Hey, guys. In lieu of the post I did not write, I’m sending you over to my husband’s blog. Chris has written some interesting stuff. For those of you who are curious about the KJV issue that has been so divisive in our church situation, Chris has written the first of a series about that. Before that, he wrote about another issue that people have been bothered about in our lives…whether the music I listen to is good for a Christian. Also, he wrote some interesting things last night about one of the democratic presidential candidates. So, click HERE to check out Chris’ latest blog posts.

We don’t have to live memories
Time can turn our dreams to reality
Oh, the possibilities

–from “Possiblities” by Sanctus Real

During the dry up on my blog here (I’m sure you noticed the lack of posting, right?), Chris and I had an anniversary. Number seven. I can’t believe how fast it’s went by. To celebrate, we went to a cabin in Pigeon Forge for a couple of days. My mom watched the kids for us. It was the first time since our first anniversary that we did anything more than go to dinner and a movie. We had so much fun.

We went out to eat a couple of times, went to Wonderworks, and to the Dixie Stampede. 

The cabin itself was beautiful.

This was the living room.

If this was Cribs, I would say, “And this is where all the magic happens”. :) 

The three best things about the cabin were the pool table, the foosball table, and the jacuzzi. While I didn’t think you guys would appreciate pictures of us in the jacuzzi and the action was too fast and furious for photos of us playing foosball, we did take a couple of us playing pool.

Chris won most of the pool we played.

I only won one game of pool, but I won all but one game of foosball. 

The view from the decks of the cabin was spectacular. It really was awesome. I took several pictures, but here are a few of the best ones.

All in all, it was a great trip. It was so nice to have time with just Chris and I. There was a bit of homework done on our trip, but, for the most part, nothing we had to do except enjoy each other. I talked it up so much, that Amy and Joel are there right now…but that’s another post. For now, here’s one last picture of me and my Valentine.

Thanks for seven happy years, Christopher. I love you.

I wear many hats. I am a mom. I am a wife. I am a student. What you may not realize, though, is that I actually have another job that you may not be aware of. I have gotten quite good at it, and I’m thinking that maybe I should expand my client base and make a little money at it. What is my job, you wonder? I call it Seminary Support Service…or SSS for short.

You see, not only is my husband a seminarian, but my best friend, Amy, is also currently in seminary. Everyone gives their kudos to the seminarians themselves. It’s a hard thing to do. Hours upon hours of theology, leadership classes, reading, studying, and not a lot of sleeping. However, I want you guys to know that I have put in many SSS hours.

When you’re writing a paper on Hope Focused Marriage Counseling and you’re drawing a blank, what do you do? You call on your wife to lend a little SSS, and she helps you get some ideas for your paper at ten o’clock at night. You’ve been up since four o’clock in the morning, you have a paper due in a few hours, your kids have to be taken to school, you haven’t eaten a proper breakfast, and you’re starting to freak out, what do you do? You call for some SSS from your best friend at six in the morning, and she prays with you to help calm you down. You’re tired, you’re burnt out, and you’re overburdened with the end of the semester, what do you do? You request some SSS in the form of a neck rub, a little small talk, and then someone to listen to you talk through your term paper frustrations. You have a Martin/McGee exam coming up, and you need someone to quiz you/listen to you, who do you call? You call your SSS provider, that’s who.

Friends, seminary is tough, and not just for the seminarian. I have listened to church history till my mind has went literally numb, and my head automatically nods and my eyes fight to not glaze over. I’m sure you just had a twinge of sympathy for me, but, friends, let me elaborate on that point a little. My husband goes to a Baptist seminary. My best friend goes to an Assemblies of God seminary. They both need to talk about their denominational history classes. Are you following me? Chris is Baptist. Amy is Assemblies of God. I am listening to both Baptist AND Pentecostal history. I can tell you about the differences between Southern Baptists, Freewill Baptists, and General Baptists, turn around, and tell you about the Azusa Street Revival. All in the name of being a good wife and a supportive best friend.

My seminary support services go beyond just being a listening ear and a late night study partner. I can do one thing that may even be more valued than a shoulder rub. I, my friends, can read. Yes. I can read.

Last week, as Amy dropped off her kids and drove to her school, I read aloud over the phone one of the last two chapters of the book she had to read before her class that day. She joked that she was going to send me copies of all of her books she had to read. Today, because he’s a slow reader and needed a break, I read aloud a chapter of Chris’ book he is reading for one of his classes. That is SSS at it’s finest. Chris sighed a happy sigh when we finished, and said he got more out of that then when he reads to himself. He said that he would buy all of his books as audio books if they were available and not so expensive.

It was then that a light came on. I could start my own Seminary Support Service business. I could make a ton of money reading to poor, tired, overworked seminarians. I could even record myself. I could make my own audio recordings. Yes! I could be the originator of the Audio Book Black Market!

Someone has to help the seminarians.

It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

During dinner a week or so ago, we were discussing what the kids learned at Awana with them. Kyra told us that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and the conversation that followed went like this:

Me: “Do you know what sin is?”

Elijah: “Sin is bad.”

Kyra, taking a deep breath for the wordy answer she was immediately preparing in her five year old little girl mind: “Weeelll, sins can be lots of things. I learned in Awana that the devil makes us think bad thoughts. (She taps the side of her head for emphasis.) He makes us think of bad things, and we have to decide what we are going to do. We could do the bad things that our thoughts say to do and that is sin, or we could do good things instead and make Jesus happy.”

Me: “Yeah..that’s right.”

Elijah, looking up from his food, fork in hand, and in his monotone cookie monster voice says: “God can’t sin.”

Me: “That’s right, Elijah. Do you know why God can’t sin?”

Kyra, interrupting Elijah to make her thoughts known, went into a big, long thing about why she thought God can’t sin. When she finished, Elijah looked up with an expressionless, innocent face, and says: “God can’t sin, because God is holy.”

At that, Chris jerked his head up, and grinned at his boy. The look on Chris’ face said, “Hooah! That’s my boy.”

Me, very impressed: “That’s right, Elijah!”

He may not be able to count to ten yet, and he may not have any interest in learning the correct use of proper pronouns, however, he does know one thing, and that is…God is holy.

Every now and then, my husband does something that makes me love him a little more than I already did. This morning, I woke up to this post on his blog. I’d love for you guys to go read it. He’s not been blogging long, but I’m enjoying his blog. It’s nice to see his thoughts on different things. So, go ahead. Go give him a little patronage.