The Buffaloe Family

Changes

2012-02-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

The past 10 months have been filled with many changes in the Buffaloe family! It's hard to believe that just 10 months ago, we held a sweet 7 lb 9 oz baby in our arms for the first time and he had beautiful blue eyes and dark hair. In the past 10 months, his eyes have turned an even brighter blue but his hair is now a light brown/blonde. When he was born, everyone said he looked like Michael, but more and more people say he's starting to look like me and my family, mainly my brother Jeremy. Micah's already had a bout with a stomach virus right after Christmas and it was not fun but he was a trooper. He's mastered the word "Da-da" and says it quite often. He's said "Ma-ma" but only a handful of times. He can clap and wave now and I have already started to work on baby sign language with him. He loves bananas and will shovel them in his mouth as fast as he can. He loves feeding himself pieces of sweet potato too but is not a fan of steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot. We will keep working on those though. He now has 6 teeth and chews very well pretty much anything we give him. He does the bear crawl and pulls up on everything. He loves cruising around on anything he can find to push around the house and will walk when we are holding his hands. Just recently he's started walking only holding one hand, instead of having to have both held. Every few days, we are experiencing new milestones with Micah and are loving almost every minute. I could do without the separation anxiety moments, but I know that's just a phase. We are looking forward to more changes that I know are coming our way and just trying to really cherish all the moments we have with Micah and the memories we are making with him. We are so thankful for this precious gift we get to watch grow daily!

Bad Mom

2012-01-23T08:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've had those moments where I have felt like a bad mom, and I am hopefully not the only way that has ever felt that way. There are moments where my patience is thin due to lack of sleep and then I feel terrible about not being more patient. There are moments that I want to be able to get things done around the house but I can't, because Micah is going through a stage where he wants to be held a lot (got to love separation anxiety). I keep wondering if I'm doing something wrong and that's why he's going through separation anxiety. And then I feel bad for being so concerned about cleaning and doing things around the house, when I should be cherishing each moment I've been given with Micah. There are moments I wonder if I'm feeding him enough or feeding him too much. Does he have the safest car seat? Are we reading and talking to him enough? And I'm sure there are and will be many more. But, I know this, I love that little boy and I'm so thankful that God has blessed us with our sweet Micah. And I know that the good times far out weigh the trying times and that parenthood is SO worth it. There will certainly be trying times in parenthood. There will certainly be times that I feel like I'm getting it wrong. But, my prayer is that I will seek God daily in the decisions I make, especially where Micah is concerned.I pray that when those moments arise that I think I'm getting it wrong, I will immediately stop and give those thoughts over to the Lord and that if I am doing something wrong, He will show me. I pray that I will cherish each smile, laugh, hug, kiss, and every other moment that I am given with Micah. I pray that I will not compare myself to other mothers and that I wouldn't compare Micah to other children. And I pray that Micah will grow up seeing the Word lived out daily and that he will know he is loved by us and the Lord.

Forgiving and Forgetting

2012-01-13T07:05:00.000-08:00

How tempting it is to remind someone of a past offense! But when God forgives our sins he totally forgets them. We never have to fear that he will remind us of them later. Because God forgives our sin, we need to forgive others. "I - yes, I alone - will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again." Isaiah 43:25 NLTThat was taken from my devotion time this morning and I wanted to share it. It hit home on many levels. I often come across people that don't want to come to church because some one has wronged them, or a wife/husband doesn't want to forgive a spouse for something they have done, and the list goes on. We must learn to forgive others, because God forgave and forgives us. I know I have been guilty of struggling with forgiveness. Or, I will say I forgive, but then I'm tempted to remind that person of the offense. I think that's especially something I struggle with in marriage. How tempting is it to remind our spouse about their past sins or how they have wronged us in the past? I'm challenged this morning to be more forgiving. I will come in to contact with those that will hurt me, but I pray that I will learn to truly forgive when those times come because God has forgiven and forgotten. How thankful I am of that truth! Thank you Lord for your forgiveness!

Staying Home

2012-01-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

Making decisions is something we do on a daily basis. Some decisions we make with very little thought, while others we spend much time in prayer about. One of the best decisions Michael and I have made is the decision for me to stay at home with Micah. We prayed about it and both felt that it was right for our family. Since the beginning of my pregnancy with Micah, we started making financial preparations so that I would be able to stay at home. We started putting half of my paycheck in savings and using the rest to pay off some bills. We started limiting the amount we spent on "extras" that we didn't need and one of the big ones for us.....I started cooking more at home instead of going out to eat. This was hard for us, because with our crazy schedules most nights we weren't home at the same times. But, we knew sacrifices needed to be made in many areas so that I could stay home. While staying home has been one of the best decisions we have made, it hasn't always been easy. For most that know me well, I like to go, go, go.....There would be days that I would get off work and run errands, grab something to eat, go to church or life group or bible study and not even walk into my house until after 8 or 9 at night. So, staying home and being home ALL day long was a big adjustment for me for sure. There were days I just needed to load Micah up and go to the mall, or Target, or Hobby Lobby, or ANYWHERE for that matter, just to get out of the house! Doing that poses another problem though, by going those places, I would want to spend money, money that we didn't have to spend on those "extras" anymore. So, I've had to learn to be more disciplined there as well. But, as I sit here writing this and watching Micah play in the floor, it's so worth it. Staying at home may not be your calling as a mom right now. But, for us, it's what God wanted me to do. I love every minute of it, even though there have been some long and hard days. I'm so thankful that God has allowed me to be able to stay home and be a big part of every milestone Micah hits.

No Promise of Tomorrow

2012-01-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have seen so many lives lost at such an early age. Just last week a friend of mine found out that at 36 weeks pregnant, her daughter's heart had stopped beating. They do not know yet what caused it. She had to deliver her daughter, go through the pain of childbirth, knowing that she would not experience the joy of hearing that sweet cry for the first time. Just yesterday, Michael's aunt (who is a teacher in North Carolina) told me about a third grader at her school that died over the weekend. The family of this little boy were all playing soccer and the goal fell over on the little boy and killed him. In both situations, and so many more tragic situations I have heard of just recently, I can't even imagine the pain felt by the family and those involved. It's heartbreaking and leaves us asking why. Why would God take someone so young? But, sometimes things happen in life that we just don't understand. I have had those times come and go and have learned to just trust God even through those unexplainable times. Even though we may not understand it then or ever, He is still in control. God's word tells us that our life is just a vapor. We do not know how long we have on this earth and we are not promised tomorrow. So, for today and every day, I pray that I will hug my sweet Micah tighter, love and respect my husband more even when I don't feel like it, be more compassionate to those around me, reach out to those in need, make sure my family knows I love them, and strive daily to live a life that pleases the Lord. I don't want to waste the precious time that God has given me with Micah and Michael. I don't want to live each day wasting the talents that God has given me. And I don't want to live each day wasting the opportunities to reach out to those God has placed in my path.

What's next?

2012-01-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

Micah is now 9 months old. I really can't believe that it's been 9 months already. So many important milestones have already been reached, from his first real smile, to his first real laugh, to rolling over, to crawling, and lately he's pulling up on anything and everything. These past 9 months have been filled with many sleepless nights, but it's all worth it to see that sweet boy smile, hear him laugh, hear him say Da-da and Ma-ma, and watch him crawl and pull up on things. Walking is probably in his near future and we will have our hands full, but I can't wait to see him take his first real step. I can't believe that in 3 short months, Micah will be celebrating his first birthday. I've already ordered his birthday outfit and we have already picked out the decorations and birthday supplies. We may be starting early with the planning but time really has seemed to fly by and it will be here before we know it. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next!

Trials and Joy

2012-01-05T08:06:00.000-08:00

As Christians, we are not exempt from trials and hard times. I have seen my share of them in my 31 years for sure. In the past few years I have lost all my grandparents, I have lost very young cousins (13 years old and 15 years old) to a car accident, a cousin not much older than I am to cancer, an aunt to illness, an uncle to a house fire, and other family members to other illnesses. I know the feeling of praying for years for a child, being over joyed at finding out we were expecting, to finding out weeks later that I lost the child. I know the feeling of year after year continuing to pray for another child and feeling like that prayer is being ignored. I know the struggle of making little money and having a lot of bills. While Michael was in seminary in North Carolina I worked full time and Michael only worked part time so he could go to school full time. We struggled financially to the point that we went a winter without heat because we couldn't afford the gas bill.

I'm not writing this to complain about the different trials and hard times I've been through in the past though. I'm writing this to say that, even through each of those trials and hard times, I can truly say that God was there with me (us) and His presence was certainly felt. Even during the dark days of the miscarriage and all that happened afterwards (Long story short, I had to have a D&C and they did it incorrectly causing me to have another one two weeks after the first one. With all that going on, my immune system seemed to be in shock and I ended up with bronchitis, and upper respiratory infection, and a kidney infection. I ended up missing about two weeks of work because I was on bed rest and one night I ended up in the ER due to inflammation in my chest cavity.), I had true peace that can only come from God. I was truly saddened at the loss of our child, but knew that God was still in control and that if it was His will, there would be children in our future.

During each of these trials and hard times, yes, there were days that I was heartbroken and experienced a time of grieving, which is normal. But, I chose each time to trust God....trust in His Word, trust in His faithfulness, and trust in His promises. I chose to let each situation make me better instead of bitter!

I know there will be more trials and hard times in my future, but I pray that as those times come, I will see each one as a time to strengthen my faith in God and will continue to TRUST Him! Trusting Him can't just come during the good times, we must trust Him through the bad as well.

I can't imagine going through each of these times without the Lord. I'm so very thankful I have a relationship with Him and that He will never leave me! I'm thankful for the peace and comfort He offered through each trial and will continue to offer in those to come! I'm thankful for the true joy that only comes in knowing Him!

Goodbye 2011

2012-01-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

So many good things came out of 2011. Many lessons learned, mistakes made, trials overcome, but the blessings abounded. I'm so thankful that I have a God that loves me unconditionally, forgives me when I fail Him, shows grace and mercy, disciplines when necessary, continues to refine and mold me, and pours out His blessings on our family.

As I was sit back and reflect on 2011 I can't help but smile because one of those good things that 2011 brought was our first child. After praying for years, God blessed us with our sweet Micah. He has brought such joy into our lives and has changed our lives forever. I pray that 2012 brings more joy as we watch our sweet boy grow!

Granted, trials and hardships have come and will continue to come our way. We aren't exempt from those. But, we are far too blessed to let those trials and hardships take away the true joy that we have in Christ. Thank you Lord that we can place our trust in You, knowing You will never leave us! And thank you Lord for our sweet Micah!

Micah's First Christmas

2011-12-31T17:32:00.000-08:00

Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year, we wanted to be in Valdosta to be at CrossPointe for our Christmas service. Every year for the past 31 years, I have awakened at my parent's house on Christmas day, but this year we started a new tradition. It was time, especially now that we have sweet Micah. This year we woke up at our own house and got ready for church as a family. My parents, my Aunt Anna, and my brother all drove over and joined us for our Christmas day service and then we had Christmas dinner at our house.

Like most families, ours exchange gifts. And of course the highlight this year was watching Micah "open" his. Only being 8 and 1/2 months old, he really enjoyed anything that was in front of him, whether it was a toy or just a box or wrapping paper. Although we do exchange gifts, we never want that to be the focus of Christmas. Micah will grow up knowing that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and I'm looking forward to being able to read and share that story with him as he grows up!

I pray that Micah will always enjoy Christmas time, the family gatherings, the gift giving.....but more importantly, that he will understand it's TRUE meaning!! Celebrating that fact that Jesus left Heaven and was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, all while knowing He would endure persecution and eventually face death so that He could pay the price for our sins and that we could live with Him in eternity! How thankful I am for that!

Always Something New

2011-11-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

Seven months ago, our lives changed forever and it's been a roller coaster of emotions ever since! Micah is now starting to crawl and he loves making all kinds of noises. Most recently, he's started squealing, normally very loudly! Just this morning, he pulled up on his toy box to stand and got a toy out before sitting back down. He's growing so fast and I'm trying to slow down and enjoy each new first in his life! He has two teeth, but more are coming. He chews/bites everything he can find to put in his mouth and you can tell his mouth bothers him. Got to love teething! He's saying da-da-da-da-da-da in the mix of a lot of other "words" but no ma-ma yet!

I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is just next week and then Christmas a few short weeks later. We are looking forward to spending Micah's first Thanksgiving and Christmas with family and friends making memories! I am so excited that Micah will finally get to meet more of our crazy family members over the holidays!

There's a First Time for Everything

2011-10-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

The month of October has been a month of many firsts for Micah. He cut his first tooth, ate vegetables and fruit for the first time, reached for me to pick him up, sat up by himself, sat in his high chair and in a shopping cart, went to his first costume party (and won cutest kid), got to swing at the park, and got up on all fours like he was about to crawl. He's six and a half months and I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. We are super blessed to have our sweet Micah and we are loving every little first we get to experience with him. Before we know it, we will get to hear him call us Momma and Daddy for the first time, finally crawl (right now he just rocks back and forth but it's so cute), and take his first step. We are not rushing any of these things, just taking the time to enjoy each first as it comes and looking forward to many more firsts that we get to share with our sweet boy!

As a sat and watched Micah play this morning, I couldn't help but cry tears of joy and just smile while thanking God for him. It made me remember back to another first, the first time I held our sweet miracle. We were so excited that he was finally here and we didn't understand fully how we could love something so much already until we held him! Six months later and that love just keeps growing. Sure, there are days that I get frustrated because Micah fights taking a nap, kicks and screams while I'm trying to change his diaper or his clothes, or cries when I put him down or walk out of sight. But, then I remember several things. When he fights taking a nap, it just gives me more time to rock him and sing to him while trying to put him to sleep. When he is kicking and screaming when I'm changing him, those cries mean that my child has a healthy set of lungs and the kicks mean his legs are growing stronger and stronger. When he pitches a fit sometimes when I put him down or walk around the corner and he can't see me, it just means he wants me near by and needs that security of knowing I will not leave him. Oh, how blessed and thankful we are that God is allowing us to raise this sweet boy!

5 Months Already?

2011-09-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marks 5 months since Micah arrived and changed our life forever! I can't believe it has already been 5 months since that special day, but I thank God everyday for that sweet miracle. It has been one of the hardest, sweetest, tiring, wonderful, stressful, awesome, time consuming, rewarding changes we have experienced in our marriage! Sure, we've already made mistakes in raising Micah and some days I just want to sleep!! But, I get out of bed and thank God that I have been blessed with this sweet boy that we get to see grow up. It's amazing how quick they change. One day he just looks at you not really knowing what's going on around him. Then he starts to smile at you, then laugh! Now he will "talk" to us and really anyone who will listen, then again, he will talk when no one wants to listen too! I love the new noises and sounds he is making and watching him smile and laugh melts my heart. Oh, how I love that little blessing!

Geocaching Turned Divine Appointment

2011-08-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday night, Michael, the Darlings, and I (and of course Micah) went geocaching. For those that don't know what that is, you can check it out here http://www.geocaching.com/guide/default.aspx and find out more about it!

We started out looking for a cache in the middle of the woods off of Val Del road and searched for what seemed like forever before giving up on that one and heading to another cache. Our next cache took us to a little church off of hwy 41. Again, we searched and searched and couldn't find that one either. It was starting to thunder and we thought about calling it a night but decided we had to end the night with atleast one find. So, we set out for one more cache. This one took us to Smith Northview. Micah started getting fussy at this time so I stayed in the car with him trying to get him to sleep while the Darlings and Michael began searching for the cache. They looked around the gazebo in the front of the hospital and all along the line of woods near the parking lot. There was a car parked away from the other cars in the parking lot and a lady was in the car watching what Michael and the Darlings were doing. She thought they must have lost something and were looking for it, but I'm sure it looked suspicious to her. However, she recognized that Michael was one of the pastors at CrossPointe and approached him crying. Turns out, her family has been coming to CrossPointe and met Michael before. She began sharing her story with Michael in the hospital parking lot. She and her husband are separated and he wants a divorce but she doesn't. She drove to the hospital that night, not to visit anyone, but to just clear her heard. She was feeling like God was far away and wasn't hearing her prayers and then she looked up and saw Michael practically standing right in front of her car. Michael and I ended up praying with her and got to share with her why we were even there. Turns out, the exact coordinates for the cache we were looking for was where her car was parked. We did end up finding the cache on a pole in front of her car, but more importantly, we got to experience a divine appointment set up by God to minister to this sweet lady that was in need of feeling God draw her closer. She left knowing that God had planned that meeting that night and we left blessed to be used by Him!! What an awesome God we serve!!

My Prayer for Micah

2011-08-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

I first heard this song on the way to a meeting at church yesterday and when I got home last night I looked it up online so that I could show it to Michael and listen to it again. Yesterday was a little rough in the Buffaloe house because Micah has started teething and nothing I did seemed to soothe him so hearing this song last night was perfect timing. The song speaks about how as parents, there will be times where we fail our children, but there is a God that will never fail them. The song speaks about how as parents we will want to be our children's everything, but we can't. Only God can truly do that! I pray that Micah will grow up knowing that we love him more than we can explain but that God loves him so much more. He will learn quickly, unfortunately, that Michael and I will fail him at times.....but my prayer is that he comes to know the One that will NEVER fail him and that He will truly let God be his everything!

My Sweet Micah,

My prayer for you is that you will come to know the One you need in a real way and that you will trust in Him fully! Your dad and I love you and have prayed for you for a long time and continue to pray for you daily! We pray that you will see Jesus through us daily and that when those times come that we do fail you and can't be everything you need, that you will turn to Him always. I would love nothing more than to shelter you from the hurt and pain that comes in this world that we live, but that's impossible. So, when those times come, cling to the only One that can truly bring comfort and peace! God has big plans for you little one, and I'm so glad He entrusted you to us and that we will get a front row seat to the awesome path he has ahead for you! I pray that you will enjoy the journey God has for you and that you will always seek His will for your life! I can't wait to see what God has in store! We love you!

Changed Forever

2011-07-30T07:02:00.000-07:00

For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. 1 Samuel 1:27

Many people have asked about the day Micah was born so I thought I would share about the day that my life changed forever! Don't worry, some of the details will be left out! :)

On the morning of April 9, 2011, Michael and I participated in a blitz with our church, CrossPointe, to pass out flyers about our upcoming Easter services. I was 37 weeks on this day and miserable!! Everyone that saw me at the blitz couldn't believe I was even there! No, I didn't actually get out of the car and walk from door to door passing out flyers. I stayed in the car and followed the crew that was in our car. I drove back and forth between the neighborhood we were blitzing and the church to get more flyers, drinks, and of course.....to use the bathroom. During the blitz, I had not really felt Micah move at all so I went to Ellianos to get my favorite drink, a Tuscany Toffee Latte Freezer, thinking that maybe I just needed a little caffeine and sugar.

After the blitz, I still hadn't really felt Micah move so we went home so I could lay down on my side because he always moved a lot when I was laying in that position. After an hour of still no movement, I texted my midwife because we were concerned. She sent me to the hospital to be monitored. This was about 3:30 in the afternoon. On the way to the hospital, I texted a good friend, Christine, that just so happens to be a labor and delivery nurse and told her to be praying for us. At this time, we didn't tell anyone else we were going to the hospital because we didn't want to alarm anyone until we knew what was going on.

Once we got to the hospital and were hooked up to the monitors, we saw that everything was fine. My midwife, Teresa, came up to the hospital to check on us. I had just had a doctor appointment 2 days beforehand on that Thursday and I was already 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced so she had told me that I probably wouldn't make it to my due date since that was still 3 weeks away. In fact, she told me that she figured we would have Micah that weekend. Well, here we were on Saturday, exactly 3 weeks early, and Teresa checked me and I was 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. At this point, she informed us that I wasn't leaving the hospital but that she was going to brake my water and get me started on pitocin.

I was a little shocked because when we headed to the hospital that day, I wasn't really expecting to be staying! Praise the Lord that I'm so OCD about making sure things are done because we already had everything ready for his arrival (nursery was ready and car seat was installed). Before leaving the house to go to the hospital, Michael threw our hospital bag in the car because he had a feeling we would be staying.

It was now about 5:30. We made a few calls to family and sent out a mass text to close friends to let them know what was going on. My parents had bags packed and ready and headed to Valdosta, thankfully they only live about and hour and a half from us.

Once they put us in a delivery room and started the pitocin, we knew that it was just a waiting game. My friend, Christine, came up to be my labor and delivery nurse even though she wasn't scheduled to work that day. It was so reassuring knowing that my L&D nurse and my midwife were people that I knew and trusted and that they were believers as well. Thank you Lord for Christine and Teresa! We knew we were in good hands.

While waiting, some friends came up to the hospital to visit and my parents made it up to see us before the chaos started!

Around 6:30 the contractions started kicking in hard and close together. I had an epidural about 7:15 or so but by 7:45, I felt that the epidural wasn't working on my right side, just my left. At this time, Teresa had left to go eat, thinking that Micah wouldn't arrive until much later. Well, by 8:00 my L&D nurse realized that Micah would be there much earlier than expected!! Christine let us know that it was time and she calmly told us that things were going to get a little hectic as they prepared the room for the delivery. Of course, they called Teresa to come back and she got back just in time. By 8:30 I was pushing and at 8:50 my sweet Micah made his grand appearance. Everything happened so fast that Michael had to quickly find the camera so we could capture those first few moments of Micah's precious life! I didn't even have time to cry because it went by so fast. I'm very thankful that I wasn't in labor for hours though!!

Holding that sweet boy for the first time did bring tears to my eyes. He's such a blessing and an answer to prayer! Michael and I are so blessed and very thankful for Teresa and Christine for taking such great care of us and our little blessing! Oh, what a day!

Micah's Story: Our God is Faithful

2011-07-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Micah's story actually starts long before his date of birth on April 9th, 2011.

Michael and I got married on March 8, 2003 and from the start we knew that we would have a hard time having children, but we also felt that God had told us we would have children one day and He is ALWAYS faithful! A year after getting married, we moved to North Carolina so that Michael could go to Southeastern Seminary. We continued praying for children and after 4 years of marriage and praying, and still no children, we decided to go to a doctor to see what the problem was. The doctor put us on fertility medication for several months but that didn't work. I have to admit that at this time I was consumed with getting pregnant. This was not a healthy thing for me, or anyone, and I knew I had to give my desire of getting pregnant to the Lord. I knew I needed to truly trust Him and His timing instead of being so set on making it happen in my own timing.

A few months later (June 2007), we found out I was expecting (without the help of fertility medication). Because we had prayed for 4 years for this child, the LAST thing on our mind was the possibility that I could have a miscarriage. But, that's exactly what happened a few weeks later (August 2007). The next few weeks after the miscarriage were rough on me physically. I ended up having to have 2 D&Cs two weeks apart and ended up on bedrest right after the second D&C because I had an upper respiratory infection and bronchitis. But, spiritually, Michael and I were at peace. We truly felt God's presence in the midst of the pain from losing our child. Yes, it hurt and was probably one of the hardest things we've experienced so far, but we still knew that God had promised that one day we would have children and He always keeps His promises!

The very next year, (June 2008) we moved back to Valdosta, Ga for Michael to be the Youth Pastor at CrossPointe Church. We spent the next three years focused on diving into the ministry, building a house, renovating an old Winn Dixie so that CrossPointe could have a new building, and just enjoying the journey that God had us own. But, we still kept praying and trusting that God would give us a child.

This past July (2010), I went to see another doctor. Being 30 at the time, we felt that it was time to see another doctor to see if we could find out why we were still struggling to have children. After almost 8 years of praying for a child and visits to several doctors, we finally found out that I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. My doctor put me on medication (which happened to be the same medication that my old doctor had put me on) and wanted to wait a month to see if it would have any affect on me. Even though we were still praying for a child, we didn't give much thought to the medication because it hadn't worked in the past.

During this time, (August 15th to be exact, which was the day that Michael was officially no longer the Youth Pastor but now the Executive Pastor at CrossPointe, and exactly 3 years since the miscarriage) we were approached by someone about adoption. We had prayed about adoption many times and we have always felt that this is something God is leading us towards one day. But, as soon as this opportunity opened up, God closed that door because the couple decided to keep the baby instead of giving it up for adoption.

That Wednesday, I had to go in to have blood drawn to see if the medication was working and on that Friday, August 20th, I got a call from the nurse at my doctor's office. I let it go to voicemail because I was at work, but I called back during my planning period that morning. The nurse proceeded to tell me that the medication had worked and then she paused briefly before saying I was pregnant. I was completely shocked and couldn't stop shaking. I told Michael over lunch that day but we didn't want to tell anyone else until we had an ultrasound to make sure everything was fine, which it was. We still waited until I was 12 weeks before sharing our exciting news with everyone (although we had told family and close friends by this point so that they could be praying for us).

I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the pregnancy because of the previous miscarriage, but quickly had to give those fears over to the Lord and sit back and just enjoy the pregnancy. I wasn't sick at all during those nine months, just extremely exhausted. The pregnancy flew by way too quickly and on April 9, 2011 (exactly three weeks before my due date), Micah Ethan was finally here......an answer to prayer and proof that our God is faithful!!

Where does the time go?

2011-06-27T10:38:00.001-07:00

It's been over two years since I lasted posted anything on my blog and so much has happened in those two years. For the sake of friends and family that live out of town, I am going to try to be better about updating the blog more often. I spent some time this morning looking back over the old blog posts and I was flooded with so many memories of building our house (which we have lived in now for almost 3 years), working with the youth (which we no longer do now since Michael's new position at the church last August), and working on the new church building (which we have been in now for 2 years).

I can't believe Michael and I have been back in Valdosta and serving at CrossPointe Church for 4 years now. So much has happened in those wonderful four years and we have been so blessed. We love our CrossPointe family and the journey that God has taken us on with the wonderful staff here and our amazing church family. I'm so excited about what God has in store.

More to come soon on what's happening now in the Buffaloe family!!

CrossPointe Church - A New Day

2009-03-16T07:07:00.001-07:00

After months of working long days and nights, CrossPointe held its first service in the NEW building this past Sunday and I was blown away! God's presence was definitely felt and the whole service was so very moving! We started out with about 12 baptisms - what a way to start a service! Twelve lives exclaiming that they are authentic followers of Christ - how awesome! The music was great and the message was powerful! At the end, two familes joined the church!

We normally have two services - one at 9:00 and the other at 10:30, but for the first service in the new building we only had one service. We had over 900 people in attendance!! WOW! Words can not describe how I felt during and throughout the entire service. We serve a GREAT BIG GOD!!! I can't wait to see what He has in store for CrossPointe Church!! Bring it on - we are ready!

The Countdown Begins

2009-03-05T08:17:00.001-08:00

Michael and I have been extremely busy the past couple of weeks. Michael is now full time at CrossPointe! Praise the Lord! He's no longer working two jobs. However, since CrossPointe is getting ready to make the big move into the new building, he's been pulling 12 hour days working in the new building to get things done! We've also been spending our Saturdays at the new building painting, cleaning, and doing whatever is needed! We are SOO excited about moving in to the new building and having our first service on March 15th!! We can't wait! I'm including a picture of the worship center taken from the stage.

Also, this coming Sunday, March 8th, Michael and I will be celebrating 6 years of marriage! I can't believe that it's been 6 years already! Of course, marriage has its ups and downs, but overall it just keeps getting better and better. We have been so very blessed and are so thankful to God for His love, provision, forgiveness, grace, and mercy!

2008 Has Come and Gone

2009-01-05T16:06:00.000-08:00

For many people, 2008 represents a year of hard times, trials, and financial struggles. I've heard many people say that 2008 was the hardest year for them so far in many ways! Michael and I have also had our share of those trials and tribulations, but that's not what first comes to mind when I think of 2008. This past year, God has taught me to be more aware of how He's working in my life and the life of those around me! I've been so blessed this year to see God move in mighty ways! So, 2008 was a year that I will continue to praise God for!

In 2008, I've seen God continue to stregthen my marriage to my wonderful husband, whom I am SOOO thankful for, and to bless us more than we deserve! We are so very thankful for His blessings and love. This past year, we celebrated 5 years of marriage. To celebrate we went on a cruise to the Bahamas with our good friends, Lauren and Keith. It was an amazing vacation and one that won't be forgotten! This past year, God has also blessed us with the ability to be able to build and own our own home again. What a blessing that has been! Thank you Lord for all your many blessings in our lives!

God has also been at work in the lives of our youth at CrossPointe Church! Michael and I have seen God work in mighty ways in their lives and we are so glad that we've been a part of and a witness to God moving among them! Not only has our youth group grown in numbers, they have grown so much spiritually and that growth has been obvious to so many! We are so proud of our youth and their desire to know God more and to live for Him!

God isn't just moving in CrossPointe youth though, He's very present in CrossPointe Church as a whole! We are so excited about what God is doing in and through CrossPointe and that He is allowing us to be a part of His grand plan there! CrossPointe has been such a tremendous blessing in our lives and we love watching God at work there. With 2008 behind us, and 2009 already under way, I'm excited about what this year holds for Michael and I and for CrossPointe Church!

Merry Christmas 2008

2008-12-22T19:06:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas in the New House

2008-12-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

Michael and I have been married for almost 6 years now, and this is the first year that we have had a real Christmas tree. Since our new house has higher ceilings than any other house we've lived in, our old fake tree we normally use would look very strange and small in this house. I'd forgotten how much I love the smell of real trees until going to pick ours out this year. Once bringing it home, we started to put lights on it, only to realize we didn't have enough lights to cover the whole tree. After going back to the store for more lights and putting them on the tree, we put the new decorations on it. In the past, we have only used blue and silver balls and decorations on the tree and around the house. However, this year we decided to do red and gold balls on the tree. It looks really good. I absolutely love decorating, especially at Christmas time!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

Michael and I spent this Thanksgiving with my family in Bainbridge. It's a family tradition to have my mom's family over for Thanksgiving lunch. This consists of about 15 people crammed into my parents living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then, that night, just my grandmother (Dad's mom) and Anna (one of my dad's sisters) comes over. It's a day filled with wonderful family, laughs, lots of food, and afternoon naps! It's also tradition for Michael and I to join all the crazy people that get up way too early to go Christmas shopping. We went to Tallahassee with my parents and shopped until our feet hurt. We set aside a budgeted amount to spend and we actually spent under that amount. We don't want shopping and gifts to be our main concern during Christmas time, ever so we don't go crazy with spending spending money! Overall, we had a great visit with my family. I even got to have lunch with my best friend from high school, Darbi. The Thanksgiving break seemed to fly by, but I really enjoyed the time off to spend with family and giving thanks to God for all He's done for us!! He gets all the glory!!

Weekend with the Kellums

2008-11-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

Our best friends from North Carolina came to visit this past weekend!! We hadn't seen them since we went on a cruise together back in March and we hadn't seen their adorable little boy, Bennett, in over a year. It was SOOO good to get to hang out with them all weekend. Michael and I are trying hard to get them to move down here!! But, we will settle with getting to see them a few times a year. We had so much fun having them stay with us for a few days. I can't believe how much Bennett has grown since lasting seeing him. Man, they grow up fast!! Although we had a great time together, all good things must come to an end, and they had to leave this morning. Michael and I are planning a trip up there soon though!

Counting My Blessings

2008-11-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

I've been very convicted lately about not giving God the glory and praise for all the many blessings that He's bestowed upon me, so I wanted to list several of those blessings that He's blessed me with and which I am VERY thankful to Him for!!

1. I have an amazing husband that loves me inspite of my imperfections. He is a leader in our household, just as God desires for a husband to be. He's caring, compassionate, and an amazing youth pastor.
2. I have wonderful Christian parents that raised me in a Christian home and instilled good morals and values in me, loved me when I was unlovable, took me to church so that I could grow spiritually, and provided for my needs and even my wants many times!
3. My brother, Jeremy, is a Christian as well and I believe that God is working in His life right now in amazing ways and preparing my brother to be the man that God desires him to be.
4. I love being able to teach at a Christian school where I can share the Word of God with others and see young students come to know Him and grow in their relationship with Him.
5. I am apart of an amazing church - CrossPointe!! I love everything about it, from the awesome worship time, the convicting and Spirit-filled messages, the friendly people, the wonderful staff, and the MOST AWESOME youth ever!! Our youth ROCK!
6. I get to lead two amazing youth life groups, the 9th and 10th grade girls and the 11th and 12th grade girls at CrossPointe and I love every minute of it. They are a great group of girls and truly desire to grow in their relationship with the Lord. They are constantly inviting their friends to church and spreading the Good News not just by their words, but with their lives. I'm so thankful for them!
7. I have some amazing friends that lift me up daily, even though some of them are miles away! They encourage me when I'm down and pray for me continuously.
8. Our house that we just finished building and have been enjoying getting settled into is a huge blessing to us! We desire to use our home for ministry purposes - whether it's having youth staff meetings there, getting together with the youth, having youth families over, hanging out with fellow believers and friends - and we are so thankful for the blessing of our new home!

There is plenty more I could list, but this is a start! Thank you Lord for your many blessings!!

CrossPointe New Building

2008-10-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

We are so excited about the progress on the new building. God is moving in mighty ways at CrossPointe and we are all super excited about being able to move into the new building soon! Our youth got to help with some work at the new building and it's starting to look like a church on the inside. Our new sign was put up last week on the front of the building, which has sparked interest in many that have driven by it. We can't wait to see what God has in store for us at CrossPointe Church!!

Slowly But Surely

2008-10-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy lately that I haven't written anything in a while. We are still working slowly to get the house complete. We have finally gotten the pictures hung and the fireplace tile complete. We also have closed on the house, praise the Lord!! Now, with that behind us, we can take out time putting the finishing touches on it. We have already been busy using our home, that God has blessed us with, to entertain guests. We love having people over and are so thankful that this house allows us to have more room for entertaining youth, friends, family, church members and so forth. Our goal is to have everything complete before Thanksgiving. We will be spending the next few Saturday afternoons working to complete the tiled shower and the touch-up painting and after that it will be complete!

Getting Settled

2008-09-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

We moved into the new house about three weeks ago and are still trying to get settled in. We still have a little work to do but we are mostly settled! Yesterday we laid sod in the yard and this week we will finish landscaping the yard. Several people have asked to see updated pictures so I took a few and wanted to share them.

Give Me Your Eyes

2008-09-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black tile
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?

Chorus:
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Wasnt it far beyond my reach?
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
again
again
yeah
yeah

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide whats underneath
Theres a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
Hes out of work
Hes buying time
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?

Chorus

I've Been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all alone

Chorus

*Ok, so this song seems to be on the radio EVERY time I get in the car, and the funny thing is, I'm always changing the station between the three Christian stations in town because I don't like hearing advertisements and talking. When I'm in the car I want music and when the song ends and talking begins, I'll change the station. So, when I started hearing this song I thought that it was just because some stations play new songs over and over. Then, I realized it's always on different stations but I'm still constantly hearing this song. That's when I began asking God, "Are you trying to tell me something here?"

At first, I thought very briefly about the words to the song and then kind of dismissed the idea that God was trying to speak to me. That was, until this weekend. This past weekend I had the opportunity to be around some people that are less fortunate than I am in several ways and I really got a small glimpse into their world. Most of the time I get way too busy with my own life and issues, that I don't realize there are others around me hurting, struggling, and feeling forgotten.

This weekend I was thinking about ways that I could help those people and that's when it hit me. That's what God was trying to get me to realize for several days now. I sing that song all the time because I really love it and I love the message behind it. But, I was failing to really grasp the message. I need to see others through the eyes of God, I need to see them the way He does! Too often, I don't even give others a second glance because I'm so caught up with my own life. Lord, open my eyes to those hurting around me so that I may be a help to them! Help me see them through your eyes, and not my own!

Unexpected Blessings

2008-09-03T05:29:00.000-07:00

In the past two weeks, our pastor (David Rogers) and some of the other pastors at out church have had the opportunity to go up to the Atlanta area and meet with pastors from different churches to get ideas for when we move in to our new building. While in Atlanta, they visited Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church which is the church that Mark Hall (Casting Crowns) is the student pastor. During their visit, David was telling them about our church and what God is doing in and through the church. Through this visit, God blessed our church in a big way. Their church donated stage equipment for our sanctuary and game equipment for our youth/college game room. Our youth are SOOO excited about the donated equipment (nice air hockey table, pool table, and several other arcade games). All total, they donated several thousands of dollars worth of equipment and all we had to do was go pick it up. So, this past Monday, Labor Day, Michael and several guys from the church borrowed a semi truck and went to get it! When they got back in town Monday afternoon, it was amazing to see how many church members came out to help unload it! What a blessing this donation is and will be to our church! Praise the Lord!

We're Moving On Up

2008-09-03T05:18:00.000-07:00

We are surely gonna love that tub!!
The kitchen isn't finished in this picture. We have a tiled backsplash up now! It looks so good.

The floors aren't that dirty now!!

We moved in the house this past weekend, although it's not 100% complete. There are still a few little things here and there that need to be done. We have to do some touch-up on the painting inside in a few places. We need to finish up the laundry room tile and trim, but other than that, the inside is DONE!! As far as the outside, we just have to landscape the yard. We are so excited to be in and I haven't stopped thanking God for this new house. We had several friends come out to help us move and then a friend and my mom and dad came the next day to help us clean the old house. We are so blessed with amazing friends and family that helped us this weekend and we are so thankful for them all!! God is good!

We do not have pictures yet of us moved in. I don't want to take any until it's all put in place. Right now we still have many boxes to unpack. Hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks we will have those pictures up. In the meantime, there are some updated pictures of the house from right before we moved in. Check them out: http://picasaweb.google.com/apb4jc/OurNewHouse

All For Him

2008-08-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for man." Colossian 3:23

This morning during chapel for my students, we were challenged to live each day by this verse. This is a verse that I have hanging in my room over the board, and I always talk to my students about it at the beginning of each year. I've heard this verse so many times, but for some reason today during chapel I felt like God was speaking directly to me through this verse. Boy, was I convicted this morning.

I needed the reminder that whatever I do, I should do it with ALL of my heart. I know for me, it's easy to only put 90% into something and then blame it on having too much going on at one time, or to complain the whole time I am doing a task because I didn't really want to do it in the first place. But, God desires for me to work at it with all of my heart and to do so without complaining and grumbling (Philippians 2:14). When I'm doing something halfheartedly or complaining about doing something, I'm not glorifying the Lord. My desire should be to glorify Him in ALL I do so I was definately challenged with that this morning!

At the same time, I need the reminder that in EVERYTHING I do, I should do it for the Lord - not to please men. This may sound easy, but most can testify that it's something we forget about from day to day. Too often we get caught up in trying to get the approval of others and we take our eyes off of Him! I don't want to take my eyes off of Him, because when I do, I fall into sin. My desire is to turn from my sin and keep my eyes off of Him, but I fail at that daily! I'm so thankful though that my God is a forgiving God, because I need that forgiveness daily. Lord, help me to live out your Word!!

Yet Another House Update

2008-08-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

We have been so blessed with many friends and family that have come out and helped with the house and we praise God for that blessing! We are prayerfully only two weeks away from moving in. We are in the process of touching up the trim paint and laying tile. The lights are in now so we can work past dark. By the end of this week, hopefully all the tile will be completed and then we can work on laying the hardwood. As soon as that's done, the carpet will be installed. The plumbing will be done by the end of this week as well. The garage door was installed yesterday. Our kitchen appliances will be delivered the first of next week.

We can't wait to move in and get settled! Praise the Lord for the blessing of this new house!

What a Blessing!

2008-08-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

God has blessed me in so many ways and I don't take enough time to thank Him for all His many blessings. So many times I take for granted all that God does for me. One of those blessings that I take for granted too often is my husband. God has blessed me with an amazing man and I'm so thankful for that. If you had asked me in highschool if I thought I would "grow-up" and marry a pastor, I would have told you a quick "no". Not because I wasn't saved then, I was. But because I just didn't see that for my future. But, God has other plans and He orchestrated my life in a way that I met Michael Buffaloe at just the right time. Michael and I often joke that if we had met in high school we would have hated each other, we were just so different then. But, God was working on us and allowed us to meet when He knew we were ready.

For those that don't know, Michael and I met at church when I was a Junior in college. We became fast friends. We had a large group of friends that we were always with and all of us were very close. Michael will tell you though, that he knew we were supposed to be together way before I did. He even told me one day that he was going to marry me. I thought he was crazy....we weren't even dating, and at the time I didn't see dating Michael in my future. But, once again, God's plans are different than our own....and better than our own as well!! God was working in my life during that time in ways that I didn't fully understand. And eventually, after much running from listening to God, I realized that my future did indeed include Michael Buffaloe! We began dating and after 8 months we were engaged. Now, 5 1/2 years later, I can look back and thank God for placing Michael in my life just when He did.

I'm so thankful for the gift God gave me, when He placed Michael in my life! Why?? Oh, there are SOOOO many reasons!

Michael loves the Lord with all his heart. And he loves me despite my imperfections. He is caring, kind, and considerate of others and their feelings. He takes care of me when I'm sick. He's a provider and a protector. He goes above and beyond what is expected when it comes to ministering to our youth. He makes time for me even in the midst of the chaos that seems to be our life right now. He spends time with me doing what I like to do, not just what he likes. He leads me, even when I don't want him to! :) He'll always do what it takes to get the job done, even if it means staying up until 4:00 in the morning. He's fun, adventurous, and spontanious. He is gifted in many areas, like preaching, teaching, and painting. I could go on and on, but what it comes down to is this: He's AMAZING and I'm SOOO thankful for him!!

Thank you God for placing Michael in my life!

Gone are the Days of Summer

2008-08-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

This summer has been super busy with the youth and working on the house. However, summer has drawn to an end and it's back to school for me! I started back last week and then the kids came back this week. I have a really good class this year and I'm so thankful for that. Unfortunately, I'm sick. I've been sick since the first day of school and it's getting worse. It's bronchitus, I'm assuming, because normally I get it twice a year. Needless to say, I haven't felt well this week. I'm praying that it passes quickly though. Now that school has started back, I teach during the day and then work on the house each night. It makes for long days but we are praying to be in the house in the next three weeks. Once we have actually moved in and all the hard work is behind us, I know I'll feel SOOO relieved and thankful for the blessing of this new house! Praise God for his many blessings!

Cabinets, Finally!

2008-07-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

They finally came and put in our cabinets this week and they look so good! We are super excited that our house is coming together. Please pray that it's finished in the next 5 weeks! We need to be in by the end of August. I didn't include all the pictures, only the ones of the kitchen and the master bathroom. On a side note, someone said that our kitchen looked green in the pictures but it's not. The kitchen, living, and dining rooms are all the same color, a deep yellow. The pictures don't do the color justice! The master bedroom and bath are sage. Our study and guest bath are both brown. And the extra bedroom is painted gray and will house all our red and black....Go DAWGS!! Yes, we have a "UGA room" in our house.

Jesus Messiah

2008-07-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Chris Tomlin led the worship for Student Life Camp in Daytona Beach, where we took our youth last week. He introduced us to this song and I fell in love with it. The words alone are SO powerful. Please listen to the song and actually focus on the message!

House Update

2008-07-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

We are still working very hard on getting our house ready to move in. We were hoping to be in by the first of August, but it looks like it will be closer to the end of August. We've finally finished the outside of the house as far as painting and have put the first coat on the inside. This week we are putting in the trim inside. The cabinets will be installed this week as well, and hopefully the final coat will be done inside too. We'll see! After that, we have to lay the tile and hardwood, the carpet will be installed in the bedrooms, and that will pretty much complete the inside. Then we have to pour the concrete for our patio, driveway, and sidewalk. After that, we'll landscape the yard and be ready to move in. We are so excited and thankful that God has blessed us with this house!

Here's more pictures of the house: http://picasaweb.google.com/apb4jc/OurNewHouse

The Way - Student Life Camp at the Beach

2008-07-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

This past week, Michael and I took our youth group to Student Life Camp at Daytona Beach. Our speaker was Louie Giglio and our worship leader was Chris Tomlin. Our prayer before leaving for camp was that our youth would experience God in a great and mighty way, and now that we are back, I know that God answered that prayer. I can honestly say that I saw our youth grow in their walk in the Lord this past week. Many of them finally GOT it! It was such a blessing to see how our youth's lives were transformed this past week. I could spend hours typing about all the amazing things God did in the lives of our youth this week, but I won't do that right now.

Blast from the Past

2008-06-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Michael and I went back to my hometown to attend my 10 year high school reunion. It was very interesting, to say the least. I did have a good time and it was good to get to see people that I hadn't seen since graduation. Right after graduating, I moved to Valdosta to go to college, so I haven't lived in Bainbridge in 10 years. Although I do go back occasionally to see family and some friends, there are still SO many that I haven't seen since moving to Valdosta for college. It was funny to see how some people haven't changed in appearance at all and how others have changed a lot. There were a good bit of old friends that didn't come, for whatever reason, but I am glad that I got to spend a good part of the weekend with Darbi and Becca.

I've known Darbi pretty much since we were born. We grew up in the same church together, even though we didn't go to the same school until middle school. We've definitely gone through a lot together! Even though we haven't lived in the same town together since high school, we still remain close! I've known Becca since middle school and she was also my first roommate in college. We've had some very memorable and unmemorable times together. :)

The three of us spent a lot of time together this weekend and although it was super busy for us, it was fun! The three of us were on the committee to help plan the reunion, which also means you have to help set up and clean up. I'm SOOO tired now that it's over, but it was enjoyable while it lasted!

Cardboard Testimonies

2008-06-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

Check out this video. It's amazing!

House Update

2008-06-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

Michael and I have been super busy working on the new house. Since I've gotten out for the summer, I've spent several hours each day working on caulking and painting the outside. We are so excited about the progress of the house and hope to be in by the second week of August.

WHAT? It's Not all about ME??

2008-05-14T07:45:00.001-07:00

As sinful beings, we all get wrapped up in the "it's all about me" mentality. It's very easy to do, in fact. I find myself doing it daily, even hourly at times. I am constantly thinking about what I need, what I want, where I need to go, things I need to do, places I need to go, errands I need to run, people I need to see....you get the picture. I'm not saying that it's wrong to worry about these things. However, we can easily become SO wrapped up in ourselves that we neglect others around us that are in need.

A few weeks ago, I was studying the relationship of Ruth and Naomi in the Bible. Just this week, I was confronted with this same message again during chapel at school. The bond between the two women is amazing to me and both of them show a tremendous amount of UNselfishness. Naomi had already lost her husband, and then she lost both of her sons. She still had her daughter-in-laws, though. Naomi was at a point in her life where she felt she needed to go back to her home land. She didn't want her daughter-in-laws to go with her and leave everything they were used to behind. Naomi could have easily only thought of herself and demanded that her daughter-in-laws go with her, but she didn't do that at all. After telling them to stay, Ruth decided she was going with Naomi. What she said to her mother-in-law speaks volumes about her unselfishness. Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." (Ruth 1:16-17) To Ruth, it wasn't about her own desires and wants - it was about taking care of, being loyal to, tending to the needs of, and loving Naomi - her mother-in-law. Wow, again!

Would you leave all that you knew behind to follow your mother-in-law? Not many, if any, of us would. But, more importantly, will you put aside your own selfish desires, to do the will of the Lord? Will you stop worrying only about yourself and tend to the needs of others? I have been challenged many times just this week with this. It seems that everywhere I turn, this same message is screaming at me. Apparently God is speaking to me about my selfishness. Is He speaking to you, too?

Sacrifice

2008-04-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

We can probably all recall a time that we had to make a sacrifice for someone else. Maybe we sacrificed our time that we could be resting, to help a neighbor work in their yard. Maybe we sacrificed going on a trip, in order to help a family member pay off a medical bill. Or, we sacrificed watching TV to spend more time with our Savior. In all these situations, we found ourselves sacrificing something, in order for good to come for someone or something else. Well....that's what sacrifice is! We must give of ourselves, even if it hurts sometimes, to give to others. Maybe it's our money we have to sacrifice, or our time, or our car or house. Whatever it is, sometimes God calls us to sacrifice so that others might benefit.

Well.....God has recently called Michael and I to sacrifice something and it's been on my mind a lot. This sacrifice is not going to be easy, in fact, it will be very hard for me. But, for Him, I will do it!

Our church, CrossPointe, is doing a fundraising campaign to raise money for our new building. I'm super excited about this new building and how God provided us with it at just the right time. However, we need to fix the building up and that will take money! Every church member has been asked to pledge money for this campaign and to then find 6 other people outside of the church to pledge as well. Well, Michael and I prayed about what to pledge and felt that we wanted to give more than what we knew we could physically give ourselves. We wanted this, so in the end, only God would get the glory. We also wanted to sacrifice something, so that we could give even more. After praying about what to do, God laid on our heart that we are to give up going out to eat during the week and on Friday and Saturdays. Wow....that's a big one for us because our lives get so busy sometimes that we tend to eat out a lot.

As of now, it has been two weeks since making the pledge and it has been a challenge. Michael and I are used to going out for "Date Night" on Friday nights and we haven't been able to do that the past two weeks. We have several more weeks left before we have raised all our pledge money and it will be hard few weeks. But, I pray that God will be glorified through it all!

I pray that through raising the money for our new building, that others may see the blessing that sacrifice and obedience to Christ brings. But, also, that through this new building, many lost people may come to know the Lord!!

Watch God Work

2008-04-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, our church's youth group participated in M-Now. This is much like D-Now (DiscipleNow) but with a focus on missions. The week leading up to M-Now was very busy and chaotic for Michael and I. Satan was definately trying to attack, but we knew that God was with us.

First of all, Michael found out the Monday before M-Now that the speaker for the event had been in a very bad car accident (he's fine now) and would not be able to come to speak. Since it was very last minute, we knew there was no time to call in another speaker. Michael immediately prayed about what to do. Through prayer, Michael knew that he would be the one speaking on such short notice. This meant that he had 4 sermons to prepare in one week. On top of preparing sermons, there were errands to be run, food to be purchased, materials to be printed, emails to be sent, and phone calls to be made. We set to work!

The morning of the event, we had a host home have to bail at the last minute. Of course, this wasn't expected, but God prepared the way for another host home to step in to help. In the chaos, we did not allow for Satan to get a foothold. We knew that God was going to do a mighty work in the hands of our youth that weekend. We had 30 youth and about 15 youth workers involved in the weekend, and we knew that God was working in their lives.

On the first night, several youth came down for prayer. Many were wanting to recommit to living their lives for the Lord, not for themselves. Many were laying sin down at the Lord's feet and praying for help in turning away from that sin completely. It was powerful and humbling to see how the youth responded, and that was just the first night. After the message on Saturday morning, the youth had recreation time were we played several group games and just had a chance to hang out. After lunch, we went to a very poor area of town and got to pour our lives into the children of that area. We set up stations for the children to come around to. Some of those stations were face painting, jewelry making, balloon animals, crafts, and games. Before going to the stations, the children listened to a Bible story. It was amazing watching our youth with those kids. No one just sat back and watched, everyone got involved and enjoyed their time we spent with the kids. Afterwards, many of the youth asked if we could make this something we did once a month. How awesome to see the youth respond that way to doing missions. That night, I had the privelege of being with a group of the girls when one of them prayed to receive Christ.

God is so awesome and I'm humbled and blessed to be a part of the plan He has for CrossPointe youth. God was glorified and honored during M-Now and it was great seeing our youth grow spiritually this past weekend!

Bahamas

2008-04-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

As the last blog stated, the past few weeks have been busy. However, being a teacher, I have Spring Break around this time of year. Months ago, Michael and I decided that we were going to use my Spring Break as a vacation time for us both. We booked a cruise to the Bahamas with our best friends from North Carolina way back in October. Last week, we set sail!!

Out of the four of us (Lauren and Keith - our NC friends, Michael and I), none of us had ever cruised before so really didn't know what to expect. We have a 4 night, 5 day cruise to the Bahamas, stopping in Freeport and Nassau with one day at sea. It was one of the BEST vacations I have ever experienced.

We enjoyed some of the shows on the boat at night, while during the day we spent our time on the islands. We really enjoyed Nassau! We rented scooters and drove all over the island. We saw Atlantis and spent time on the beach, soaking in the sun in the ocean. During our day at sea, we ended up being very lazy. We lounged around our room watching some t.v. before finally venturing out to the top deck to lay by the pool and get some sun. Every night we ate in the dining room and made sure we took advantage of the wonderful food being served. We ate stuffed mushrooms, escargo, kalamari, steak, beef wellington, lobster, shrimp, scallops, and so much more during our dinners on the boat. Every night they served several different appetizers, salads, main meals, and desserts. It was all very wonderful! We were so spoiled on the ship! As soon as we got back home, we started looking online to book our cruise for next year. We are hooked on cruising now!

To see more pictures from our cruise: http://picasaweb.google.com/apb4jc/Bahamas

Through It All

2008-04-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a very busy month March was and now almost half of April has passed. It has been awhile since I last had time to write, so I have some catching up to do. This past month has been much of a blur between planning for Missions Now (just like Disciple Now) at our church which happens to be this coming weekend, to going through the motions of getting approved to build a house, buying land, choosing a house plan (which is harder than I thought it would be - guess I'm too picky), figuring out what to do with my car that's messed up, celebrating my 28th birthday and our 5 year anniversary, and taking time to actually have a much needed vacation.

Michael and I are super excited about what God has been revealing to us lately. One of those things is being able to build again. We have found a great lot in a great subvision that is newly being developed. It's a pretty big development with three different phases so far (more will be developed soon) and we are only the 8th house to be built in our phase of the subdivision. It took forever, but we finally decided on our house plan and are "patiently" waiting on the bank for final approval. We are preapproved and will hopefully hear the final word of approval by the end of this week so we can actually start the building process. We are so excited to finally, once again, have a house of our own. God is SOOO good. This process, however, didn't go as smoothly and easily as I first thought it would. I kept praying for open doors and closed doors before even starting this process to make sure it was God's will for us to build right now. Michael and I completely felt that God was telling us to move forward, so we did. To make a long story a little shorter, after several closed doors I started feeling discouraged. I asked God what to do.....He had already told us to build....so why the closed doors? I finally had to decide to just leave it up to Him and not to worry. After doing this, there seemed to be open doors everywhere. God was teaching me to completely rely on Him. When He says He's going to do it...He means it...but it's always in His timing, not our own!! Lesson learned.....until next time unfortunately. Why is it that God teaches us something and we get it, only to forget it later? I guess it's just our sinful, prideful nature that kicks in and tells us that we can do it on our own. I'm so glad that I don't have to do this on my own though. Praise God! I'm so glad that He is with me through it all!

More on the rest of our busy month later....

Pursuit of Happiness vs. Pursuit of Joy

2008-03-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

While driving down the road yesterday, I passed by a sign that caught my attention. The only word I remember seeing on the sign was PURSUIT! Immediately, my mind begin going a million miles a minute, thinking about this word. All around us, people are in pursuit of something. We pursue friendships and relationships with others. We constantly pursue higher education. Some pursue jobs just to help pay the bills, will others pursue their "dream jobs." We pursue bigger and nicer houses, cars, clothing, etc... We pursue, pursue, pursue things all day long, yet they are just earthly things. We do this because we think it will bring us happiness. Is there anything wrong with pursuing happiness through friendships, relationships, education, jobs, etc? No, but where is our heart when we are pursuing these things? Are we pursuing them to further God's Kingdom and to bring Him glory? Or, are we pursuing them for our own glory and happiness? Sure, they may bring happiness, but is it happiness that we should be pursuing? I've found that happiness does not last. It changes based on your circumstances. So, why do we pursue things that will make us happy only for a while, and not things things are more lasting? Why not pursue the one thing that brings JOY, real joy, not just happiness? Joy doesn't change or go away based on our circumstances, our JOY comes from our relationship with Christ. So, why not pursue after Him? I find myself constantly desiring a closer relationship with Him, I find myself constantly wanting to do things to further His kingdom......yet I constantly find myself letting my pursuit of momentary happiness get in the way of complete JOY! Why? Because I'm sinful, we all are. But, I believe that God spoke to me through this sign today, calling me to evaluate the things I pursue.....calling me to be in pursuit of HIM......where I can find complete JOY!! What are you in pursuit of?

God's Working

2008-02-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

Michael and I have been living back in Valdosta, Ga for about 8 months and have seen God working all around us. Before moving back to Valdosta, we were living in Wake Forest, NC for the past three years. We met some amazing people there and loved our church, friends, and jobs. However, God moved us back home! Michael is the youth pastor at our church, CrossPointe, and I teach 4th grade at a private Christian school. Our church, a church plant, was started about two and a half years ago. It was started in the pastor's living room with about six couples. It now has over 500 in attendance each Sunday...so obviously we are not meeting in their living room anymore. God has been, is, and will continue to work in our church and Michael and I are so excited to be apart of that now! Of course, we miss North Carolina, but our home is here now and it's been amazing watching God work in and through our lives. I can't wait to see what all God has in store for us and CrossPointe!!