And the Award Goes To…

by | Faith | 6 comments

Today I was nominated for the Liebster Blog Award by Allison over at The Budget Maven!


The Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers by bloggers. It’s a way to acknowledge each other and say “you’re doing a great job”. It is for blogs with 200 or less followers, so it’s also a nice way to spread the word about smaller blogs and get them more readers and followers! 

When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the person(s) who nominated you. You pass the Award onto 11 other blogs (make sure you tell them you nominated them!) and ask them 11 questions. You’re not allowed to nominate the blog(s) who nominated you! (To get the button, right click the picture on my page and save the picture to your computer. You can then upload to your blog.) 

11 Random Facts:

  • I’m married to a bluegrass musician (and a darn good one at that!)
  • I’m a germ freak. My hands may be chapped but I can’t remember the last time I caught a cold!
  • I’m a closet NASCAR fan. Yes, NASCAR. The love-fest began in 2001 at Daytona. It just happened to be the first race I’d watched in years (my mom dated a NASCAR driver for many of my teen years). When I watched Dale Earnhardt Sr. hit the wall and not emerge from his car, I was emotionally hooked. 
  • Autumn is my favorite season. I’m convinced heaven will be fall-like for an eternity!
  • I feed my spoiled Lhasa Apso by hand. Did I just admit that? 
  • I would like to write a children’s book.
  • I collect vintage chenille bedspreads.
  • I’m not partial. I have one of the cutest granddaughters God ever created. 
  • I have a weakness for McDonald’s Chocolate Chip Frappe’s. Can anyone say 18 Weight Watchers points? Ouch!
  • I watched the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice (with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy) so many times that my DVD began to flicker—so I invested in a new one. 🙂
  • The study of The Tabernacle was a turning point in my Christian walk. Forget the idiom “the devil is in the details” — it’s our awesome God who is interested in every minute detail of our lives. Thank You, Lord!

Allison’s Questions for me:
1.What is your least favorite color?
Blue

2. What smell makes you the happiest?
Crisp leaves in Autumn

3. What’s one thing from your bucket list that you’ve yet to do?
Make a bucket list.

4. Who would win in a fight between a hard shell taco and a grilled cheese sandwich?
Hard shell taco, hands down. Unless we’re at Mike’s on Main Street in Hendersonville NC. Their grilled cheese with a cold root beer is yummy. I’d best stop now or I may have to change my answer to #2. 

5. What’s your favorite dessert?
Birthday cake. White cake and buttercream white icing. Sweet mercy!

6. If you could trade wardrobes with a celebrity, whose closet would you raid?
Sienna Miller’s – love her style!
7. What overused expression really gets on your nerves?
“politically correct”

8. Vintage or Modern?
Vintage

9. Coke or Pepsi?
Coke…it’s classic.

10. If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?
Aubree Sophia Baker (where did that come from?)

11. If someone gave you a check for a million dollars, how would spend it?
Truly,
I would give a generous check to Summit (my awesome church!) and other
Kingdom causes. Then I’d build a cabin in the mountains where my
family could vacation together (and we could live full-time!)

Here are my nominations for the Liebster Award:
1. Brandon and Megan at This Beautiful Truth
3. Jamie at Encouraging Women
4. Julie at Anti-Writing
5. Susan at I Hope 4 Him
6. Dee Dee at Come Go Home With Me
7. Kim at Hope Lives Now
9. Debra at DL Koontz
10. Ellen at Ellen Andersen
My Eleven Questions for Nominees:
1. Would you rather see a movie at the theater or at home on DVD? Why?
2. If someone wrote a book about your life, what would they title it?
3. Who’s your favorite singer or band?
4. If you had to choose a favorite book of the Bible, what would it be and why?
5. Fiction or non-fiction? Why?
6. How would you spend a million dollars? 
7. Walmart or Target?
8. Do you parallel park or drive around the block?
9. What’s your favorite cookie?
10. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
11. What recent blessing from the Lord would you like to share? 
A BIG thanks to Allison at Budget Maven for this opportunity to share and to help other blogs get noticed.

Spiritually Preparing for BRMCWC

by | Faith | 10 comments

✔ Ipod loaded with music from Brandon, Zach (from college days), Aaron Keyes, and David Crowder. What better way to begin and end a day?
 
✔ Lots ‘o one dollar bills for the Cloud 9 Coffee Cafe. Latan, are you ready?
 
✔ My “Edie” notebook, stocked with business cards, writing samples, and a flashback-style plastic pouch filled with pens, paper clips, and sticky notes.  

✔ Much, much more.

If you know me, you know I’m all about the checklist. The process makes me giddy:

  • Empty thoughts onto page. In detail.
  • Grab debit card. Go shopping.
  • Ask hubster to bring luggage down from the attic. Okay, beg.
  • Check off each item — quickly. Score!

Searching for the most comfortable shoes or snazziest notebook is gratifying, but if I’m not careful, I can allow the temporal prep to override the eternal one.
 
Becoming spiritually prepared for next week’s Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference also involves a process—one of searching the soul, with God leading the way. For me, it looks something like this: 

God, would you search my heart? Turns out, I have a tendency to see only what I want to see about myself. 

God, would you see if there is any offensive way in me? 

  • Pride – even a speck of it can leave enough space for the enemy’s big toe.
  • Envy – “Envy is dissatisfaction with who God has made me to be. It is also suspicion that God is withholding what I deserve and giving it to someone else.” -Mindy Caliguire. God, am I envying someone else? If so, please forgive me and show me how to put on dancing shoes (preferably, without heels) on behalf of another person’s success.
  • Greed – “Greed
    grows out of the suspicion that God will not take care of our needs as
    well as we can do it ourselves.” -Mindy Caliguire. I say I trust You to lead and guide the way on this journey, but when I try to make things happen in my own strength, there’s a whiff of greed in the air, i.e., the stench of flesh. Father, may You find me dying to self, allowing the Holy Spirit to move fully and freely in my life, bringing forth the sweet scent of Your glory.

God, open my eyes to the new and unique ways You are calling me to live out the Gospel as I choose to see this amazing conference as a blessing from You. Not one person will be in attendance by “coincidence”. 

Next week is about You, not me. 
Next week is about transformation, not information. 
Next week is about becoming the men and women You’ve called us to be, not trying to become someone through the process of “doing”.  

“Lay your deadly doing down
Down at Jesus’ feet
And stand in Him, in Him alone,
Wondrously complete.” 

-James Proctor, It is Finished

Surrounded

by | Faith | 4 comments


During Brandon’s CD Release Party last night, I enjoyed:

  • the worship — especially how Brandon ended our evening together. Powerful!
  • laughter with friends of almost twenty years. The husband braved many a day on the b-ball courts mentoring Brandon as a teen.
  • sitting next to my cousin, who’s always been more like a sister, and watching her hubby post B’s pics on Facebook. The fact they drove from Spartanburg meant even more.
  • peering over to see the blossoming “friendship” between two young people. He’s been a tremendous friend to Brandon over the years and she’s the daughter to two special friends of ours.
  • meeting the wife of an amazing young man, who lost both parents by the time he was in his early twenties.
  • a sweet time of fellowship with my mom and her incredi-hubby, Steve, who could be the poster-child for step-parenting.
  • observing a local FCA group worship — and chatting with one of their leaders, the daughter of a dear friend. She didn’t realize that Brandon was in fact “my” Brandon.
  • hanging out with two great friends, who just happen to be Piper’s other grandparents. 🙂

As Brandon played my favorite song from his CD, Surrounded, I marveled at the relationships and connections represented in the room, very much aware of God’s abiding presence surrounding us as one—and grateful for every moment.

Our Son to Lead Worship at The Channel

by | Faith | 7 comments

This mom beams with pride in announcing that our oldest son, Brandon, will lead worship at The Channel in downtown Greenville SC January 27th, 8:00 p.m. (221 N Main Street, Greenville SC 29615)

Brandon’s most recent CD, A Love Better Than Life, is receiving great reviews and we look forward to hearing songs from the CD that evening.

This is an exciting journey, no doubt. I tend to see Brandon as a bit of an introvert like me, but when he leads worship, something happens—or should I say Someone? The Holy Spirit prompts and presides during the worship time via Brandon’s willing heart and God-given talent.

If you’re in the Greenville SC area, we’d love to see you there! Bring your youth groups, friends, and family. It’s sure to be an exciting night of praise.

If you live near the Waynesville area, he will also be playing at Antioch Baptist Church on Sunday, January 29th, 6:30 p.m.

To God be the glory for all the things He has done…is doing…and will do.

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