The One with Lots of Things

Saturday was a great day all around.  Come to think of it this whole weekend was nearly perfect.  And I don't say that about just any weekend.  

Saturday morning I headed for Canton where I met up with a bunch of women (including my favorite mother-in-law and one of my wonderful grandmothers-in-law) from across the Southern MI conference for a day of fellowship, food, and shopping at IKEA.  I decided to limit my spending before entiring the glorious madness that is IKEA.  I came in $7 under budget.  Yay me!  In addition to the great shopping, I had a wonderful time catching up with two of my favorite conference friends--Andrea and Christy and I'm looking forward to more time with them, their husbands and other conferance couples at the Pastor-Spouse retreat in Frankenmuth Feb. 3-4. 

After heading for home and stopping by my beloved Aldi  for our weekly groceries (including ingredients for smoothies!) I made it back to my husband by 3:30pm.  We sat around talking for a bit and he let me show off my (our) purchases.  We had a nice relaxing afternoon and around 6pm he made good on his promise...to take me ice skating!!!  

I had been really excited to utilize the local rink for some youth activites but also really hoped to have a date on the ice--just the two of us.  (and every other random Monroe skater.)  I found a BOGO coupon so we got in for $4 instead of $8 and Kevin's rental skates were just $2.  Not too shabby!  I love good prices!  Anyways...our 2 hours together were terrific.  We both thought the other would "show us up" but we ended up pretty even skill wise.  Hesistancy was the goal for the first 20 minutes or so, but soon we were in the grove and loving it!  We ended our evening with a cup of hot chocolate.

Sunday started out similar to every other Sunday of my life.  With the exception of preparing chili to cook in the crockpot.  In addition to the great new outfit I came up with, church was fantastic.  We had our second week of leading Sunday School for the teens.  Our goal was to press through the second half of chapter 12 of I Corinthians--One Body, Many Parts.  We've been focusing on exploring spiritual gifts with the youth--what they are, how we can use them, how they edify the whole body, etc.  It started out a bit rocky, but by the end of our 40 minutes together these kids had it down.  They had learned to fully comprehend and explain what is meant by the term "Body of Christ" and they were able to understand the metaphor of the physical body to help us understand how essential our gifts our to Christ's Body--the universal church.  Even last night at youth group as we discussed how we can use our gifts, I was overflowing with pride as the two teens from the SS class helped everyone understand the concepts.  I can't explain how stoked I am!  

Back tracking a bit to church...worship went so well.  Always an act of God I say.  I played/sang Healing Rain by MWS and it was a powerful time of worship.  I have loved truly exploring my musical gifts in the realm of worship.  I feel like I am finally beginning to understand how to use such a talent to glorify God--in helping others come before the throne, feel His presence.  What a blessing it is.  

After church I was talking to a great couple about who knows what and then Kathy suddenly asked me if I taught piano lessons.  Well.....................it has been a thought in this mind of mine, but I have yet to decide if I should go through with it.  Her 11 year old daugher would love to learn how to play and so I'm taking a few days to think on this proposition.  Luckily I have Kevin's grandma as a great reference in getting started teaching.  She has shared her wisdom with me as well as her list of requirements, materials, schedules, etc.  

 

In other news, our good friend Dave came for a visit last evening and stayed the night with us so he could visit Wayne State with Kevin today.  We had a great time catching up with him and I'm pretty sure both guys were excited about the homemade brownies I made just for their lunches. :)  Thanks to Britt's mom, Melaney for the recipe!  

Today is filled with many possibilities--cleaning the fish tank, baking for the upcoming church rummage sale, doing laundry, reading, relaxing, napping......................