I finished an amazing book this weekend. One of the principals at the high school let me borrow it. It is the Autobiography of George Muller. He was a minister and founder of several orphanages in England during the 1800's. It is almost like a journal. If you think you know about faith and prayer, read this and you'll realize how selfish and pitiful you are. It will completely change the way you view finances, trust, and poverty.
Take this quote as an example (the whole book is full of insights like this):
"The Christian should never worry about tomorrow or give sparingly because of a possible future need. Only the present moment is ours to serve the Lord, and tomorrow may never come. Money is really worth no more than as it can be used to accomplish the Lord's work. Life is worth as much as it is spent for the Lord's service."

There is a couple that has just joined our Sunday School class a few months ago that we absolutely love. They moved here last spring away from family, with two children, Stephen and Corinne. Since I could either choose between spending Friday night at home by myself, or spending Friday night playing with two adorable kids, I offered my babysitting services to the couple so they could enjoy a night out and the mom (she stays at home) could take a break from the "terrible threes". We had a great time! They are delightful. And I received the best compliment I've gotten in a long time...Stephen told his dad that "Miss Lisa is the nicest in the whole world."

Dear Lisa,
NBC's anti-Christian program The Book of Daniel has been cancelled! Your efforts, combined with those of hundreds of thousands of other AFA Online supporters, had an impact.
NBC's decision to pull The Book of Daniel shows the power of the pocketbook. NBC didn't want to eat their economic losses. Had NBC not had to eat millions of dollars each time it aired, NBC would have kept The Book of Daniel on the air. Because of your efforts, the sponsors dropped the program. NBC then decided it didn't want to continue the fight.
Even an impassioned plea by Daniel's producer Jack Kenny could not match your participation. "Ordinarily, I would never ask anyone to do this, but the AFA and bullies like them are hard at work to try and prevent you from seeing these beautiful shows, and that is censorship—pure and simple. And that is both un-Christian and un-American," Kenny wrote. His attitude is typical in today’s society. Non-Christians telling Christians what is Christian. I want to thank the 678,394 individuals who sent emails to NBC and the thousands who called and emailed their local affiliates.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Chairman
OneMillionMoms.com

Aaron left for Raleigh yesterday morning and will not return until Saturday evening. He has his big Branch manager meetings. I don't know how much work they are doing, though...last night they were treated to the VIP seats at RBC Center for the State basketball game, and tonight they have a formal dinner at the Hilton. Ooo la la...And Lisa is here in Albany, Ga, teaching and watching movies and trying not to be so scared at the strange noises that only come out at night. Help! Call me! Keep me company!

Today my car hit 100,000 miles. I rejoiced! What a faithful car it has been! This is just a testament as to how good it has been to me. Since 1999 (yes, it has been 7 years) this car has been my reliable transportation and fun ride!

We enjoyed a weekend at home for a change. No commitments, no traveling (although we love traveling), and just the two of us was nice. We thank God for relaxing times such as these. On Saturday night Michael and Rebecca McNeal went out to eat with us at Riverhouse. It was a great meal...but we were actually in the restaurant for 2 and a half hours! We had good company, so we didn't mind. Afterwards, they came over and I ran the show in Texas Hold'em.
This is Friday night (see explanation below). This drummer was incredible...he was like this the entire time they played.
On Saturday we reorganized our closet. There was a desperate need. We completely gutted it and started over...now it is much more convenient and neat. Good teamwork.
On Friday night, Rex and Donna Wilson from church invited us to a concert that their two sons were playing in. It was in a small country church in Sylvester, about 30 minutes from our house. We enjoyed the praise music and the minister who spoke. The band is RiverDale...very talented group of college age kids. Great date!

Abi was born on January 5 to our former Sunday School teachers Michelle and I.B. Parnell. They are proud parents of two precious girls now! We were sad to see them leave for Augusta back in November because of a job transfer. They are an encouragement to us in many ways! Congratulations, I.B. and Michelle. Praise God for His abundant blessings!

Dominick desperately wanted it to be his birthday. He was involved in blowing out the candle, opening presents, and claiming the presents as his own.
The joys of motherhood.
MmMmMmM...this is so good I just want to scream!
Ariana was born on January 17, 2005. She is a very happy baby and we love to be around her. She loved this Dora doll for a present.
We met at Dairy Queen on Tuesday night to celebrate. It was a glamorous birthday- perfect for a 1 year old. Derwin and Marcela (our neighbors and good friends) are proud parents!

A cookie cake? For me? You shouldn't have!

"Some days, doing "the best we can" may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn't perfect- on any front- and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else."
-Mr. Rogers

This was Sierra's first time skiing. She did a great job! We were all impressed with how quickly she picked it up.
















From left to right (because you can't tell otherwise): dad, Joey, Sierra, Aaron, Michael, and Stephen. This is at the top of Widowmaker.
















It was cccoooolllllllddddd this weekend! When we got there on Friday night it was around 42 degrees. On Saturday when we went out to ski it had dropped to 16 degrees, and it was snowing! This melted the slush that was there, so the slopes were a little icy. On Saturday we were able to make only one run over in Western Territory, but it got so windy that they had to close it. When we turned left at the fork to go down Shay's Revenge, the wind was so strong that I actually went uphill on my skis!
Dad still seems to be having a good time in this picture! Who left him to ride by himself?

We played Cranium on Saturday night. It was hilarious as usual. The best part is when you have to use a puppet to get your team to guess what's on the card. Michael is the puppeteer and Sierra is the puppet. I think they were trying to get "Peeping Tom" somehow.
Can't remember what Aaron was puppeting with Michael here. My team won...Dad, Joey, me, and Stephen. We came from wayyy behind to win.


Mom cooked dinner Saturday and Sunday nights. Spaghetti the first night and steak for the birthday dinner. It was a treat to be served. She kept the unit full of chocolate chip cookies, hot chocolate, and all kinds of goodies.

Dad's birthday was Sunday, January 15. He turned 50-something and said it was in the top 5 list for favorite birthdays. We were glad that we could all be there to celebrate with him!

Awwwww...Our baby brother had his 17th birthday on Wednesday, January 11. Hard to believe! Hope you had a great day! We'll celebrate with you this weekend! We love you :)

On Tuesday night we had a surprise Congratulations party for Aaron at CiCi's Pizza. We had over 20 people come to celebrate with him! Sunday school friends and neighbors were there. We made a brief presentation of this trophy (which Mr. and Mrs. Sampson had made for him) and just enjoyed pizza and conversation. Everyone had a bunch of questions for Aaron about what he did. I was so proud! We are so blessed by the support we have down here.

the marathon group, from left to right: Jonathan, Chris, Aaron, Travis, and Trent. This is the morning of the marathon...they had to be there around 4 a.m.!

the marathon group after the race! Still smiling!


view more pictures of Aaron here:

Mussrat had her baby! Mussrat is the mother of two students of mine from Pakistan. In November we had a baby shower for her (see post). Muhsan Ayaz was born January 3. He weighed 9 lb, 5 ounces, and was 22 inches long! She was very tired when we brought dinner over there for them. She had to be put in the hospital for a few days last weekend because of an infection, but is fine now.

From Thursday, Dec. 29 to Monday, Jan. 2, we were in Pasadena, California. We had a blast! It was a special trip because we were able to celebrate our anniversary, Christmas, New Years, and rest all at the same time. Granddaddy and Grandma Carolyn graciously gave us this trip as a gift and we are so thankful. We were also grateful for Ms. Barbara Weeks, who donated this trip at a silent auction for the Boys and Girls Home. She was wonderful to arrange everything for us and let us use her condo. She was so helpful while we were there, also!
Enjoy these pictures. They are not in order but I'll work on that later.

On Friday morning we went for breakfast at Starbucks and walked around to see if we could see something happening. We knew where we needed to go, but didn't realize how far it was. It was about a 1-2 hour walk! It was fun, though, because we walked on Colorado Street, which is very busy and interesting. They were already setting up the seating for the parade. It has any kind of store or restaurant that you could think of. We also got to see some of California's unique architecture for their houses. When we reached our destination, we found the Rose Bowl Football Stadium, and a barn in which you could see volunteers putting the finishing touches on the floats. There were so many people around! Lots of tour groups. Aaron and I were happy to be on our own. We looked around and then headed back...glad we had on tennis shoes. We stopped at a Mexican Restaurant on Colorado St. for an early lunch- the best Mexican buffet we've ever experienced! Our waiter gave us helpful hints on what to do while we were in town. Aaron wanted to go back there to eat before we left, but we didn't get another chance.
The homes are situated on the sides of small mountains! The landscaping is beautiful.
This is empty Colorado St. seating. Where it all goes down...
This is the extremely long line of people waiting to get inside the barn to see the floats being finished. We didn't have the guts to get in the back of it.