Carter's Weekend in the Country

This weekend was the first time that Carter went all by himself with Nana and Poppie to Bladon Springs. We had a great time hunting and decorating the hunting camp. We went up Friday afternoon and Carter went hunting with Poppie while Nana and Uncle Mike went to other stands. When Carter and Poppie arrived at their shooting house, they found that the roof had been blown off. They spotted one doe on Friday and on Saturday they saw 4 doe and a bob cat. Carter was asleep when the doe came in the field and Poppie had to wake him up to see them. But Carter was the first one to see the bob cat and pointed the "cat" out to Poppie. Mike saw some wierd bucks on Friday. There were 3 bucks in his field, all of which had very strange racks. None were any that he wanted to kill at this point in the season. The top two pictures are the first doe that I have seen this year. The "Mama" doe came into my patch by herself and then about 20 minutes later, her baby came running into join her. My heart just starts racing when a deer of any kind comes into my patch. I just love watching them!

Party Down at Nan Seas

Our staff Christmas party was held at Nan Seas Restaurant on Thursday night. Linda, Julie, and I arrived about an hour early to put up a few decorations. The party this year just seemed a little unusal to me because so many of our staff have left this past year. I especially missed Scott and Robin Payne, David and Susan Johnson, and Garrett and Melanie Hughes. They were a part of our staff for so long and it just didn't seem the same without them. Drew played the guitar and we sang some songs and we also played a fun game. The meal was delicious. As I think about next year, I can only wonder what our staff will look like. Hopefully by then, we will have a new senior pastor. I look forward to what God is going to do at Dayspring and with the Dayspring staff. I praise God for allowing me to serve and work at Dayspring!

A Note To My Readers

Many of you have mentioned to me that you have not been able to make comments on my blog because you do not have a blog yourself. I think I have changed some settings where anyone can now leave comments on my posts. If I am understanding correctly, you may post your comment (please be sure and sign your name), click on anonymous, then publish your comment. I hope that works.

Last night, our sweet Carter stayed with us while his mom and dad went out to dinner. Here are a few pics I took while he was here.

Dayspring Volunteer Christmas Brunch 2008

It's become a tradition. Every year at Christmas, the staff of Dayspring throws an appreciation brunch for all of the members of Dayspring who volunteer and help us in the office throughout the year. This year it was held at Donna Hartmann's home. As usual the food was fantabulous and we all ate more than we should have. Above are a few pictures of the staff and volunteers enjoying the morning.

Scandalous Mercy

Two words in the lyrics of one of the songs that our choir sang in our 2008 Christmas celebration jumped out at me...... Scandalous Mercy. I have never thought of that adjective to describe mercy,.But how perfect a description. The amount of mercy that God showed me by sending His Son to earth as a baby and then allowing Him to give His Life for me cannot be described better than scandulous. The title of the song written by Travis Cottrell and others is "This Is Our God." The lyrics of this verse go as follows:

This is our God, living and breathing

Call Him Courageous, relentless, and brave

This is our God, loving and reaching

Scandalous Mercy and mighty to save.

What great lyrics! Our choir did a great job and a lot of hard work went into learning all of the music. Thank you for leading us in such a great worship experience . To God Be the Glory!

Who'd a Thunk It?

At the beginning of the 2008 college football season, who among Bama fans thought they would be playing in the SEC championship with an 11-0 record? I can assure you, not too many!!! What a turn around Bama has made this year. It has been a great season and we look forward to the Sugar Bowl!!

Bama played better than the score shows. Tim Tebow was certainly someone to contend with. He is a team all by himself. I think he may be the most talented college player I have ever seen play. I predict Florida wins it all!

It was a well played game and a lot of fun to watch. Roll tide!

Rain, Rain, Go Away! Thanksgiving 2008

If I had to pick one word that would describe the Thanksgiving weekend of 2008, it would be "soggy." We had overcast skies on Thanksgiving day, but beginning Thursday night, it began to rain and it didn't stop until Sunday morning when we came back to Mobile. The rainy days didn't spoil all of our fun however. Some of the guys hunted in the rain, but no bucks were in their sight.



Randall, Thomas and I were the first to arrive in Bladon. We went up on Wednesday to get things cleaned and ready for everyone on Thursday. Thomas went hunting while Randall and I cleaned and did things around the camp. After Thomas came back, we went to Coffeeville to eat hamburgers at the Dairy Bar. Morris, Julie and Ainsleigh arrived late Wednesday night. Brandon, Brittany and Ryleigh arrived Thursday morning, followed shortly by Mother, Daddy and Brad. Ryan, Elizabeth, and Carter stayed in Tuscaloosa and came in on Friday. Everyone brought a dish and we had more food than we could eat in a week! Randall fried two turkeys and we
had two hams as well. My parents and Brad went home late Thursday afternoon.

Friday, Morris, Julie, Brittany and I went on a shopping excursion to Gilbertown and Butler. We bought a few things and ate lunch at the Hardee's in Butler. It was nice just to get out of the house. When we got back to Bladon, Ryan, Elizabeth and Carter were there. Late Friday afternoon, Brandon's family and Thomas left and went back to Mobile. Ryan's family and Trey left on Saturday morning. They were all wanting to get back home to watch the Alabama-Auburn Game with friends. Morris, Julie, and Ainsleigh stayed and watched the game with us in Bladon and headed home right after the game. The game was great! Alabama won 39 to 0!!!!!!

Roll Tide!

Despite the rain, we still enjoyed the time with our family. Thank you God for all the blessings you have given me!