Change

So this past week we had our adult Christmas concert at church. At North Monroe (our church) we have some incredible vocalists. A friend of mine, Valerie, is the female vocalist and she has a beautiful voice. Anyhow she sang this song by Faith Hill called "A Baby Changes Everything." When she sang this song my mouth dropped open at how incredible the lyrics are and God has changed my heart so much since.

The first part of this song says
"Teenage Girl, much too young.
Unprepared for what's to come.
A baby changes everything.
Not a ring on her hand.
All her dreams and all her plans.
A baby changes everything."

I can't help but to think how true these lyrics are. I can not imagine how my life would turn upside down if I was merely a teenage girl pregnant and all my dreams would have to be put on hold so I could care for this baby. I can't imagine what Mary is thinking when she finds out that she is giving birth to a baby, let alone Jesus Christ, THE Savior of the world! It keeps getting better.

The next part of the song says,
"The man she loves she's never touched.
How will she keep his trust?
A baby changes everything."

This part just takes my breath right out of my chest. Since I have ever heard the story of Christmas and the birth of Jesus I have NEVER thought of this before. Mary didn't even know Joseph. They didn't date. They surely didn't meet each others parents. They probably never spoke to each other and now Joseph is supposed to be wed to her. This makes me think of Jordy and I. I would already be horrified that I would be pregnant and then I find out that some man I don't even know is supposed to be my husband. How glorious the Lord works out his plans!

"And she cries, Ooh she cries" is the next part. This shows me how real and human Mary is. Something that I would do many times during all this change in my life.

"She has to leave, go far away.
Heaven only knows that she can't stay
A baby changes everything.
She can feel it coming soon,
There's no place, there's no room
A baby changes everything."

Being pregnant as a young woman, set up with a man she doesn't even know and now she has to travel 65 miles on the back of a donkey to a different town because they feared what King Herod would do to there first born son (since he had declared he would kill the first born son as it talks about in Matthew 2.) What!! I'm not sure you could ever convince a pregnant woman who was about 8 months pregnant to jump on the back of a donkey a flee 65 miles to a destination that you didn't know what to expect once you got there. But Mary STILL followed God's direction and she went anyway.

"Shepherds all gather 'round
Up above the star shines down
A baby changes everything.

Choir of angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King,
A baby changes everything,
A baby changes everything,
HALLELUJAH!!!"

Just like every mother Mary is overwhelmed of how beautiful her newborn son is. The newborn baby who was born to live as a man, human and to walk the earth, and then die to make a way for us to be with Him eternally in Heaven!! I get goosebumps every time I hear this section. An army of angels are rejoicing at the birth of Jesus. Now the baby has changed the world and not just Mary's life.

"My whole life has turned around,
I was lost and now I'm found
A baby changes everything!"

Glory to God who chose Mary to carry the Savior of world, Jesus to take on flesh and to change the WORLD!!

Since Jordy and I have been married we have seen lots of our friends with newborns and how their lives are so different because they are now taking care of a small baby. We look around at mom's who just go to and from activities that their kids are apart of or even how a young teenager is looked upon if she ever got pregnant out of wedlock. I can't imagine how my life would be changed if I were carrying a child. Thank God He knows and He ALWAYS has perfect timing. Jordy and I do want a baby and a family, but we know that we want to be married for a while first and many other things to play out as well and when we do have a baby our lives will be forever changed. Glory to God for giving me a new perspective on Mary's life.

Here is the video of this song, Faith Hill does an excellent job!! Merry Christmas!

This makes #2

I got another award!! This is only my second award, but it still makes me very excited to see that there are other bloggers that actually read my blog! Thanks Samantha!!

So my top 10 favorite things right now are:
1. Christmas food. Lately I've been cooking up a storm and there's just something about all the breads, cookies, candies that come during Christmas time that I love!
2. Christmas music. I love Christmas music. I especially love it when I cook. It's great to just relax to, to jam out in the car or dance around the house. Christmas music just puts me in a good mood!
3. Christmas lights. Since Jordy and I don't have our own house we try and incorporate Christmas lights as much as possible. But I love when we are out at night and we see houses that are covered in beautiful lights!! I can't wait to have a house so we can load up on the lights.
4. Hot cider and hot chocolate. Again, since it's cold outside that means hot drinks inside. Did I mention how much I love this time of year!?!
5. Since I've started to be a Pre-K 4 aide at a private school, I have fallen in love with this beautiful children. They are so funny and so much fun to be around. We had our Christmas party and they loaded me with gifts! I am so blessed to have this job and to have fun doing it!
6. The weather outside is frightful, but I like it! Since I've moved to Louisiana the weather has been on the warmer side. But recently, the weather has got really really cool. Very cold at night and I like it! It FINALLY feels like winter!
7. Oklahoma trip coming verrry soon!!! And we get to stay for longer!! Yahoo!
8. Fingernail polish. I've been painting away and I'm not sure why, but I like it!
9. The first annual Christmas card!! Jordy and I took some pictures and we got the cutest Christmas cards. I'm so pumped to continue this tradition!
10. Scarves, vests, boots and longsleeves. It's so nice to change wardrobes as the seasons change. These are just a few of my favorite winter clothing.

Merry Christmas!!

Up, Up and Away!!!

Since I've known Jordy he has loved airplanes. He loves his Wii game that has to do with flying some kind of plane and whatever. But he has recently mentioned how cool it would be to have his pilot's license. But on Wednesday night Jordy and I were talking to this man who has been flying a plane since he was 15 years old. He now owns his owns business as an airplane mechanic. He had mentioned to Jordy before how we should come out for a ride and Jordy could have a "flight lesson". Well I then decided that I would surprise Jordy with a trip out to his place for a lesson. I left school early, got Jordy up from his nap and we set off the unknown destination; as far as Jordy was concerned. About 15 minutes into the 30 minute drive, Jordy will not stop asking me where we were going. So I finally let in to my little secret and I thought he was going to bust out of the car because he was so excited!!! He could NOT believe that we were actually about to do this!

Here we are when we first arrived!


This is Mr. Charlie. He is a wonderful man, Sunday school teacher and now Jordy's flight lesson teacher :)


Here are some shots from up in the air:
Poverty Point (a cool historical site here in La)



We flew all the way to Mississippi and back!! Here is the Mississippi River.


Here is a shot when we first lifted off.


Jordy is actually flying the plane ALL BY HIMSELF!!! He did such a great job!


Charlie's wife, Mary Ellen and I in the backseat just enjoying the ride and the beautiful view.


I was super excited! This really turned out to be so much fun!


This is the cute little airplane we were in.




Jordy was very surprised and he loved every single minute of it.

We can't wait for lesson #2!!

22 years ago...

Today is my 22nd Birthday!!

And it doesn't seem like I'm really that old. This past year has been so unreal. I'm in my last years of college, I'm newly married, I moved to a totally different state; I'm a big kid now I guess. I can remember dreaming about these times in my life like it was yesterday and now they have come and gone. But today I had a wonderful birthday. We got to eat and eat and eat. I also got to spend my birthday this year with my wonderful husband Jordy. He made this day so special for me and I can't imagine life without him. I also got to see my whole family in Oklahoma and well that in itself is awesome. Jordy and I introduced my family to Rock Band and today has just been filled with laughter! It's been a fun day!!!

Tradition in my family is when it's your birthday my mom will fix you your favorite dessert and dinner. So I chose chicken enchiladas and all the fixings and banana creme pie for dessert. Oh my goodness it was delicious. So instead of having a cake I had a pie :)



Now that's after Thanksgiving, my family and I decided that since we were all together we should bring out the Christmas!! Daddy and my sister got up in the attic to get all of the Christmas decor down and away we went!!! My sister ran across some of our old school work that my mom had stored in the attic for so long. We brought that down as well and went through all of it and BOY was it comical. I can remember drawing so many pictures, SO many stories and pictures of all my old old friends. It's so good to think that one of my very old friends is still my friend to this day. Jessi has been around for a long time. Thanks for all the great memories Jess!

So while I was going through all of my old school memories, I found a very old picture of me when I was a baby.
It's so amazing how the Lord created and knew me before the creation of the world. Praise be to the Lord for giving me to a great family who has taken such good care of me and who has loved me unconditionally. Praise be to the Lord for giving me a knew addition to my family.
I love you Jordy!

What a happy birthday it has been!!

Birthday Week!

That's right, Friday is my 22th birthday!!! Man it doesn't even seem like it's that time of year already! This will be the first birthday with Jordy as my husband and I can't wait!!! But tomorrow Jordy and I will be off to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving Break and of course the celebration of my birth! :) yahoo!! I'm so ready for family time, good food and a great movie, but seriously dreading the drive. Blah!

Last weekend Jordy and I took Christmas pictures for our first annual Christmas card! Get excited! This break I'm going to be working on addressing and writing our Christmas letter. Man, I love Christmas time! Oh and great news, I FINALLY found the 24/7 Christmas radio station here! It's taken so long and it's been a little upsetting but have no fear it is officially set to Christmas in my car. It's so wonderful! And after Thanksgiving it will be Christmas in the McKaskle household. The tree that we are using is at my parents house in Oklahoma; so we will get it when we leave there and transform our apartment into a winter wonderland!!! I can't wait!!!

But in the mean time, tons of laundry is calling my name. Oh and I have to pack. Where's a magic wand when I need one??

Coupon Craze

When Jordy and I moved here just about 3 months ago, the Spence's so kindly took us in. Recently, Shelley a new friend and fellow staff wife, introduced me to coupons! I've always wanted to be a big saver, but I would only just clip coupons for things that I was going to the store to buy. But then I was introduced to bid money savers, tons of websites from women who just look for a great deal, and not to mention this lovely thing called a Sunday newspaper (on sale by the way at my local grocery store on Sundays). It's totally great! Today has just been a fantastic day!!

I started off today being advised for the spring semester and since I was anticipating the worst; things turned out actually BETTER than I expected. I am officially enrolled in 14 hours in hopes that I can get into another class racking that up to 16 total hours!! YAHOO!!! No problemo today with enrolling. Thank ULM; thanks for working to improve the life of your students :)

After that, I was offered a job at a private school here in Monroe, but due to my school next semester I am just filling in until they can find someone full time. BUT until then I get paid VERY good money and I'm on the sub list which just adds to more dough rolling in!!

The day just kept getting better and better! I then headed to the store to buy groceries before the after school rush and I brought tons of coupons with me. After successfully getting everything on my list, I decided to get reusable bags (which by the way saves every time you bring them) and then handed over all of my coupons. Grand totaling up to $90 and I saved $30!!!!!!

Today has just been a fantastic day. I mean the Lord knew that Jordy and I could use the money around Christmas time and provided us with this job for me. He knows how stressed I can get when enrolling for school and when I got there EVERYTHING went sooo well! And I saved lots today at the store! Praise be to HIM! Thank you Lord for being our provider!

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Jibberish

Since I've been married and moved to the place we all know it as "the deep south" my eyes have been opened to new vocabulary. Words that are sound crazy weird and I'm always asking what was just said. And so since this phenomenon has been happening quite often these days, I've decided to share one with you.

Lagniappe. Pronounced; lan-yap. Pure confusion; I understand.

I've never in my entire life her of this word before. I had heard it here and there but then it left the lips of my husband. We were driving home from somewhere, can't really remember where, but then he starts talking about Popeyes and he said that they give Lagniappe. So finally, I'm like what in the tar-nation does that mean? He says, "well ya know a little something extra." So at this point I'm thinking well why would even say that to someone. So we get home and I go immediately upstairs to look this one up. And low and behold it's in the dictionary and it means this specifically; Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas. a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus; a gratuity or tip; an unexpected or indirect benefit.

So I'm not sure what's up with word, but I can't talk myself into using it. This is your chief education coming straight to you from the "deep south." Stay tuned for more interesting jibberish.

BOOMER SOONER!!