What do you Smell Like?

Tonight at church the pastor spoke about having the "aroma of Christ". It was really convicting to me. The passage he spoke on was,

2 Corinthians 2 :14-15
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

To have the "Aroma of Christ" we should:

-Be around those who "smell"
Surround yourself with people who challenge you and encourage you to be more like Christ. There are many of those people in my life, some whom I have never met. I have only met Christina through her blog, but reading her story and her response to God's will for her family encourages me to "smell" more like Christ. My dear friend Susan encourages me to reach out to new friends and to "smell" with my children. And Lola, through the ups and downs in her life I very rarely hear her complain about the circumstances God has brought before her.
So I proudly tell each of you that you "smell". Thank you.

-Consume God
We can read our bibles, pray, attend church, but do we allow ourselves to be consumed by God? I know I don't. We need to let God get our attention. During those bible reading times and prayer times give God more than a half a second to speak to you. We should wait on Him, have a conversation with Him.

-Live it
We need to put these things into action. Serve others. Love others. Aroma is the by product of activity. If we just sit around on the couch all day we wont "smell". Serving Christ will cause a change in your activity, a change in your life, and a change in your "smell".

Just like Christina is bold in her faith I want to live out my faith in all areas of my life as well. I want people to know that I "smell". I probably don't "smell" too bad yet, but I hope that in time I will be overcome with the aroma of Christ.

Bouncing Hurts

BigZabba got a small cut on her finger today. I put the band-aid in the spot where she told me it hurt, but then she told me I put it in the wrong spot.

I told her that the cut must not hurt too bad if she doesn't even know which spot really hurts.

She explained, "The hurt just bounces around."

8 Miles

The second half was a little shaky, but oh well. It is done...on to the next run.

More Pappy-isms

My Dad reminded me of a few more Pappy-isms:

When Pappy agreed with something you'd said he would respond with "Darn Tottin!"

Pappy loved good food and would express it by saying that he "didn't eat to live, but lived to eat." He ate bread at every meal, his "Pusher."

When he passed a cemetery, he'd always asked the uninformed in the car, "I wonder how many folks are dead in that cemetery?" The uninformed would make a quick estimate of head stones and offer a response to which Pappy would reply, "No, all of them!"

Hello Dinner!

Tonight I was inspired by The Pioneer Woman. My tummy is so happy tonight. I hope that you will make this and be happy too.

Enjoy!

Young Love

UPDATE - per Susan's request, here is lovely little me in 4th grade.

This is a love letter that I got while playing on the playground in 4th grade. There are still dirt smudges on it from my grimy little hands.

Enjoy!

They're Working!

I know that the photos aren't working. Actually none of my slideshows are working. I don't know how to fix it. Maybe DaddyZabba can come with an answer. Sorry.

UPDATE - they are working now! yeah!

10 miles

It's not super consistant, but I did it. My time isn't half bad either. I would like to complete the half marathon in 2 hours 15 minutes, so based on this run I just might make it. We'll see. The wavy line is my speed. It really should be straight, meaning that I ran at a consistant pace, but I ran at the beach and it was a bit windy, so it was hard to be consistant, plus I had a few walk breaks. Oh well, it is what it is.

Balance

September brings many new beginnings. BigZabba has started school, I have started a Bible study...everything is just starting. So why am I already feeling stressed? I think I am feeling like I am already juggling too many things. I am training for the 1/2 marathon in October, AllyZabba has been steady lately, getting BZ up, ready for school and arriving on time is getting draining already, plus all the "regular" Mom/Wife duties; laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, then Bible study, and trying to squeeze in social time for BigZabba's friends and myself. It is all good things, but I feel overwhelmed already. I had a great talk with Susan today and her suggestion was to set boundaries. I really want to do that, but I just don't know what those boundaries should be. Strict AllyZabba office hours? Fix lunches the night before? I am not sure. Maybe once we get into more of a routine things won't feel so busy. Any sage words of wisdom for me?

To top it off I went to get my hair cut on Wednesday. I know that I have short hair to begin with, but it was getting "long" for my style and it needed a trim. Well, my stylist was stressed and cut off alot! I didn't really notice at the time, but once I got home and showered I noticed that it was quite a bit shorter than I would have liked. So, on top of feeling overwhelmed I feel self conscious since I feel like I look like a boy. My hair is shorter than DaddyZabba's hair. I guess the good thing is that it will grow.

Thanks Lola

My buddy, Lola, on a whim took BigZabba for the afternoon. BZ ended up staying pretty much all day and had a fantastic time. Thanks friend!

(she is going to love that i posted this picture!)

His Laugh

A few of you commented that you would have liked to hear Pappy's laugh. Here is a clip of him laughing, as well as another harmonica tune!

Enjoy.

A Tribute

Pappy's funeral was a hard yet wonderful time. The service was honoring to him and his life, honoring to my Grandmother, their church and most importantly to the Lord. Pappy lived his life loving people and loving the Lord. That was evident in the stories that were told and by the people who came to say good-bye. He was such a wonderful man that it was/is hard to say good-bye. It really doesn't seem real that he is gone.

BigZabba helps me remember that we can be sad, but we should also be joyful. In her bedtime prayer the other night she prayed:

Dear Jesus, thank you for my fun day I had today. It is sad that Pappy died, but help us to have joy because we know that he had Jesus in his heart. Amen.

DaddyZabba put together a wonderful slideshow for Pappy's funeral. I wanted to share it with you.

The beautiful song is "Holy One" by our friend, Becki Ryan.

Enjoy!