Monday, December 28, 2009

december.

sorry this is going to be a long and detailed post about our month, which was a whirlwind! i doubt anyone is reading, but i like to write it all down so i dont forget!

drew got a job with newsong this year, working on their christmas tour. he left november 29th from bama for 19 days of touring. we had already booked my flight, so i still flew out there, even though i wouldnt get to see him for much of the trip. thankfully the dates he had in Bama were the days i was there, so i got to be out with the tour for about three days. the picture above is us at the show in athens, alabama. we also were in dothan and montgomery, then drew left for two days while i relaxed in montgomery and auburn with my good friend whitney (note the newly designed auburn colors blog.)here's drew with his buddy jeff jones, drummer for big daddy weave. one of the many kind and sweet guys on this tour who were a wonderful community away from home for my guy. what a blessing it was to meet and be with these talented and humble artists.this is rico, guitarist for newsong, and another sweet, sweet guy. i got to hear the 'christmas shoes" song for three nights straight. and then i made drew watch the movie when we got home :) good thing he is so patient :)here is drew playing drums with newsong.
matt butler and eddie singing "o holy night" in montgomeryhere we are with aunt frances, and cousins elizabeth and madeline at the cracker barrel to celebrate christmas! so sweet of her to bless us with sweet presents (and SNUGGIE) and time together.with drew's brother bryant and his girlfriend parker at drew's moms for christmas, which we spent with drew's brother, myrons parents, and drew's sister and sister in law...lots of family and lots of kiddos! (his brother has six!)
some of the neatest girls you'll ever meet! malerie, amelia, chelle (and baby willis!), emily, and i. aka the foolettes (i am an honorary foolette, since drew isnt actually in the band lol) love our ugly, i mean beautiful sweaters! i miss these precious and amazing girls and am thankful for the encouragement they have been to me as i learn to live life with a guy who tours.our rush of fools family: chelle and wesley and baby, jan and emily, mal and kevin, me and drew, amelia and jake, and jack. what amazing friends these guys are. love them all to pieces.with my mom and dad at the top of roxy ann on christmas day! we are thankful and blessed to have so much wonderful family! and even though december has been a whirlwind, we are grateful. now we are relaxing in oregon for awhile, and i cant tell you how great it is to have my sweetie with me for awhile! we are working on my financial aid situation with nursing school and trying to financially make it work. (its 20k a year for my schooling). i am grateful he is here to help with the finances, since i am not good with numbers. plus its' nice to have a date night and quality time together!

i am keeping busy working, and prepping for the switchfoot tour in a few weeks. writing quite a bit and thankful for new opportunities that come up for me to write (and get paid!). it helps pay the bills, and for that we are thankful. (iphone bills are unkind!)

sad i didn't get to see my middle sister this christmas, but hopefully i can fly there soon to see mr jack henry! we are praying for my oldest sister, whose middle son has epilepsy and is undergoing surgery for a hernia today. he is a sweet and fun guy and we hope this surgery will help alleviate some of his pain.

most of all, we are thankful for this year, for all God has brought us through, and eager to watch Him work in our hearts this year, for His glory. He is good, all the time ,and we have been carried through my health problems, drew's heart problem, schooling ,finances, touring, and more. We are thankful. and so blessed by His provision and protection.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!


merry christmas

love, grace and drew

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

sabbath.


drew and i were listening to matt chandler earlier today. i have surely missed holding hands with my sweet almost-husband and driving. we have been driving ALOT because of drew's tour dates and in order to enable me to see him as much as possible, we have driven back and forth hundreds of miles. today, we drove to birmingham and listened to some of matt's earlier podcasts. todays was on sabbath. about obeying the command to observe the sabbath. matt mentioned how, when he was little, he remembers the sabbath being code for "no fun". instead, matt talked about how the sabbath is to be restful and joyful. he also mentioned that we, as a generation of laptops, iphones, and twitter, should unplug at least one day a week. chandler, a pastor of a large church, husband, and daddy of three little ones, says he checks his email just three times a week. and "no one has died! nothing disintegrated!".

i have an iphone, and am thankful for the way it has enabled me to do more, faster. but sometimes, doing more, faster, is not always better. sure, i can access every social media in a second, and i can email word documents and type papers into powerpoint. all from my phone.
chandler mentioned how it eventually reaches a point where you aren't where you are.
you can be present, but you aren't THERE. drew and i have a tuesday night date night. we havent gotten to really enjoy that commitment for four months, and tonight, our "date" means he is working and i am sitting in the audience being proud of my almost-husband. and that's okay.

we don't know which day our sabbath will be. we will hopefully get to talk about it when drew comes home after this last leg of tour. for now, i will just enjoy spending time with him, and tagging along while he works. we have been so immensely blessed by the newsong tour, full of kind people and sweet friends, some new and some old. but one day this week, i will stop being my super-ridiculously-efficient self. sunday, we will go to church, i will unplug. both of us will shut the email, switch phones to silent, and refuse to take any calls. and we will go to dinner and hold hands and take a walk. and just be.

because, like chandler said...rest on the sabbath is a shadow of something else...the cross.
resting reminds us that we are saved not by working, but by grace and with joy.

besides, i like holding drew's hand.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

rejoicing.


i havent blogged in awhile, but i figured i would at least post something about all the things we are thankful for this year!

we are most recently thankful for my (our) sweet nephew Jack Henry Watkins (note* NEPHEW. NOT OURS. I realized the post made it look like we had a baby, and we certainly DID NOT!) ! born november 29th, 2009, he is a precious and handsome little one and my sister and her husband are overjoyed with his safe and healthy birth. he is in san antonio, so i havent met him yet, but i cant wait! he is a cutie (obviously!). my other precious nephew, beck, turned one in november, beth turned 6, ben is 4, tim was 5 in november, and ally-bug is 3! all such fun, sweet kids!
my grandma is also moving up to oregon today, from cali, after the passing of my grandpa a few months ago. i have never had grandparents in the same city as me, so it will be fun to have her around!
we are sooo thankful for the precious news from dear friends wes and chelle, on the announcement of baby willis in july! we couldnt be more excited for our friends to become wonderful, Godly parents, and we cant wait to meet him/her. baby willis, your mommy and daddy love you very very much!
we are thankful for drew's current job, he is out on tour with the newsong and big daddy weave guys, and its a wonderful tour. i am, as always, thankful to the Lord for keeping him safe while he travels. especially with several artists having bus accidents, i am grateful every day when i get a call in the morning to let me know he has made it safely. i have a friend who started a community group for women who are engaged/married to guys who are in christian music and who tour, and it's been a sweet encouragement for me to hear verses/prayers from these girls.
i am thankful for my wrap up of school with 2 A's and one C! it was a rough term with health issues, financial aid problems, the flu, and working 30 plus hours a week. i didn't see drew any of that time, so it's been almost four months since we have been together.
i fly out on saturday to alabama! excited to see our fools family, drew's family, and spend time catching up with friends and relaxing. i have not relaxed since i left bama, so i am ready to do some reading and writing of articles, shopping, and spend time with drew! we have a crazy schedule planned, full of day trips and though he will be gone for three of the days i am there, i get to spend time in Nashville with my dear friend tiff. sounds like a great time, and i get to see the newsong tour dates twice, including my all-time favorite christmas song, The Christmas shoes :)

love you all! pictures to come soon, after the holidays probably, but i had to get that one of precious Jack up here!