Fall Has Come

Well, not really, but it's thinking about it. I see the cycle beginning. While Michael's parents were here, we had a 48 hour cool shot in the midst of days that reached the high 90s and maybe the 100s. Yesterday it was cool and cloudy and gray all day. This morning the temp in our house was 57! It's mid-80s now at 7pm, but windy and the wind is blowing around a few leaves already. I know the weather won't change permanently yet, but the hint of Fall is enough to make this Florida girl wonder if she's had enough warmth yet. Apparently the Farmer's Almanac, as well as some real-live farmers we know, think that Winter will come early this year and will be very cold and snowy. I don't really know how I feel about that. I actually have been disappointed with the lack of snow since I've move up here. On the other hand, and early, long, cold, hard Winter is not completely appealing, for some reason. I'm going to at least start praying that my flights out of Billings and back in from the family reunion will run smoothly. That's about all for now. Have a Happy Labor Day Weekend and try not to hate me too much for complaining about cooler weather as you sweat in the humid heat down south.
Love you all,
Christina

I didn't realize how long it had been. . .

until I saw that the date of my last post was August 4th! Sorry :(

Michael's parents and Grams came up for a week visit. We had a lot of fun. Grams was so fun. She kept saying "I wouln't take for that!" Meaning she wouldn't trade (the animal, dinner, view of the mountains, etc) for anything. She had a lot of fun and so did we.

Well, I've got to run to Praise Team practice, so I'll try to catch you up a little more later.

Prayer

God's been teaching me about prayer and pushing me toward prayer. Not just prayer for other people, although that is part of it. But the heart of prayer that seeks His will in every moment. For instance: I came down to church earlier that I needed to to prepare for Praise Team Practice and I asked God what He would have me do with that extra time. So, here I am writing to you about prayer.

In Sunday School we have started reading Elizabeth George's book "A Woman After God's Own Heart." In the first chapter she talks about "acknowledging God" in all situations - taking just a second in the midst of whatever the situation to check in with God and see what He would have me do. Even before we started this book God had started His work in me concerning prayer. I have been finding out that God is showing me things when I'm teaching other people that I hadn't considered or realised until they came out of my mouth. I confessed to everyone at the Women's Tea that I've been planning before I pray!

What a difference it has made to ask God how I should spend my time, who I should ask to help with certain things, even what words to use to share what He is doing in my life. I am beginning to enjoy one of the blessings Elizabeth talks about in her chapter on prayer - a deeper relationship with God. Watch out - here comes another instance of God teaching me as I type! It's kind of like human relationships - the people I feel closest to are the ones who I share the most of my life with, the ones who are intimately acquainted with even the most mundane decisions of my life. Somehow things aren't so mundane when God is involved in every decision and I can see Him working in even the smallest things.

A Little Bit About Me. . .

Name: Christina Marie Laird
I am: a pastor’s wife
I want: to be a prayer warrior
I have: more than I need and more than I deserve
I wish: ice cream were fat, sugar, and calorie free
I hate: cleaning my house, but I love it when it is clean. Speaking of which. . .
I miss: my family
I hear: the hum of the computer. If I were at home, I would hear the chimes my Mom gave me for my birthday along with birds and crickets
I wonder: about people
I am not: so good with Internet/computer technology
I always: try to avoid answering “always” and “never” questions. What if only one time it weren’t true?
I sing: along with praise CD’s in the car. Sometimes I get frustrated that the roof is too short for me to raise my hands, but since I’m driving that’s probably better anyway
I laugh: a lot with Michael
I cry: at sad TV commercials
I make: quilts
I write: prayer charts, so I don’t forget to pray for people
I regret: my rebellions
I need: more of Jesus
I am surrounded by: beauty! I try to make sure I don’t take my surroundings for granted.
I should: exercise more
I must: spend time with Jesus
I understand: that God’s ways are not my ways
I adore: my Lord
I listen: not as much as I should
I hope: in God. Not a wishing kind of hope, the knowing and waiting kind of hope
I dream: of being a mother
I celebrate: Michael!
I love: Michael!
I give: Michael! No, wait that doesn’t make any sense!
I tag: Aunt Kathy, Aunt Chrissy and. . .who else reads this blog?
(all you have to do is copy and paste this into your own blog, erase my answers, put in your own then post it) Check out my sister’s (Anita) answers on her blog. The link is to the left.

Hair, Cats and the Great Outdoors

So, here is the long awaited picture of my new hair. It actually looks different every day because I'm still trying to figure it out but, you get the idea











We also have some new members of our household. Meet Smith and Wesson. They are kittens right now so they have to be inside the house and get to know us and the area and grow up a bit before they can roam free. So how did I end up with cats, you ask? I hate them less than I hate mice :) They will be our rodent control in a few months. We haven't had any in the house, but they are in the garage, eww!






We celebrated my birthday on July 4th since I had the day off. We hiked a trail following a river called East Rosebud. Even though it is July, there is still snow in the mountains that is still melting off, this is called spring run-off. The picture to the left is not East Rosebud, it is spring run-off that is running across the trail! I realized another reason why I love Michael so much on this hike. My instinct was "this was as far as we can go and now it's time to turn back." My husband says "We can cross this!" So we did. Balancing on logs (I was thankful for my Montessori balance beam training) and hopping from stone to dry spot, we made it across! I love
the outdoors and spend much more time there than I ever thought I would. Michael takes me there and helps me go farther in the wilderness that I thought I could go. Thanks, Babe.
His adventurous spirit allowed us to see this! Isn't that amazing? The river isn't usually that big and rough, but all the extra water from the spring run-off dumping into the existing rivers has them running very high right now.

I hope you like all the pictures. I'll try to put more up more often now that I've figured out how.

Love you guys!

Locks of Love Strikes Again

You guessed it - I cut all my hair off again. As soon as I figure out how to fix it, I'll get some pictures up for you.

Our trip to Texas was fast but good. We got to see a lot of Michael's family in the short time we were there and we had a lot of fun.

When we got back Michael left with the youth to go on their mission trip, but he had to come home early. One of our church members lost her mother and Michael was called on to preach his first funeral. Thanks to the help of Pastor Roger and a lot of prayers, the family was really blessed by the service.

The church is now working on constructing our float for the Columbus Freedom Celebration Parade. The theme of the parade is thanking our troops, so we're pretty excited about that. On that same day, our youth will be joining in the community garage sale to raise money for their mission trip and other activities.

Michael has been getting into taking care of the yard. He set up the sprinkler system on it's automatic schedule and today we are weeding the flower beds and trying to plan what to do with the rest of the yard.

Perhaps this is the time to share my thoughts on being "green." I don't necessarily buy into "the whole world is coming to an end and it's all our fault." At the same time, we are called to be good stewards of the natural resources God has blessed us with (as well as the resources of money, time and talents.) That being said, I'm really more in touch with being green now that we live outside the city limits. My water comes from my ground and everything that goes down a sink or toilet ends up in my septic system or out in my drain field. So I guess that getting in touch with actual nature has gotten me in touch with my "green" self. We drive our own garbage to the dump, so I started separating out all my cardboard because they have a bin for it. There is no recycling for plastic here in Columbus but I've started saving all my milk jugs and driving them into Billings along with my plastic bags. (I wouldn't have so many of those if I could remember to bring my reuseable bags with me to the store, but I'm still working on that:)) Also, I'm making the move to chemical free cleaners. I've got to say that they are at least as good as the old standards, and in one case, much better. I hate Windex. I always have. Even their streak free stuff streaks and it makes me crazy! But I always thought that if the name brand stuff didn't work, what hope was there for generic stuff to work? Clorox has a new line of "green" products and their window cleaner doesn't streak!! I love it. Now, so as not to sound to high and mighty, I will share this very large inconsistency. Although I have become concerned about what I put down my drain because it ends up in my ground - we are trying to decide where to kill off the weeds in our yard and gravel driveway with poison that we will pray directly onto the ground. Oh well. I like the "green" stuff anyway and feel good about using it in my house.

That's probably more than you ever wanted to know about my thoughts on going "green." Anyway, I hope you all have a safe and happy Fourth of July. Remember to thank God for our freedoms and to thank our servicemen and women.

Bobcat, VBS and coming posts

Here's a quick one for those regular blog readers.

VBS was great. I had a lot of fun with the little kids and 2 or more kids from other classes came to know the Lord!

Sunday night we had some friends over to watch a soccer game and Michael called me downstairs to look at a bobcat that was looking in our window!! Michael went outside and whistled at it and it turned around and looked at Michael so he could take a couple of pictures. It was cool! I'll try to get him to post the pictures.

Coming posts that I've been thinking about but need a little time to think about in order to write: "Yada Yada" and being more green. Hope you're looking forward to them.

Well, we're off to Texas at 6am tomorrow to see Michael's family, especially his grandparents who aren't doing so well. Pray for safe travel and that we won't have plane troubles so we can make it back for church on Sunday.

Love you all,
Christina