Me:  Of course he does…look at his arms….and his legs….and his face.

Sophie:  Dat not hair.  His arms is fluffy and his face is spikes.

Translated:  he has  hairy arms that feel soft and his facial hair is brutal…or in her words….spiky! 

We’ve ordered pizza since this incident, but the other night the same Mr. Domino’s Pizza Delivery Man came to our house.  Go ahead and try to guess what happened.  Don’t think you can.

Met him at the door, he handed me a pen to sign the debit receipt and simply said “You were right.”  Okay.  Great.  I was right.  Woo hoo!  I like to be right!  I did  want banana peppers on my pizza.  Huh?  Wait a minute.  Whatchootalkinbout? 

Last time he brought a pizza to our house, after the walking billboard comment, I told him he should come try it out sometime.  I followed up by saying  ’if you come once, you’ll come again and again’.  Well, he tried Elevation.  He liked it.  He’s been regularly attending since October! And he just wanted to tell me that I was right!  I really like being right! 

I left out the cool part about the pen that he handed me the other night.  It was an Elevation pen.  NOT the one I gave him several months ago.  He thieved this one all on his own! 

**Do you use expired medication for yourself? 

** For your children? 

**Does it make a difference to you if it’s prescription or over the counter?

I’m more inclined to take expired medication for me, but trash my kids’ meds.

If you google “is expired medication safe”, it’s a mixed review so I want the answer that YOU do – not the answer that you think is right!  Thanks for your help!

Click this link http://colleencorbett.blogspot.com/2009/01/whos-best.html. 

Watch the video.

Be reminded that what we do every week matters.  Alot.

*Thanks to Colleen for taking the time to share!

….staying up late with Elevation Church (We added a 6pm worship experience, and it launched tonight.  Completely amazing!)

….my iPod.  

….Aldi.

….the sunshine.  It’s been a rare sight these days, so I love it when we get to see it!

….my small group.

….my small group leaders.

….my sweet little pound puppy, Sadie, who lets the kids ride her, pull her tail, hug her too tight and chase her purposefully on the hardwood floor in order to watch her run in place because she can’t grip the floor.  All the while, if she could smile, I think she would.

….my Papa who went home to Tennessee for a couple of weeks.  We already miss him.

….my 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee.  It’s old.  It does not have a cd player.  The brakes squeak.  There might be occasional oil spots when I leave a parking spot.  And there are a couple of belts under the hood that like to talk to me.  But.  It’s mine.  And I love it!

Just some random things that I’m loving these days.

Kissable.  Crooked lip and all – my favorite lips to kiss!

Eyes.  When we were set up on our blind date, the first thing I noticed about him was his eyes.  Now I see them looking back at me in our children.  If the eyes truly are the window to your soul, Kemp’s soul is beautiful!

Muscles.  His look good. Especially his arms.  ‘Nuff said. 

Partner.   That’s what we are.  In parenting, in marriage, in life.  We’re a team and we work on everything together.  Sometimes, he’s better at it than me.

Musical.  His ability is a gift.  I love getting supper ready as I listen to him strum his guitar and sing.  When Whit gets his drums and Sophie grabs her harmonica- you should hear the sounds coming from this house!  Whether he’s playing Edwin McCain or The Itsy Bitsy Spider – it’s one of my favorite sounds to hear!

Intelligent.  And not just because I couldn’t think of anything for the letter “I”!  His intelligence amazes me sometimes.  He knows some of the most random facts, is up to date on the political circuit and can teach me something on just about any subject.  Guess that’s what the History channel can do for you. 

Listener.  Sometimes he’s so good at it, it scares me.  Other times he tunes me out like a bad radio station.  But…if I really need him there to listen to me…he listens, he hears and he helps.

Loyal.  You won’t find anyone more loyal than Kemp.  As a husband, father, son, brother, employee  or friend – he’s got your back.  If you’ve got him on your side, you’ve got a friend and a confidant forever. 

Encourager.   If I ever need a pick me up – he’s the one I call on.  He is my biggest cheerleader in every arena.

Respectful.  Even if I (or someone else) deserve a tongue lashing, he will refrain until the time is right.  He respects those in authority, even if they don’t earn it.  He respects me as a wife, mom and woman.  He respects his parents AND mine!

I hope I have painted a beautiful picture of my husband, because he truly is!  Happy Birthday Kemper.  Hope it’s the best one yet!

1.  Call my insurance company about the crack that keeps inching its way across my windshield.   I hear that insurance covers the cost completely.  That should make this one an easy one to scratch off my list.  OK – so that’s not really an accomplishment, but I really need to do it!

2.  Break my addiction to sweet tea.  Sweet tea + diabetic = not a smart choice.  I should know better.  Bad Teri.

3. Eat more vegetables.  I’m a terrible vegetable eater.  (This started out as eat more freshvegetables, but I decided to take baby steps.)  Broccoli, carrots, green beans…here I come!  Woo Hoo!  (Did I sound excited enough?!?)

4.  Become intentional and honest in my relationship with God.  I have given myself specific challenges in order to hold myself accountable.  If I feel far from God is because He’s not around or because I’m not opening my Bible and soaking up His Word?  If I’m not hearing from Him, is it because He’s not listening or because I’m not listening?  It’s so easy for me to sit back and blame my surroundings for why I may not feel close to Him, but the bottom line is – if I’m reading the Word on a regular basis – you can’t get much closer to Him than that!  Therefore, I have challenged myself to read one book of the Bible every ten days for 2009.  That is about 36 books, which is about half of the Bible.  I could challenge myself to read the whole Bible, but I want to do more than read it.  I want to learn it.  I want to soak it up.  I want to ask questions of those around me that can help me understand. (Get ready friends!)  Some books may be easy to read in ten days…others maybe not.  But it’s a start.  And I’m excited about it.  (This is one that I really am excited about…not the fake kind of excitement referred to above!)

5.  Go camping.  Sometime, somewhere – I really want to do it with the kids.  Kemp and I used to camp before kids and I think I’m ready to try it with them.

6.  Fold my laundry immediately.  I’m great to keep my clothes washed.  Terrible when it comes to folding them.  As bad as it is to admit this, sometimes they will sit in my laundry basket waiting to be folded for twenty. four. hours.

7.  At least once a day every other day, I want to tell Whit and Sophie “yes” when I really want to say “no”.  Like…to Chutes and Ladders…not to five brownies at supper.  Sometimes I feel like I’m so “busy” with life that I forget to live life with them.  So when Whit asks me to play Slap Jack with him and I really want to fold my newly dried clothes…I will tell him yes.  And when Sophie wants me to play grocery store with her for the umpteenth time  and I really want to start cooking dinner…I will tell her yes.

Completely realistic, attainable goals!  On my mark.  Get set.  Go!

*Lots of fun Christmas parties for the holidays.  A stand out is our small group party.  Never knew Gloria Estefan and pink/white stripes could make a group of adults laugh so hard!

*Christmas was great minus the sea of puke we swam in on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after.  Courtesy of Whit.  Poor guy.  (Sorry for the graphic nature of “sea of puke” – but that’s what it was.  Really.)  He’s all better now – enjoying playing with the Christmas presents that he didn’t get to enjoy opening!

*We got to see almost every family member.  Although the hustle and bustle of the holiday season can take its toll, we are so lucky that we got to see so much family.  (Extra bonus – we only had to travel one day!)

*Hanging out with the Bynums on their Wii.  Good thing we don’t have one, I could easily become addicted to Guitar Hero.  (Are “wii” the only people that don’t have one?)  And you know you gotta love a couple if you’re gonna get on their Wii Fit and let them see your weight and BMI.  Good times.

*Hanging with the Dooleys was equally as fun!  Good food, good company AND Hannah Montana.   Too much fun for one night!  I think we bring “up” the best in them.  Don’t you agree, Het?!?    Hee Hee.

*One of the biggest highlights for me was having Whit home for two weeks.  I am NOT looking forward to him going back to school on Monday.  I loved being able to take him on play dates again.

*Kemp was home for ten straight days!  He didn’t even hunt!  What a great present that was for me!

*One final highlight – we were able to pay off Kemp’s truck in December!  Maybe a little too private to announce on a blog – but definitely a highlight!  No car payments in the Miller house!  2009 will bring financial obedience and some Dave Ramsey applications!  Thanks to the  Baxters and Elevation!

Happy New Year!

But…as in….my blog!

I’ve changed my appearance in honor of Christmas.  I’m also gonna change my content.  What, you might ask does that mean?  Well….let me share.

I haven’t posted a blog in a long time.  I was in the black hole of blogging.  I used to love to think about blog entries.  Little things that would happen around the house…cute things Whit or Sophie would say…unbelievable things that were happening in my life….awesome things I was experiencing at church.  My mind was full of ideas that would make a great blog entry.  Then…I started questioning myself.  Was this interesting to the blog world?  Did people find this motivational?  Inspiring?  Funny?  What kind of blog should I have?  I started putting pressure on myself to come up with GREAT blogs.  So,  I stopped blogging. 

Last week, I went back and read most of my blogs that I wrote over the past year and realized that blogging is quite like a journal.  While reading some of my posts, I was taken back to some of the greatest times I’ve experienced in the past year!  Like getting baptized!  And going to the beach!  I also got to read what my thoughts were as my grandmother was losing her battle with cancer.   Without this little bloggy blog, I wouldn’t have those things to look back on!

I realized that I enjoy blogging.  And I miss it.  But I have to enjoy it for me!  I realized that I don’t have to have a blog that is only about my relationship with Christ.  Or my wonderful children.  Or my great church.  Or my handsome hubby.  It can encompass them all!  So, I’m back! 

I definitely won’t win the cutest title award.  And I probably won’t write as eloquently as this.  But, by golly, I’m gonna write and I’m gonna have fun doing it!

By the way, as I was changing my design and finagling my way around this wordpress place – I found some stats about my blog.  Do you know that my most read entry was this one?  Go figure! (I still stand by it, though!)

I attended the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA where 12,000+ church leaders gathered to develop leadership potential in the church’s next generation. 

Every single part of it was amazing to me.  I am still processing all of the information – which is probably why I can’t sleep!  This was my first church conference. I would have been excited to hear any ONE of these people speak.  Instead, I got to hear  Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Seth Godin, Dave Ramsey – and lots more – all in the same 48 hour span.  Words can’t even explain.

Steve Fee and Eddie Kirkland, among others, led a spirit filled worship.  We were also led in worship by an African Children’s group.   Words can’t describe that either.  (I peeked down the row to see if these African children made Kem feel a little closer to her daughter that is currently in Africa!  I saw a big smile on her face, so I’d like to think that they did!)

When I first got invited to go to Catalyst, I was thrilled.  An awesome opportunity to learn from some amazing leaders.  When I found out that my pastor was one of the amazing leaders that was going to speak, I was even more excited.  I just knew that he would blow up the place.  I was right.  He did!

But I realized something when he finished speaking. I am so lucky.  So honored.  So thankful.  To not only serve an almighty God, but to serve under a man that is anointed so heavily by that almighty God.  I am so grateful that I get to hear Pastor Steven Furtick speak on a weekly basis.  I am so grateful that I serve at a church that has a mission to find those that are far from God and get them saved.   Elevation is truly blessed…and those of us that call Elevation home are truly blessed to have Pastor Furtick leading us.

Catalyst really did change me.  It moved me.  It made me realize some strengths, some weaknesses and some areas that need improvement.  It challenged me to tweak these areas. 

Thank you John, Jessi and Brandon ~ for allowing me to go!  Het, thanks for being my “partner”! 

It’s late.  I’m tired.  I hope I’ve made sense.  I hope I can go to sleep now!