desire for us...i've answered it...but i don't know that it's necessarily complete)

4- the original list of "amy q's" (well, the entry is just the q's that are left to be answered...as i answered them i took them off the list....)(so that one won't ever be posted...)(it's my reminder to answer them! i need to finish answering them....)

just wanted to clear that up. i know you were all losing sleep over the fact that the numbers weren't adding up. rest easy. case solved. happy sleeping.