I'm still here.

Yeah, yeah, I know...I've been really bad about blogging lately. I've been busy(as always) and I just haven't been in the mood to blog. I'm off today so I'm getting caught up on a few little things that I've been meaning to do. So, here is a bit of an update. I now have a blog just for my cakes here. I have a great logo and business cards thanks to my friends at Me2graphics. Hopefully I will keep up with it a little better than I have been doing with this one.


Here are just a few pictures from the last couple of months that I thought were blog worthy.

Meet Elphaba aka Elphie. I have wanted a puppy for years and I finally got one. She is precious! This was after her first trip to the groomers. Somebody must have know where here name came from because they put a green bow in her hair...I love it!

Fuller turned the big 30 this year. We had a great dinner with a bunch of friends to celebrate.

Luke and Shana Camara...some of my favorite people.

Paul and Lynn Barnett(and Luke)...more of my favorite people!

I'm a nerd.

So, I'm sure if you are reading this I 'm not telling you anything you don't already know but I am a little bit of a nerd. The thing I miss about school is getting to discuss books either while reading them or after finishing them. I have found in the months since graduating that I really took that for granted. So, this brings me to why I am posting today. First, let me say that I was very skeptical of the book that I am reading. In fact, I had not really planned to read it because of the people I had heard talking about it. I figured it was just another feel good Christian fluff book. But, my grandmother had it at her house when I was there a couple of weeks ago so I decided I would give it a try. The book that I am talking about is The Shack by WM. Paul Young. Believe it or not, it is actually pretty good. I am only about half way finished with it but I am enjoying it. I've even found myself underlining in it(example 2 of nerdiness). Now, I'm not a theologian but I've not really found anything that I disagree with theologically yet. Let me repeat that I am not finished with it yet so I might have to amend this post later. But, I was just wondering if any of you out there have read it and what you think about it? If you haven't read it, you should...it's an easy read and not very long.

An Update on me

This has been a long time coming and I'm not sure I can fully explain everything that 's being going on in my head in the past few months. I'm sorry for the inconsistency in my blogs but I've either been really busy or not really sure what to write. Several times on my way home from work I have constructed a blog in my head but it just never quite made it to the computer. So, I think I will just list a few realizations, epiphanies, if you will.



1. I have no idea what is ahead in my future. All I know is that I am where I am supposed to be. That was a sort of hard realization for me, someone who did not necessarily think that I would be coming back here for a long time after seminary. But, here I am! I don't have to know exactly what I'm going to be doing in 5, 10, 15 years. All I know is that I am called to serve God where ever I am and right now that is here. Amazingly, I am ok with that.



2. I LOVE my church. I feel like this is what the people of God are supposed to look like. It's hard sometimes being a part of a church plant, but I love it.



3. I'm learning what it feels like to be in love with Jesus. I went through a time when I did not know if that was something that I could ever feel. I read the book "Crazy Love" and it really did change my life. I know that sounds a little overly dramatic but it was just the right thing at the right time I think. I would encourage everyone to read it.

4. For some reason that I can't explain, I think that 2009 is going to be a great year. Now, I am usually very optimistic anyway but I'm just feeling very hopeful for the future. For some reason I LOVE my life right now. To be honest there is really nothing extraordinary about my life at all but I think my whole outlook has changed. I know that God is in control and as long as I am serving and glorifying him in all I do then I am right where I am supposed to be and I can't ask for more than that.

5. I can't say that life is easy and I have no stress. I'm pretty stressed all the time because of my job but I am trying hard to not let it get me down. In the past I totally let my job take over my life. It's still very overwhelming and gets me down sometimes but like I said earlier, my whole outlook has changed. My job is my ministry. As long as I do it to glorify God, that is all I can do.

I'm not sure if all that makes a whole lot of sense but those are just a few of the thoughts and conclusions that I've come to in the last few months. I'm sure there is soo much more I could say but I've realized so much since I have been back in Alabama that there is no way to put it all down in words.

Jake is here!

Jacob Miller Tatum arrived today at 1:51pm. His parents are my cousin Kristie and her husband Trent. They are going to be amazing parents. Jake is perfect and looks like both mom and dad. I'm going to go see them again tomorrow and hopefully have more pictures!