Every Season

I heard this song on the radio the other day, and for whatever reason it struck a cord within me. It could be the clever words, beautiful melody, or the sweet memories that came back to me when I heard it,  but it got me thinking... It's such a rich analogy of our lives - quickly going through season after season, some wonderfully full of celebration, and joy, while others bringing change, heartache and growth. All purposed. All planned.  Just as He orchestrates every intricate detail in the aesthetic change from winter to spring, so He also beautifully arranges the components of my life, providing purpose for each season though I may not see it now.

 I believe this is true, because I believe scripture to be true.
"For by Him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, - all things were created THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM. HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER." -Colossians 1:16-17


Through this song, my heart was stirred and I saw sweet glimpses of the Lord. Pursuing us with his creation, begging us to see his beauty and perfection through it... Giving me this life of change, growth, friendship that I may see the beauty in Him working through it. (Thankfully, even through my failures).

New York and Four Texas Ladies...

One of my biggest wishes for a long time has been to travel to New York City. I'll admit, it's a place I would never desire to live but the idea of spending a few wishful days there was always captivating to me... and something I didn't think would be realistic for a very long time. Then Grace happened. Grace is one of my friends who is such a go getter. She's not one to flippantly throw around ideas hoping they might turn out. Unlike me, Grace makes. it. happen.
I went to Colorado with Grace and two of our other girlfriends, Kelsey and Rachel this summer, and we decided that we liked being around each other quite a bit and the four of us should get together for another tryst soon. I was thinking maybe Abilene, Dallas or Austin? Of course, Grace was thinking bigger...New York City. Although all of us acted excited about the idea, in our minds we were thinking...$$$....??? Not going to happen.
Soon enough, Grace found us crazy cheap flights, a place to stay, and there was no saying no.

On our first night in New York City... Hot dog, dinner, desert, late night pizza = perfection.

My first New York Broadway show... I loved it just as much as everyone said I would.







We are all one year apart, and have a unique connection... Grace and Kelsey were best friends in High school (in Abilene), Kelsey and I played basketball together at ACU, and Grace and I became good friends through Kelsey. Rachel comes in the picture when she marries our friend... (my second cousin, Grace's friend from high school and Kelsey's husband's best friend from high school) Confused yet? It just works...


We have a blast every minute we get to spend together. Love this little group so much.

 These are some of the most uplifting girls I know. Our time together is always full of laughter. I'm so blessed by them.

Grace texted me yesterday and said she wanted to look up cruise prices....

Amazing Love, How Can It Be?

Something worth your read:

"When Christianity says that God loves man, it means that God loves man: not that He has some 'disinterested', because really indifferent, concern for our welfare, but that, in awful and surprising truth, that we are the objects of His love. You asked for a loving God: you have one. The great spirit you so lightly invoked, the 'lord of terrible aspect', is present: not a senile benevolence that drowsily wishes you to be happy in your own way, not that cold philanthropy of a conscientious magistrate, nor the care of a host who feels responsible for the comfort of his guests, but the consuming fire Himself, the Love that made the worlds, persistent as the artist's love for his work, provident and venerable as a father's love for a child, jealous, inexorable, exacting as love between two sexes. How this should be, I do not know: it passes reason to explain why any creatures such as we, should have a value so prodigious in their Creator's eyes. It is certainly a burden of glory not only beyond our deserts but also, except in rare moments of grace, beyond our desiring; we are inclined, like the maidens in the old play, to deprecate the love of Zeus. But the fact seems unquestionable."

-C. S. Lewis

from The Problem of Pain

Jody's 50 -not 100- things

Sean Hill, this post is for you... Most people will find this post rather worthless.

1. I shook George W's hand in 5th Grade. He asked me what my favorite color was.

2. I play the ukulele.

3. I hate the Yankees with a passion.

4. I've married the antithesis of a Tom Tom.

5. I'm named after my grandpa Judge.

6. My favorite candy bar is a Pay Day

7.  I had a bowl cut through the 6th grade

8. I always wanted to go to Space camp, but it never happened.

9. As a child, my dream vacation was to go to Lego Land (and still is.)

10. My name is forever written on a brick at the Texas State Fair. Thanks Grandma.

11.  At the State Fair, when I was 10, I won 2nd place in the lego competition with a three-story cafe and a state flag.

12. I tend to laugh at my own jokes.

13. I have major problems with redneck Christians.

14. Much to my wife's disapproval, my favorite outfit is a grey sweatshirt and grey sweatpants.

15. I could live in Boston.

16. I'll admit it, I love Taylor Swift. T Swift. Tay Tay.

17. I never graduated from ski school, so I hate skiing. My wife is trying to ease me back in.

18. I own a surfboard, but I'm not so great at surfing. I'm working on it.

19. My friend Sean and I used to keep stats on ever NCAA football game we played. We obviously had some spare time...

20. I often got deservingly spanked from my grandma growing up. She is now one of my favorite people in the world.

21. Also, I had a neck and wrist leash whenever my mom would take me to public places.

22. I fear for my wife if we have a son who acts like I did as a child.

23. I find too much joy in sneaking up on my wife and scaring her... Which is way too easy.

24. I love Great Danes and will never own a purse dog. Sorry Ashley.

25. Arrested Development is my favorite show.

26. I wish I was good at golf.

27. My all-time favorite author is C.S. Lewis.

28. Best book I've ever read is the Screwtape Letters.

29. I never thought I'd be writing on a blog.

30. Since being engaged and married to my wife, my facebook pictures tagged have multiplied by 50.

31. I wish my wife would let me grow my handlebar mustache out.

32. And wear my American flag bandana in public.

33. And grow my hair back out.

34. But I love her anyways.

35. If I didn't have asthma, I would probably be in the Navy right now.

36. I can't wait to have a big family.

37. The greatest thing that ever happened to me was when a lady in the grocery store saw me in my Red Sox jacket and asked me what position I played for them.

38. I hung out with Michael Irvin at the World Premiere of "Friday Night Lights" in Los Angeles.

39. I was 50 pounds bigger in college.

40. I'm trying to talk my younger brother-in-law into being a Wildcat.

41. I'm trying to turn into a long distance runner.

42. I beat my wife in basketball. And I'm proud of it.

43.  My kids better go to T Bar M instead of Kanakuk, the kult with a k. :)

44. I can't stand a limp handshake.

45. Nothing beats Texas High School football.

46. I hope to finish writing a book by the time I'm 28.

47. I love my Sunday afternoon naps

48. I never drank coffee until I went to Law school.

49. I married a fox.

50. I would never have made it to 100.

I should be studying...

Mom's 50th!

Due to my prolonged laziness in the blog world, it's going to take a few posts to get caught up. This past month has been packed full of family and friends and we have enjoyed every minute of it. Hence the laziness. I'm not one of those people who are glad to be "back in the swing of things"... I'm not gonna lie, I'd rather still be on vacation. :)

Here is the first highlight of what's been happening in the past few weeks.

My MOM TURNED 50!! You've got to start with the milestone right?  I know she doesn't look it, but Susan L. (you'll never guess her middle name) Davidson turned the BIG 5-0!
 I get comments all of the time that my mom could be my sister, which is hard to imagine since I look like a 16 year old half of the time, but I'll take it as a compliment.  Jody's secretly praying I inherited these same genes.

Her best friend Cindy Sickles and I planned a little get together to celebrate in Amarillo, and my mom was so surprised! One of the many things I love about her is how she truly appreciates the simplest gestures. You'd have thought we flew her to Martha's Vineyard, first-class, for a dinner party on the beach with fireworks. It was so fun for us to see the look of surprise on her face when we were all there waiting for her, and she was genuinely excited.
 Of course, we had to have an old lady cane for her to walk around with.

With Memolly and my beautiful aunts

The whole fam together!!

There are few people in this world who consider their mother to be one of their best friends. I'm lucky to be one of them. Hardly a day goes by that I'm not on the phone with her...  She always has a listening ear, gives the best advice, and we are constantly laughing when we are together. I envy those people who get to live in the same town as their parents.

I need to start keeping a list of all of the things she did growing up that I want to copy exactly when I become a mom. She was patient, loving, incredibly laid back, didn't stress about trivial matters, and always found a way talked to us about Jesus and what this means in our lives. She also spoiled us like crazy at times. (i.e. letting us chose every night whether we wanted to be woken up the next morning with either tea or coffee) Spoiled.  Oh yeah, and she woke us up with her prayer journal every morning so we could read her daily prayers and scriptures for us as we got dressed. This a memory I treasure and definitely want to copy someday...
She loves her kids well. She loves her husband well, and she has an unrelenting and admirable love for Jesus. Whenever things don't go the right way (which is often),  she is the first one reminding us that God is faithful and good in all circumstances. She lives this out. I could go on and on about her integrity, and all the things I see in my mom that I strive to be, but I'll save that for a personal note. Your welcome.

Love you Mom! You are a blessing to all who know you!

" You make known to me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; In your righthand there are treasures forever."       Psalm 16:11



Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Many more blogs to come in the next week. I think.

Thanksgiving praise

In honor of Thanksgiving, and reflecting on the undeserved blessings in my life that keep me going day after day and fill me with ample joy, I came across this weighty reflection by C.S. Lewis on the Psalms. It reminds me of the most important thing in my life that I often neglect to show gratitude or praise for...

"But the most obvious fact about praise – whether of God or anything – strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise. The world rings with praise – lovers praising their mistresses [Romeo praising Juliet and vice versa], readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game – praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, even sometimes politicians or scholars. . . . Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible. . . . I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: 'Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?' The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about."

We praise what we care about.

Worship of God is showing our enjoyment of Him. I have no problem laughing at something funny, smiling around someone or something I love, gushing about how wonderful a certain friend is, or cheering at a stadium (I'm actually pretty reserved here, but I'm married to a loud mouth in the stands so I'll add it). BUT, I want to enjoy God in this same way. Enjoy His scripture, His presence, and His promises and blessings in the same way I enjoy food, sports, nature... or shopping. Call me cheesy, but these are my thoughts today, and this is what I'm going to focus on this week as school starts back up.

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!


"You have made known to me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; In your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalm 16:11

A late post about Wurstfest

SOO, we went to something called Wurstfest. Heard of it? Jody, being from New Braunfels and adoring his home town, thrives on opportunities to visit good ole NB. I'm a fan too.

Wurstfest  aka "Sausage festival"

If you are not aquainted with this lovely, 50 year old party, here it is: "A unique celebration rich in German culture and full of Texas fun located in beautiful New Braunfels, Texas! Enjoy good fun, food, special events and the finest in Alpine and Bavarian Style Entertainment."

REALLY... thousands of people gathering along the Comal River celebrating their lack of German heritage in a German created town spending more money than they should on beer, more beer, interesting / disturbing / hilarious costumes (see pictures below), and rocking out to really loud music.

??????

What I loved the most about it obviously revolved around food (And of course people watching extreme)...it had the most delectable foods OF MY LIFE. Dozens of  booths offering well more than 100 kinds of food, from fried Oreos to goulash, funnel cakes, sausage balls and potato pancakes with apple sauce on top. Uh-mazing. I recommend going, if not for this reason alone.

For those who know about Wursfest, the most important part of the entire celebration are the prestigious men and women of NB who dress up as opa and opas, ("Grandparents") and volunteer to help out with the 120,000 + attendees. I know a couple of Jody's friends (Uh hem, SEAN) have making opa status a life goal.

Apparently it's quite a big deal in South Texas. Jody has gone every year since 6th grade I believe?? A German celebration / loud, fun music / The greatest food found in the state of Texas. We had a blast with my cousin Daley, and I'm thankful for being introduced to this tradition my husband loves so much.

Daley, Chelsea and me.

Jody's favorite people to go to Wurstfest with. Love his sweet parents

.

How could I forget! We also ran in the Wurst-run that morning... By the look on Jody's face, you can guess who won. :) Of course he has his own story but.... That's all I'm going to say. (We're not competitive at all....)