A White Christmas!

Wow! It was wild out there today! We had gone to one of my grandma's to celebrate earlier in the day and were supposed to be at my other grandma's at 6:00 tonight. We decided to go there early to put the kids down for a nap. Some of our family members had called to say they couldn't make it. One family had tried to come and turned around and went back home! We made the drive home tonight and we saw a car trying to push another car to get it unstuck but both of their wheels were spinning and another car coming behind the second one trying to help. We saw a lot of people walking on the street either getting out of their cars or going to help others. We got on the highway once and no one had turned onto the curvy exit we normally take to get on another highway. It was like a ghost town. There wasn't any tire tracks so you couldn't even see where the road was! We chose not to go that way and to get off and take the streets. One car was stuck in a ditch and Derrick pulled over to help. It was so neat because at the same time we pulled over, another SUV pulled over and some guys jumped out. They and Derrick ran and pushed that car out and off it went. Total strangers just out helping each other. We saw a lot of that. We saw a police officer driving the wrong way on a one way highway exit to help someone. We did get stuck once but, thankfully, it was only in our driveway! I'm thankful for our 4-wheel drive. It took us an hour to get home when it normally would have taken 25 minutes.

* Before Samantha went to sleep she asked me, "What is tomorrow?" She wanted to make sure. I said, "Jesus' birthday." She said, "Mom, how old is Jesus turning?" I tried to give her a theological answer about how Jesus is God and how He has always existed. She asked again, "No, mom, how old is Jesus going to be?" It's so late and we're going to be so tired so I told her we'd talk about it in the morning. ;)

**We have a name for the baby! It's Livy! Only one letter off from Lily which I love but Derrick didn't want to use that because we have some close friends with a precious daughter named that. Okay, so it's actually Olivia. Derrick said he liked the name Olivia and my wheels started turning..."Livy! I'll call her Livy!" So, we're both happy. I hoped I'd find a name I liked as much as Lily. Olivia Joy, but you can call her Livy. ;)

Cheesecake Factory

After we ate at Wendy's with G-ma Bobber & Papa Mitchell last night my sister-in-law, Mikaela, and I dropped Bay & Sam off at Awana. We wanted to go out for dessert somewhere. It was just Aunt Kay Kay, Isabella, & me. We were trying to decide where to go and I thought about The Cheesecake Factory. Since a restaurant with this name has not appealed to Derrick, seeing that he does not have a big sweet tooth, I thought I should take the opportunity to go there. We are still without him but we will have a list of things to do with him when he gets back to catch up on all the Christmasy things we want to do with him. I was not in the mood for cheesecake but we made sure they had other things and then went. Wow! Their menu is amazing! They are a little pricey though compared to other places. The brownie fudge sundae we ended up getting was $8.95 after all. I don't know if they just did this because we had Bella or what but they brought out sliced bananas along with the bread. They had unique stuff on their menu, such as, Fried Macaroni & Cheese balls on a bed of marinara sauce, fried artichokes...all kinds of stuff. Of course, they had a looong list of cheesecakes. I saw a burrito on their menu that I really want to try and being pregnant I think I'll think of it until I get to have it. Maybe...Derrick...will want to take me on a date there for a $14 burrito! It had cilantro rice, guacamole, black beans came with it...

The crazy thing is that when I got home and got the kids to bed I sat and read mail and a lot of sweet Christmas cards we received. I was so tired I could hardly change what I was doing and get myself off the couch to go to bed. But, when I did get in bed I could not sleep for the life of me! I sat there wondering, "Why can't I sleep?!" for awhile. My heart was racing. Then it finally hit me that the Brownie Fudge Sundae must have had a lot of caffeine in it. I mean, this thing must have been loaded with it! It was made with the really good Ghiradelli chocolate and was sooo chocolately. I try to stay away from caffeine because I know how it affects me (I have very little tolerance for it and it can make my head spin if I have too much) and because I'm pregnant. I have never had a brownie fudge sundae (and this, being my favorite, I've had a lot) that seemed to have so much caffeine. So, anyway, I would eat it again...just earlier in the day. ;)

If you wrote someone 66 love letters and they never read them, would you be upset?

That is exactly what God did. He has given us the 66 books of the Bible. I was just thinking about some unbelievers I know tonight that deny God's existence or make up their own god to suit themselves (so they can be comfortable with their lifestyles). But, they have not even read the Bible. I remember it was when I was broken-hearted over the path my life had taken and I opened up the Bible. I was astonished at what I read! At first I remember reading about God's judgment on those who walk according to the lusts of their flesh. Then I remember being in awe of God's awesome grace. That is when I came to believe that Jesus came to take the punishment I deserved. Then, I remember being so surprised that I didn't have to do the work when it came to leaving my lifestyle of sin. He gave me a new heart and I just started seeing things differently.

I just wish some of the people I know would be able to come to the place where they can say, "I once was blind, but now I see." Just thinking...and praying.

Also, Derrick got accepted into Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am so excited about what he is going to be learning about and teaching our family. If you would, please pray for him and the direction of our family.

Oh, we found out that the baby is a girl! We don't have a name for her yet but we're working on it.

I think it was Ray Comfort that I heard use that analogy about the 66 books of the Bible.

Random post, huh?