Dreary Days

Sooo, will this rain ever go away? It has been raining now for 4 days! I sure hope it does because I can't wait to get back outside. Thought you all might could use a little pick-me-up! Hope these make you smile!

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
 Worship the LORD with gladness;
   come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
   It is he who made us, and we are his;
   we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
   and his courts with praise;
   give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
   his faithfulness continues through all generations. 

Gratitude

"Gratitude enables you to see the Light of God' presence shining on all your circumstances." - Sarah Young, Jesus Calling

Today is mine and Chris' 7th wedding anniversary. I think gratitude is the best word to describe how I feel about the seven years we have had together. The first time I ever laid eyes on Chris, I truly thought he was the hottest man on the planet! Once I got know him and saw that his heart was so genuinely kind and caring, I knew I wanted to spend my life with him. I am so grateful to the Lord for bringing us into each others lives and to Chris for choosing me.We have been through a lot in our seven years: weddings, births of our sons, deaths of loved ones, job change, disappointments, traveling to China, lots and lots of fun vacations, but most of all, we have been blown away by God's blessings that He has showered on us.
Marriage is "a marathon, not a sprint," as Chris would say. We really are the epitome of "opposites attracting," but thankfully our core is the same. We desire to love God with all our hearts! In the book Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, he talks about Ephesians 5:33 being the "secret" to marriage. "Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." There are no "what ifs" or "buts" or "conditions" in there, just a simple black and white command. He says "love is not a feeling, it's a choice, a commitment." I am thankful for a spouse that believes in those commands. I pray that we will have many more years together to grow in Christ and share in the lives of our two precious sons. Here are some of my favorite pictures taken by Christine Hall Photography. I was so happy I couldn't wipe that cheesy grin off my face!
I love you Chris all the way and forever~

Isle of Hope's Queen

Now honestly have you ever seen a cuter face that that? That's my precious baby Hopie girl. Chris gave her to me for Valentine's day in 2003. My roommates both graduated in December, and knowing what a scaredy cat I am, Chris though a puppy would be the perfect mate for me. Boy was he right!! She instantly won me over and was spoiled rotten!!

She was definitely more high maintenance than either one of my human children, but with dogs, it's how much time you spend with them that makes a HUGE difference. She and I were pretty much inseparable when she was little and it definitely paid off. She has always had a thing for stuffed animals. She gets one for Christmas each year and won't put it down for at least two days.

She went through a weaponry phase for a while, but thank goodness that passed!

 She loves to sleep on her back and all sprawled out just like the Queen that she is...

 After graduating, I moved back to Savannah and Hope and I got an apartment.  It wasn't long before I noticed she was wincing in pain when she got off the couch and one day she laid down in the middle of the road on our walk. She looked up at me like, "If you want me to get home, then your butt will be carrying mine!" I took her to the vet and discovered she had hip displasia. Very common in large breed dogs but luckily we caught hers very early. When she was nine months old she had metal plates put in both hips. It cost me my life savings, $4000 and no that isn't a type FOUR THOUSAND dollars! It was worth every penny though, thank the Lord. Here is a picture of her at Chrismas. She had just come back home. She stayed at the vet for 8 weeks getting therapy after her surgery. See that duck tape on the floor? Oh yeah, i ducktaped rug gripper onto my floor so she could walk without me holding her behind up with a bathrobe tie! Can you tell this was pre-children? :)

 Well, I'm sure some of you now think I am completely certifiably NUTSO but truly I view her as such a blessing in my life. God has used her to provide comfort, companionship and laughs. She is so sweet with my boys and loves nothing more than just to be in the same room with all of us. Here are some pictures of her with the boys.

Here are a few that prove to you she truly believes she is human! Yes that is a silk pillow that she has her head on FYI!

 I will leave you with a video I took this morning of her playing tug of war with Davis. She sure sounds vicious but she wouldn't hurt a fly, well unless that fly was trying to hurt one of us! :)

Good Night!
Love,
Elizabeth

Answered Prayers

Today is a very special day. I love this day every year because for me it's a day to reflect on one of my greatest answered prayers. From the time I can remember, I started praying for a sibling every single night. When i was about ten, my parents decided that God must have inteded for them to only have one child and fully accepted it, but as for me, I kept right on praying for God to "please give me a baby brother or sister." I remember being 12 and I was outside playing when I heard my mom screaming my name. I ran over to see a white stick. I was HIGHLY annoyed! Oh and did I mention I was a spoiled rotten brat because I had been an only child for so long? Anyway, my mom asked me what color a line was and at this point my annoyance was really rising. I mean couldn't she see I was clearly busy? I said, "pink," and turned to run back to my little world and that's when it happened. Mom said, "Wait, do you know what that means? It means I'm pregnant!" I'm telling you right now I still remember it was like my whole world stopped for a moment. I have never been so excited in my life.
17 years ago, on March 24th 1994, I remember being so nervous and yet so excited all at once. I was sitting in the waiting room at Memorial with my stuffed dog Patches right next to me, covered up with a blanket of course! Then the doors openeded and out came dad. I rushed over and I thought, "Whoa, he has the longest fingers and toes I have ever seen!" (For those of you who don't know, I have freakishly tiny hands and toes for my body but that's a whole nother story) What a funny thought. I took him in my arms and held him and kissed him. I took pictures and got my dad to take me by my school the next day to show them off (sure could have used the internet back then but we didn't even have a computer....aaah how times change). I still remember it all like it was yesterday. I usually don't make it through a day without calling Grady, William, by accident. They look very similar and Grady the age he is right now is really the way I think of William. They are the exact same age apart as William and me are and so I find it quite amusing to remind William of that when Grady is driving him bonkers!! These are some of my absolute favorite pictures of him from when he was little. Truly, in my mind there was and never will be a cuter toddler than William!

He truly has one of the most vivid imaginations and was the best dang pirate this side of the Mississippi line!

Tomorrow is his Junior prom so in honor of that, I had to post this!

This is my favorite picture from the New York trip we took with Mom, Dad, and Chris last August.

Now for those of you who don't know, he just starred in SCPS's production of Willy Wonka, and when I say star, I mean HE WAS IT! All kidding aside, the entire show was amazing and full of great talent but William knocked my socks off. His voice was amazing. His acting was witty and as Chris would say, it was as if he "was channeling Gene Wilder." I sat there with tears streaming down my face just remembering back on what a blessing he has been in my life and amazed at the talent the Lord has blessed him with.

I will leave you with this one because it touches my heart to look at it. Grady was so excited to see William's play and leeched onto him afterwards. This is priceless to me!

You see, William Carson Burgstiner, Jr has taught me persistence. He is an absolute answer to my prayer and although I am quite an old lady to him, I love him from the core of my being. Thank you Willam for changing my life for the better! I know that God has big plans for you.

Happy 17th Birthday!

Nicknames

Nicknames are a HUGE part of my life. You see with a name like Elizabeth, pretty much no one actually calls me Elizabeth. Let’s face it 4 syllables don’t just roll off the tongue. I have always had a lot of nicknames. When I went to college,I stenciled all my nicknames onto my bunk.

In case you can’t read them from the picture: Ibis, Lilly, Nibs, Biz, Ayah, Liz, Izzy-B (since then Lizzard has been added to the repertoire)
Now with that all said, I never really thought about nicknames until I was a grownup. My closest friends here in Savannah mostly call me Liz. Now this gets a little funny when they introduce me to someone and then I, without thinking, say “Hi I’m Elizabeth!” The person looks very puzzled. One girl asked me one day, “What do you want me to call you? I’m so confused!” I laughed. I would never introduce myself as anything other than Elizabeth but I absolutely love my nicknames! I can’t wait to see what new ones friends and family come up with through the years!
Lately, i've been thinking about whether God has nicknames for us. It's so fun for me to think about Him sitting up there calling us by a nickname as we grow in our personal relationship with Him! In my devotional book the other day it said, "the best way to befriend your problems is to thank God for them. You can even give persistent problems nicknames, helping you to approach them with familiarity rather than dread. He will not necessarily remove your problems, but His wisdom is sufficient to bring good out of every one of them." This really stuck out to me since I have a tendency to nickname absolutely everything. In high school my Honda Accord was nicknamed Samantha. Chris and I both have huge feckless on our leg that I nicknamed Meg and Jefferson! I nicknamed one of my friends Watt after her middle name. I'm telling you people, I really like nicknames. I personally think God does too! I have named two of my struggles Samson and Virginia. I will continue to lift them up to the Lord and take the weight off my own shoulders. I know that He will bring good out of them and certainly I am growing by leaps and bounds which is nothing but a GOOD GOD!

Nighty night!

Love,

Elizabeth

Cousins

Friday, my nephew Tate came over for the day. He and Grady are only 6 months apart. They had a blast driving the power wheels, playing the Wii, pretending pirates, and showing off their muscles!

It reminded me of two of my favorite people. Avant and Justin are my only two cousins on my mom's side of the family. They grew up on my grandmother's farm in Guyton, so we were together a lot. Now remember, I was an only child until I was 13, so I cherished these boys that flanked each side of me. Avant is older by 2 years and Justin is younger by 3. Avant is quite the daredevil. I often compare him to a cat with nine lives, and boy is his guardian angel worn out! Driving a 4-wheeler off a train trestle, sinking a boat while offshore fishing, and falling down a huge waterfall are just a few of his misadventures. I will never forget this one day when we were younger, we were playing near a pond that had iced over and I slipped and fell in where it was very deep. Avant immediately jumped in and saved me and then took me back to Grams to get warmed up. Now Justin was always the sweet little one who did pretty much whatever we said, poor Justin! We all would spend the night with Grams in her little town home on Wilmington Island and play "kick the can" in the dark and sit on the kitchen counters while she made us toast with honey on it...OUR FAVORITE! We would build tree houses at the farm and play Boxcar Children(best children's book series ever FYI). Grams would get new baby chicks each year and let us each pick one to name. One year, she surprised us with baby ducks. They were soooo cute! Well, enough for now. I just though you all should know how thankful I am that God provided me with these two boys to grow up with. We sure did have fun! Thought you might enjoy a picture! Justin is on the left and Avant is on the right! This was at Avant's wedding. Trust me, these farm boys are NOT usually dressed like this.  :)

Abundant Life

Okay so you read the title and your thinking, “Zippity do dah, zippity A, my oh my what a wonderful day,” or maybe that’s just me. J Anyway, there are so many “definitions” of this phrase Abundant Life. We as Americans have put quite a fancy spin on those two little words. My devotional yesterday left me in wonder. It said, “Abundant life is not necessarily health and wealth; it is living in continual dependence on God. Instead of trying to fit this day into a preconceived mold, relax and be on the lookout for what He is doing.” Having an Abundant Life really is about where our focus is. You see if we are focused on the creator through good times and bad, and looking to Him for guidance and strength, we will have an Abundant Life. What we focus on is our choice, and this can be a real place of struggle for me most days.

Today was an amazingly abundant day in my life. Now most of you may or may not know that I am NOT a St. Patrick’s Day fan, but today I chose to focus on the positive and boy did it change the day. My sweet husband woke up at 4:30AM to get us a great spot on the parade route. My mom offered to keep Davis who would have been more than bored by the whole scene. My dad rode with Grady and me and found us a great parking spot. My friends were there with their precious children. The weather was gorgeous. We all got home safely. I got to go on a fun afternoon run at Lake Mayer and the night ended with a golf cart ride on Isle of Hope lit by the full moon. Now my day was not perfect, but we can change the way we look at our day by changing our focus.

Thank you Lord for a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!

Love,

Elizabeth

Thought you might enjoy some pictures!

Davis looked so cute in his shamrock shirt even though he didn't get to sport it downtown!

 

Grady loved watching the parade with Papa

Some of my besties! We missed you Fef!

 1st St. Patrick's Day for these precious babies. Thank you God for these gifts!

 

Grady and Lilly Gayle hamming it up for the camera

I think this is my favorite picture from the whole day. Aunt Julia and Stella absolutely loving their day at the parade!

Perseverance

In my first post, I mentioned a “glass house.” Now I’m not sure about any of you, but growing up I definitely did not have the perfect life, but in my own mind, things were pretty darn close. I think as we get older and “wiser, we start to realize that life really is NOT fair. Having a 4 year old, I find myself screaming saying that line quite a bit, but it’s nice to actually be able to empathize. Now when we have this realization about the actual fairness of life, we can do one of two things. We can turn towards God or we can turn towards ourselves. When we turn towards ourselves, suddenly life seems a bit unbearable, overwhelming and downright depressing. What I have realized though is that, when we wake up each day and choose to turn towards God, we begin to see that life is about way more than just us. God created us for His Glory and did not promise a trouble free journey. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 says, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” You see, we are to reveal Jesus to those around us every single day no matter what the circumstance. My absolute favorite verse is 2 Corin 4:16-18, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. “

So I choose to PERSEVERE and keep on striving toward His Point!

I took my boys out to my Aunt and Uncle’s farm yesterday to ride horses and boy did they have fun, especially “Cowboy Grady,” as he called himself. My Uncle is one of my favorite men in the world.  I am the only girl on my mom’s side of the family, so he and I have just always seemed to have a special bond. He is in the fight of his life with kidney cancer. He is doing really well right now, but prayers are greatly appreciated!

Have a great day!

Love,

Elizabeth

Blog World

Well, here I am in blog world, a place I thought I would never be! I have two great friends, Allison and Ashley, who I have known most of my life, and they just so happen to own blog design businesses. My boys and I recently went to visit Allison for her 30^th birthday. While we were up reminiscing and chatting away, she said I should start a blog. I completely wrote her off at first but then there I was lying in bed and the name just popped into my head..... 

What’s the Point? 

You see; God has taken me on quite a journey over the past year. Lots of things have changed, lets just say my “glass house” was smashed to smithereens, but through it all my faith has been tested and boy has it grown. I want to truly understand what God’s point is for my life and I definitely don’t want to miss it! I want to share with others this crazy journey I am on and the amazing things that God can do if you just let him. I hope to keep you laughing and looking towards our Father who each day brings me to my knees to grow just a little bit more!

The other morning on my way to the gym (my haven from 6AM to 7:15), I was thanking God for a new day and praising Him for His grace that each day is poured out on us and gives us a fresh start. I don't know about you, but most days I need a fresh start! I was asking Him to help me stay focused on just today so that no thoughts of the future would worry me or cause me to get into “debbie downer” mode. I went home after a good sweat and sat down with my luscious cup of coffee to read my devotional. This is a habit that I only began about 5 months ago, but boy does it start the day off great. My devotional is the most amazing one I have ever read. It is called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. I opened it and here is what it said; “As your circumstances consume more and more of your attention, you are losing sight of Me. Yet I am with you always, holding you by your right hand (Psalm 73:23). I am fully aware of your situation, and I will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear (1 Corin 10:13). Your gravest danger is worrying about tomorrow. If you try to carry tomorrow’s burdens today, you will stagger under the load and eventually fall flat. You must discipline yourself to live within the boundaries of today.”

WOW is all I can say! Guess God was listening huh? What an answer was that? I was amazed that the God of our universe had taken the time to show me He was listening. Sometimes life can get so busy that we forget to stop and listen for God. Thanks so much for joining me on this journey. I’m sure it will be quite a ride!