Worship Through Song

If you know me personally, you know that I love to sing.  I connect to music.  It speaks to me.  So when I listen to "Jesus music" as Andrew calls it, it is a worship experience like no other.  God and I have some great conversations through music.  Most of them happen in the car or like today, while I'm cleaning house.   But I can give glory to God though song easier than any other form of worship.  Music is my spiritual gift.  And I want to start using that gift in other ways, than just singing.  I want to use my gift of music to share  with you some songs that the Lord puts on my heart, as a means of encouragement.  Yes, you read my blog and see lots of pictures, but I want it to be more than that.  I want to let my light shine and glorify God (Matthew 5:16)...even through the blog.  Because no matter what you do in your life, your main goal is to glorify Him!  It doesn't matter if you're a big shot lawyer, doctor, preacher, teacher, or stay at home mom.  Just give God the glory... even while you're folding laundry!  The Bible tells us in 1Corinthians 10:30 "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."  And again in Colossians 3:17, "And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father by him.  And so that is why I'm starting my  "worship through song" series with Steven Curtis Chapman's "Do Everything."  (That and it just came on the radio while I was folding clothes.  I thought it was very appropriate.)  So, read the lyrics and watch the youtube video...and be encouraged to give God the glory!

Kyndal's Birthday Party

We drove back from MS on Sunday morning, in time to make it to church.  Then right after church, we went to one of Andrew's classmates' birthday party.   It was a beautiful day, a little chilly, but comfortable enough to be outside.  He had fun swinging and playing on the playground with his classmates. 

 This is his girlfriend, (Yes, he is his Daddy's son) Zya.  (That's Zya's Dad..not some stranger, pushing them!)  According to Andrew, they "love each other." He proclaimed it to all the shoppers at the Pic-N-Sav the other day.  Zya and her Mom just so happened to be shopping at the same time and they were both beside themselves with excitement.  They were so surprised to see each other outside of school!  It was cute.

Cake time!

 Kyndal, the birthday girl.

Mardi Gras Ball (Warning: LONG POST)

Drew and I were invited to the 45th Nereids Mardi Gras Ball, which was held at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Arena in Biloxi.  We've been to the ball once before, way back in 2004.  It was a lot of fun, so we were looking forward to another night out on the town.  Before the ball we met up with his best friend, Tim and his new bride, Amy for dinner.  We took a few "before" pictures.  *Note: This very well may be the LAST time (EVER) you see Drew in this uniform.  He should be promoted to Major before next year's Marine Corps Ball, and with that promotion comes a new uniform.*

 Tim & Amy

 The night starts in the arena, with a huge production.  This year's theme was "A Disco Night."  Drew's cousin as well as Tim's family are both very involved with the production.   The show kicks off with the introduction of last year's King and Queen as well as Dukes and Maids.  

 This is the Captain:  Apparently she runs the show. I learned that this is only the second captain in all 45 years of Nereids history!

 One of Laura's numbers.

 Introduction of this year's Maids and Dukes.  They each have a name and I forget these guys.

 Disco Music

 Neon and Laser (Does she look familiar?) Tim's Mom surprised us all.  We had no idea she was going to be a Maid this year!

 Pop Art

 The City That Never Sleeps

 Studio 54

 The Royal Court

 Sandra

 After the presentation of the Royal Court, the show continued with more dancing.  Sandra's boys, Nick and Zach were in this number.

 Laura's 2nd number.

 That's the choreographer...Man, I'd love to have his job!

 Final number: Tim's sister Katelyn is in the purple group.

 Totally in charge...

 Grand Finale

 After the show, we went down on the floor to offer our congratulations on a wonderful performance!

Me and Laura

 Maid Sandra

 Then it was on to the "Supper Dance."  Louisiana Spice was the live band.  They were really good.  The party got started with a parade of the royal court.

 Another shot of Tim and Amy

 Me and my man

 Drew and Laura

 Me and Laura

Balaina with the Everhart boys.  They should NOT be 16 and 18 already!

Katelyn and Drewf 

We danced until our feet hurt and then headed home.  What a fun night!  Thanks Sandra, for inviting us.  We had a great time!

A Love Worth Fighting For

Last night, Drew and I had the opportunity to go to a marriage event with 3 other couples from our Sunday School Class.  It was an amazing experience.  Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains, Fireproof) and musical guest Warren Barfield teamed up with Feed Your Faith organization to present "A Love Worth Fighting For" at a church in Pensacola.  Here's the flyer (as you can see...this afternoon, they are in Tallahassee.)  You can click on the link above to see their schedule.  They'll be in NC, SC, VA, MI to name a few. 

Kirk Cameron was a great speaker.  The focus, you can probably imagine, was God's perspective on marriage and how we can strengthen our relationships and honor God in our marriages.  In the beginning he talked about the movie Fireproof and gave us 3 things to remember so you can fireproof your marriage:
1.  The heart of my problem in marriage is the problem of my heart.
He talked about our selfishness and how we must get our hearts right with God before things will ever get right in our marriages.

2. There is only one person on this earth that I can change and it is NOT my spouse!
Obviously, the only person we can change, is ourself.  He said that God reserves the privilege to change your spouse for Himself!

3.  You have to have an effective war strategy to defend yourself against sin.
He referenced pornography for the men, since that is what his character, Caleb Holt, struggled with in the movie Fireproof.  He said to identify sin and sin and kill it before it kills you!

After intermission, he read 1 Peter 3:7 to us.  I'm sure you're all familiar with this and the previous chapter.  It's all about submission; submission to government, submission to masters, and submission to husbands, etc... So 1 Peter 3:7 says, "Likewise you husbands, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered."
The likewise in this verse is referring to the attitude of servanthood and submission talked about previously in the chapter.  He chose to focus on the husbands since it is their responsibility to lead the household. With that in mind, Kirk gave us 6 things in this verse that will radically transform your marriage.  Six things that husbands need to do:
1-DWELL WITH HER.  Spend time with your wife, invest in her.  Do things that you may not necessarily want to do because you love her.
2-STUDY HER.  The verse says to "dwell with her with understanding."  How else will you understand her if you don't study her?  Know what she likes, know what she hates, know what makes her tick, know what frustrates her.  He gave the example of how well we "study" our significant others when we're trying to win their hearts.  I'm sure each of us could look back on those days when you're dating your spouse and remember how you just couldn't get enough of that person.  It should still be that way.  Kirk said that when you got married, that was like your high school diploma.  We should keep studying our spouse until we have a bachelor's degree, masters degree, and even our doctorate!
3-HONOR YOUR WIFE.  She should be valued and know that she is special above all other women in the world.  He gave the example of a commander honoring a soldier at a ceremony.  It's not something he does in private.  He does it in front of all, so that they may know this soldier's value.
4-PROTECT HER as the weaker vessel.  Physically men are stronger than women and we look to our man for protection.  Women like to feel protected.  I don't know about you but I definitely feel better just knowing that Drew is around.  Kirk talked about how his wife feels when he is away traveling; how every single noise in the house is a scary thing, the doors are bolted shut, and the dogs are in the bed.  As a military spouse, I can totally relate.  When Drew is away, the house just feels different.  He mentioned different types of protection: protecting her physically, protecting her emotionally by managing your frustrations in arguments, and even protecting her heart, guarding against others that may try and come in between you.  (again, here, he referenced the movie Fireproof)
5- SHARE WITH HER.  Open up, tell her how you feel.  Share your life together.  Don't live in "separateness."  You are meant to share in life together.
6-PRAY TOGETHER.  If your prayers are "hindered," that means they are cut off or they're struggling. You've always heard that 'a family that prays together, stays together.' I believe there is great truth in that phrase.

It was an amazing night that closed with a time of prayer and commitment.  I told Drew that I loved him before we went in and that I loved him a little bit more when we left.  This night was such an encouragement and it's always great to connect with your spouse.   I told him it was the best date night in a long time.

Kirk Cameron has an autobiography called "Still Growing."  We bought a copy and got him to sign it after the event.  Wouldn't ya know, my phone battery died (as did Drew's) so we didn't get a picture.  But we did talk to him briefly.  What a great guy!  I can't wait to read the book.

ONE MORE THING:
Also tonight, Kirk shared with us a documentary that he has been working on called "Monumental."  If you love this country and you think that America is worth fighting for, watch this special message from Kirk.  Go to the movie website or search for Monumental Movie on facebook.  TELL EVERYONE about this event.  It's coming to 450 theaters across the nation on MARCH 27th.  I can't wait!

We have BLINDS!

A lot of folks don't like Friday the 13th, but for me, 13 has always been a lucky number.  That holds true today because we are having our blinds installed.  One week shy of living in the house 3 months, and we have enough cash to get blinds. (Yes, we're still working that Dave Ramsey budget!)  Thanks to our families who gave us "dinero" for Christmas, or else we would have been waiting a couple of more months!


Blinds make such a difference!  The house feels a little "warmer" already.  Now, if we could just get some curtains, we'd be "almost" set!  

 It really changes the look of the front of the house too!  (Especially since you can no longer see the pile of JUNK in the garage!)  Garage: we're coming for you next!

New Do

So, I got a wild hair *excuse the pun* the other day and decided to get a haircut.  I wanted it short and a few layers.  Although it turned out just a smidge shorter than I had planned, I still like it.  Plus, it's hair...it'll grow!


This is for those of you asking to see a pic...

Tiny Improvements

Well, we've been in the house 2 1/2 months and we've started making some tiny progress in the improvements area.  The blinds have been ordered and should be installed in a few days, we've been trying to organize the garage, we hung our first curtains in the house, AND we finally bought a bench for the mud room.

Drew installing Andrew's curtain rod and black out curtains. Window treatments really make a big difference!  It feels good to at least have ONE in the house.  LOL

 Now I've got big plans for the mud room and this piece is only the beginning.  On the wall above the bench, I'm hoping to put some sort of wall organizer/shelf/hook thing above it to hang our jackets, keys, etc.  This will most definitely hopefully help to keep some of the clutter from piling up on my kitchen counter.  Also for the mudroom, I want to make a platform for my washer and dryer, giving me plenty of space to store empty laundry baskets. (I'll keep you posted on the progress.)

 Chiquita was following me around and actually got in one of the shots.  I was going to trash it until I noticed that I caught her mid-lick.  It was too funny not to share.  

 And a little randomness....totally unrelated to this post....Look what Andrew made at school today!  I had to snap a picture quickly before we ate him up!

What?! A New Blog??

With the start of a new year, I've started a new project.  I decided to create a separate blog for all of my baking.  Have no fear: The Ladners' Latest isn't going anywhere.  I just wanted to separate food from family.  :)  So, consider this the official launch of my new baking blog!  Go on over and check out Sissy's Sweets!  

*Amazing Logo designed by the awesome DedeP!