Holy Weekend

We had an awesome weekend celebrating and worshiping the Lord. There were no baskets or eggs or bunnies this year--not that those are bad things--but we kept it simple and it was all about Jesus, family, and friends (okay, and maybe a little about food, too!). On Good Friday we went up to Alpharetta for the Passion City Church Good Friday service. We have gone for the past 3 years. It's a service/concert that takes place at the Verizon Amphitheater. This year we went with Scott's parents for the second time. It's so wonderful being able to share our love and gratitude for God alongside family. Of course I cried because I always do, but I was also filled to the brim with joy. And maybe it's just me, but there is also something extra powerful about worshiping outside. I just feel closer to God when I can feel the crisp breeze and smell the grass and hear the birds.

Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, and Kristian Stanfill (Kristian isn't on the screen in this shot, but you can see him on stage)

David Crowder...still awesome even without his band.
I think his power comes from his massive beard...

Then on Saturday we spent the day with Scott's parents. His mom made a delicious dinner of spiral glazed ham, cheesy scalloped potatoes, and green bean casserole. We were supposed to have this meal for lunch around noon, but Scott's dad got this brilliant idea to cut down a tree in the backyard before lunch. He claimed it would only take him and Scott about half an hour. I think they were out there sawing away at that thing (the chainsaw was broken!) for about 3 hours! And funny enough, the end result was the tree cut down from the trunk, but stuck leaning against another tree... I can't believe I didn't take a single picture! After we left his dad had to go rent a chainsaw so he could cut down the other tree too! It was a little annoying to postpone the meal, but I admit it was also a little hilarious. My MIL and I ate hummus and drank wine while we watched the guys slave away. I mean, how annoyed could we really be?? :) So, we had a later meal, watched a movie, and then headed home so we could be back in time for church.

Easter itself didn't involve much out of the ordinary. We had an awesome church service (as usual!) and saw several people come to Christ. I definitely cried again...of course! Then we had Olive Garden with some friends and came home and took a nap! As I said, if there were ever a Sabbath to rest during, Easter is it! :)

All in all it was a great weekend and I approached the week today feeling refreshed and uplifted!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend as well! :)
~Christy~

Lately...

* I finally bought 2 pairs of new pants for work. Guess what? I dropped TWO sizes! I also tried on a pair of khakis I've kept in my closet for the past few months even though they were way too small (I was too lazy to donate them!). And they fit perfectly! I'm wearing them today and feeling good about it. I'm a little bummed though that one of the pants I bought seemed to get looser as the day progressed. I hate that about pants! It's so hard to know when you try them on in the store how they're going to fit after you wear them for a little while. Is there a good rule of thumb for how things should fit when you first try them on? Does it depend on the material? I didn't want to buy tighter and have them shrink...

* We're going to the Passion Conferences Good Friday concert tomorrow night for the 3rd year in a row. I can't wait!! It's such a powerful way to worship...singing our hearts out to God, outside in the midst of nature and His creation, thanking Him for sending His son to save us...even though we were thankless sinners. Also, Chris Tomlin, Dave Crowder, and Kristian Stanfill??? Yes, please! :)

* Last Sunday, which was Palm Sunday, Connection Church had a cookout after church and then had a massive egg drop. We literally dropped thousands of plastic eggs filled with goodies from a helicopter! You should have seen the kids go nuts, trying to run out there to get the eggs as fast as possible!

As one of my friends said when the kids started running all at once,
"HUNGER GAMES!!!!"

* I think we're going to go on a cruise again this year. And not just any cruise...the EXACT SAME one we went on before! ha! It's not that crazy, right? I mean, people redo vacations all the time! I guess it is a little silly since there are SO many different cruises. But we want to go during our anniversary week (also Memorial Day week), we have a modest budget, and we can only take off certain days during the month. So, basically we're looking at cruises that are offered one particular week that are in our price range. And the one we've already been on is the most affordable. We get a couple different discounts, and it's way cheaper than the others that week. Some of the other cruises have great deals earlier in May, but we can't take off work then. But you know what? I'm totally okay with it! In fact, I'm super excited! We had such a great time for our 1-year anniversary...it's going to amazing for our 3rd anniversary, too! :) Plus, there is so much to do on cruises, we can easily have a very different experience. Now, please enjoy some pictures from last year...and you may notice...I was heavier then! (After 1 year of marriage, I added on quite a few happiness pounds!)

And that's about it, folks! Other than that, just keeping busy with school, work (plus an internship!), and church. Did I ever tell you that Scott and I lead worship for the kids at church now? Oh, well, we do! :) And we love it!

Happy Holy Weekend! :) {Almost weekend anyway!}

~Christy~

Dressing Sexy

Lately I have been noticing girls dressing more and more provocatively. I realize this is not really a new trend, but for some reason I've just been noticing it more lately. I'm especially shocked to see girls come to college recruitment events and ceremonies dressed like that. (I work at a university) Extremely short skirts, shorts, and dresses, super high heels, and tops that are both low cut and mid-drift...sometimes it's all I can do to not turn to someone nearby and comment on how these girls need to find the rest of their pants. And I realize I shouldn't be so judgmental. I really shouldn't. Especially because I used to dress like that, too. Part of it is being young, part of it is being thinner, but most of it is not seeing myself the way God does.

I remember my freshman year of college, going out to bars, and wanting to look as sexy as possible. There was one club that many people went to on Thursday nights called Legends. It is no longer around, and that's probably for the best. It was basically an old warehouse full of intoxicated freshmen. But every year they had a "nighty night" which was a night to come to the bar wearing nothing but lingerie. And I'm embarrassed to say that my freshmen year, I went out and bought my first piece of lingerie, and wore it to the bar. To make matters worse, I even tried to walk there since I didn't have a car! Fortunately some people from my dorm stopped and let me in the back of their pickup truck.

WHY did I do that? Why would I want to make myself seem easy? Why would I put all my body on display like that for anyone to see? Why would I put myself in such a dangerous position? I am so thankful that nothing bad happened that night. I can only imagine the number of terrible things that could have happened to me...practically naked in a dark warehouse full of intoxicated, immature guys...walking at night to a bar...nevermind that it was wasn't classy...it wasn't safe!

So why did I do it? Well, I think the main reason was low self-esteem. I'm not a very outgoing person. Once you get to know me I'm funny and outspoken and a little bit crazy at times. But before that, I'm super quiet and a little awkward. I'm not good at meeting new people or making small talk. And if I'm in large groups, like at a dance club, I feel especially awkward. Also, I had recently broken up with my boyfriend of over a year because he stopped hanging out with me once I came to college. That definitely hurt my level of self-worth. I began to think I had nothing to offer or entice anyone. No one would want to hang out with me, get to know me, or pursue me as a romantic interest, which, let's face it, was an important consideration to my newly single self. So to make up for all the "deficiencies," I displayed the one thing I thought I had going for me...my looks. And not just looks in general, my body. I thought being sexy gave me some credibility, it gave me something to offer. Guys would want to talk to me and get to know me because I was sexy. Right? Well, no. Guys don't necessarily want to "get to know" sexy girls. But the point is, I was desperately trying to show off the only quality I thought was worth while. And by doing so, I essentially threw away the real characteristics I have to offer. No one looked at me and thought I was smart, funny, compassionate, trustworthy, etc... I was making them believe what I was believing about myself...I have nothing good to offer you except this body. And that's all that anyone was interested in that night or any other time I've dressed provocatively.

God doesn't see me that way. God didn't CREATE me that way. He gave me a great sense of humor. He gave me talents and wisdom and wit. He instilled kindness and gentleness and compassion in me. Yes, he gave me my body too, but not to diminish the quality of all my other gifts. I have learned to accept, or try to accept, the way God sees me. I am learning to believe it myself. And by doing so, I'm allowing other people to see and believe it as well.

Ladies, I am not trying to condemn you for the way you may dress. Instead I want to challenge you to accept and believe in the way God sees you. And I hope that you don't feel like you have to show off your body to be loved or admired. You have so much more to offer than just that. Don't sell yourself short. And don't believe any lies from the Devil that tell you otherwise. You are a precious creation of God. You have much to offer to the world. Own it!

Love,
Christy