one thing leads to another

this post is hopefully going to be short...i have 15mins left in my lunch break so it has to be whether i like it or not.

i've been challenged to really consider what i'm doing to actively live out my faith, the desires the Lord's given me, and the opportunities He's laid in front of me to be a part of His will in conjunction with these desires. at the start of 2010, the Lord challenged me to stop trying to plan the next step & to focus on where He has me & to just be content in Him. my guess is i needed to learn that lesson before He could challenge me w/ these new thoughts. in pretty much everything i've been reading, studying, & listening to over the past 6 months, all the words & ideas seem to point to the challenge of what am i doing w/ the talents, desires and passions the Lord's given me. i think about as i read "the hole in our gospel" and the various moments of agreeing w/ rich stearns and his call for the church to get active and then as i read the last part of the book when he challenges you as the reader to figure out your role & response. the majority of my thoughts then turned to "if these are my same passions & desires, then what am i doing to engage them w/in the Lord's will? what organizations and opportunities has He placed in my path that He potentially wants me to join/be a part of?"

i'm not sure how long these thoughts have been running through my brain...maybe a month?! but no matter how long ago they started, they just don't seem to want to leave...which is a clear sign that the Holy Spirit is trying to get my attention! what the next step is, well, there's some ideas i'm mulling over/highly praying about so i'll keep you posted.

why hello october! so lovely to see you

fall and spring are my favorites so this time of year just puts a smile on my fave. i usually don't anticipate one particular month in Fall b/c there's just so much goodness contained in the season but this year, i couldn't wait to see the calendar turn to october.

since around mid-august, i've had several exciting events booked for october:
1)wednesday i leave for a mission trip to san francisco to be a part of the launch of epic church. this trip is w/ my sunday school class & i couldn't be more stoked about getting some days to put work aside and just serve in an unfamiliar city on a mission trip of this type w/ some sweet friends. we'll be returning to alabama on monday after helping w/ the first service sunday. please be praying for our trip and the epic church staff. check out their website here: www.epicsf.com
2) the weekend right after i return, the entire mabry family will be journeying to tuscaloosa for the alabama/ole miss football game. i'm excited to have some time w/ my family & w/ the crimson tide
3) the next weekend, i'll start out spending some quality time w/ my core group...7 eighth grade girls whom i get to discuss Christ and the Word w/ each sunday...we're going to hang friday night & then participate in a service project saturday morning. THEN alana & i will head to memphis saturday afternoon since we're going to see wicked sunday w/ the parents. alana's never seen memphis or wicked so they'll be lots to sightsee in a short amt of time
4) halloween/dressing up/pumpkin carving w/ the girls

what makes all of this so much better is the fact that it truly feels like fall should outside...i hope it stays this way b/c i love it!

can't wait to share about all of these especially the ways the Lord works through san francisco and core weekend!