Sunday in the South: The Tale of the Three Trees

I rotate teaching Sunday school with two other precious women. Today was my turn to teach a "Christmas" lesson to our Youth Girls Sunday School Class. I wanted to do something fun and different from the "normal" Christmas lesson. The Tale of the Three Trees and cookies just kept coming to mind. Cookies because well...who doesn't love a good Christmas cookie and the Three Trees story because it is one of my favorites. My mama bought if for Peyton when he was little bitty, he passed it on to Landon. It is a treasured keepsake in our home. Since the book is fictional I wanted to tie in scripture for my girls. This is what God laid on my heart for them...

The powerful message that God has a special plan for our lives permeates through the story of the three trees. The trees, much like all of us have dreams and plans for what they want in life. The trees find themselves in places that they never desired to be in during their life, but at the end "God's love changes everything."

Listen to the actual story here:

The Tale of Three Trees

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

God has a plan for each and every one of us. There may be times we lose sight of our dreams, and we may not understand the things that take place in our lives. We must remember through that God loves us, has a plan for us, and is in complete control. We can trust him.

I asked the girls if the trees dreams came true. There answer, "Yes, just in a different way than they wanted.

Isaiah 55:8
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord."

We talked about Mary and Joseph. Two people that couldn't be more like the trees. Neither of them were able to live out their original plans for lives. Mary certainly wasn't expecting to have a baby much less deliver the King of the universe. They did however end up with each other, and more than they could have ever hoped or dreamed of. I talked to the girls about how cool it is that the people of the Bible, even though it was 100's of 1000's of years ago, had struggles just like us. Had hopes, and dreams, and plans that didn't go exactly like they had wanted.

Life is like a tapestry. When you look at it from underneath, it looks like a mass of mess. Random threads that seem to be tangled with no pattern. Yet when it is seen from above, the beauty of the planned artwork is evident. We only see life from here below. Many times it appears as a mass of mess, forgotten by the artist and left to random chance. That is so far from the truth. God has a plan for each of us, and although we can't see the pattern of the threads, He can. He is in control of all of them. We just have to trust and be obedient like Mary and Joseph.

Just like tapestry one of the most amazing pieces of artwork designed by God is a snowflake. Although their beauty is not seen by the human eye each one that falls has intricate, perfect details, designed for His purpose.  Just like us. Each person, designed by him, unique, different, beautiful in His sight, not seen at times by the human eye.

Wow, what an Awesome God we serve!

I gave the girls the brightest, pinkest, glitteriest, shiniest, snowflake ornaments for their trees I could find. To remind them each year that they are beautiful, unique, and designed for a purpose. I love each and every one of them and they teach me so much each Sunday that I am with them. One of my many reasons for loving #sundayinthesouth.

We decorated our trees with icing and sprinkles. The girls had fun decorating their trees and enjoying their cookie treats. The boys class was totally jealous! By the way, I am 34 and this is the very first time I have EVER rolled out dough and used my cookie cutters to make real Christmas cookies by myself! I told them I would accept my medal now! Especially since I baked them at 11:30 the night before...but you can hear about that in another blog post on another day.

Challenge Results and Some other things....

THE RESULTS ARE IN...DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

BEFORE

 AFTER

12.4 POUNDS AND 21 INCHES IN 24 DAYS...ANY QUESTIONS? 

(I personally think my feet look skinner.)

If this doesn't tell you anything else let it tell you this...The 24 day challenge works. It works. Plain and simple. If you do what AdvoCare recommends and you use the products the way they were designed it works. Here is a copy of the form I submitted so you can see where the inches came off. No tricks, gimmicks, real results on a real person, ME! I am still frustrated with myself for allowing the weight to come back and I will be doing another challenge starting January 2, 2014 to jumpstart my mission of 155 pounds. I was at 159 last March and I have every intention of getting back there by March 2014. I am however pleased with my results. I did it without even looking or checking off a list. I know how to do this. I just have to do it. I finished my challenge the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I don't know how I did competition wise but I am proud of myself for sticking with it and finishing it. Yes, I enjoyed Thanksgiving. If there is one thing I have learned over the past almost three years (JAN 1 will be three years of me working on a healthy lifestyle and body) its that you can't obsess over everything you put in your mouth every minute of every day. Did I overeat? Probably. Am I totally off the wagon because of it? Not unless I allow myself to be. It's a day, a meal, a bite, a choice at a time. I know myself well. I know that I won't turn down alot of the dips, desserts, candy's or other foods that come with this time of year of the next few weeks so my plan of attack is taking my AdvoCare products and making sure I get a work out in at least 3-5 times a week. I didn't snack or sample food all day Thanksgiving day and I continued my AdvoCare products to help de-rail any "adverse effects" of all the food. Which leads me to the rest of my post. Thanksgiving.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner at my Granny's house this year. I made the dressing. Now keep in mind I don't cook. That doesn't mean I can't...It mean's I don't. I have gotten away with not taking anything to family gatherings for years because most of my family thinks I can't.  (Mama paid me to stay out of the kitchen as a TEEN) Shhhh! I think my Granny Bessie would have been so proud of me. It was perfect...not to dry and not to soupy. I made my Mama tell me how to make it like three times. She makes the best ever. Same recipe so I knew if I did it just exactly like she said it would be a hit. It was her Granny Bessie's recipe and it was delicious. I think they all were shocked! After my family dinner we took the little bit that was left to Chad's mom's house to share. I only had enough left for Chad to eat for Breakfast on Black Friday. Gross I know but he loves it. I was just happy I didn't burn it or the house down in the process. (I set off the fire alarm quite frequently remember) I will however be paying someone to "de-gut" the chicken if I make it again next year. That was awful! I mean really. Why can't they go ahead and do that when they process them anyway? 

Nana, Pate, Poppa, Lan, Me, Chad, Sam, Uncle Josey, and Granny

I purchased another set of extensions from Sally's Beauty Supply the day after Thanksgiving. The brand is Euronext. I got them on sale. I really wanted another set of Luxy's but I was trying to cut cost. As soon as I got them home I was disappointed. They were no where near as thick as my Luxy's. They are non-returnable so I thought oh great I'm stuck with extensions I can't use. I decided I would just mix them in with my Luxy extensions to pull some brown down into the blonde. Then I decided to give them a real shot. I went ahead and fixed my hair this morning and put them in. Curling them made all the difference in the world! I love them. I acutally like them as much if not better than the Luxy's for "every-day" wear. They are lighter and way more comforable. I have had them in all day and can't even feel that they are there. The only down side is they don't look good straight. I think you would have to have board straight hair to make them look right straight. I like my hair with a wave to it anyway so all in all I am happy with them. Also, really diging the length. They are 14 inch so they don't look so "I'm trying to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader"...I mean I would like to be one, who wouldn't? But since I am not (only because I can't stand the Cowgirls and I don't live in TX) I'm good with the shorter ones. Maybe I could talk Chad into moving to New Orleans so I could try-out for the Saintsations...okay never mind lost my train of thought. Last note on  hair. I am really liking the dark. I've had mixed responses to it. Some like it dark, others tell me they like me better blonde. My grandmother HATES it. Sorry Granny. It's just hair y'all. Just hair. It doesn't make me who I am or someone I am not. What it should tell you about me is that I am adventurous and I am not afraid of change. Try it sometime...if you do what you have always done you will get what you've always gotten.

#OOTD #SUNDAYINTHESOUTH

I haven't posted an #OOTD in a while so here you go...

Black and White Tribal Print Dress by Joel from Jewelry Just for Fun, Tribal Necklace and Hammered Cross Earrings by Premier Jewelry (Had a party and racked up in freebies!), Boots from Glitz & Glamour

Can I just say one more time how much I LOVE fall clothes. Especially all the pretty warm sweaters and leggings. I know that I am not a New York Fashion writer, I don't need anyone to tell me I don't work for Glamour or Vogue but can I just say I am proud that I was sporting the "printed" leggings and Piko tops LAST YEAR that are ever so popular this year? I realize I didn't start the trend but at least I know I am ahead of and "ON" trend. Not too bad for a 34 year old mom huh?! I know something "HOT" when I see it! It's funny I searched the WORLD WIDE WEB over looking for these. Found a store online devoted solely to leggings...some of which I am not sure were made for public viewing. But took a chance and ordered them because they were the only ones I even remotely could find that were the "type" I was looking for. Now, I can go to all of my favorite stores and buy as many pair as I want. 

Our Elf Reggie returned via Fireplace the day after Thanksgiving sporting his new "Team Elf" Jersey. (Elf attire can be purchased at Faulkenberry's in Philadelphia.) Reggie will return to the Penson home every year no matter how old my boys get. It's a really fun Christmas tradition seeing all the things our little Elf gets into. If you have small kids start this as soon as possible. You can find awesome ideas for "Elf" activities on Pinterest.

Black Friday was a huge success. I am almost done with my Christmas shopping.  Chad did most of it Thanksgiving night online at Amazon.com. They had amazing "Lightening" Deals. Especially on things that most boys want! My sis-in-law Chas, Celesta (my MIL), and my niece Hailey Brooke started at 3:30 a.m. on Friday. We hit JCPenny at 4:00 so we could get a free Mickey Mouse Snow Globe...."I got a snow-globe hey" (inside joke). We could have gone at 10:00 and gotten one. They had more than plenty. We were the only ones in the store! It was great. No pushing, shoving, etc. All the crazies must have been out the night before. No offense to my friends that braved that crowd. I shopped with them until around 10:00 then met my mom to shop for a while. My mama and I have been shopping buddies since I was a kid. We have always done Black Friday. I really didn't buy all that much or find any "AMAZING" deals. It was more about tradition, getting out, and spending girl time with the ones I love. Oh, and I never pass up a shopping trip!