I'm heading off to a birthday party for two of my favorite girls.  There are a few kids in this world that I am totally addicted to, and these girls are definitely near the top of that list.

These cutie pies have the same birthday, 2 years apart.  

This is what I made them for their birthday. 

They're for them to hang on their wall (if their mama wants to), and they match their bedroom.

They're pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

And even though you're party is a day early and your real birthday isnt until tomorrow...

Happy Birthday, Anne Elise and Ava!! I love you girls!!  

I thought I should show you how cute Miss Jane Bradley looked today.  

I've been doing alot of thinking lately on hospitality and "home ministry," and it seems I'm not the only one. Several posts on the topic have sprouted up on the internet lately, so you might have seen them already.  Since both Lydia Brownbeck over at The Purple Cellar and Nicole over at 168 Hours have both said so many helpful things on the topic, I'm not going to try too hard to add something new to the mix.  I think both of these ladies are much more experienced in the area than I am (as if that's hard!). 

I do want to say a couple of things, though, while I point you in their direction.

What do I mean by "intentional hospitality"?  How is that different from the regular kind?

Down here in the south (particularly Mississippi, which is "The Hospitality State"), hospitality usually means throwing parties, baking cookies or casseroles for people, sponsoring an event, or some other form of entertainment-oriented activity.  You can't help but think of Southern Living or Mississippi Magazine as your standard.   Being hospitable has become more of an image issue than anything else, as people try to keep up their facade of the quintessential wife, mother, homemaker, and hostess.  People are hospitable, but only if they've spent weeks beforehand making sure that their floors, windows, houses, makeup, and children are pristine.

Hospitality from a Christian and Biblical standpoint looks different, though.  It's not an issue of image, but of relationship.  The purpose is to provide an environment suitable for serving, ministering, witnessing, comforting, and developing & nurturing relationships with both Christians and non-Christians.  The point isn't to impress, but to make people comfortable enough that walls and guards are dropped and the gospel is visible.

And that's why it's intentional.  Hospitality from a Christian perspective is meant to have a reason and a plan behind it, even if that reason is nothing more than developing a deeper relationship and the plan is just to get comfortable enough that you can invite them over a second time.  It means watching what you do and say because you understand that every aspect of your life is a witness to your relationship with Jesus.  It means being real with your guests.  It means using each and every opportunity as a chance to point people towards the cross.  Even when your opportunity for hospitality is nothing more than a passing conversation in the doorway of your home, it's an opportunity that God has placed in your lap and it shouldn't be overlooked. 

Now let me be the first to say that I am NOT that great at this.  I want to be, but it's a constant struggle.  It's so easy for me to get busy and wrapped up in my classwork and jobs and forget that part of my calling is to minister to people in my home.  I forget that the several times a week when either Nate or I have a friend at the house, it's a God-given chance to show Christ to another person in a comfortable and non-threatening atmosphere.  And I don't mean that I'm supposed to give a full-on gospel presentation every time I have someone walk through my door.  But I am supposed to be encouraging, uplifting, comforting, and patient.  I am supposed to have conversations that are glorifying to God (whether it's with my guest or with my husband). I am supposed to be looking for chances to encourage others in their relationship with Christ and with others.  I am supposed to be honoring the Lord with my words, actions, and attitudes.  I am supposed to be an example as to how a Child of God responds to the Father.

The catch to this is that I should be seeking out opportunities to do these things.  I should be excited about encouraging others and showing Christ to them.   I have to be intentional about watching for the chances that God presents to me and Nate to witness to others in our home, and I should jump on them.  When guests are there, I have to be intentional in the way I handle myself and my family so that Christ is glorified.  I have to be intentional about learning about and investing in my guests, so that I can learn to serve them better.  Most of all, I have to intentionally keep Christ at the center instead of my own selfish motives.  

Intentionality is the hard part.. and all of your life should be intentional. Hospitality should be, too.

John Piper sent out a challenge to women back in 1995, and yesterday Lydia Brownbeck over at The Purple Cellar brought it to my attention again.  Of course, I wasn't aware of the challenge back in 1995, because I was in 5th grade.  But I have seen it since on the Desiring God website, and it is an article that has stuck with me.  It's a challenge that women should take seriously.

I'll post the challenge for you here.  The original is here.

For the most part, moving to the house in Bainbridge is definitely an upgrade.  To begin with, it's a BonhamBuilt house, which speaks for itself....obviously superior [but I'm not biased].  It's bigger, has a built-in office, a bonus room with a full bath, a dining room, high ceilings, a great master bath, an AWESOME master closet, and lost of other great features.  Normally, we wouldnt have chosen to move into one this size [2298 sq ft] just yet since we don't have kids yet, but with the real estate market the way it is, this turned out to be the best business decision for Nate.  It's part of being a builder's wife, I guess... you never know when you're going to have to move into one of the houses. We're keeping it on the market while we're living there, though, so we could be booted out before we know it.

While I'm definietly going to enjoy all the perks of living in this house, there are a few things I'll miss about the old place.  And they might not quite be the typical things you'd expect. Bear with me.

I loved living on this street.  It's right off of Hwy 51, so it's close to everything.  Not too far from the interstate, the grocery store, a Wal-mart, a post office, or anything else we visit on a regular basis.  I could run to Blockbuster during a commercial break and make it back in time to see the rest of my tv show.  It was right in the middle of all of it, but you'd never know.  We never dealt with noise or traffic.  Plus, since we were right on the lake, it was easy to forget that we were smack-dab in the middle of the city.

Speaking of the lake.... that's probably the number one thing I'll miss.  I loved having my 100 ducks and geese who would eat of my hand. I loved being able to sit out on the edge of the lake and watch Nate and Stupidcat fish.  I loved watching for baby ducks whenever it started getting warm. Bainbridge has 2 lakes in the front of the neighborhood, but they're not in my backyard like this one was.

We also had that Purple Martin house that Nate built by the lake, and I loved watching those little guys.

Speaking of houses that Nate built, the dogs sure are going to miss theirs.  It's heated, air conditioned, and solar-lit. 

I'll miss the little birds that sang in my chimney every morning....sometimes they were annoying but most of the time I enjoyed it.

I'll DEFINITELY miss having a keypad on my front door... I hate going back to digging through my purse to find my housekey when I've got a handfull of groceries or schoolbooks.

I've grown pretty used to Chewy, the crazy sweet lab next door. I won't miss him tearing up my fence, though.

I'll miss having evergreens in my front yard... I love that berry tree.  The yard at the new house is all brown and dead right now.

And this might be a weird one,  but I'll miss having a post office drop box right at the end of my street (dont make fun of me).  You never know how much you love those things until you cant find one ANYWHERE.  That little drop box was my friend.

Don't get me wrong... I LOVE the house in Bainbridge.  But it just doesnt seem right to move out without paying the proper respect to our sweet little Cobblestone house. It saw some good times.

And it's just sitting there waiting on a new little couple to move in and have some good times of their own.  Maybe its you...?

The internet is up and running finally, but my computer has decided that it hates Comcast.  Nate's works. The desktop works, but my laptop is apparently PMSing.

We have finally gotten all moved in, I think... or at least as moved in as we're going to get.  There are still alot of boxes we're leaving packed in the garage in case we have to move again sometime soon. Since this house is still on the market (Nate's keeping it up FSBO), I know that the second I unpack the last box, we'll get an offer.

Nate found an awesome deal on a TV, so now the ghetto TV drama is almost completely over (I'll fill you in later). We also got a new couch and a loveseat on the way from the ever-so-budget-friendly Miskelly's. They won't be delivered for a few more weeks though.  This time around, we have instituted a "no pets on the furniture" rule, which they HATE. This way we'll keep the couches in decent shape for longer than 4 years. Well, actually it's a "no DOGS on the furniture" rule, because I have found it impossible to inflict my rules and regulations upon Stupidcat whatsoever. She does whatever she wants, allthewhile shooting me dirty looks. I swear we have a cranky teenager living with us.

I am taking some pictures of the place tomorrow, and I'll post them so you can see.  We'll hopefully have the old house on the market this weekend, and we're expecting (and crossing our fingers!!) that it will sell quickly. 2 friends of ours have sold in that same neighborhood in the past couple of weeks. One was on the market for 8 days, the other for 3 days.  It looks promising!

In the meantime, we're just studying, studying, studying.  And that's an understatement.  

Still no internet at the new house... it should get connected today (along with the TV), so tomorrow I should be back up and running.

Tonight I'm going to the Ladies Retreat with Madison Heights Church, and I'm really excited.  Unfortunately, it looks like Nate is getting sick, and I wont be here to take care of him. You should check on him for me.

Next week I'll be back in all my blogging glory. Get excited.

No internet at the new house yet, so no posting. 

I'll be back to you soon.

Go Giants!

(ps I'm watching the game -read:commercials- at Michelle and Channings on Tivo... don't tell me how it ends. Not that I care, really, but if I know the final score, I'll have a really hard time NOT blurting it out to the two males in the room who DO care! So, Go Giants!)