Adam's Baptism

Monday, April 20, 2015

(I'm going to let Adam take the reins on this post, but just wanted to preface with how PROUD I am of my amazing husband. His baptism was one of the most awesome days, ever. He just blew me away and I don't think I've ever been more proud. He has grown to be such an amazing leader of our family and I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for him!)

Hello world! Here to make my blogging debut, it's me Adam! Sorry that my first post is super long!

I'd like to start and say a big Thank You! to all of our family and friends that have given me the support and prayers that have helped me get to this day. It truly was an incredible experience. The Lord has been working in me a lot the past few months and I have been thinking about getting baptized for a while, but never could bring myself to do so. But with the push from my small group and my wife, I finally decided to do it.

I was massively freaking out about it. I was mainly nervous because I didn't know how it was supposed to go, and I didn't know what to say. The church emailed me a brief summary of what happens, but it wasn't very detailed so I didn't really know how this would go down. The email said I had to say something before I get baptized, but didn't specify how much, so I didn't know whether to say a sentence or a story. God put it on my heart to tell my testimony so I typed it all out and looked up and it was 8 pages single spaced, way too long. I finally cut it to the bare minimum and got it to about a 6 minute speech. But I was still freaking out that it was way too long.

We get to church that day and the pastor shows us where to sit and says that three other people were getting baptized, two children and one teenager. I thought, "Great, I'm the only adult. This will be weird." After we all went up front and the pastor asked us questions to declare our faith, I sat down and watched the two adorable children get baptized.

Right before my turn, I looked at Lizzie and said, "This is going to be weird, it's going to be too long." She assured me over and over that it was going to be great. My wife was my biggest supporter through this and was the main reason why I decided to get baptized.

Normally when I speak in front of people, I get the shakes real bad and I use a lot of filler words. But as I walked up there, the power of God came over me, and if I hadn't wrote what I was going to say down, I wouldn't be able to tell you what I said. It was almost like a trance. But here is my testimony:

I'm here because my life changed back in August. At the time I was extremely depressed and convinced that God had left me. I would beg him to show himself to me, but I would get nothing. I was so fed up with it. My wife and I had been coming to Stonebridge for about 2 years, but it was very off and on. She was the one who would get us to go since I always wanted to go "next week." But for some reason last August, I went to church by myself.

I don't know what David was talking about that day, but one simple sentence stood out. "Faith is standing on the chair." He gave the analogy that Faith is not looking at the chair and saying, "Yeah, I bet that can hold me up." Faith is getting up and standing on the chair. 

After church I went to breakfast with my Dad. For some reason I started pouring into him saying that God has left me, and I keep calling for him and he doesn't answer and he has turned his back to me. After my rant, and a very long pause, I'll never forget as he leaned over the table, looked me dead in the eye and said, "Son, God didn't leave you. Have you thought that you turned your back to God?"

Later that night, there I was sitting on my couch thing about what happened that day. I thought, "Ok, I'll try and stand on the chair." I got out my Bible and looked at it and realized I had no idea where to start. So, like everyone, I Googled it, "Where to start reading the Bible." All the results came back Mark, Luke, and John, but it didn't feel right to me even though I didn't really know what those books actually said. So I went to page 2, and there was Ephesians. Guess what Ephesians is about: Faith.

Ephesians 2:1 "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world… But because of his great love for us, GOD, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by Grace you have been saved. And GOD raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms of Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by Grace you have been saved, through Faith, not by works, so that no one can boast.

I broke down to my knees and started praying. I told God I was going to get on the chair, I was going to put my whole life in his hands. I felt the Lord in that room that night. He was standing over me and he put his hand on my back and the whole room was flooded with light. I saw the Devil in a black hood standing in the corner and I saw him leave as soon as God touched me. It was and incredible experience, I just didn't know what to do next. 

The next week "happened" to be small group sign up, and even two weeks prior I would have never signed up for small groups, I didn't really see the point. But God put it on my heart to join one. It has been incredible. Just to hear these men of God share their experiences and struggles and pray with them. They helped me go from having an incredible experience to being a full fledge God follower who wants to share the word. 

So here I am, and if you knew me 2 years ago, heck even 6 months ago, I'd be the last person you'd expect up here. But i'm here to declare that I am saved by the Blood of Christ, and it's through Faith, not by acts, that I am saved, and I want to share the word of God with the world. And it's all because I got up on the chair. 

Here's the group that got baptized with me!

What an incredible experience having my wife, father, pastor and small group leader pour the water.


This is Scott, my small group leader.

My great family that God has blessed me with.

Travels

First things first, baby girl's crib came in!!!!! I keep shutting the bedroom door and reopening it just to look at it. Her room is slowly coming together and it just makes things seem so much more real!


Ok, back to non-baby business. (Yeah, right. Everything is about the babe these days.) I headed to Fort Worth on Friday, April 10 to spend the weekend with Jeff and Katie before my full week of meetings started in Dallas on Tuesday morning. As always, they were the best hosts and we had an awesome time! 

The weekend started with getting my fix of Tex-Mex at Mi Cocula. Katie isn't a fan of mexican food (I know, WHAT??), but she always suffers through it when I come to town. Speaking of how awesome Katie is... on Saturday morning she treated me to an amazing mani/pedi. I snapped this picture of her, which is what I looked like about ten minutes prior. It was a full-on spa experience! So relaxing. After being pampered, we headed to some adorable baby boutiques where Auntie Katie purchased some unbelievably cute outfits for the little babe! 


We spent the rest of the afternoon at a Crawfish Boil with their friends. The weather was nice and it was fun to just hang outside all day!


Maxi party!


This little girl is my spirit animal. Check out all that pink! So cute.


I'm not the biggest crawfish fan, so we made a few pit stops on the way home... FroYo from Braum's followed by some tacos at Jack in the Box. (And yes, I was eating my FroYo as we pulled through the Jack in the Box drive thru. Zero guilt!)


We spent Sunday relaxing and I watched them do a little gardening. Katie has quite the green thumb and their yard looks amazing!


Sunday evening we met up with my Aunt Michelle, Uncle John and cousins Luke and Brody for some grub at Woodshed. Check out this spread!


Typical boys, Brody and Luke weren't thrilled to pose for a picture.


Jeff didn't start his next rotation until Tuesday, so we were able to hang out before he dropped me off at my hotel on Monday afternoon. (He also forced Katie and I to try this Caribbean restaurant connected to a gas station for lunch. Eeeeeps.)

Saying adios to his niece for (probably) the last time before he meets her!


After a full week of meetings in Dallas, I finally landed back in Atlanta at 11pm on Thursday night. Adam was a sweetheart and volunteered to pick me up, even though I told him a hundred times I didn't mind taking a cab. I spent most of Friday catching up on work and relaxing before it was time to head to Auburn for A Day. We attended a couple years back, but Adam was still coaching and couldn't make it. This year he could! And I was way less exciting. 

Night one we had BBQ fixed by the frat house's cook (because yes, that's a thing).


I was such a trooper and even headed out to the bar with the fam for a little bit! I did, however, opt out of the shots.


Saturday was the Spring Football Game, and the weather actually ended up being pretty nice! We headed to the frat house around 10a to get the party started and were able to walk to the stadium from there. Mitchell's adorable girlfriend, Reagan, joined us for the festivities, too!


Over 62,000 attended!


After a draining day in the sun, we headed back to the frat house for a bit before heading back home to ATL. It was a fun 24 hours in Auburn, and it's always fun to see Mitchell!

20 - 22 Weeks

20 Weeks: March 31



Baby's the size of a: Banana and her taste buds are working!

Sleep: The Snoogle is my jam.

Best moment of this week: Halfway there!!!! Can't believe we've finally reached the halfway mark! 20 down, 20 to go!

Miss anything: Not really this week.

Food cravings: Still the really healthy stuff - sweets, waffles, fries...

Anything making you queasy or sick: Leftovers and casseroles. 

Symptoms: My stomach gets sore easily - all that stretching and growing! Hm, I got sick again last week (yay!), but it came and went pretty quick. I also almost passed out at Dillard's on Sunday, which was super embarrassing. Especially when I had to sit on the floor and my friend had to ask them for a bottle of water. Good news - I called the doctor and they said it's totally normal (unless it's happening daily). My body is digesting food differently and I just need to make sure I'm eating a lot of protein. Full disclosure: I've been really bad about "forgetting to eat". Adam and I are going to brainstorm a snack/meal plan to make sure this doesn't continue to happen.

Happy or moody most of the time: Pretty happy most of the time! 

Looking forward to: Baby girl getting strong enough that Adam can feel her moving around!


21 Weeks: April 7
(Officially moving into the "pregnant hand stance")



Baby's the size of a: Pomegranate and her digestive system is prepping for real life!

Sleep: The Snoogle is still my jam, but there are some off nights here and there.

Best moment of this week: Easter celebrations with the family are always fun!

Miss anything: Not really this week.

Food cravings: I've decided I don't have any crazy cravings - I just let myself eat what I want most of the time. When in real life, I just have to fight the cravings and eat a salad. This doesn't mean I sit around and eat Reese's Eggs all day (oh, wait - I have since Easter). I actually do eat pretty healthy, but will let myself splurge when I want to without feeling guilty. (Ah, it's amazing.)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Leftovers and casseroles are still pretty much my only aversions. 

Symptoms: Still get pretty lightheaded easily, but I've tried three different prenatal vitamins with Iron and they all make me sick immediately. 

Happy or moody most of the time: Pretty happy most of the time! 

Looking forward to: Baby girl getting strong enough that Adam can feel her moving around! I felt her kick a couple times with my hand this past week, but Adam's never around. He's starting to get pretty antsy about it!


22 Weeks: April 14

Oops - no picture! I was in Texas and didn't feel like harassing the maid to take it. :)


Baby's the size of a: Papaya and weighs a whole pound!

Sleep: I slept wrong on the Snoogle and was so sore for a couple days! I had to retire it for a few nights (which worked out since I was in Texas for meetings anyway), and somehow survived.

Best moment of this week: I spent the weekend with Jeff and Katie in Texas before my meetings started, which is always a blast!

Miss anything: Home! I was away from Adam (and the pooches) for six days!

Food cravings: Nothing new. Healthier foods are actually starting to look appealing, but not as appealing as Reese's Eggs or donuts.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Same as always. And car rides. 

Symptoms: The lightheadedness (is that a word?) is still in full force. Doesn't seem to matter how much I snack, it just hits when it wants to. My abdomen also gets really sore even after just a little bit of walking. It basically feels like my stomach is about to rip open and drop a baby out. (Oh, wait. I guess that makes sense.) In the past week, I've had two awesome new symptoms show up - my vision is blurry and my nose is so stuffed up. Pregnancy is fun!! (To be honest, it really doesn't bother me. I'm growing an adorable little human so I actually enjoy the symptoms!)

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy, happy, happy!

Looking forward to: Adam is getting baptized on Sunday! He's had this planned for quite some time now and I am so excited for him!


Easter Joy

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Easter is always one of my favorite holidays. Other than it obviously being a crucial day for us Christians, the weather always seems to be beautiful and I love any excuse to be surrounded by family. 

We kicked off the week by being 20 weeks pregnant! Full disclosure: I specifically put on this workout outfit because it's my fave and had Adam take a picture of me being "cute and active". Except our dogs are still re-learning how to walk on their leashes and it started raining, so it all ended up just being stressful and weird. But we're halfway there to meeting our babe!!



On Friday night, we headed to the Coopers to finally meet little Minnie! Ignore the terrible quality of the picture, how cute is she in her rain jacket??


Two visits in two weeks?? Weeeee!!


I was extra exhausted on Saturday morning, and Adam surprised me with breakfast in bed! He's the absolute cutest sometimes. 


We celebrated Easter with my family on Saturday, because Mamabear doesn't exactly know the difference anyway. I Adam made a really yummy Cinnamon Baked French Toast! I've been so bad at taking pictures recently, so I have none of our pre-Easter brunch. Whoops.

We successfully made it to 7am church on Easter Sunday! (And someone enjoyed three donuts. I'm not above bribery to get me somewhere early.) We have really come to love our church, and Easter was no exception. Always such a great message!

As soon as church was out, we headed to the Bakers to hang out before brunch. Meagan and Nathan go to the later service, so Jude always goes home with Debbie and Dave when they leave the early service. This means we got our little Jude Dude all to ourselves for a couple hours!

Obviously, that meant it was time to annoy him with tons of photos.



Cutest little bunny I ever did see! Can't wait for the little chicky to be around for next year's celebrations!



Photo Shoot Take 100 by Dave. I love these people!


Monday night was Opening Day and the NCAA Basketball Finals. Adam wanted something "festive" for dinner to celebrate it being Opening Day, so I made these amazing nachos. Chips, cheese, shredded chicken, toppings - throw it in the oven on Broil for 3 minutes and voila! Deliciousness. And the Braves won, so it was a good night!


It also must be noted that Duke won the championship game, which means my bracket beat Adam's bracket! He now has to give the dogs a bath every two weeks for 3 months. (And I'm so glad I don't have to do his ironing for two weeks.)


 
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