Over due update - Its been a while!

Wow, its been so long since I’ve been on here I bet you thought I forgot how to blog! (hee hee hee) we have been uber busy these past SEVERAL weeks, just like I’m sure everyone out there in blogger land has been. So what’s my excuse? I don’t have one, sorry :S

Just a {very} quick recap of what’s been going on at the Kenneth Godby house….

Christmas – yeah we were both sick :S but it was a memory we will never forget! We spent Christmas Eve with (almost) my entire family. Just one cousin and her immediate fam were missing but they came for a visit a couple days later so that was super nice :) then Christmas Day we had a Sunday morning service (that I spent on the couch in Pastor’s office :S) and then Kenny and I spent the rest of the day together watching Christmas movies and eating Fondue (a Godby family tradition that is totally yummy!)

New Years – Since New Years Eve fell on a Saturday night we decided to have the teens over on Friday night. We had a blast even though only 4 teens showed up – Oh well, more junk food for me!

Men’s shoot out/Wild Game feast/Winter Revival – I guess Kenny was knocked out of the shoot out in the first round (don’t tell him I told you) but they all enjoyed the fellowship and food. After the shoot out and dinner Bobby Sanders preached to the men to kick off our Winter Revival. We also had a service Saturday night that was blessed with snow but those who chose to come out heard some very good and convicting preaching. We ended our Winter Revival with a day of preaching Sunday.

That’s pretty much the end of my update. Next week Pastor Haley has deemed “Planning Week” for Emmanuel Baptist Church staff members. So we’ll be going down Thursday, after I get off work, for a short get away/planning retreat in S.C. If I don’t go on another vacation from blogging I’ll have to let you know some of the goodies that come from our planning :) Until then,

Enjoy Your Weekend!

RU Sunday

Our church has had an RU program (Reformers Unanimous, Drug Addictions program) for one year now. Yesterday we had an RU Celebration Sunday, this is just a full Sunday devoted to those in our RU program and the things they have overcome through Jesus Christ. One thing I really like about the program is that it doesn’t focus on the addict or the addiction and how to overcome, but rather, it focuses on the addict and their relationship with God and how He is the only one that can break the chains of addiction in a Believer’s life.

“Its not about Sobriety, its about the Changed Life.”

One of the first things we did were cardboard testimonies. I’ve included a link to a video on youtube that was made by Reformers Unanimous about Card Board Testimonies.

Here are some pictures of us preparing on Tuesday night for our own cardboard testimonies.

 

 

Here is Preacher looking in dismay at the piece of cardboard he had messed up on.

 

 

 

Several Ladies asked me to write their sign for them.

 

 

 

 

Brock and Jon-Jon Coming up with what to write on their signs.

 

 

 

 

Brother Keith still thinking of what to write on his sign.

 

 

 

The special speaker for the day was Dr. George Crabb, he is a Dr. who specializes in addiction medication. He spoke for all three services and showed in scripture where drug abuse – even of prescription drugs – is Biblically wrong. God uses pain and suffering in our lives to help us grow spiritually and be able to sympathize with others who, in the future, will experience what we are going through. During the evening service he had a question and answer time where anyone could ask any question about medications, drug abuse, and what the Bible says.

It was a great day and we had a good turn out and several people said that they received help from what Dr. Crabb talked about.

Cindy, our Pastor’s wife took pictures during the service so when I get those from her I’ll post those for you all to see.

A Week in Review

My sister’s family came down from Canada last week for Missy’s Spring Break. Here is a quick review of the fun we had!

Friday: Matt and Missy and Jonathan arrive! YAY!!!!

Saturday evening: Everyone came over for supper and then we went to my Grandma’s for cards. Everyone includes:

Robbie, Jessica, Austin and Mikaela;

Stephen and Christina;

Matt, Missy and Jonathan;

Dad, Mom and I.

Sunday Morning: Everyone (listed above) came to Emmanuel with me for church. It was really neat to have my whole family together and for them to see where Kenny and I are going to live and work!

Monday: Matt, Missy and Jonathan came to the Barbershop for haircuts :) After work Lisa, the boss of me :) was having a Celebrating Home Party, formerly known as Home Interiors, The girls from the shop surprised me with some money they collected for me to “shop” with for the evening! I bought some nice things I had my eye on in the preview catalog, I’ll blog about that later, and some candles that were on clearance sale to give as gifts at the wedding. Another exciting thing that happened Monday night was that my car sold! Praise the Lord, now begins the serious search for a new vehicle.

Tuesday evening: Jonathan’s Birthday Party!!!!!

This picture is proof that grandkids get away with EVERYTHING! I was never allowed to put my foot on the table! – not jealous.

It took a little while to figure out how to blowout the candles but he made it!

He didn’t have any problems with unwrapping his presents though.

Tuesday and Wednesday: One of the reasons Missy came down over her spring break was so we could find a dress for her to wear for the wedding… we went through at least 6 stores before finding the right dress at David’s Bridal. *sigh* Glad that’s over.

Friday: Shannon was in town for a visit(she got in Thursday afternoon) and Kenny came down from the mountains. We took Missy and Matt’s car to the car wash and then loaded Jonathan into Shannon’s convertible mustang and took off to the duck pond. I thought Jonathan might be scared but he chased all the ducks around and enjoyed watching them eat the bread. – All these pictures are on my Mom’s camera, I’ll have to upload some of those later.

Saturday Morning: We said all of our goodbye’s to Matt, Missy and Jonathan before they left for Canada.

I’d like to say life is back to normal at the Shahan house but I just don’t want to put Jonathan’s toys away yet… sniff, sniff :’( As soon as I get everything put away they’ll be back to stay again. Can’t wait!

Marriage Counseling

I feel kind of bad because I haven’t done any real blogging lately, we’ve been busy but not with anything really worth blogging about.

~Kenny drove up to Fredericksburg, VA to buy a Honda CRV. Dad said it was “Fire Engine Red” perfect color for Kenny!

~Matt and Missy are planning on coming home for Spring Break in March {[(very excited)]}

~We went Late Night Bowling with ABC Friday night, Kenny won three categories, Highest score, Most Spares and Highest score for a couple, I helped with that one. :)

~We also went bowling with Emmanuel Baptist Church Sunday night. All the teens were in our lane or the one next to us so we did Infirmity bowling :) It was hilarious watching the teens bowl with fake injuries such as broken legs, broken arms or even blind! All the kids enjoyed playing, even the “cool” kids got in on the fun, it was a great time.

Now on to my topic for the day!

Kenny and I have been doing Pre-marital Counseling with Pastor Camp on Friday afternoons for the past 3 weeks. I have really enjoyed our time together with him and have learned A LOT! I’ve also been able to share some things with some of my co-workers which has been fun.

First, let me tell you a little about where I work. I work at a Barbershop that has only Lady Barber’s in it! We are NOT stylists or hairdressers, even though that is how we are licensed, we are Barbers. I am the youngest of the 11 ladies and 1 of 3 planning a wedding. However, I am the only one going through counseling so I’ve had the chance several times to share what I’ve been learning about having a Biblical, Christ-centered marriage. It is especially neat to me since one of these ladies has clearly told me that she doesn’t want to know anything about my religion or my God but she asks me what my Pastor talks about in counseling. I love how God can open doors that seem to be bolted shut! I hope you’ll remember to pray that the Lord would give me wisdom in this area.

Anyways, Kenny and I like to pick at each other and have fun together and Pastor Camp has picked up on this and added to the fun. One thing he says to us over and over again is; “I can see you both have fun and laugh together, don’t lose that. 35 years from now you should still be laughing together.”

It has been neat to realize not to take anything for granted or to think that Kenny thinks the same way I do. I’ve gotten myself in trouble over this one a couple times! That’s all I’m going to say about that one :) lol

I’ve also learned if you don’t know the answer to one of Pastors questions, say “communication!” chances are your right or very close.

Does anyone have some “Marriage Counseling” you’d like to offer? Or maybe something I should ask about in our next counseling session? I’d love some feedback in this area!

Thankful Thursday

I always enjoy looking at the mountains as I’m driving to church on Sunday’s and Wednesdays. The North Carolina mountains were named well as the Blue-Ridge Mountains! But I have to confess, yesterday as I was driving thru them I thought to myself, “These aren’t mountains.” :S I used to get so mad at Kenny and Wesley when they would say that but now, after spending a week surrounded by the Colorado mountains, NC mountains don’t even compare!

These are CO mountains if you can’t tell!

Today I’m thankful for where God has me right now. I’m in NC, living at home with my Mom and Dad, preparing to marry Kenny, and working at, to me, the best place in town. I have great bosses, a great church, a wonderful family, and a loving future family. I feel very fortunate to be right where God has me, even if the mountains aren’t as great as Colorado’s!

Christmas Cantata

Sunday was Emmanuel Baptist Church’s Christmas Cantata, Kenny had everything planned out. The Calvary Quartet would sing during the morning service after which the choir and Quartet would eat lunch on the grounds and have a Cantata practice during the afternoon and present the Christmas Cantata during the evening service at 6pm…. Well that was the plan. As anyone who has ever planned anything knows there are always bumps in the plan… Our “bump” came in the form of white fluffy precipitation that sticks to everything and makes driving interesting :)

Sunday morning Kenny called me “The roads are clear up here but leave your place early and be careful…” I made it up the mountain without any problems and so did the Quartet… in an 80 foot “tour” bus! Needless to say as the church members were calling to see if we were still having church the reply was if the Quartet made it, you can too!

Because of the snow we kind of skipped Sunday School and just had a time of testimonies with the people who bravely came in early. The morning service went very well, the Quartet sang several numbers and then Pastor gave a message.

During the afternoon the Quartet thought it would be safest if they left to get back home before it got too late and the roads froze over. So the decision was made to continue the Cantata without them. We had a wonderful time between the choir singing and Pastor’s reading of the Christmas Story. He started back before Christ’s birth and went all the way through his life up to his death and resurrection.

Kenny and I had a wonderful time but (I don’t know about him) I defiantly breathed a sign of relief that we were done. At the same time I can’t wait to see what we’re going to do next year!

Blessings from God’s Word

What I’d like to share today was from Mrs. Judy’s Sunday-school lesson yesterday.

I’ve been teaching 2-3 year olds for about 3 years now so it has been surprising to see how much I missed hearing from God’s Word from an older, more experienced, lady who can add her own life’s experiences to what she is teaching. It was a real blessing yesterday and I hope I can share adequately what it was that God gave me out of this.

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-16, 23-24

1  O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2   Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3   Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4   For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
5   Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6   Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

1. God Knows Me. vs.1-6

13   For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
14   I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15   My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16   Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

2. God Made Me. vs 13-16

~Mrs. Judy talked about the word reins meaning the innermost part of a person, basically the organs. She then passed around a book showing all of the stages of pregnancy. So we could all see how God formed us. She pointed specifically to a picture of the baby at about 4 weeks, did you know that the heart has already formed at such an early stage? We are fearfully and wonderfully made!

~She talked about verse 15 and “the lowest part of the earth” meaning the woman’s womb. Even though the woman may not know that she is expecting yet God does from the moment we are conceived. He knows all about us “My substance was not hid from thee."

I thought of Andrea Hamilton during Sunday School and the little baby picture she has on her blog showing how her baby is growing and developing. That little baby even though he isn’t born yet is still a person in God’s sight and He knows everything about him already.

23   Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24   And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

3. Davids Prayer. vs. 23-24

This is a familiar part of scripture to most people, David wanted God to see every aspect of his life and lead him in the way he should go. Mrs Judy just asked each of us if we could honestly pray this prayer about our lives or if there were things in the way that we wouldn’t want God to see(which He does anyways as seen earlier). Its not an easy thing to pray that prayer and be willing to remove those “wicked ways.” I’m so glad that God, even though he sees all of our downfalls and failures He also loves us enough to show grace and mercy and gently tries to lead us “in the way everlasting.”

Well I don’t feel like I’ve done a good job at sharing this but hopefully you were able to see something from this Psalm in a different light than before. If you have anything to add about this or just  comment I’d love to hear what you have to say about this Psalm.

Wednesday – News and Views

This is just going to be a quick update on our week since I’ve been bad and haven’t posted anything since last Thursday. Opps

Friday : I went with 3 of my bridesmaids to David’s Bridal to pick out their dresses for the wedding. We all had a really great time together, I wish Missy could have been here to go with us. I had decided to let each girl pick out the style she wanted as long as it came in the right color, two of them ended up picking the same dress :) as long as they’re happy that's all that matters.

Kenny came down that evening to ref a basketball game at ABC and to watch a movie at  the Spencer’s house. So it was nice to spend some time with him and with close friends.

Sunday: The morning service went very well, every Sunday we have some new visitors which is very. We have recently been getting ready for our Christmas Cantata on December 5th. The church, from what they tell me, has never tried to do a cantata so they seem excited/nervous/anxious about it. I’ve never done anything like this before either. God has really been stretching me since coming to Emmanuel Baptist Church and I’m loving it!

Monday: Dad came home from the hospital! YAY!!!!! He has to be on medication via intervenes for the next 6 weeks which will keep him, as his Home Care nurse put it, “home bound.” You can imagine how much Dad is going to enjoy that! (sarcasm)

 

Events Coming Up:

• Kenny and I are going to my Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving after he plays in ABC’s Turkey Bowl on Thursday.
• 12 days until EBC’s Christmas Cantata
• 2 1/2 weeks until Kenny and I go to Colorado to visit his family. [{(very excited)}]
• 1 month until Christmas
• 6 months, 1 week and 4 days until Our Wedding! [{(excited again!)}]

The Bible says to number our days… some of us are just more literal with that interpretation. Sorry I didn’t include any pictures today, I have lots to show as I’ll be sharing some of my families traditions leading up to Christmas.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

“God gets all the glory and I get to glow.”

I’ve got a little story to share about a couple I’ve been fortunate enough to meet at Emmanuel Baptist Church. I don’t know every detail to their story but I want to share what I do know.

About 3 weeks ago Todd and Dawn walked into the doors of Emmanuel on a Wednesday afternoon. They had just moved into the area from Florida. And as far as I know they had a deal on a house before they moved but when they got here the deal had fallen through. Around the same time they traded vehicles only to have the new one burn up on them.  This left them homeless and without a car. They started asking around for someone who could help them and eventually someone directed them to come to Emmanuel. The church put them up in a hotel if they came to church.

For the past three weeks the two of them have been helping out around the church. They have been such a blessing with their faithfulness to the church, and Todd seems to be a Jack-of-all-trades, fixing doors and painting in sometimes less than superb places (the rafters in the Burlison Building being one of them.) Recently Todd has found a job, I didn’t think to ask where, but he is still helping out with different projects around the church.

Last night at church Dawn called me over to her and said “did Kenny tell you the good news? We got an apartment!” She started to tear up just telling me about it. They had tried earlier in the week to get an apartment, that was just walls and carpet but for some reason it didn’t work out. She started telling me about the new one. “Its a fully furnished apartment right across the street from the church! God didn’t let the other one work out because He had something way better for us. And I have 3 job opportunities as well!” “Well when did you move in?” I asked, now I’m all excited too. “Today! We moved in today!”

After church Kenny and I along with Cindy and Brock went over to see the new apartment. Fully furnished, beautiful wood floors, washer/dryer, big kitchen. Dawn was so excited she kept touching things as she showed them to us. She said she was doing it because she wanted to make sure it was actually there and not just a dream.

As we were getting ready to leave Cindy commented that Dawn was so happy she was glowing. Dawn just replied, “God gets all the glory, and I get to glow.”

I am always amazed when we think something is hopeless, God provides more abundantly than we could have even thought to ask for.

Congratulations Todd and Dawn on the apartment!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I feel like its been a while since I’ve blogged anything but this week has been so busy! And this next week is going to be even busier. Sunday starts a four day Missions Conference at Emmanuel, Friday I’ll be going with the ladies to a Conference in Walkerton,NC for the weekend and the weekend after that we have marriage counseling and TAC Conference at ABC. {[(sigh)]} Don’t get me wrong I’m looking forward to each event, I just take everything one day at a time.

I promised that I would be keeping every one up to date on all the wedding plans. So really quick, before I have to run down the road to do some haircuts, I’ll give a brief view of what we’ve been working on.

• We are having the wedding at Maranatha Baptist Church, in Shelby but need to find a reception site. We’re looking at Dover Baptist Church, they have a nice “gym” that several girls from MBC have had their receptions at.
• Kenny and I picked a young lady to be our photographer for the wedding, she is Bethany Burrows older sister, just waiting to hear back from her if she is available that weekend.
• We are also getting some “fall” season pictures Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Cindy is taking those for us. :)
• I set up an appointment with David’s Bridal to look for bridesmaids dresses with all the girls, November 19th. Hopefully I can post pictures of what the girls choose.
• Kenny and I completed our registry at Bed, Bath and Beyond today, we still need to do one at Wal-Mart to be completely done with that task, I feel good that we have at least finished one of them.
• Today, we also looked at a tux shop and have in mind what Kenny wants to wear and what he would like for the groomsmen. (It looks really sharp)

As I’m reading over this list it sounds like nothing is completely done :s but its a start and I’m happy with that!

Windows Live Writer

Yay!!!! I finally got my Live Writer to work. :) I don’t have anything in particular to post… I just wanted to use this thing (hope your don’t mind :) So I guess I’ll just give you an update on life in the big city of Spindale.

The Barbershop seems to be going along very well. We just hired a new lady, Allison, to start work next week. After Kenny and I get married I’m planning on cutting back to 2 or 3 days a week (mostly because of the drive down here) so I’m trying to get people in place that can start taking some of my hours.

Church at Emmanuel with Kenny has been wonderful. The people there are so sweet and very welcoming, they all just love “Brother Kenny” to death. We have Missions Conference October 31 thru November 3 and a Ladies Conference, in Walkertown, NC, November 5 & 6. Next week is going to be very busy!!!!

Wedding plans are going very well, at least I feel like we have a good handle on everything. Kenny and I met with Pastor Camp for our first Marriage Counseling session. It went well but we have a lot of “homework” to do :) typical Pastor Camp style. Soon we’ll be ordering invitations, bridesmaid dresses, the cake. (all that stuff seems to be due about the same time lol)

Well that’s pretty much it for my update on life. My advice for today: get out and enjoy the fall leaves and good weather!

Pastor Appreciation Day

October is Pastor Appreciation Month (I didn't know that did you?) This past Sunday The Hannah Bible Class, at Emmanuel Baptist Church, gave Pastor & Mrs Haley and Kenny, each, a big basket of goodies and a poem. This is Kenny's poem, I borrowed it to frame it for his office. It says:

Pastor Appreciation

October, 2010

Kenny came to us loud and strong

He shaped our mouths

And voiced our wrongs

Who is this kid?

Some would say

What does he think he is anyway?

But Kenny's dedication and labours

Has captured our hearts

We would be saddened if he chose to depart

Months mounted into years

And we are glad

Because Kenny is the best Maintainance man

We ever had!