The Thankful Project: The Weekend Edition

I know...I know... I missed Friday and Saturday.  I'm sorry.  Really.  I was up super late working Friday and yesterday, I was asleep in bed by 9:15p (I really dont feel very bad about that...)  I'm sticking with, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder..."  Did it work??

So here's the Weekend Edition

Day #8:  Friday
I am borrowing this one from Tricia MG.  IT WAS FRIDAY!  I love everything about what Friday means!  It's the end of a week and the day before Saturday.  To top it off we had nothing to do.  I had sweatpants on and was in front of the TV by 7p!

Day #9: I'm FREE!
Nathan and I have been working and working toward this day.  We officially have no EXTRA debt.  We have no credit card debt and no student loans... just the car and the house.  IT FEELS SOOO GOOD!  My student loan was shameful!  My graduation present was a Mac.  I loved it.  It was my baby!  I went to college and found this cat on the road, named her Forrest and took her in.  I grew to love her.  Many nights, I had a baby in my lap while i typed on my other baby.

One baby in the forefront & other in the back

One day, one thirsty baby spilled a FULL glass of water on the electronic baby who wasn't so thirsty.  Yes, Forrest is still alive.  I had to take the student loan out to purchase that MacBook Pro to finish school.  I finished paying for it yesterday.  Sad part:  Haven't had it since 2010... you've got it!  I've been paying on a computer I don't even own anymore.  Shameful.

Day #10:  My Other Kids
These guys=HUGE PIECE OF MY HEART
I have been working with the youth since I graduated in '08.  These past 5 years have taught me more about myself then the 6 years i was in the youth group.  Granted, those six year help me create some of my BESTEST friends and a husband, but these kids have captured me heart in a whole new way.  The way God has woven together a teenager is breathtaking sometimes. And when they are on fire and go to serve along side them, it's an experience that can touch just about anyone involved.

Spurgen Cook Out 2013 (yesterday)

Mission Serve July 2012

30 Hr Famine May 2011

Hawaiian Night February 2010

Dare 2 Share March 2009

• They make me strive to learn more and more about God.
• They keep me accountable even though they don't know they do.
• They give me an excuse to still like kid stuff.
• They help me feel less grown up.
• They challenge me to know scripture.
• They don't judge me for lack of intellect, and we work together at finding answers.
• They astound me with their work ethic and roofing skills.
• They call me out on things.  I need that!
• They make me MANY times weep with anticipation as to what God has planned for them.  I hate to watch them suffer or search, but when God reveals something to them, you can see it glowing off of them.  

I will probably never know if or how I impacted them, but as I draw near to God he will continue to give me the words to say.  Before I got married, I used to say, "If I could just birth a teenager, that would be great!"  Well, Ruthie has made babies worth it, but I LOVE working with teens!  I hope it will be something God allows me to do for a VERY long time.  

Deep in the HEART of Texas...

So Mission Serve 2012...What a week!

I can basically understand why so many people thought I was crazy for going.  I officially believe I was.  But I would have done it again.  What a blast...*sigh.*

Our days consisted of waking up at 4am, baking muffins and scrambling an extremely large amount of eggs.  Then we would prepare a main dish like biscuits and gravy or french toast, etc.  Monday 4am was fine.  We were focused...had some minor hick-ups we worked through, but by Thursday I was rapping and Friday we were pretty much laughing dead zombies just walking around the kitchen.  Very entertaining, I'm sure, to watch.  After breakfast we would plan our shopping trips for the day to get everything we need for dinner and for breakfast the next morning so the cycle would start again.  Restaurant Depot was usually our first stop.  It was like Sam's only even BIGGER quantities.  Their freezer section was actually about 1/3 of their store where you would borrow a coat and walk into this floor-to-ceiling door where the temp would drop to about 45 degrees and there was your frozen food and refrigerated meat.  Mind-blowing really...  Then we would head to Sams for things in slightly smaller quantities, then Wal-mart for bananas and a few small things (more for us and personal shopping), and then Aldi's for our baking ingredients that we didn't need much of at all.   Then we would head home, take and hour-ish nap, wake up, and start the dinner festivities.

Our menu:

• Sunday Night: Spaghetti
• Monday Morning: Biscuits & Gravy
  Dinner: Pulled Pork & Corn on the cob
• Tuesday Morning: Pancakes
  Dinner: Chicken Nuggets & Mac 'n Cheese (More like Chez with some noodles- YUM)
• Wednesday Morning: French Toast
  Wednesday was Free nite at the Historic Stock Yards in Fort Worth
• Thursday Morning: Biscuits & Gravy
  Dinner: Homemade Pizza
• Friday Morning: Smorgasbord- Leftover B&G, Egg Casseroles, and Pancakes
  Dinner: The church made us TRUE Mexican Fajitas!  YUM!!

Here is the crew.  Those pans would be stacks of chicken nuggets waiting for the oven on Tuesday nite.  

L to R: Emily, Wendy, Troy, Dad aka Mark, Stacy, Me & Sue.  Pretty stellar team!

The hard stuff...Ruthie hit a growth spurt while we were there.  I grew out of 2 pairs of pants that I had tried on and packed.  My bathroom routine in the middle of the night was slightly difficult in that I had to walk a good distance to the nearest loo.  My ankles turned into small pork tenderloins.  I could work for long periods of time and they wouldnt bother me, I would just look down and be like, "Holy Cow, I should prob sit down."  

Dallas was about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than home everyday, so heat really wasnt a problem.  And the only time I would go outside was for shopping trips and lunch.  

I also left part of my heart in TX.  My dear Tricia MG has moved to Dallas for Seminary.  She is one of those wonderful ladies that keeps me grounded and reminds me that I'm still a girl besides being a wife and soon a mom.  Without her, I feel like an adult.  With her i feel like a girl.  I will miss her terribly.... TERRIBLY!  Love you, Tricia!

I love seeing my husband serve Jesus.  If we could get paid to do this the rest of our lives that would be amazing.  We was resilient under an almost impossible job, petty criticism, he ran in 4pm Dallas heat (slightly crazy), and he still checked on me every night to see how I was holding up. What a man.  

I become a football widow now that we are home.  Practices start every night this week.  Fall has basically begun.  We also had GREAT news that we bought our first house.  I'll post about that soon! VERY SOON.    All in all, Dallas was a crazy, hot, successful trip with lots of memories, and food, and JESUS!