#SavilleLifeInPictures2014. Week 26

This was kids camp week! Crazy fun!!!

I will give you a recap of this awesome week in a few days-but first, a snippet with Saville Life. 

Day 172: we arrived! Ready for a super fun week at Hickory Knob State Park. 

Day 173: my sweet cabin building a "house" while we wait on lake time. 

Day 174: my cabin posing after we gave our hearts and our clothes to the alka seltzer game!

Day 175: this sweet friend and I coordinated our cross craft! 

Day 176: my cabin posing for a last-day-of-camp photo.

Day 177: straight from camp to a basketball tournament. At least we get a couple hours to hang out and soak up some rays!

Day 178: this day was all about the gym. Luckily it was rainy anyway. ;)

#SavilleLifeInPictures2014. Week 25

Day 165: a lazy end to my weekend on the couch. 

Day 166: Children of the Day with some sweet ladies. 

Day 167: we jammed in Austin's Toyota this night! The bass is insane!

Day 168: I'm officially a glasses girl. As soon as they get in, I'll be sporting these beauts. 

Day 169: Happy Birthday coach! Surprise birthday party for Micah at XC practice. 

Day 170: June birthday celebrations with our friends! 

Day 171: this day ended with our Salt and Pepper group! We had a fun "summer picnic" at Mrs Patsy's house. 

This too shall pass...or not

I said to a dear friend of mine tonight that I have been convicted lately to nt be a "this too shall pass" kind of girl! 

As we go through seasons of life, some are difficult, some are dark, some are trying, and others are simply tense. While I know this to be true, I also know that many times throughout Scripture, we see evidences that God's mercies are for us day in and day out. His word says that they are new every morning. Paul's letter to the Corinthians states that God's grace is sufficient for us even in trials. We are told over and over again to rejoice and find our joy in Christ. 

So, why is it that our first reaction to difficulty or change is "this too shall pass?" Why don't we encourage our brothers and sisters and ourselves that God's grace is sufficient in this season, and we can find joy in Him?! I think we could live much more pleasant lives if we lived looking at the joy, rather than looking past our circumstances. 

Single girl-while this too may pass, you are usable by God in a way married women often are not. Take advantage; grow intimately with him and be intentional in friendships. 

Young mom-you will never be as needed or as loved as you are right now. That kid yelling for you 24/7 will one day want to be far from you. Relish your time with your babies. Disciple and develop them, as well as other moms around you. 

Older woman-you are wise in your life experience. Don't dole out "this too shall pass" as a comfort to those of us just beginning in or walk, rather, share the joy of your current season-or seasons gone by-where your perspective is much clearer. 

Let's commit to be "there is joy in this season" girls rather than "this too shall pass" girls. I have a feeling God will bless the small shift in attitude and encouragement in our walks. Let us each be grateful for our current season. 

Busy Season Update

I thought I would take today and update you guys on several things that I had mentioned to you previously about our Busy Summer Season.

You've heard about some of these, but updating in list form is probably easiest!

1. We finished prepping, practicing, and setting up for our Celebration Service. We've had several weeks of this awesome worship time so far. I'm grateful for what the Lord is doing in this area.

2. You've heard all about how Mugs and Muffins is doing. Click here if you missed that recap. 

3. We finished the lawn furniture. It looks so so good! Honestly, I haven't taken a picture due to the sheer number of weeds growing in my back yard. Hopefully, we can attack that this week and I can show you our completed backyard makeover. 

4. Kids camp is so quickly upon us it's not funny! We will be Instagramming and blogging and tweeting life from Living Inside Out Kidz Camp 2014. We'll be using the hashtag: #CalvaryKidsCamp2014 if you want to join the fun. Here are some of the things we've done to get ready:

theme chosen

flyers went out

 Supplies purchased

 ...and tested

 banner made

safety precautions taken!

We are ready! Waiting on TShirts to come in and time to leave :) We leave this Sunday. So excited. 

5 & 6- My part time position is with Gray Mortuary and I am still waiting to start my masters. I will try and blog about these two things very soon. 

6. Ireland is coming...hopefully mid-July!!!!! 

May was a rough month for me, and these things were what kept me sane (Moose would argue they almost drove me over the edge...). When I talk to you about 5 & 6, I will share more about the crazy month of May! 

See you soon! 

Dressing for Summer

I wrote a blog post several months ago about dressing for success. Well, that post was written in the dead of winter. Y'all, it is easy for me to get up and dressed in what my dear friend Kelly and I affectionately call real clothes every day...in the winter. The summer is tons and tons more difficult! I think it may be that I know I am going to end up in running shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top by evening for Cross Country Practice. Maybe, though, it is the 90 degree heat we are experiencing with 100% humidity here in SC. OR...it could be that I have approximately 5 loads of laundry in a pile in my guest room floor that needs to be folded and put away, and it is just easier to grab a tshirt and sweats from the pile than to make a real outfit. No matter the reason, I want to continue my trend of real clothes every day, so I did what every good 21st century girl does and I consulted Pinterest. I chose six outfits that I think I can recreate with what I have in my closet, and hopefully, these inspirations will get me on track for more!

for original sources, please visit my pinterest board. 

How do you stay motivated to dress for success, even in the summer?

What are some of your favorite summer style pieces?

Children of the Day-Session 1

The time had come...week one of our Bible Study!

We had 16 attendees and 3 women who couldn't be there on the first week, but paid and are going to be joining us on our journey. We began by studying Session 1, the introduction of Children of the Day. A little recap of the day is as follows:

There was a little gift waiting at each table-setting for the attendees: a mug (because our little summer session is called Mugs and Muffins), our workbook, a journal, and a pen.

As we perused our books, we ate muffins and got to know the women around us. We were so grateful to be a multigenerational conglomerate of women, coming together for the cause of Jesus. 

Afterward, we had a teaching time from Session 1 of our Children of the Day study.

Group members--if you need "answers" for the fill-in-the-blanks, click here. 

If you need to watch the session, click here. 

Note: the remainder of this post is lengthy and is mainly a compilation of my teaching notes from Children of the Day Session 1.

The Scripture tells us that we are Children of Light and Children of the Day. It feels, in America today, that we are in such dark times…and many of us may feel like we are in a dark season; but, we are told to be Children of the DAY!

As we begin our study, we start our study with only four words!

 …Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy!

Here’s the thing. These are not just words. They are words from, to, and about people! The letter is coming from these three people. What I want you to notice is that there are three different people mentioned as authoring this letter, obviously inspired by God. Think about ink: You’ve got Timothy who is orange, Silus who is green, and then you’ve got Paul as dark navy blue. (It takes on the flavor of what? The darkest color) Oftentimes, we see the “I” used…and that is it taking on the flavor of Paul!

Acts 15 takes us through the back story of these three meeting.

- Paul and Barnabus joined by Judas and Silas (Silas = Silvanus)

            -Paul and Barnabus remained

-when they decided to go on the next trip, Barnabus wanted to bring his cousin John Mark, who had strayed from the word

            -Paul disagreed and because of that, Barnabus and John Mark left

            -and Paul took with him who??? Silas!

It is interesting to note that Paul and Silas’ friendship began on the heels of a major wounding by Barnabus to Paul. It could have been very awkward; it could have been very difficult.

Let’s look at your first blank, but first let’s briefly look at Paul and Barnabus’ history in Acts 9:26-28

1.      Silas (Silvanus) entered a gap ripped open by a severed relationship.

It was awkward! There was a huge “break up” and Paul was feeling like he didn’t really want to get close again! Have you ever been so burned that you just really didn’t ever want to enter a close relationship again?!  The type of disagreement that existed here was PAROXUSMOS (in your book).

-in this word, we see the “Oxu” like in oxygen. It’s something sharp that causes an outburst (think of popping a balloon); seriously awkward!

-while constantly serving in peace would be nice, it’s not real life! And Silas comes in right on the heels of this drastic explosion of friendships.

-This word is used in one other place—Hebrews 10:24 (And let us consider how to stir up one another in good works…all the more encouraging one another). If you did Hebrews with us last semester, you’ll note that that word “Stir Up” is a sharp stirring causing a positive outburst. But, Paul had the stirred up that made him mad!

This brings us to number 2:

2.      The same edge that can sharpen can also slice.

(Prov. 27:17—iron sharpens iron)

-sometimes Iron can sharpen, but sometimes Iron can really wound and hurt your feelings!

OK—so we’ve got Paul…and we’ve got Silas…and now we need to add who? Timothy

Acts 15 and 16 continue the story.

Tentatively, Paul allows Timothy into his fold. He later says in Phil 2:20-22 that “There is no one like him in my life...He has served with me as a son” This relationship becomes crucial to Paul.

Our Third point tells us…

3.      The next person we meet could become one of the dearest people in our lives.

-Who is someone dear to you in the faith? Do you remember meeting them? Did you ever know? Paul never knew! But, Timothy became “his person”

Sometimes we are so unhappy after our stirring up that we cannot move into a new season or relationship! God ordained that this gaping hole left open by a yucky break up between Paul and Barnabus would be filled by two-Silas and Timothy!

It was like a friendship remix! Sometimes we get so cliqued up and cling to that that nothing can make us break apart until God FORCES a remix! If we are never open to a remix, we can miss the ministry that God may have for us in the future. Is it possible that God had been telling Paul and Barnabus to divide and conquer, and they were not really wanting to un-clique?! So, then God had to drop a stirring up… Because, maybe the renewal you’re looking for (like Paul) is actually in the remix, not the redo.

Does anyone have a cool remix story?

Are we gonna let him remix so we can move forward, or are we getting bored? We get so mad because we want everything to stay the same…but things aren’t going to stay the same! It may be that we are clinging to so much sameness that we can’t even get to what God has for us.

The story continues in Acts 17.

The map in the back of our Children of the Day book outlines the journey Paul and Silas take throughout the writing of Thessalonians.

            At the very top is the Black Sea; see the grey line? That is the Via Ignacia, which is the Roman SuperHighway. See where they go from Philippai, Amphipolis, and Thessalonica? This is where we are. They are clearly headed to Thessalonica on purpose to share the gospel because it is a huge city.  Just for fun, many commentaries share that Paul and Silas took this SuperHigway on horseback the whole way! Also, that city still exists as Thessalonicy.

As Paul and Silas reason with the Thessalonians, they cause an uproar in the city. They are sought after and eventually given refuge by Jason. This is how it all began. They have to leave the city and Jason is left to deal with all of the crazy uproar. They were only in Thessalonica for a few weeks before this crazy uproar.

If you happen to be in a mess, you are in the right place.

4.      A journey gone awry could lead to the exact frame of mind God is looking to use.

We spend a lot of time griping about our messes and about the people in our life who haven’t quite stirred us up positively; but, do we look for God’s Via Ignacia? He has a path and He is ready to go! Are you??

As we finish this lesson, we are going to pull out a chunk of this first letter. It says As we dedicate ourselves to the task ahead, we’re going to reach ahead long enough to snatch a phrase out of 1 Thes 4:9, “For you yourselves have been taught by God.” This English phrase is drawn from one rare compound word in Greek: theodidaktoi.   

This Greek word has actually never been recorded in history before Scripture or in history. So, inspired by God, Paul coined this term. Our prayer for this study is that theodidaktoi will occur (thea-dee-dack-toy) with each and every one of us; I have been taught by God! Our prayer for this study is that we will truly be TAUGHT BY GOD!

Children of the Day-Background

Several months ago, I had an idea of a summer Bible study for women. I knew that our church had a large group of women who worked in the schools, stayed at home with their children, or did not work at all. I prayed that having a Bible study during the day would bring together a conglomeration of women from several generations and places in life.

The concept of Mugs and Muffins came to fruition. 

I knew that I would have to host this study at the church, since we would be providing childcare. Additionally, since it would be over the summer, the logistics of having it at someone's home would have been too difficult. Mom and I went in search of a room to "girlify" and redo to make it more inviting and like a little ray of sunshine for the women who came.

The following is a progression and finishing products of that room.

The crazy thing about our concept for this room is that we had not yet chosen Beth Moore's Children of the Day as our study. Our room was ready and decorated before I had even opened the book.

When I later opened the leader's guide, I found this sentence, "Try to make your room a little spot of sunlight for your ladies. We are to be children of light, and want to reflect that in our study space." WHAT? How cool is God that he would intentionally put the decor concept in my mind that identified precisely with the study we had chosen. It was surely affirmation that we had chosen the right study and theme.

Over the next few weeks, I will be recapping briefly our time together, as well as lessons and fill-in-the-blanks for our little group. 

We are thrilled to see where God is going to take us!

#SavilleLifeInPictures2014. Week 24

Day 158: came home from our weekend trip to meet this guy. Happy BIRTHday to Liam. :)

Day 159: something about this night at cross country kicked the tails of these two coaches! 

Day 160: stormy weather was brewing over the track fields on this night! 

Day 161: up late prepping for Mugs and Muffins Bible Study. Already love this group of ladies and this study. 

Day 162: shopping for camp with these two lovely ladies! These masks are just a tad creepy. 

Day 163: I look like I'm fancy and working really hard, but I just have computer specific things to do. Camp time is a comin'!!!

Day 164: a little low country boil night just because. :)

I love sweet summertime with my people!!!