Groups of People

Recently, Christopher and I were asked, "What have you guys been up to, do you socialize a lot?" Our response was the predicted one of "not much" but after we thought about it, every day that week we had spent time with at least two or more people. 

 

This is an extremely blurry picture of our friend Kelton.  (Did I mention I busted my iPhone?)  Chris knew Kelton from AU and I met him this summer through church.  Kelton is a super nice guy, one with plenty of ambition, honesty, and humor.  He has become a dear friend to us.  Kelton has a vision.  He got a group of people together for a dinner and "vision night" (I hate to use that phrase but that's essentially what it was).  His dream is to start a clothing company that provides clothing as well as opportunities for employment for the "least" in the community.  Keep your eyes out for his baby,TYMBR (That You May Be Rich), in 2015.

 I don't know why God asks us to do things that we know we will hate but He does.  This summer He told me to start a ladies group.  I'll admit, I was against it at first.  My history with groups of women have usually led me to feel inferior and insecure, caught up in drama and discussions about things of which I have no interest in.  In the past, I've mainly stuck with one or two good girlfriends and limited it to that.  God saw that limitation and decided it was time for me to quit barricading myself from intimate friendships with women.  The picture above shows me and a couple of the girls out to eat for the holidays.  

It's been a learning experience, one that teaches me something every time we meet.  I don't think I've been the best leader I could be with them- I'm scared of them most of the time!  It's written that the worst of us can still be used.  Because I'm arrogant, I don't consider myself to be in the "worst" category.  But I do know I'm not the best.  And yet we still meet on Tuesdays and real friendships are occurring.

Christmas was a blur but it was the best blur.  It was the first married Christmas for me and Stigall.  Our tree was decorated with "Our First Christmas" ornaments and nothing made me happier than seeing it lit through the window when I pulled in the drive.  Stigall grew up with a very different Christmas than I did.  We had to find a balance between traditions and what we actually wanted to do.

Here's Santa pulling gifts from his bag the evening before Christmas Eve.  Mama came up and overdid (as usual) for us with presents.  The presents were wonderful but they didn't compare to time spent with her.

I don't know why I keep taking pictures with my phone.

Mama and I have an ongoing joke about how "corny" she is.  The first present she made us open was, as she said, a "silly one".  The picture shows the Stigall family in our matching Chaps pajama sets.  If you are wondering why Christopher's shirt has a paw on it, it's because he was wearing the one for Cedar.

Thursday nights are something we always look forward to.  It's when our homegroup meets.  We eat supper and have wonderful conversation about all kinds of topics with Jesus at the root of it.  We took a break for the holidays but met up for dinner at Sullivans, the nicest restaurant in town. 

At dinner they handed us a card saying that they decided they are going to spend a weekend finishing our house for us.  Can you believe that?  That's community.  That's loving each other. 

Christopher and I babysit three kids every other Wednesday.  They are a lot of fun.  The night before our last chance to watch them before Christmas, I got this text from the middle kid.  He wanted to invite us over for dinner, he was making tacos.  He's got whipped cream on his face because he also made strawberry shortcakes.  Those were for the school party so we weren't allowed to have any.

Most of the family is at least an hour and a half away except for our cousins in Simpsonville.  We love hanging out with them and their girls (you might remember May, I've posted about her before).  We met up with them for lunch at Copper River.  Somewhere in the conversation Christopher and I got sucked in to taking the girls to the mall while the parents went to Verizon Wireless.  I'm not sure who got the worse end of that deal but we did get to drive the minivan and we liked that.

I don't have other pictures of my in laws because of my not-so-smart phone.  My mother in law made a point to celebrate my birthday this week so it would be special.  She even decorated.  She made a cake that, while it tasted amazing, looked like a meatloaf with "Happy Birthday" written on it in ketchup.  We played games with the parents and brother and (soon to be) sister.  I love game nights so I hope it becomes a regular thing.