Mr. Postman Look and See, Is There a Letter In Your Bag for Me??

I'm sure it's a simple glitch really. It could be the President's Day Holiday mail delay. The Royal staff may have goofed and left off the stamp. They're going to feel silly when it's returned for postage! I hope they ordered a few extra envelopes. Come to think of it, Kate was one number off on our house number on our Christmas card. Shoot. I knew I should have e-mailed her and let her know.

But I'll tell you one thing, if my postman is holding my invite hostage just so he can show all of his friends I'm going to be really disappointed. I mean, I don't want the Queen to think my mama didn't teach me the importance of RSVPing!

Yes please! 2 please! :) And for your convenience, we don't HAVE to sit by Posh and Becks, though it would be nice to be seated among friends. ~ Sincerely, Tiffany and Dave (He'll go by David on the event date since he'll be in uniform attire. We keep it real)

I'm Alive and Well! Well....I'm Alive.

At the risk of stating the absolute obvious, the blog has been neglected lately. I never intended for it to happen. We just grew apart for a few weeks. I needed some space. I was dealing with the flu, a sinus infection, helping throw a baby shower, 2 surprise parties, and the grandaddy of them all....my conference is in 9 days.

For the last 5 days I have been struggling to stay awake let alone spend time making my head hurt worse by thinking of something to blog about. I have about 300 unread blog posts in my Google Reader...it's a bit overwhelming. But today I feel rejuvenated...

Today marks the first day I feel almost well. Today my sister comes into town. And today....today is OPENING DAY! Bring on college baseball baby! Tomorrow, barring total absense of my sinus infection, Kristen and I will be enjoying a double header here:

We've spent many, many, many a day (and night) at the ball fields. I love everything about a day at the park, and It always makes me think of my very favorite ball player...

Who in 13 days will be doing what he does best...

Yes, my friends....it's baseball season!!

"This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. Think about that for a while." ~Ebby Calvin LaLoosh

Oh the Weather Outside Is Frightful...

But the fire is so delightful...

But since there's no place to go...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I realize the rest of the country is dealing with blizzard like conditions but we hadn't had so much as a flurry here in Austin, TX. Until last night...we woke up to a very pretty scene! And I got a snow day! Rookie and I went outside for a few photos and we had so much fun watching the kids play. They were making snow men, having snow ball fights and just giggling away. It doesn't come very often (hardly EVER) around these parts, but we'll take it! Happy snow day, friends!

Thoughts on Giving...

Giving is good for the soul, right? It's fun to give your husband, friends, parents, siblings that perfect gift that you saw and knew just who to give it to. The conversation napkins with the perfect saying for the Loj...the owl salt and pepper shakers that my sister would die over...anything leopard print or with fur that is right up my mom's alley...the pack of Twizzlers I know Dave will love "just because". Giving is fun.

Giving the Girl Scouts extra cookie money as part of "Operation Cookie" so one of our soldiers will receive a hand written note and a box of Thin Mints as a small token of appreciation for their remarkable sacrifice. It feels good. It makes a difference. A little goes a long way.

A little goes a long way...I've been thinking about that one little part of giving for a little over a week now. Our church is building a church. We are a new congregation and we have been meeting in a commercial building for going on 3 years now. We recently purchased land and will begin building our new church. It is an exciting time, but it's also a time of need. Our church needs THE church, the individuals that are the church, to support this campaign and raise the funds to build our new building that will hopefully stand for generations and reach people in Austin, TX for generations.

Dave and I have been talking about and praying about what we can give. And we hear wonderful praise stories about the amount of money already raised for the campaign and it seems so grand in comparison with what we can give. Until last Sunday when our pastor told us the story of 2 little girls in our church. 6 and 8 years old. They wanted to give to help build our church but they didn't have any money so their mom told them they could go ask the neighbors if they could do any work for them. One of their neighbors told them they could brush his Golden Retriever and he would give them $10 each. So they spent a good amount of time brushing his dog. They made sure she looked really good and then they asked for approval from their neighbor. When he deemed their job had been done well he gave them each the $10 they had earned. They were beaming! And they were ready to give everything they had just earned! Their mom took them up to the church and they were elated as they handed over their earnings to the pastor as their offering.

I cried as he recounted the story Sunday a week ago. I cried because of their joy in giving. I cried because their mom, who I have the privilege to know and be in Sunday School with is raising children who are Kingdom Focused. She's teaching them to work hard, give generously, live selflessly. It's a lesson for me too.

I may not be able to give enough to meet the entire need but I can give something. I can give of my time, my energy, and my resources...and that's exactly what God asks of me. Giving from the heart really is good for the soul. I'm glad a 6 year old and an 8 year old could remind me of that this week. I hope I won't soon forget the lesson they taught me.