May in a Nut Shell

I'm going to have to put the whole month of May in one blog, since I haven't blogged in a while.
Brad and I have been running, so we decided to sign up for our first 5k.  Well actually, I told Brad he should do one and I found one to sign him up for, so he said I had to sign up too.  We run on June 4th.
A couple weeks ago we got to go back down to Arkansas for a wedding.  Brad was one of the pastors doing the ceremony.  Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Turner!!!  It was such fun wedding and really beautiful.  They had a dance at the reception; Brad and I took turns dancing with Lauren.  (Isn't it funny what you will do for your kid, that you would never do before.)  We got a chance to hang out with some friends while we were there and catch up.  It was nice to see everyone again.  Sunday, we stopped in Ozark to go to James River A/G for mother's day and then went to lunch with the Teague's.  We stuck around for a while to chat and let Lauren and Brimmer (lauren's cousin) play for a while in their sprinkler.

I took Lauren to get her hair cut.  She does not like having her hair touched or brushed or washed or anything.  She has also been asking to get her hair cut short like one of her friends.  So I gave in and she got the haircut she wanted.  Which she loves and looks super cute too.  It is so much easier to brush and fix now, which I love.

And our big, exciting news... We took a trip in April to visit Bridgewood Church in Clarkston, MI.  We had a chance to meet the pastors and their leadership team and got to go to one of their Sunday Services (undercover).  So this last week we went back for another visit.  We were able to stay for a week.  Brad preached in the youth service Wednesday night and both Sunday Morning services.  We had a chance to meet with the parents of the teens in the church and Saturday got to have a BBQ and scavenger hunt with the teens- So fun!  The more time we spent with people the more God confirmed that this was a great pastor, team and church to serve.  They offered us the Student Ministry position and we accepted.  We will be moving there in early July.  Thanks Pastor Curt and Christy for the opportunity to serve and minister to the youth at Bridgewood and the area, excited does not even begin to describe it.

Sorry I only have a few pics this time.  I try and take more for the next post.

The Haircut

Lauren got to hang out with her BF, Brett, before we flew to Michigan.

By the way "BF" is for Best Friend", not Boy friend.  She's too young.

I got to sit by these two crazy people on the airplane.

Running Lesson

In the last two months I started running again.  And when I say again, I mean it has really been a long while.  So the first two weeks I started, I was really out of shape, and I would run a little way and walk and then run a little more. 
I don't know why, but I have this habit when I run that I pick some object like a tree or light post and I tell myself -"Run there and then I can stop, I'm done."  Then a few weeks ago, I went out to run and at first I was going to pick my spot where I could stop running and then I just decided to run until I couldn't.  I made it twice as far as my normal stopping point and I kept running and by the time I did stop, I had gone 3 or 4 times as far than I thought I could!
When I stopped running I turned around and started walking back.  And I do have to say that I was very proud of myself for running so much farther than I thought I could.  While I was still walking back and feeling proud of myself, God challenged me.  And I wondered how many times I had put limits on God.  How many times did God have more but I got a little wore down and picked my place to stop, instead of forgetting my comfort and seeing how far and where God could have taken me.
*From a simple run down a rock road, I learned a valuable lesson.  I'm going to strive to keep going, evening when I'm tired and I think 'this would be a great place to stop', and follow after God and until HE says stop.  I'm positive, I'll be amazed.