Viva La Diva

A rare SNOW DAY in SC!

2009-01-21T10:19:00.001-05:00

Here are pictures of our SNOW DAY.

5:30am - I woke the boys up!

Still very early - notice there is not much accumulation.

Jarrett had not yet fiqured out he needed gloves and a jacket!

Blooming flowers during snow. Got to love SC.

YAY! Daddy's home!

Rocky enjoyed his Snow Day as much as the boys! Notice Jarrett now has a heavy coat, tobogan, and gloves!!!

Vision update

2009-01-07T11:46:00.001-05:00

I began having hemorrhages again the second week of December. My vision was hazy over the Christmas holiday but not completely "blacked out". I had an appointment with my retinal specialist yesterday and he could visualize the blood in my eye but could not find the vessel that was bleeding. He took several pictures of my eye using contrast (angiograms), but just could not find the exact place from where the blood was coming. He decided to perform laser surgery on my eye in areas that looked vunerable in an attempt to hopefully zap the bleeding vessel. I left Charleston with instructions to call if I had further bleeding episodes but with the hope that he had successfully burned the bleeding vessel. Well, at 8pm last night, I had another hemorrhage and can not see out of the left eye very well. My vision today is similar to having your eye greased with vaseline and trying to see through it. I will return next week to see my doctor, as he is out of his office today becoming a dad!

Happy Birthday in NYC!

2008-12-15T23:39:00.001-05:00

One of my dearest friends celebrated her 40th birthday this month and to celebrate her life, we took a trip to NYC! We had so much fun. It snowed one of the nights we were there and everything was just so Christmasie despite the fact that EVERYONE wished us a "happy holiday" instead of a "Merry Christmas". Very politically correct in the upstate! Of course, EVERY New Yorker had to ask where I was from to which I replied in my best southern drawl... "Why Manhattan of course, Why would you ask"? Here are some pictures from our trip....

The famous Rockefeller Tree

My friend Sharon on her actual birthday!

Actual uniform of a firefighter who died on 09/11/01 - saw this at the WTC museum.

From the Staten Island Ferry

Manhattan in the background from the island where the Statue of Liberty stands.

JLO in Madam Toussard's wax museum.

Prince in Wax

The city from on top of the Empire State Building

We also went to see WICKED and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - Both were excellent and I would recommend them to anyone visiting NYC!

The Rest of Thanksgiving Day

2008-12-13T08:28:00.001-05:00

OK - so it is almost Christmas and I am just finishing up my Thanksgiving post... oh well, better late than never!

We went to Charles' Aunt Patsy's home for the second feast of the day... Aunt Patsy is wearing glasses, Aunt Ann is in the front.

After dinner we hung out and had some fun with cousins! This is my nephew Gabe with Jarrett.

This is my sister-in-law and my nephew Andrew - yes girls, he is SINGLE!

This is my brother-in-law and I think he resembles Eric Dane - the actor who plays Dr. Mark Sloan on Grey's Anatomy!

This is my Mother-in-law.

My father-in-law.

Charles' grandmother and Grandfather.

We are blessed and I thank God for my family!

Thanksgiving Lunch...

2008-11-27T16:44:00.001-05:00

The original Miss Pris made it home for Thanksgiving.

Mama cooked.

Daddy ate.

The boys and I posed.

Charles chilled in the chair (missed that picture oppurtunity...)

And now we are heading to the Russell's for Supper! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving :)

Update on Grandma

2008-11-23T04:51:00.001-05:00

Several people have recently asked about my grandmother, so I wanted to offer an update. She is doing so much better than she was a couple of weeks ago. She had to be admitted to the hospital at the beginning of this month for confusion, weakness, and extreme fatigue. The ER doctor was more than ready to just tell us that she was old and to get over ourselves but, we insisted on having her admitted to the hospital. The ER physician reluctantly called Dr. Steadman who graciously admitted her and took her off of ALL of the medications the nursing home had placed her on. Now, several weeks later, she is doing so much better! She actually can stay awake, watch TV, read, and communicate! Apparently, she was overmedicated. She continues to participate in physical therapy and hopefully will be able to return home by Christmas. She is able to take some day trips back home but they really exhaust her and make my dad nervous! I will be bringing her home for Thanksgiving so pray that we have a safe day. She is still very weak.

Tennis Tournament

2008-11-21T09:18:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, Jarrett participated in a tennis tournament at Timrod Park, here in Florence. It was his third tournment, but his first WIN!!! He was so excited to finally have a win on his record. His tennis coach called last night to inform me that he was now RANKED in the TOP 100 in South Carolina! How cool is that? Check it out HERE! Scroll to number 89!

Winning Season

2008-10-14T08:06:00.001-04:00

Dalton has played in 7 football games so far this year. Their record is 5-2! Not bad for a school's first year at hosting a B-Team. He has been enjoying football and I think it may even be his new favorite sport. His next game is at home this Thursday at 5:00p.

I never did update you about his MFUGE camp experience this summer. He did come home on a spiritual high - but he also came home with this... a huge crush on a tenth grade girl! (He is in seventh.) Thank goodness she lives out of state.

My grandmother is out of the hospital and back in Heritage where she continues her Rehab. She has been very tired lately - I believe she is on way too much medication for her system. I am SO READY to get her out of that nursing home. She will need assistance once we get her home but she is NO WHERE NEAR sick enough to stay in that facility. While I appreciate what they have done to get her functioning at a higher capacity, I really hate to know she is there. Keep her in your prayers.

Also, in this wonderful economy, Charles and I decided to cut my work hours! (YIKES.) It is just what has to be done to meet the needs of our family. So, beginning this week, I will be working one less shift per week at McLeod. This will help me here at home and free some of my time up to help more with my grandmother. My schedule has been WAY to crazy since school started and since Grandma broke her hip. (It will also help me have more time to begin Rehab. for my Facebook addiction... :)

On other Russell family news, Jarrett is sick and has been home with me this week. He started running fever at lunchtime on Sunday. I know he has a sinus infection. I am just not sure if he also has strep throat. Time will tell! He was up some of the night and I ended up sleeping in his bed so, I am sure I will be sick by the weekend. Charles and I have plans to go out of town this Friday through Monday for a long weekend. It is Charles' birthday so I wanted to plan something special for him. Mama is keeping the children and we are going to just hang out in the hot tub and chill out all weekend with NOTHING to do. We stay SO busy.

Speaking of busy...Revolution Church is doing fantastic. We have a regular group of attendees at our LifeGroup each Wednesday night and the kids ministry has been a blast. Please keep us in your prayers. We are very close to needing more space and Chris is looking into some options this week. Rental space is SO expensive! God has the plans - just pray with us as we seek His guidance for the right place to expand His church.

Have a great day! Please pray for Grandmother, Jarrett and Revolution as you are exiting this post - AND that I will be WELL this weekend - Charles and I REALLY need this trip. We are burned out, tired and in need of some re-fueling! Thank you.

Stressful Days...

2008-10-07T22:05:00.001-04:00

It is with much sadness that I write this post. My grandmother had to be hospitalized today. She broke her hip in August. She was in Carolina's Hospital for close to a month and was then transferred to Heritage Nursing home where she has been residing while participating in their Inpatient Rehabilitation. She has been doing excellent in Rehab and this past weekend, she enjoyed a day pass from the facility and joined us at Freedom Florence to watch Dalton play baseball. How WONDERFUL it was to see her back in society enjoying life again. It has been overwhelmingly painful to see her in the nursing home. Our family really thought we would be able to bring her back home in a couple of weeks and then a set back... Today, she got off balance while getting dressed and almost fell. One of her attendants grabbed her arm to stop her from falling and tore the skin off of her arm (HUGE area). Grandma is on Coumadin, a blood thinner, and her arm would not stop bleeding so she had to be taken to the ER where she was admitted and has been receiving plasma and Vitamin K to help her blood to clot. In fact, her bleeding time was SKY high which indicates she was taking way too much Coumadin so we were probably lucky it was found before she bled to death internally. It is so sad to see her back in the hospital just days before we were hoping to bring her home. Please keep her and my family in your prayers. My dad is stressed to the MAX and he has heart disease (he had a massive heart attack a few years ago), my mother also has heart disease (heart attacks x 2 ) and she is worried about my grandma and my dad. My aunt is worried sick, my sister and I am worried to death. We are all trying to work and keep a keen eye on her, so please just lift my family up in prayer. Thank you!

Revolution Kids

2008-09-25T10:18:00.001-04:00

Last night, our children had a BLAST! They danced, sang and shouted for Jesus. We learned through the help of our Elevate Kids curriculum, how important it is to sit at the feet of Jesus. Through the Bible story of Mary and Martha, we began to discuss the importance of daily time with God. So many times, we as parents allow our children time for video games, time for TV, time for Homework, time for sports, etc., etc., but fail to teach our children the importance of time alone with God each day through daily Bible reading and prayer. Last night, our children were challenged to turn on their TV's or video games only when their daily Bible reading was completed. (I know plenty of adults who could benefit from that piece of advice... yes I have a finger pointing in my own face!) They are really enjoying our time together each week. To view some pictures of this week's fun, click here.

Our Weekend...

2008-09-22T20:22:00.001-04:00

We had a WILD and CRAZY busy weekend. All I can say is thank God for family because this weekend would have been impossible without my mom, my sister and brother-in-law! It started on Friday night - Charles came home after a disastrous day at the office and announced that he had to work all day Saturday... WHAT?!?!? This weekend? No way... On Saturday, Jarrett had to be at the soccer field in Florence by 7:50am and Dalton had to be at the beach by 10am. Last time I checked, I was only one person...My mom came to the rescue and traveled to the beach with Dalton while Jarrett and I made it to the soccer field.

Here are a few pictures from my morning with Jarrett. We lost 2-1 but they played great!

Close race for the ball!

Half-time rest for the weary.

We lost but its ok with me - I played GREAT!

Here are a few pics of Dalton's baseball games. Lost everyone of those games but I am sure he had fun. He always does... If Dalton is around, fun is in the house!

Three up, three down - The beast is on the mound.

I'm stealing third!

Dalton trying to steal a base with his friend Matthew Elliott covering third base.

Dalton rushed home from the baseball game to attend his friend's Bat Mitzvah. He was super excited because this was the first "dressy" Country Club event he had ever attended. And, it was a friend (Sasha) from his old school so he knew he would see all of his oldest buddies. Here are a few of those pics.

Dalton and the guest of honor. Isn't she beautiful?

The life of the party!

BFF's - Dalton with his best friend Weston Lewis

Sasha is on a chair being passed around!

Sasha enjoying her party.

I ended this crazy Saturday by working a 12 hour night shift! All I can say is Thank God it's Monday!

Revolution Church - Week 2

2008-09-18T11:08:00.001-04:00

Well, I think the adult Life Group went much better this week while the Revolution Kids came close to being disastrous. To begin with, when I was trying to download my script, my disc had a "file corrupted" error and for HOURS, I tried to get my materials printed. At the very last minute of the final attempt, I finally got everything printed - not before running out of ink and putting in a panic call to Chris asking him to download a file and make some copies for me. Then, once the students had arrived, we went to our studio where I found the projector in a non-functional mode. Being married to the most avid handyman around, I didn't panic, just simply summoned my Mr. Fix-it who... COULDN'T GET IT WORKING. Never fear, I decided to move on to plan B. (Did I mention that I had 15 children all sitting in their seats, bored and staring at me like they would rather be in a dentist chair?) Anyway, Plan B - we would forget the projector and simply GO LIVE via TV/Surround Sound. Well, we transfer the disc, move the TV, only to figure out that you MUST have the remote to use the TV's video feed and of course, it is MIA. Now, the students are really looking at me with their best "this is lame face" and I am about to throw in the towel when I decide to try one last time to get our party started! Charles goes back in the house, straight through the area where the adults are in an intense Bible study and brings out the TV/DVD from one of the back bedrooms, grabs the remote, and WHEW, we are up and running. Not on the 5 foot screen with surround sound, but up and running none the less.

Well, once we FINALLY began our program, I believe it was a success. A few of the students said it was fun and Jarrett told me, "you did great mom". Who knows? But, I learned that I MUST test my equipment EACH week, prior to 7pm, and I CAN NOT wait until Wednesday to print my material. It's a live and learn kind of thing and I definitely learned my lesson this week.

If you are interested in learning more about our church , feel free to join us ANY Wednesday night at my house for food and fellowship beginning at 6pm and Bible Study beginning at 6:45p.

More Summer Fun

2008-09-17T09:51:00.001-04:00

I couldn't post pictures over the summer because my computer crashed and all of my programs crashed. I just purchased a new laptop and have finally figured out how to get my pictures uploaded. So, I wanted to share some pictures of my youngest son and my youngest nephew cooling off on one of the 100 degree days of heat we had in July. They had a sprinkler hooked up under the trampoline. I know - I know, not the safest day of summer, but a fun one none the less!

Rocky was having as much fun as the boys...

Memories of Summer

2008-09-16T17:24:00.001-04:00

I had a rough summer - out of work, couldn't see, just one of the worst summers I can ever really remember. No plans for a vacation, and mostly suffered from the disease known as self pity. I truly was in a state of depression that was mostly brought on by the "woe is me" syndrome (and to my credit, an inability to see at the ripe 'ole age of 37). But like all things, there was an angelic light at the end of that deep tunnel. My friend from childhood, Lynn, rented a house at the beach and insisted that Charles and I bring the boys down for the week. Knowing that we really couldn't afford to vacation with me out of work indefinitely, Lynn told me that the vacation house was paid for and all I needed was my bathing suit! We went to the beach and almost immediately, the cloud began to lift and the pity party was over. I have always told people in my life that the ocean, at least for me, is one of God's greatest creations. I can just sit on the beach and a calmness surrounds me and I feel His presence as if I have crawled into His arms. So, with a renewed attitude and a fresh outlook, I came home from the beach ready to face the challenges that my retinopathy puts in the way of my life. So, I wanted to post these pictures and relive the last few days of summer and thank Lynn for allowing me to share her vacation.

Lynn, you know I love you and cherish you as my oldest, dearest, friend and I will NEVER forget how much you touched my life this summer in what was truly a dark hour.

Charles and the boys posing with their surf boards.

Jarrett and his girl of the summer...Kennedy Newsom(Lynn's daughter)

Jarrett ready to ride on in.

Charles almost up!

Dalton showing them how its done.

My friends Lynn and Andy Newsom.

WOW!

2008-09-12T01:23:00.001-04:00

That is the only thing I can start with! We launched Revolution Church last night and had over FORTY people in my little small house! I had twenty children in our Revolution Kid's Life Group and man... THEY JAMMED. I felt like they had the spirit of David exploding as they worshipped God. The fellowship began over hot dogs and hamburgers and continued with banana pudding and peach delight. Of course, the best was saved for last and that was a large dose of the Word of God!

Our Revolution Kids were on fire. They were dancing and singing and celebrating their love for the Master. Each student learned our motto and memory verse with enthusiasm. They were excellent and just absorbed the lesson like sponges.

Our lesson centered on a sports theme and we discussed how to be a successful player on God's team and in life. Using Ecclesiastes 9:10 as our focal passage, the children understood that God expects our best.

"Whatever you do, do well."

The devil tried to hinder our launch in so many ways but he was defeated by the Master. If I listed the attempts that satan made on our core group to squash our plans, you would stop reading this post because it would be so long. We haven't had ONE DOUBT about God's plans for Revolution, so for every attempt the devil made, it was just more justification that he was nervous about what Revolution will do in the heart of Flo-town!

Would you like to be a part of a Revolution? Join us any Wednesday Night at 6:00pm at our home. Supper is served at 6:00p, Bible Study begins at 7:00pm. Hope to see you there.

Life Update

2008-09-07T00:06:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone - I have been a slack blogger lately and knew it was past time to update everyone on the Russell home.

My vision - GREAT! I had a vitrectomy on July 15th, returned to work August 7th, had a re-bleed on Aug.8th and had emergency surgery again in Charleston on Aug. 11th. I have returned to work after the second surgery with excellent vision. I do continue to have redness and swelling in that eye which should heal in the next few weeks.

Dalton - Playing football for his school and playing baseball for the Florence Gators. His football team won their first game and his baseball team came in second in their last tournament led by the pitching of yours truly, Mr. Stud Himself, Dalton Russell. His head is swollen but I think he will survive! He is officially in Jr. High School! WOW, I am old.

Jarrett - He has begun to practice soccer and his coach is German. He screams, " Get zee ball Jerritt". He is also looking forward to the fall tennis league which should start soon - He takes private tennis lessons every Thursday and is really improving. He began the 5th grade this year and is off to a great start.

Charles - He is working his tail off to get our home ready for the launch of our new church. He is fixing toilets, painting, cleaning, weedeating, etc...

My Grandmother, Mary Watts - Some of you may know, my grandmother fell and broke her hip on Aug. 8th. (The exact same day I had the eye bleed.) She had surgery on Aug. 11th (same day as my emergency surgery) and has been in the hospital since then. She got severely dehydrated and had a seizure, was placed in the ICU for several days and was finally well enough to enter rehab a couple of weeks ago. After two weeks of rehab, our family met and decided that she was not strong enough YET to come home . On Friday, Sept. 5th, she entered Heritage Nursing Home for 6 weeks of Inpatient Rehabilitation. In 6 weeks, she will be able to bare weight on her foot again and will return to her home. I visited her tonight and became very overwhelmed and emotional. She is still very weak and does not feel well but the doctors anticipate a full recovery.

In General - Charles and I went to the beach on Aug. 22nd for my 20 year class reunion where I had a BLAST. 2/3's of my class was able to attend and we picked up exactly where we left off. I went to school with some of the best people in the world and I love them dearly. I hate that life gets too busy for us to see each other more often. But, through Facebook, we plan to stay connected.

More of the Russell drama later....

Drum Roll....

2008-08-29T20:46:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post to announce that REVOLUTION CHURCH will launch its first small group session on September 10th at 6pm here at our home! The adult session will be led by Chris Reeder and the children's session will be led by me. Because Chris has done such an excellent job explaining our purpose, mission, and details concerning small groups, I will ask you to follow the links above for more information rather than a lengthy post here reinventing the wheel!

Sorry for the long delay between posts, between my vision, my grandmother breaking her hip, the start of school, football, soccer, tennis, travel baseball, and my work schedule... all I have time for is planning our new church!

Hope to see you on the 10th!

Dalton update....

2008-07-22T10:12:00.001-04:00

OK - I just thought this was TOO funny not to share. I gave Dalton all of the motherly advice I could think of about camp - brush your teeth, use deodorant, etc... One conversation that we shared was that upon arrival, it would be a much easier week if he unpacked his suitcase - put bathroom items on the vanity, snacks on the countertops, underwear and socks in your drawers,etc... you get the picture - UNPACK and don't try to live out of an OVERLY crowded suitcase. "Yes mam, I will unpack everything as soon as we get there..." So, at 12:15 am my time (11:15p his time), I get an excited, jacked-up call from Dalton... "This is a blast, everything's great, time of my life...blah, blah, blah... by the way, you didn't pack me any sheets". And I say, "Yes I did, they are in the bottom of your suitcase under all of the stuff you should have unpacked..." He tells me to hold on, and for 3 seconds I wait, and then... "I found them, thanks mom". Ok, several points to make here... Do they listen? Did I really expect my sloppy, non-teeth brushing twelve year old to transform after one conversation? But, most importantly, what transpired in the 3 seconds that I was on hold... DID HE DUMP THAT ENTIRE SUITCASE OF IRONED CLOTHES IN THE FLOOR THAT WAS ARRANGED BY OUTFITS JUST TO GET TO HIS SHEETS??? Probably so, but he's having the time of his life! Have a great day and if you've got a minute right now, lift him up in a quick prayer...

Russell Family Update

2008-07-21T07:50:00.001-04:00

As most of you know, I had eye surgery last Monday. As of Saturday night/Sunday morning, I have regained some vision in my left eye - it is still very hazy (as expected) but continuing to clear. Dr. Jablon expects my vision to clear significantly in the next couple of weeks and told me I should be able to return to work after my next office visit which is August 5th. Can I get a HALLELUJAH? (On a sour note... the "diva" can't wear eye make-up or contacts for another week.)

At 6:00am this morning, Dalton left with our youth group to attend M FUGE camp in Nashville, Tennessee. This is his first time EVER leaving home to fend for himself and he was SUPER excited. When he returns home, I will let him high-jack my blog with a post about his adventure. Please pray for his safety. I would like to share with everyone that as we were excitedly packing last night, I asked him which Mission Project did he find interesting and he said "That's easy - I want to help put on Bible School for the little kids". I thought he might choose to paint or work in construction... What man doesn't like a hammer??? Then he turned and looked at me and said, "You know mama, I love the little kids - I'm gonna be a great youth minister one day".

With that being said, I am SO looking forward to spending some one on one time with my baby. Jarrett and I have an awesome week planned. We rarely get the opportunity to spend time with each child seperate from the other.

Charles and I just returned yesterday from Spartanburg where we helped Hub City Church with two seperate events. One was a Movies in the Park event that they hosted. I would guess that there were over 2,000 people in attendance. Susanne, Keishiah and I served soft drinks and water for a couple of hours while our men were spraying bug spray, picking up trash and setting up equipment. Then, Sunday morning, we helped this same church with their very first morning worship exerience! How exciting is that? We helped serve in their children's areas, set up equipment, greeted their guests, directed traffic... we learned so much to take back to Revolution Church. I am so thankful to Jonathan Everette (Hub's pastor) for including us and allowing us to be a part of such a special time for their church.

Stay tuned - More Russell family fun will be posted soon!

Vision Update

2008-07-09T06:50:00.001-04:00

I went to Charleston yesterday to see a retinal specialist for a second opinion. Dr. Jablon spent two and a half hours with me running tests and examining my eyes. After thorough examination, he determined that the only treatment for me that made any sense to him was to perform the vitrectomy that I have been begging for since March. That is the "quick fix" surgery that I explained in my previous post. He injected dye into my veins and took pictures of my eyes and found a vessel that was continually leaking microscopic amounts of blood - so the blood was never going to clear enough on its own to perform laser surgery. The bleeding episodes that I had been noticing since January were when fragile vessels in my eye actually burst - this vessel was just slowly introducing blood into my vitreous which is why my vision had not cleared in the past 7 months. Dr. Gaskins has been my doctor since 2000 and has never spent more than 5 minutes in my room - much less two and a half hours! Gaskins did say on one of my several visits that he just didn't understand why the vitreous was taking so long to clear but yet didn't take the time to investigate further. I am frustrated that Dr. Gaskins wasn't more thorough with my examinations but VERY relieved that this will be over soon. Dr. Jablon will perform the vitrectomy in Charleston on Monday, July 14th. Please continue to keep me in your prayers.

Vision Update

2008-07-07T10:57:00.001-04:00

Most of you know that I returned to Dr. Gaskins' office on July 3rd. There really isn't much to report. There is still too much blood in my vitreous (the gel that gives the eye it's shape) to perform laser surgery. Laser surgery will NOT improve my vision ANY - the laser simply burns the fragile blood vessels in the back of my eye that have been bleeding. The surgery that would completely restore my vision is called a vitrectomy - that is major eye surgery where Dr. Gaskins would go in and remove the gel from my eye, replace it with saline, and I would be able to see immediately. He will not perform the vitrectomy as long as the blood continues to reabsorb on its own - no matter how slowly - due to the fact that the vitrectomy can cause long term complications such as retinal detachments that can lead to permanent blindness. So, he is being very conservative with my treatment and that is DRIVING ME CRAZY. I am not a patience person and I want the "quick fix". I have already had a vitrectomy in my right eye and have not had any complications so, I am frustrated that he is being so conservative. With that being said, I am seeking a second opinion. I had an appointment with my retinal specialist at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland (the #1 eye institute in America) but canceled it because of travel expenses - still not sure that was the best decision - however, I am still out of work and have you seen the GAS PRICES?!?!? Through this blog, one of my mother's co-workers found out about my eye disease and recommended her mother's retinal specialist who practices in Charleston. I see him Tuesday, July 8th. Please keep me in your prayers - I will update everyone after I see the doctor in Charleston.

Happy Belated 10th Birthday Jarrett!!!

2008-07-07T00:31:00.001-04:00

Jarrett turned 10 on July 2nd. He finally made "double digits"! He is just as happy today as he was as a baby! Wasn't he beautiful?

Here he is at the age of three praying so sweetly - his mama still thinks he is a sweet child.

But, as usual, you can't keep boys looking beautiful or freeze them in their angelic sweet stage... Eventually, boys will be boys. Here is my most recent picture of Jarrett... we were at my mom and dad's having a calm, relaxing , family birthday celebration... Jarrett was leaning over to blow out his birthday candles when from behind, his Uncle Chris caught him by surprise....

Now that's what Jarrett calls a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I love you Jarrett - "I'll love you forever... I'll like you for Always....Now and Forever.....My baby you'll be."

The boys...

2008-06-29T00:25:00.001-04:00

Due to the minor fact that I CAN'T SEE..., I have been unable to take any pictures this summer of my children. However, my sister has been the best aunt ever and has her blog updated with Dalton's ALLSTAR tournament and Jarrett's tennis camp - so, click HERE for a full update on the Russell boys.

Revolution Church

2008-06-29T00:07:00.001-04:00

After SEVERAL inquisitions recently, I feel the time has come for an announcement. Charles and I are on board with Chris and Susanne as part of the core team for Revolution Church. We are super excited that Howard, the pastor of our home church, has given us his blessing and support as we depart as missionaries out of South Florence Baptist to begin a church plant here in Florence, SC. As many of you know, Chris was called into the ministry early last year during a Leadership Conference at NewSpring Church. While Chris was praying for guidance, God laid Charles and me on Chris' heart. Before Chris could decide how, when or even IF he should approach us, God worked it all out! I had been praying for Chris and Susanne and I called Susanne to tell her that I just couldn't shake the feeling that God was calling us to be a part of their ministry. Isn't God good? In the words of a famous pastor, we just had to LET GOD BE GOD!

Our official departure from South Florence will be in September. Charles will finish his third year of service to the deacon board and he will also finish teaching the Royal Ambassadors. I will finish out my service year to my sixth grade discipleship training class and to the children's church. While Howard gave us the full green light to exit and begin Revolution Church, Charles and I wanted to finish our service year... not out of obligation, but out of true love for our students.

We do need several things from our home church. We need true prayer warriors. We need support and encouragement. In addition, Charles and I need for you to continue to minister to our children. Revolution Church will take time to develop and in the meantime, Dalton and Jarrett still need the ministries at SFBC. Both of the boys will continue to attend past September. Dalton will be an active part of the youth group and Jarrett will continue to grow and mature under the guidance of Team Kid.

Pray that Revolution Church will win souls for Jesus through discipleship. That is our ONE PRAYER for Revolution Church.

Tagged

2008-06-27T10:13:00.001-04:00

Well, I have been tagged. Over at Susanne's house, I was challenged to answer these questions using only ONE word. I think she cheated on two of hers with "banana-nut" and "NY&Co." so I vow to do better...

Where is your cell phone? Here

Where is your significant other? There

Your hair? Supercalifragilisticexpialodosious

Your mother? Nervous

Your favorite thing? Charles

Your dream last night? Rockstar

Your dream/goal? Revolution

The room you're in? Kitchen

Your hobby? Talking

Your fear? Blindness

Where do you want to be in 6 years? Beach

Where were you last night? AllStars

What you're not? Subtle

Muffins? YES!

One of your wish list items? Outerspace

Where you grew up? Byrnes

The last thing you did? Sleep

What are you wearing? Swimsuit

Your TV? Off

Your pet? devoted

Your computer? Gateway

Your life? coveted

Your mood? playful

Missing someone? sometimes

Your car? Disaster

Something you're not wearing? bikini

Favorite store? Creamery

Your summer? Different

Your favorite color? Red

When is the last time you laughed? Now

Last time you cried? Then

Who will resend this? Buddies

What word is often said, but not often meant? Sorry

Your SISTER - OLDER

Ok, Julie, Leslie, - You've been tagged!