"Booby"

Who knew this could be such a beautiful word, but when screeched with great delight from the lips of my nephew there have been few sweeter sounds. No, no sicko here... My nephew Noah calls me Gooby, his precious younger brother Solomon (2 and just now learning how to speak) is OVER come with delight when he sees me and in a way that only a two year old can screams, "BOOOBY!!!" and it brings tears of joy to my eyes. I mean, really, does it MATTER what they call you as long as they are saying your name with a screech of glee? I didn't think so either.

SO, this past weekend in Tyler was beyond all that is 'sweet and wonderful'! It was PERFECTLY timed in that Ryan was going to Tijuana for a missions trip and we needed to get our car fixed in Tyler. SO, we thought it would be perfect timing for me to go get it fixed, and skydive with my best friend, Stefani, for our 30th birthdays. BUT, it turns out God was just working to get me there :) Neither of the above happened, but what did was an amazing weekend provided by my Savior in ways that only He could:

• The people my heart needed to see, God completely arranged one on one time with: My mom, Lisa, Veronica, Jimmy (step dad), Stefani, Betsy (came in from Dallas), Claire, Heather, Becky, the boys ... wonderful!


• I got to go to Girls Night In at my old church, which marked one year to the weekend that I said, "Yes, God I will be your girl" and He changed my life in every way... He is glorious! I will literally be standing in our kitchen washing dishes sometimes and just start crying thinking, "I could have missed this" if I hadn't said "yes" to Him.


• At Girls Night In I got to hug the necks of most every woman at Grace that was SOOOOO precious to me. I missed out on a couple, but only a couple :)


• I spent Friday night with some of my very best friends 'winning over' our waiters at Cheddar's. Waiter, "Would you like this on separate checks, or do you want it on one check?" Anna, "Yes." And there we go...


• Veronica and I at Cafe Tazza: Veronica, "I would like something cold and chocolate."


• Mom, Veronica and I at Villa Montez: Veronica, "He texted me and asked if I wanted to hang out today." Anna, "When it rains it pours! WOOOOO!"


• Stef and I at Starbucks, "This is perfect! It even LOOKS Africa!"


• Bets, Stef and I at BBQ: HYSTERICAL LAUGHING ... "They have this crazy wall that you can climb..."


• Brian Brandt... someone who means SO much to me, preached on Sunday!! NOT NORMAL! (timely message for me, by the way. shocking)


• The Noah Face, "Gooby's my friend." and "Pop goes the weasel!" and "You take care."


• The Somonon (Solomon), "BOOBY!" and "Zeba" (wanting to watch the Zebra Video). and "Booby, run!"


• Taco Bueno, I pull up to the drive-through speaker, roll down the window, and a red wasp the size of a BIRD flies into my face. I SCREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMM! and roll up the window. It flies away, Claire is crazy laughing and says, "You just screamed in the ear of whoever is working the window!" and I'm like "NO WAY! She hadn't greeted us yet..." and I roll down the window and ask, "Um, did I just scream in your ear?" And a girl leans in from the background and says, "THAT was ME." Apparently she had yanked the headphones off of her ear when I started screaming and relinquished window duty. Have to admit, I screamed for many a second. Poor thing.


• Seriously SO many other 'sweets' of the weekend and it culminated with my being with Claire at McDonald's back in Austin on Sunday night. We walked to McDonald's and I was thinking, "I sure would love an icecream cone, but I don't need one and I'm not going to ask Claire for a dollar for one." Then Claire ordered and ordered a cone and said, "And you're going to eat it with me!" and I was like, "Thank you, God! I didn't even say anything!" then, we're waiting for our food and talking and the girl doing the ice cream cone turns around and she has TWO in her hands... ONE FOR ME!!!!!! I was like, "God, you are AWE-SOME!" I walked out of that McDonald's in GREAT triumph, icecream cone held just like Lady Liberty.

Perfect end to a fully providential weekend. Thank you sweet, sweet, sweet, Lord. Your love notes amaze me. You amaze me :)

For more pics of the boys head to my Facebook page. For a GREAT little clip, click below :)

I'm not gonna lie...

I love me some American Gladiator!

A few fun things :)

Soooooo ... VERY random, fun, wonderful things going on in these parts :) Wanted to share a bit with you.

1. I'm in HEB the other day with my hubs... we divided to conquer and while he's snagging fruit juice I realize they have 5 CHEWY COOKIES on sale for $1!! While I'm standing there, I look up to see my AMAZING husband walking up grinning with red roses! I squealed out loud (of course) and declared, "Roses AND cookies!?!" I can't even BELIEVE it! (okay, I just noticed that this pic of roses is when he brought home roses two weeks ago. Seriously, this guys is UN-believeable. But the HEB story is great too so I had to leave it :) ).



2. Basically, I was a professional baseball player today ... almost. I DID get to walk on a professional field and it was super cool. While the guys Betty Blake and I were with were talking about how they wished they'd brought a ball and gloves, all I could think about was a soccer ball on that amazing grass! Either way, super fun :)

3. The last pic is a sneak pic at a potential HUGE event... Yes. This is an official "teaser."

love to you all

Both sides ...

Something that God has REALLY been impressing on my heart (and spoke DIRECTLY to me through someone else) is that in order to have consistent intimacy in my relationship with God (and truly in any relationship in general) I have to be honest in sharing both sides of the heart experience.

First Key: Actually bringing my heart to God. This is absolutely critical in having an intimate relationship with Him. I have to bring my heart to Him... and in bringing my heart, I have to bring ALL of my heart. Which is the 'second key.'

Second Key: Both expressing praise/thanksgiving/rejoicing about life and all that is happening, etc, etc and expressing despair/pain/confusion/frustration/anger in the same way. If I am only doing one of those, or am heavier in one than the other, I am going to be out of balance in my relationship with God and stifled in consistently feeling connected and intimate with Him. I was told that, “The American Church in general is great at the Praise Muscle, but needs to grow in the Lament Muscle.” I would venture to also say that a lot of people stuck in consistent heart pain who don’t feel connected/intimate with God anymore may be great at the Lament Muscle, but could use some work with the Praise Muscle.

For me, I need to grow in the Lament Muscle. I am NOT good at the expressing despair/anger/frustration to God. A book someone just told me about that I want to mention to you is, “A Sacred Sorrow: Reaching out to God in the Lost Language of Lament” by Michael Card (http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Sorrow-Reaching-Language-Lament/dp/1576836673/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216405304&sr=8-2). There is also an “Experience Guide” to help you start walking this out (http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Sorrow-Experience-Guide-Reaching/dp/1576836681/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216405304&sr=8-1). I don’t know which I’ll get yet, probably both :)

Anyways, one of the things we see in Psalms 91 is that God LONGS to show us that He IS our covering and our safe place, but our hearts have to come to Him in order for us to be confident of/feel His protection and covering. I think this is also confirmed in Psalms 107:13-16.

Anyhow, if you want to dig deeper, here are some passages to work through.
Jude 1:24; Psalms 107:13-16 (all of 107, really); Job 28:18; Psalms 34:18; Romans 8:26-39; John 16:7-15; Acts 17:24-28

Feel free to share your two cents… I’d love to hear it :O)

I’ll ‘end’ with a verse sweet Bets shared with me today, "And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating -to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Amen! (Jude 1:24-25)

Helps?

How do I 'subscribe' to friends' Blogs so that there will be a list on my profile?

What are 'team members'?

Thanks! :)

2, again :) Yeesh with the theme, here... NOT INTENTIONAL

You guys are so fun! Thanks for the really warm welcome and encouragement :) So, a couple of questions have come up....

1. With the pics in my 'hello world' post where I'm so excited, Ryan planned this crazy awesome surprise birthday party for me last year and that was right when I walked into the room .... there were well over 40 people from all of the different areas of my life ... I just could not believe it!! SO GREAT THIS MAN!!! WEEEEEE!! :) ( i love how proud and happy Ryan looks in these pics ... it makes my heart warm :O) )

2. The name Grace Unveiled reflects who I am, and also who I want to be. So, I love, love, love this passage:

2 Corinthians 3:12-18
"12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

My name means Grace and my greatest desire is that I would continue to walk in the freedom I've received by the grace of Jesus Christ and that His glory would continue to be reflected in me and that I would be un-veiled in that (free, not hidden)... Not only do I want to live in a way that is real and reflects what God has done in my heart and life, but this scripture says, "EVER-increasing glory"! That is an AMAZING thought and really excites me :)

Beautiful days to all of you :)

"The pressure of a name."

OH MAN, this makes me laugh! I've just sat here for a good thirty minutes trying to come up with a name for my blog.... "Johnson & Johnson" being my first choice - taken. "How about God in real life?" Eh. Didn't do anything for me either... Starting this journey a bit ago I asked for God's help because I wanted the name to be great ... really capture who I am, what I want this to be about, etc. And then it came to me!!! Grace Unveiled 2! Why so perfect? Check this puppy out: http://www.graceunveiled.blogspot.com/. That was me 4 years ago almost to the month! Wild, huh? SOOOOOO funny that I had such great dreams of rants that would maybe give me enough accountability to actually take action. Instead, an empty blog. Can I promise better with this little guy? I hope so! I've been thinking about starting one for a while and tonight I hopped on the computer to download some pics and realized that it was "The Night." I had no idea :)

So here we are, Grace Unveiled 2. I put the 2 to signify a second try at a great name and a great dream... now I'm all warm fuzzy because I realized that Grace Unveiled is now 2 with the sweetest of Ryan Mckays. It blows my mind to think about all of the absolutely wild things that have happened since Grace Unveiled began. Funny that I didn't need to vomit out my crazy rants for God to take me on adventures I would have never imagined. I won't jump into all of that now, I will just say I'm glad to be back, and happy to be 2.