YARD DAY!!

Just thought I would add some photos of our recent yard day! God is good - we are getting stuff cleared out and we love it! Spring - here we come =) A special shout out to Tim for the use of his trailer - You were a God send!! Thanks for your help!

25 Random Things About Chantell

1. I entered a beauty pagent when I was little, thought I won the whole thing, but I had really lost. Brittany was in the audience laughing because she knew I had lost but thought i won!



2. I have lived at the Grand Canyon, and on a ship!



3. I have literally traveled around the world ..in a circle...in a ship...amazing!!



4. I have been a missionary, school social work intern, index card shipper, youth leader, car broker, life coach, fitness manager and a sales person - all in the 41/2 years since I graduated college!



5. I absolutely love to dance, love to dance, love to dance...but I FREEZE when given the opportunity (not as much now as I did in college, but it's still bad!)



6. I have auditioned for at least 3 plays, all of which I have NEVER been given a part! (I settled for working backstage for one!)



7. I was Prom Queen my senior year - I thought it was a joke until my friend said "Chantell, go out there!"



8. My boyfriend Jordan is the first boyfriend I've ever had!



9. My dad and family is from Australia, so I have dual citizenship for the U.S. and Australia



10. I've been playing tennis since I was 3!



11. My dad, uncle, and aunt were all pro tennis players!



12. I have 5 siblings! 1 twin sister, 2 older step brothers, one 5 yr. old half brother, and a 11 yr. old half sister.



13. I have hiked from one rim of the Grand Canyon to the other: 23+ miles
and biked from Athens, Ga to Jacksonville, FL. for the UGA vs. FL football game - it took 3 days! (no worries, i had a teammate and we swapped off, and I was with a group)



14. I saw a kid get shot in middle school, when I was walking down the hall. He's fine, someone got ink on his shirt so he shot the guy.



15. I got to carry the torch in middle school for the Olympics and go to Georgia Olympic Day b/c I was the fastest girl in the school (my sister didn't run, she was faster ;)



16. I have been skydiving, but i am scared to bungee jump.



17. I went to the State finals for the high jump when I was little!!! (please note that I am 4 "11)



18. I ran a 1/2 marathon last year with my sister, I NEVER wanted to do it or thought I could.



19. I LOVE to laugh out loud, but usually only my closest friends can make me, or if I do something stupid!



20. I love music, and would love to put my life on a soundtrack



21. 80's movies inspire me SO much it is ridiculous (Britt too!)



22. I really like crafts, and art projects



23. My passport is pretty much filled up, I love to travel and God has blessed me to be able to go to every continent but Antartica.



24. I love to be picked up and thrown around, I consider it great affection by those I love and one of my absolute favorite traits about my boyfriend is that he does this All the time.



25. I love accessories and colors, and i love to celebrate EVERYTHING!

God is cost effective & cares about drains!

I in no way mean to belittle my Savior and Lord, I do however mean to let you know that he cares about our seeminly "little things".
I choose to share my experiences in way of 2 stories, both which happened to me very recently....

One fine day 3 young ladies shared a bathroom, they all had lots of hair, a lot of their hair fell out, and it got clogged in the bathtub drain (so we speculate at this point in the story). One of them has a nice boyfriend who also has past plumbing skills, he attempts to "snake" the drain, pour "Liquid Fire" down the drain (which apparently sets the things in the drain on fire per the smoke that came out!)...all to little avail. One of the other roomies also "snaked" the drain b/c she really likes getting digusting things out of stuff..also to no avail. SO... last Sunday, as the same particular roomate is in her Sunday best, she feels like God says, "Snake it again", "no God she thinks, I already tried that", to which she feels God respond, "Sure, just try it again". Um, to say it lightly...a LOT of hair came out of the drain! Yeah, our drain now works again! Please refer to the following Bible passage and story :Luke 5:6 "And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking." Apparently God continues to work with the same principles as thousands of years ago! And just as God cares about fishing, He also cares about plumbing! Praise the Lord!

2nd story:
So, I was shopping at Target for journals for my Sunday School class. I am mentally thinking, "i want to pay $1 per journal, and it to be cute." I go to Wal-Mart: $1.68 per cute journal. "mmm, God I don't want to pay that much." God says, "Don't get it". I say, "No God, I have to, i already looked at Target, there aren't any." ....I walk away with no journal and I pretty much need to get it today!
Next morning, Mom and I go to Target, there are 3 cute journals for $1 each! "Yeah, thanks God, but I need 5 more!" I think, well, I'll just get some at the other Target, but I must go now, 1 hr. before work, and I have to get them today!
So I go to the next nearest Target, where are the cute $1 journals? And before I can even finish looking............. I spot a package, a package of 3 cute journals for $1! 3 cute journals for $1 - "God, that's more than I was asking for!" "And God, they are cute and small, so they can go in the girls purses or Bibles". So I purchase my cute journals, & I shall take the other $1 each journals back to Target. And as I was walking out in the Target parking lot I said outloud to my Father and friend, "God, your cost effective."! And I love that I have this amazing relationship with God that we can talk about the "oh so 'little' things"!.....and He answers!
" Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us."Eph. 3:20

LIBERATION

".. As we let our own light shine, we conciously give other people permission to do the same. And as we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others"

I'm sorry to say that I do not know the author of this quote, only that it is one of my favorites, and my heart cry. I know that Nelson Mandela used this in one of his speeches about freedom from apartheid in South Africa, and that it drips with the essence of how God intends us to live.

My "shout out" goes to Kaye Woods tonite - for being a liberator. One who by her very presence helped liberate me to sing karoke with she and Amy. Thanks Kaye for helping liberate me to sing! - I know I will get to the point where I can sing without others, but for now - this was huge. So thanks for moving beyond the realm of caring what others think and walking in the freedom in which Christ calls us to.

As silly as this may sound to some reading this: those closest to me know that I LOVE to sing and dance - a huge cry of my heart, but those same people also know that I rarely give myself the permission to move beyond myself and my fear of what people think.

But One Day... not too far off, as I become more and more comfortable with the woman God created me to be, and understand His unending love (for those of you who think there is no connection with these and how we live - your wrong!) I will walk in this skin, and the passions, dreams and desires He puts on my heart, and as I continue to grow, I will be a liberator, as we all are for the ones who are two steps behind in the freedom that we now walk in.

So Thanks Kaye! It goes way deeper than you realized!

Farm Day At 275!!

I was cooking lunch, when all of a sudden I heard Angela scream, "Amy! There's a cow!"

Yep! Our backyard had been visited by some hungry, travelling farm animals. A bit of an oddity to be seen in the woods rather than a big farm field. And even more of an oddity that we live in a neighborhood.

Angela and I ran inside and grabbed cameras and some carrots (we still aren't sure who's carrots they were...sorry allison or chantell if they were yours, but they came in very handy!)

Brings back memories of living at Berry. This might be as close as I get to my dream of living on a ranch...so I'm lovin' it!

Happy Birthday Chantell !!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Happy Birthday dear Chantell and Brittany!

Happy Birthday to you!

Yay!! Love you!

~your roomies

Finally!...Our First "Family" Photo

Life 27:5 Style

I was about to post this on my personal blog, but after writing this I asked the Lord for a title... "life275style" came to mind.  I thought, what??  Then I remembered that Psalm 27 was the beginning of this little journey the past several days.  And when I looked up the specific verse that had caught my attention, it was verse 5...thus life 27:5 style.  God cracks me up!

I thought, maybe, I was just coming down off a sugar rush from all the delicious holiday candy I had eaten over the week. I sat in bed Christmas night and found myself in tears. Nothing terribly wrong. No drama or trauma in my life. As the last song on the cd played, I tuned into the line of the chorus..."do I trust You Lord?" That's when the tears came.   Somewhere over the past month this tiny twinge of frustration had been growing in my heart. I think I was somewhat consciously aware of it...maybe? I just knew that I had a hard time focusing, I would get irritated rather easily, my compassion and patience towards others was rapidly dwindling.  I knew something was off.

"God...I think I trust You," I blurted out. "The problem is You're not talking...I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be trusting You for? Where did You go? You seem to have gone silent and unresponsive.  Why won't You just come and meet with me? "

My heart grew heavy and stayed heavy the next few days. And again,  since I'm not one to sit down and cry a lot, I chalked it up to the fact that I had eaten way too much sugar and so now I was just being an emotional and irrational girl.

(Funny how when we pray and ask the Lord for more of Him, or to open our eyes, or to help us...we sometimes totally miss the answer to our prayers. As in my case, I concluded it was sugar-detox, and so dismissed what was really going on in my heart.)

After a fun and productive Saturday, I settled in for the night. It was not very long before that somewhat sick feeling re-appeared in my heart.

"Ok, God. Let's talk. Is this You? I know over the past couple weeks, You've had me thinking through a lot. There are several things You've put Your finger on and said, "let go." I would think I should be experiencing peace, but I'm still find anxiety in my heart.  Where are You?"

My questions were met by complete silence. Then after a few minutes Psalm 27 came to mind.

I picked up my Bible and read. I got to the verse about God being my shelter and immediately as I read that, something in my heart connected.  verse 5-"For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock."  I still had no idea what God was saying. But I knew it had something to do with God being my shelter. In the past, when I've pictured God being my shelter, I've always seen that in the context of comfort or rest. This night, for the first time, I saw His shelter as a place of protection.   This was the first of the little bread crumbs I felt I was following.

"Ok. You'll protect me. Thank you." Somewhere in my heart that calmed an unidentifiable fear that was hanging out in the back of my mind. And with that, I went to bed.

Sunday morning was here! Yay! I get so excited about Sundays lately.  I've really enjoyed Pastor Marc's sermon's lately. It seems that the past several weeks they have met me right where I'm at each Sunday. This Sunday, he talked about how God is our peace. He referred to God being our shelter. Hmm...that's my 'word for the day'...he had my attention.  He then went on to add the next piece of bread crumb for me-- Shelter comes as we submit ourselves to the authority of God.

Authority. Just as the word 'Shelter' resonate within my heart, the word 'Authority' did as well.  I went home deep in thought...continuing to ask God to expound on this.

"Lord, You have put Your finger on some areas of my life and I feel like You are asking a lot. And yes, I am willing to give these things to You. Typically when You ask me to surrender things people don't understand...some think I'm a bit ridiculous...in fact, God...some of Your requests of me cause me to feel a bit odd at times. However, You are promising to protect me. Ok.  I think I'm good with that.  But why do I still feel so disconnected from You? Won't You just come and sit and talk with me like You have so many times before?  I'm getting so frustrated! Please continue to speak until I understand. Remove anything in my life that is a barrier to me experiencing You near again."

Sunday night, unexpectedly, a group of friends and I drove up to IHOP (International House of Prayer) in north Atlanta. On the way up, I mostly just stared out the window and prayed. "God, please confirm if all of these bread crumbs that I feel like I'm following are from You. I'm beginning to feel crazy. Something is 'off' inside of me and I am sick of this distance between us."

I sat in somewhat of a daze during worship...not really into singing "happy Jesus songs" when my heart was so heavy and yearning for a real answer from God.

The first guy got up. It seemed that he was going to preach. I thought, "Lord, I don't want to listen to him...he sounds boring. I need someone who has a word from You for me!" (can you see the state of my heart? very frustrated...judgmental...and all about me.  But hey, that's where a heart goes that is disconnected from God.)

Next, a girl got up. She began preaching. I don't remember all of what she said, but she was the instrument God used to bring clarity and answers to my heart.

She shared a story...

Once upon a time there was a King. (Now, I won't re-tell the whole story here, so let me sum it up.) There was a King and a poor maiden. The King loved the maiden, married her, brought her to live in his castle. The maiden enjoyed the time she had with the King and the love they shared. One day, the King went off to do what a King does...conquer nations, win battles, etc. The maiden didn't very much like all of that. She wanted the King to stay home with her. Finally, one day, after the King had been absent awhile, she decided that the pain of separation was greater than the pain of being where her Lover was...out on the battlefield. So, the maiden went and joined him in his work as a King. The King promised to love and protect her. The End.

I felt as if a light went on in the dark perplexities of my heart. I am that maiden!  I want the King to just sit and talk with me, and we can enjoy each other's company in the warm and cozy confines of my comfortable little life.  However, my King has a different idea in mind.  Not just an idea really, but a purpose.  If I want to be with Him, I will have to embrace His lifestyle.  His lifestyle must become my lifestyle.  The cost of going with Him may be a lot; however, I am finding the pain of separation from the King is much more costly to my heart.

As I wrote in a previous blog...during easy times, apathy and self-centeredness can set in. This past year it was the King's purpose for us to spend time together in my cozy world...a time for refreshment.  It seems, however, that now the King was moving onto another purpose and I was a bit comfy with my current way of life. It's been a long time since the Lord asked me to have a 'lifestyle' change. And when I talk of lifestyle, I don't mean moving again to China. Lifestyle change can be as simple as how you spend your time, who you hang out with, what you listen to, what you don't listen to, what you read, anything that is a normal part of your life. I typically end up in misery until I finally drop what I'm holding onto.  (A lesson, I seem to have to repeat in life.)  Some people may see this as God being mean; however, I see it as God being one who will do anything to restore the closeness between me and Him...even when it may hurt me.  He doesn't harm me, but He may allow hurt in order to get me to readjust.

I laugh at myself because I would be the first to tell someone that we can't come to God on our own terms; however, it's only as of yesterday that I am reminded of what that means. It's not just for salvation, but for the entire Christian life...which has at the heart of it's purpose to know God. As John 17:3 states, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." And to know someone intimately, it makes sense that you need to be where they are; therefore adjusting your life to theirs.

The pain of separation from Him is far greater to me than the pain of obedience.  Thus, a new lifestyle is begun.

p.s...i think this is the longest blog ever.  if you have read this far you get a sticker!

Christmas Party, "Life 275 Style"!

Thanks to all who came - we love you guys: Wishing you to know Jesus's grace this holiday season!

Enjoy the pictures!!

Our Pretty Decorations!!!

The Lord has blessed us - may you be blessed and know of His goodness this holiday season!

Holiday Mishaps at 275!

PUMPKINS:

The fall season was a glorious time....until it ended, and our pumkins rotted...and turned brown, then black, and then got an awful fungus in them, and then caved in! We had wonderful visions of what we would do with these pumpkins:

1.Throw them from the rooftop

2. Set them on fire

and then we didn't do anything! So in a feeble attempt to move from fall to Christmas, Angela and I decided to throw the pupkins into the yard, just to see how much they would splatter! All was good until we rolled the largest pumkin and it imploded! Not kidding! Angela and I scattered in a midst of screams as the pumpkin that we were "rolling" exploded like a mushroom cloud! It was one of the most digusting things I have ever seen. My only regret is that there are no pictures to go with this explanation!

WREATHS:

So I decide to that I am going to hang a Christmas wreath without a wreath hanger...b/c it was very important to hang it immideatly and we did not have a hanger on hand....so, I tried to put a nail through the door - Nope - doors aren't made of wood anymore!

So... I think very creatively (you'll have to use your imagination for this part) and I hang a hook on the inside of the front door, and string ribbon to the outside of the door, then tie the wreath to the ribbon! Then I stand back in great aww and look at my creation. What a beautiful wreath! AND THEN I OPEN THE DOOR...!!! I lost it - hysterical, of course the wreath is HANGING in the door way from the nail on the inside of the door - it was as this point that Angela told me I had to quit decorating and she was going to get her Christmas stuff!!

dis iz da video of da cruz '08 mon