Making the switch.

Yep... I'm moving. Follow me, please :)

encouragement.

if you know me, then you probably know my love language(s). number one is totally words of affirmation. toootally. and a close second is physical touch. i seriously hug everyone. i receive and give both of these. (it took a little time for me to figure out that brian is quality time and to start to show him love in that way, but once i figured it out it made an insane difference in our relationship.)

today i went to pick up pizza for fuel and it's rainy and yucky outside and my socks are soaked (which is the worst thing ever, in my opinion) so i'm not exactly excited. but i walked in and ordered some pizza and one of the girls working told me she loved my hair. really? it's gotten rained on 75 times throughout the day and my hair does not like rain. i was taken back by her comment and thanked her before i left.

yesterday i got an email that was so encouraging from one of our awesome volunteers at oak leaf. just a few words of encouragement made the biggest difference in my day.

sunday i had someone just randomly say to me, "Tracy, you're a good assistant."

today at work Jody gave me a quick compliment, saying that I am doing a good job.

on monday i was having a tough day and i got encouraging messages from two of my dearest friends just telling me they love me.

my journey group is studying James and last night we were talking about how powerful our words can be. someone made a comment about how it's not just what we do say, but it's also what we don't say. how many times do i think something positive about a person, but never tell them? it is always so easy to focus on the negative, rather than the positive.

a little encouragement can go a long way. i know that these things i've been told just in the last few days have made such an impact on me. just a little comment. just a quick thank you. people are speaking to me in my love language and don't even realize it. but here's what's cool... God knows i need that encouragement right now so much and he's putting people in my path to encourage me. how amazing is our God?! i am simply blown away by his love, and the peace that comforts me because I have him in my life. what a blessing.

hello iPhone. i am in love with you.

after waiting for a long, long time i finally got the iPhone! which means- i am now an at&t girl and i have a new number. so many changes all at once and i was a little sad to let verizon go but i could not be more excited to finally have this phone! i know it's so lame but i love it.

today was the final offering for Redemption. Michael is going to post more about it tomorrow (today by the time i actually post this) so check out his blog!

i'm going to my first conference this week! on Thursday we're jumping on some buses and taking a ton of volunteers to Unleash. i am so excited to have this experience and can't wait to see what i learn!

bekah is living with brian and i for the next couple months or so. she was given a great opportunity to fill in for a secretary at Berry while she is on medical leave. bekah is one of my dearest friends and i am so excited to have her in rome! selfish, i know but i love it. brian and i are loving having her and are looking forward to her being in Rome for good come June! and Matt is happier than i've seen him in a long time, which is great to see!

i've been loving the weather the past couple of days. today when i got home brian was working in the yard and the dogs were out with him. we all had a great time playing in the yard. it made me so excited for spring to officially be here and then for summer to be coming soon as well. i love seeing toby run around and play in the yard. he is seriously the best dog (Angel's not too shabby either... just a little slower). :)

it's midnight and i'm really not sure why i am still awake. another very full week ahead of me so i need to stay rested. i love my life.

Strength for 4 services

Before launching a 4th service in January we had many meetings, discussions and debates trying to figure out what we were going to do and where God was leading us. There were a lot of things that were discussed, including the pressure four services at the movie theater would put on the staff. Four services meant a lot more work.

Michael basically told the staff that it didn't matter how tired it would make us... if we were going to reach people in Cartersville we were going to have to make sacrifices and stretch ourselves. And we all agreed.

I was thinking about that today when we realized this Sunday will be our 10th week of four services (already!). Sure, when 1 p.m. comes on Sunday we are tired. Yes, it's a ton of work to make sure we have volunteers for every area, to get two theaters ready for services, to double all of KidVenture... but it is worth every bit of the effort it has taken to pull off four services. God has given us the energy and right attitude to lead our awesome volunteers and to lead Oak Leaf Church.

I have absolutely no idea what is next. I can't wait for the House of Rock to be renovated and ready for services! And I am so excited to be on this journey with the best church ever. I love serving the Lord with my fellow Leafers!

Greater things have yet to come.

i had an awesome night. we had a prayer service at the house of rock tonight. let me tell you, i am so ready for that building to be complete! it was about the coolest thing ever to see over 100 people in there tonight praising God and praying for the Lord to do huge things in Cartersville through that building and Oak Leaf Church.

i am truly so blessed and could not be more thankful to have the opportunity to serve with such incredible people. i am truly in awe of the goodness of the Lord. like Michael said tonight... we need God to bring us a miracle next week as we receive the final offering for Redemption. i am praying God will do BIG things and the people of Oak Leaf Church will see the need and give sacrificially. we need to get that building renovated and start having services there. i cannot wait!

Greater things have yet to come,
Great things are still to be done in this city.

Cruise recap :)

so, i know this is delayed but i typed this right when we got back and forgot about it. so here it goes :)

the cruise was nice and relaxing. brian and i had a wonderful time.

top eleven things you should know about our cruise:
1. the love and marriage game is HILARIOUS. the old couple, clarence and shirley had been married for 60 years! amazing. and they were too funny.
2. it is seriously awesome/funny/interesting to hear a group of asians sing "devil went down to georgia" and various Journey songs. they played every night and it was great.
3. food is everywhere. we'd be sitting there and one of us would say, "what should we do now?" and the answer was usually "i guess we could go eat". so we did. a lot.
4. brian and i are very social people. we love spending time together but we both love being with other people too. every night, when we were at dinner we would get so energized by chatting with the other couples we were sitting with. it was awesome to be able to meet and talk to people from different places. we talked with one couple from canada a lot and it was so neat to hear about their thoughts on universal healthcare and obama. we had an awesome time getting to know them.
5. those tiny showers make you REALLY appreciate the shower you have at home. oh, and consistent water pressure and temperature is also nice.
6. i love reading and let myself get completely lost in a book while on vacation. i literally could not start getting ready for dinner on the third night until i finished my book. and then i started another one that night after dinner. i get so excited when i can spend time being lazy and just reading.
7. going 4 days with no computer isn't so bad afterall. :)
8. the shows were awesome. sooo much better than carnival. those people are really talented.
9. always wear sunscreen. really. i said to brian on the first day, "hey, should we wear sunscreen?" and he said, "nah." and i listened. not very bright.
10. we had the first and only female cruise caption EVER in the world. pretty cool, huh? we thought so!
11. bad weather is NO fun when it makes you miss one of your stops. we didn't get to go to the beach at all which was sad. but i guess we saw enough of the ocean throughout the week to make up for it.

we're ready to go!

we're all packed and ready to go to the Bahamas. this is a much-needed trip for both of us. i'm hoping not to gain 80 pounds, but with all the food around i might. :)