What are you ashamed of?

Shame. . . it is a word we all know.

What are things we are ashamed of?

• Our Failures
• Our Past Mistakes
• Our Parents
• Our Children
• Our Jobs
• Our Spouses
• Our Financial Standing
• Our Decisions
• Our Abilities

We go through life with regrets and things that we wish we would have done differently. These things, as I have discussed before, define us really. Without the actions of yesterday, we can't take actions today. In my bible study today, I read the following:

1 Phillipians 1:20 & 21 KJV
According to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall I be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ should be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.


1 Phillipians 1:20 & 21NCV
I expect and hope that I will not fail Christ in anything but that I will have the courage now, as always to show the greatness of Christ in my life her on earth, whether I live or die. To me the only important thing about living is Christ, and dying would be profit for me.


1 Phillipians 1:20 & 21 The Message
I can hardly wait to continue my course. I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardlesss of whether I live or die.They didn't shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I'm Christ's messenger, Dead, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose.

This scripture setting is when Paul is in jail and he is essentially saying, you may imprison me as a person, but you cannot imprison what God has done in me and will do through me. We can't wait until someone 'imprisons' us before we really look at what it means to proclaim Christ and what he means to us.

What this says to me is that I am to be ashamed of nothing, especially my relationship with the Lord.

Isn't it easier to talk to people about the new gift you got for Christmas, how your kids are doing in school or where you are going on vacation than to tell someone about the love of Jesus. People who don't know Jesus as Savior don't mind telling us their stories of how they live their lives and the personal choices they make. So, while we should not shove our beliefs down the throat of others, we should look for openings in conversations to be able to share our relationship with Christ and the difference it has made in our lives.

In the book of Acts, when the Holy Ghost, came to dwell in the believers, it gave them power to proclaim who and what God is. Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me. . . .and unto the uttermost parts of the earth"

We should never be ashamed of the blood that Jesus shed for us, without it , we would be not only miserable inside, but lost for eternity. I am so thankful, and I pray that in the coming days, that God give me a boldness like never before to share what He has done in my life. I am thankful for repentance, for baptism in Jesus Name and for the infilling of the Holy Ghost. Without Him, I am nothing!

Blessings!

Shelly

My crazy life...

What a Wonderful Weekend. . .
We are such a blessed family. We have incredible friends, an incredible church and an amazing family. Our weekend started off so full of fun. We received a gift of a night at the union station hotel in Nashville. It was spectacular. We ate at J Alexander’s downtown, which was awesome! The only complaint (which is my complaint only, Brad was excited about this part because apparently, I am a bed hog) is that the bed was so big I felt like I was sleeping alone. I missed my husband…

Saturday morning I had planned a surprise from Brad. We met an old friend (and a new one) for breakfast and it was a great time sharing what the Lord is working in our lives. We ended up spending three hours together and I am thankful that God has re-introduced these folks into our lives for this time of growth and strength to each other.
The rest of the day, we spent the day finishing some Christmas shopping, meeting the Pastor and family for some lunch, and watching the movie “7 Pounds”. This movie was hauntingly sad but really showed love and compassion that I’ve not seen in a Hollywood film in a while. I would recommend it to you for the simple fact of it makes you think about what you have and that we should treasure it.

Sunday morning we had an awesome church service. I have included some pictures of where the Carter’s decorated the place for Christmas. It looks so pretty and the work they put into it shows.

Sunday afternoon brought the first Christmas celebration to our home. Chris and Leigh and Marlena came down and we had ham and meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, pretzel salad and chess cake bars for lunch. Present time was a blast, as always. We truly realize how blessed we are to have family that loves and cares for us. Seeing the kids get a ton of neat stuff was fun to watch.

The kids played video games all afternoon and then we watched Wall-E, which is now a family fave.

So, our weekend was good. . .and it was a good thing, because Monday was yucky for the most part.. but the ending was good. We took the fam to O'Charleys and I did the photo shoot seen here despite the non-cooperation of my family. Brad finally put his hand over his face so I would quit taking pictures.

"A Long Winter's Nap"

Well, somehow I lost two hours while on the couch this afternoon. Maybe it was the greyness of the day, or the warmth of the throw but I was out like a light. It is so odd to drift off to sleep and then awaken in the dark and think, just for that second, where am I and how did I get here. That little jog back into reality gives you cause to look around the house, make sure the kids are good and the doors properly fastened. Of course, I discovered Caitlin is STILL shopping with her friends and Logan is still at the computer and Brad went back to work after his lunch, so all is well in the castle we call Deason. No need to let the dragon out to slay something in the moat, all is well, all is well.

It has been a while since I blogged and I have missed it. Some mornings I sit down to do it and so many thoughts go through my head, I am not sure which one to go with, not sure if the emotions I am feeling should go on paper (i.e. the internet) for the world to see. I can't imagine blogging and then going back two hours later to try and delete a thought and hope no one read it yet. I have figured out something great about blogging that I am sure my husband prays daily I will apply to my oral communication. Be careful what you say, your words mean something. It is easier when we talk to not care if we mean something, but when the words are in stone, it feels different.

I was mad at my husband this morning. Usual man stuff, just not 'helping' me the way he should, in my so humble opinion. I didn't want to like him, I did love him though. As the day wore on, the anger faded and I found myself almost disappointed, do you ever feel that way? Like you want to be mad and maybe pick a fight to see if you can win it? That is the mood I had on this morning. So we were instant messaging and he said something funny and I told him, "Quit trying to make me like you" to which he has some witty, stupid comment and before I knew it, not only did I like him again, but I was laughing and wishing that our morning had been better. That was a 'piece of life' that I can never get back as my husband likes to say. Was it worth being mad and not communicating and spending time together? No. . This same husband whom I fell asleep on during his lunch break, instructed Logan"Let your mom sleep". Now I am going with this was done in love and not in hopes that after a nap I would be more pleasant to be around..LOL

I've included a picture from last Sunday, December 14th. We are starting to look smaller (especially him). He started before the surgery at 416 and last Saturday(weigh day) he was 341 so he is down 75 lbs. now. Which is awesome and crazy at the same time.

Also I have included, as one of my friends calls it, (thanks stu) a shameless plug for the sermon Brad preached on Sunday. The message can be found here at http://www.churchofchampions.com/current_series_at_church_of_champions.html

As I have discussed before, I know I am not the poster child for preacher's wives, nor do I think I want to be. I think that those of us who have a relationship with Christ need to grow and accept people for who they are and not what we think they should be. For those who don't know Christ, is important that those of us who don't quite fit the mold of 'Sunday school teacher' ' pastor's wife' 'sanctified sally' can show the world the Love of Christ and let them know that it takes loud mouths and people who are not perfect to round out the posse for Jesus. I am proud of who I am and I have grown and learned a lot in the last 4 years. I have learned about who I am and who I want to be.

My husband said on Sunday, when you say you want to be a God Chaser and you sincerely mean it, then God is going to start cutting the things out of your life that keep you from putting Him first. This was my favorite thing. I am excited that I can look at my life and see the parts that God is cutting out and filling in with His plan for me.

I hope everyone has a wonderfully blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year, just in case I get lazy and don't blog before then.

Much Love!

Shelly

For Brad. . . Be Still and Know Part Deux

Crazy Kids

Loving Boy

Our Party... Gotta love em'

Love this one!

Today this is for Brad. If no one else read it, that's okay. Brad you are the love of my life. You are the steady rock in my storms. I know that today is rough but I also know that as always, we will face this together. I dug out some wedding pictures and have been sitting here laughing about that day. Smiling at the joy on our faces and laughing at some of the photos of Stephen and Jeri Beth, man are they crazy! I just wanted to post a few pics from that day and brighten your spirit with them. We are still going to do as always, Be Still. . . .

I love you!

Upon this Rock. . . I will freeze my toosh

We have this rock at church. It is outside the building and is huge. I love to take pictures on it. So much so that one church goer told me last week he is going to put a sign up that this rock belongs to the Deason's. Kinda like a designated parking space. Anyway, this rock is where we took our first picture for our weight loss journey which at the time was a great idea. . . well now, it is time to take pictures again and I have discovered that every 6th Sunday the rock seems to get a bit colder. Oh well, I have about three more times of that before it starts to warm up, right? LOL

This is our first picture - October 2008

November 20, 2008 - Not mad - just cold booty. .

November 20, 2008 - Thinking warm thoughts