Celebrations, Reflections, and Thankfulness...

Graham has been in Israel for 8 days now...3 more to go and he will be home! His step-father decided to take him to Israel for his graduation-from-seminary-gift...what an incredible opportunity! I cannot wait to see all of his pictures and hear all of his stories. It is a dream of mine to visit the Holy Land... To walk where Jesus walked... Wow... How incredible. I will get a hold of some of his pictures when he returns and put them on here...so be on the lookout for those.

During his time away I have had lots of time with my family, my friends, and by myself. It has been a good time to reflect on the past year and spend lots of quality and much needed time with Jesus. As I look back over my life and see where He has taken me to ultimately bring me to where I am today, I am truly overwhelmed by His grace in my life. Every friendship, challenge, relationship, and experience I have walked through has molded me into who I am today. There are many hard times that I have walked through that I can now look back on and see God's hand in it all and truly be thankful for the lessons I learned; and while there are other hard times that I still find myself asking, "Why?" to this day, I trust that those times happened for a reason and that they have taught me a little more about myself and more importantly about who I am in Christ. HE IS FAITHFUL. I can't say it enough. On November 8, Graham and I celebrated our one year anniversary (hence all the reflection over the past year!). We had such a wonderful weekend celebrating God's grace in our lives and thanking Him for blessing our marriage in the many ways that He has. When Graham and I married one year ago, I knew it would be incredible. I had no idea, however, just how incredible it would be. I didn't think I could love him any more than I did that day. Little did I know that I would fall more and more in love with him every day thereafter! He is such a blessing in my life. Here is a picture from that weekend...


I just realized today that I never posted pictures from Graham and Leigh's birthday party! First, let me introduce you to Leigh :) Leigh moved to Birmingham last year from West Palm Beach, Florida, and works as another Event Coordinator at Student Life. Her friendship truly is such a blessing. God knew that I would need her friendship at the exact time that He brought her to Birmingham and I am thankful to Him for that! This is me and Leigh...in Kenya...

So anyways, Leigh's birthday is just a few days after Graham's, so I decided that we should celebrate...with a Pumpkin Carving party :) ...let me interrupt here and just say that Graham and I are blessed to have such great community with the people we work with at Student Life...it's not often that people find themselves hanging out with their co-workers almost every weekend...we are blessed. Okay...back to the pumpkins. Although my mom says that I carved a pumpkin when I was younger, I have absolutely no recolection of it whatsoever - therefore, I considered this my first pumpkin carving experience and was so excited! Unfortunately, no one told me that I might want to start with an easy pattern... Thanks guys... My cat turned out...well...I'll let you see for yourself:

Don't laugh. And don't worry about the toothpicks. They became necessary to hold him together after I made one cut too many...

Here are some other pictures from this part of the night:

Callie's pumpkin. Yes, it is better than mine. She has obviously done this before...

Spread out in our garage...hard at work...

KFarr and Trey...soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Fondren :)
Matt deciding which design to choose...Matt's final decision :)

One of Graham's best friends from Oklahoma, Mike, happened to be in town that weekend. It was so good to see him!
So after everyone finished their masterpieces, we had to celebrate Leigh and Graham's birthday!

Wondering why Graham's candle is crooked? Don't worry about it. Let's just say that the picture above was preceded by the pictures below...

So after the pumpkin party turned into a birthday party, it then turned into a Rock Band party...as always...

Fun Times :)

What Life Is All About...

Do you ever have days that you miss someone so much that it hurts? Today is that day for me. About 10 months ago my precious Grandmother passed away. She was the most elegant, classy, lovely, kind, compassionate, and Godly woman I have ever met. She exuded Christ in ALL that she did...I have never met anyone like her. Grandmother played a huge role in my life growing up and I am beyond thankful for the 23 years that I had with her. However, today I am having a harder time looking to the good times we had and am instead feeling burdened with missing her. My family has been through so many big milestones over the past two years and anytime that I sit and reflect on those years I find myself craving a conversation with Grandmother. She had such a beautiful way of listening, talking, and sharing wisdom - I need that right now. I praise God that she was able to be at both mine and Melanie's wedding. Even though she was very confused at my wedding, she was there and I was able to celebrate a very special day with her which meant the world to me. Her love for her family was such an example to me and as I watch my family now welcome Abby into this world I am constantly reminded and reassured of the example that Grandmother was to each of us. She was truly a blessing - a huge blessing - in my life and I praise God for the time that we had together. Pain is to be expected, sadness is sure to come and go, but more than that is the rejoicing that comes in knowing that she is finally home with her Father whom she spent her entire life devoted to. What an amazing thought that she is worshiping at the feet of the God she always told me about and the God who is now my personal Lord and Savior. What a beautiful picture. Here is a picture of my Grandmother and the love of her life, my Dabado :)

Abby is continuing to do well and is just as gorgeous as ever! I love that we live only 5 minutes away from Melanie and Reynolds and therefore get to see our little niece very often. It is in times like this, when I am thinking about my Grandmother and Abby at the same time that I am reminded of what life is all about. I think about my Grandmother in her last days who although she was unable to articulate much or make sense of much, she always took time to pray - blessings for her food, prayers for her family, and thanksgiving for all the ways God had blessed her life. It was truly inspirational to watch. Her life was completely devoted to loving God and sharing His love with everyone she came in contact with. And then I look at precious little Abby who is just beginning her life here on earth. She has her whole life ahead of her - such a journey to go through. It is exciting to think about because she has incredible parents who deeply love the Lord and desire nothing more than for their daughter to live a life devoted to Christ and furthering His Kingdom. For that is what we are here for...that is our purpose. To bring glory to God and to make His name and His love known throughout the nations. Grandmother made that her life goal, and it is my prayer that my life can mirror that and be an example to little Abby as she grows as a daughter of Christ.

Here are more of the pictures that I tried to upload last time...








I am an AUNT!...

This past Thursday at 11:45am, the most beautiful baby girl in the world was born...Abigail Kendrick Anderson. She was 7lbs 4oz and 21 inches of pure beauty :) The past several days have been so much fun as we have welcomed this precious blessing into our family. Melanie is already the best mother...I could not be more proud of her and Reynolds. They are going to be wonderful parents. They recognize the blessing and responsibility that was born into the world on Thursday, and they continue to look to the Lord for guidance on how to raise this child in the love of Christ and always point her towards Him. I pray that my entire family can do this for little Abby and all other children that come along....sometime....in a long time... :)

There are more pictures to come, but here are some that I already have on my computer...

My computer won't let me upload anymore for some reason right now, so I will update again soon :)

October...

I never would have called myself a big U2 fan. In fact, when we were dating Graham had a poster of Bono in his room and I asked him why he had a picture of Robin Williams on his wall. I should be ashamed, I know...in my defense, though, they really do look alike...

See...??

Anyways... Graham and I went to the U2 concert a couple of weeks ago in Atlanta. Seeing as this is Graham's favorite band, he was ecstatic. I, on the other hand, was just looking forward to getting out and having a good time with some friends of ours! The concert opened with Muse and then what seemed like 5 hours later.. :) ..U2 came out on stage and I have to say...they were absolutely incredible! Turns out I am quite the U2 fan...I just didn't know that so many of those songs were theirs! I kept looking at Graham saying, "I didn't know this was a U2 song!" or "I love this song!"...I'm sure it didn't annoy him at all :) Although I don't have any pictures of me and Graham from the concert, I have some pictures of the stage which was amazing...


We are still on baby-standby with my niece. Melanie's doctor has said that Abby could come at any minute now...ahhh the anticipation! :) Her nursery is absolutely beautiful and ready to go...here are some pictures...

Amazing...

Don't you love when God does things that doctors can't explain? Take Sterling Davis for example. The Davis' were told to expect at least 7 nights of recovery in the hospital post-surgery (see posts below). Sterling made it through surgery successfully with only 15-20% of the tumor remaining and was out of the hospital by FRIDAY. Seriously?! This brave little boy only had to stay in the hospital 3 nights!! God has done a mighty work in Sterling and we pray that He continues to do so as recovery and healing continue to take place. Sterling is doing amazingly well - thank you so much for all of your prayers and concerns. It truly is amazing how many people are praying for this family all over the world. All glory to God for His work in Sterling's life!

Please continue to pray as they wait for the pathology report on Sterling's tumor. There is still a journey ahead, but it is more than evident that the Davis' faith is carrying them through this time.

Here is a picture of 'Super Sterling' on his way out of the hospital:

The Power of Prayer...

Thank you so much for your prayers for Sterling. I have had many people ask to be updated so I want to take some time right now to do just that.

Sterling had an MRI Thursday night and an EEG Friday morning. The MRI was to see if the tumor had spread to his spine, which is apparently the first place that this type of tumor spreads to. A huge sense of relief and praise came when the MRI came back CLEAR, meaning that the tumor has not spread. Praise God!

Surgery is set for this Tuesday morning at 7:45am to remove the tumor. It will take about 7 hours to complete the procedure and the doctors have said that they should be able to get at least 85% of the tumor. Apparently the other 15% is in a "blind spot" meaning they are not sure if they will be able to get to it or not. Sometimes the part that is in the blind spot will come out with the rest of the tumor, so let us pray that this will be the case!

Sterling has been so incredibly brave throughout this entire process - what an inspiration he is to me! Who would have thought a 4 year old could be such an example to so many on what faith looks like! Roger and Becca are continuing to amaze me in the way that they are handling this entire situation. God has blessed Sterling with 2 incredible parents.

There have been so many times in my life where God has made known to me the power of prayer. Even in times where I feel that my prayers are hitting the ceiling, God never fails in His faithful ways of making Himself known to me. He answers prayers. Sometimes in the ways that we desire, and others in ways that we don't "want". We know, however, that even when prayers are answered in undesirable ways for our minds to comprehend, God is in control. His ways are PERFECT. What a comforting thought and reminder to have.

I know this is true in the life of Sterling Davis as well. Roger continues to say, "God is for us." How true those words are! There are people all over the world...literally... praying for the Davis family. Prayers have been answered in so many ways, already, and I am confident that God will continue to hear the prayers of His children and take care of Sterling in His mighty and perfect ways.

Sterling was given clearance to play in his soccer game this afternoon so we are off to cheer our little buddy on!

Thank you for praying and remember that there is power in prayer.

Please Pray...

Please join us in praying for our little buddy, Sterling Davis. Sterling is 4 (almost 5) years old and recently found out that there is a one inch mass in the center of his brain. After having an arteriorgram today, they were able to determine that this mass is a low grade tumor. Sterling will have more tests run this Thursday and Friday as they determine the plan from here. Please pray for his health, his understanding, his courage, and his parents (Roger and Becca) as they face this journey together. Their faith has been such an example and encouragement to so many - may God continue to be glorified in this entire situation. We are trusting in His faithfulness, provision, comfort, strength, and healing as He makes Himself known to the Davis family in every way. We rest in His sovereignty.

Many of you may remember sweet Sterling and his sister, Landry, from our wedding. They were the ring bearer and flower girl :)