So funny! ***UPDATED***

Recently I was trying to locate an 80's costume for a friend and was trying to think which one of my other friends had posted pictures on their blog about an 80's party. Well, it turned out that it wasn't an 80's party that I remembered...it was the Kenworthy's Tacky Christmas Party. They had all dressed in various tacky Christmas clothes, and some were quite entertaining. The first time I saw the pics at Christmas time, I didn't realize why my friend Katherine's costume looked a little familiar...I didn't realize why until I looked at the pictures again the other day. Katherine, here is your picture from the tacky Christmas party...and next is a picture of me from 1993 in THE EXACT SAME DRESS!!! I laughed out loud and have kept this a secret until I was able to get the picture from my parents this weekend!This was one of my favorite dresses ever! I felt so pretty in this dress and it was one of the most expensive dresses I had owned at that point! Katherine, I can't believe you think it is tacky! Hehe! I guess that's what 15 years does to a beautiful sequin sweater dress!

UPDATE...I knew this picture existed somewhere of Jennifer and me at a band concert with me in my beautiful dress! Jennifer was kind enough to find it along with a few other treasured pictures. This was at our Christmas concert in 1994!

9 years later...

Today is our 9th anniversary!!! In some ways it seem like, "Yes, we've been married nine years," because we've moved 3 times, lived in 5 houses, had 2 children...that's a lot, so nine years make sense. But then when I really think about it, it is hard to believe that it has been NINE years!!! They say time goes quickly when you're having fun! Honestly, nine years ago I didn't expect marriage to be perfect or easy, but there have definitely been moments when we've both thought...this is much harder than we thought! But what a blessing that God has given me in Corey...a husband, a provider, a companion, a wonderful father for our children, and mostly a friend! Yes, marriage is hard work. It is not always easy, but I can honestly say that each year seems to get better and these last few years have been the best! I'm so excited to see what this next year brings and grateful that God has blessed us with being able to face it together! For your entertainment I'm adding some pictures, starting with one from our second date! Yes, I know my hair is different colors and lengths in them all...that's part of the fun! Hope you enjoy!

Inauguration Day

Today was a bittersweet day for me...I am disappointed that our country's values have changed so much that we have chosen to lead us men and women whose values are so opposed to scripture and Godly morals. It is no surprise to most of you that the election results saddened me greatly. However, I am excited that our country has come so far in our ungodly attitude of racial prejudice that we have our first African-American president! I thank God that although racism is not gone, we have moved a great leap in that direction. I also am grateful to live in the most wonderful country in the world where democracy allows us the right to choose our leaders and the transition of power from one leader to the next is peaceful! How beautiful was the sight today of proud Americans filling the National Mall waving our country's beautiful flag! My prayer is that God will continue to bless America and that we will return to Him.

Finally, I want to encourage each of you, whatever your political views, to commit to pray for our new president. Consider 1 Timothy 2:1-4

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."

Notice that we are to pray for ALL those in authority, not just those whose values and beliefs are in line with ours. Let's pray that God will protect President Barack Obama, his family, our country, and that God will give him and each of our senators, representatives, and governors great wisdom and understanding as they lead our nation. Pray that laws and decisions made will be according to His will. And also, let us not put our hope in this one man to change all the ills of our nation...let us put our hope in the ONE who can make all things new and right when we as a nation will choose to follow Him.

Church Decline

Normally Melody takes care of blogging, but this weekend I came across an article about my home church (FBC Smyrna), and about the decline of churches in America that I want to share with you. The article can be found on the Tennessean website, or by clicking here. The article is speaking specifically about Southern Baptist Churches, but I came across a few statistics that pertain to the church here in North America that were quite startling. America is now the 3rd largest unchurched nation in the world. North America is now the only continent where Christianity is no longer growing. Lastly, over 80% of churches in America are plateaued or declined. These statistics are scary, and I believe God is calling all believers to pay attention, and to do our best to see these statistics reversed.

For His Glory,
Corey

Please pray for Corey

Please keep Corey in your prayers this week. He is currently on the long drive to Kansas City for his fourth doctoral seminar. He will be gone all week which is hard on all of us, especially the boys who love and miss him so much when he's gone! I am so proud of him and his determination to complete his education in order that God can make him a stronger pastor and use him in any way He chooses. Good luck this week~ we're praying for you!

Christmas!

We were blessed to have a wonderful Christmas this year with our families! Instead of four different posts, I decided to make one gigantic post- four for the price of one! Hope you enjoy and that you had a blessed Christmas also!

Foropoulos Family Christmas
We left for Jackson on the 23rd and shortly after we arrived, we received a call that my Mammaw (my dad's mom) had passed away. She has struggled with Dementia for the past several years, and although we will miss her, we rejoiced to know that she was a Christian, is now in Heaven, and that her suffering is over. I was so blessed by the example of faith and trust in God that my dad set for each of us when he prayed before we had our Christmas dinner that evening, praising God in the midst of losing his mom! Mom made a wonderful dinner and as always made sure that we were all taken care of! Then the kids gathered around for a Grandaddy Williams story from my dad...he's a great story teller!One of my favorite traditions as a child was that each year we would go with my Nana and Pop, cousins, aunt and uncle to eat Christmas Eve breakfast at the Old Country Store. We did this for at least 20 years until both my grandparents had passed away a few years ago. The memories were just too much to return until this year. My mom decided it was time to go again, and then we got a call that my Aunt Carol, Uncle David and Jeremy would be joining us...the only ones missing were going to be my cousin JulieAnn, her husband Jeremy and their daughter, Jayden. As we waited in line, we got a call that they were surprising us! It was such a blessing for all 21 of us to be able to return to this tradition together this year! I was so glad for my boys to get to experience this with their cousins!


Afterward, my dad headed to Memphis to make funeral arrangements, and we had an afternoon at home for the kids to take a nap before a fun evening opening gifts. Before we opened presents mom was sure we heard the Christmas story, and it was so special, because my sister had helped her oldest children memorize Luke 2!!! So, they recited the Christmas story to us all! We received several thoughtful gifts... one of the sweetest things was the candle globe that my brother Zachary bought for me (he also got mom and Wave one) with his own money...he is such a great guy. I'm so proud of him for so many reasons...he is very thoughtful, talented and generous! I love you even though you probably won't read this until the next time I'm home and ask you if you've been checking it ;) Each year my sister, Waverly has asked for the same thing from me...an Ugly Elf. In the 5th grade I made a clay elf ornament...he has been through a lot including lots of breaks and super glue repairs. So this year, I made her a replica! She was so excited and it made me happy...I have the best big sister ever and loved seeing her reaction!
Christmas in Paris
We headed home to Paris Christmas Eve night. Before the boys went to bed, we explained to them that the next morning would be Christmas Day! I told Caleb that when they woke up, we would go to the living room, read the Christmas story and then open presents. He asked if we could reverse the order and open presents first. I explained that Jesus was the reason for Christmas and that the most important thing was worshipping God on Christmas. When he came into our bedroom Christmas morning, he climbed up into the bed with us and said one of the most precious things I've ever heard, "When are we going to go to the living room and worship God?" What a blessing that he got it at least in that moment...Christmas isn't just about presents, family, food and decorations...it's about worshipping Emmanuel~God With Us!
Here are the boys Christmas morning in their new jammies from Nanny...
Opening their beanbags...
And camo overalls...they love camo~we don't understand, but apparently it is necessary for two boys who love getting dirty and hiking in the woods behind our house! We had a wonderful Christmas morning at home! We had planned on spending most of the day at home, but with my grandmother's funeral being Saturday, we wanted to be sure to spend plenty of time with Corey side of the family also, so we loaded up after breakfast and headed to Murfreesboro.

Christmas with the Cains
We had a great time with Corey's dad's family. Grandma Sue cooked a great Christmas dinner, and we enjoyed the time we spent together. I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted, but had to get one of this moment right after Caleb saw their record player...it copies records onto CD...when they pulled a record out to try it, Caleb said, "Oh my word! That is a huge CD!"We weren't able to be there very long because of the change in our plans, but I really appreciate how thoughtful and flexible all of Corey's family was.

Christmas with Nanny and JR
We headed to Nanny's house late Christmas day. The boys were a little wired! JR's son, Sam and his wife, Mary were there...I hope the boys didn't scare you too badly ;) Once we put them in bed, they conked out immediately. The next morning we woke up and opened presents.
The boys with their cool new crash cars from Aunt Michele that go on a race track...
Nanny and JR got us a cool family present this year... a Wii! Thanks so much we're having lots of fun!

Michele know how much Bennett loves music, so she got him this cool keyboard and a drum set. Caleb enjoys taking pictures, so she got him a neat camera...
JR wanted a robe for Christmas, and we all wanted a chance to try it on...the boys both got in after their bath!In their new pjs from Nanny...

What a wonderful Christmas~ God is so good!