I Want to Leave a Legacy...

I am still catching up on our happenings around our busy house - maybe one day I will be fully caught up (doubtful).  In February we went to Pigeon Forge for the Mayfield Family Reunion.  This was my first and it was great to finally meet some of Michael's cousins (I met them at the wedding but lets face it - it was "hi, nice to meet you" and that was the extent of it).  We had 29 Mayfield's in a cabin - 9 kids and 20 adults (and we were missing an entire family and Michael's brother, Zac)  - it was very loud but so much fun!

I will admit I was nervous going in.  I was worried about what to pack, would I fit in, would they like me.  Michael was reassuring of course, but spending time with that many people and being the "new kid" was very overwhelming to me.  Once I got there and we were settled - I was fine and realized that all of my concerns were for nothing (of course).

We split the meals into teams - Michael and I and his cousin, Trey, and his wife, Kelly, had first night, first meal.  So, here was another pressure for me - I wanted it to be good and for everyone to enjoy it (and most importantly - not get sick).  Being a planner at heart and for a living can be a great thing but also a sickness.  I think I drove poor Kelly and Trey crazy planning everything weeks in advance.  I made Shirley Hill's famous pepperoni surprise, we had salad, bread and Kelly made brownies.  The meal turned out great!  And I learned, it is not an easy task cooking for 30 folks.

 

It was such a relaxing weekend...

old photos were looked at...

sports was watched...

games were played...

  

 lots of food was eaten and many laughs were had...

My favorite thing was on Saturday night when all of the adults got together and had family share time.  For two and a half hours we sat in the living room and listened to each person share their favorite memory or in some cases memories of growing up as a Mayfield. It was such a sweet time as a family.  I loved hearing the story of all the Mayfield cousins growing up visiting their grandparents, playing church, swimming in the pool, the TCBY runs, sleepovers at Christmas and so many more.  Each one of them shared such sweet memories.  

As I listened, I couldn't help to think of my own life and the great memories I had growing up with my cousins.  But, I was also wishing that my grandparents had lived longer and that I had more memories of my dad's parents (they died when I was very young).  

   

 Some members of the family listening to each other share....

Michael's grandparents (mimi and granddaddy) have been married for 65 years this next month!  Wow!  They are such incredible people and have built such a legacy with this family.  Time and time again I heard the cousins talking about what an impact they have left on them.  The girl cousins were talking about how hard it was to change their name from Mayfield when they got married.  They have passed on their Christian heritage and values to this family.  There is now a third generation of Mayfield's coming up and are being influenced and loved on by these sweet people.

On Sunday, granddaddy shared a devotion with the family and we had our own worship.  Again, such a special time as we gathered together as a family to listen and worship together.  

More photos from the weekend that I stole from Facebook...

Saturday Night Food Crew -
Derek, Amber, Rebecca, Elizabeth and Kevin

girl cousins
Heather, Harper, Stephanie, Kelly, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Lauren and Amber

top photo - Kevin, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Amber and Derek
middle photos - lots of little Mayfield kids
bottom photo - all of the Mayfield adults and 2 kiddos

All I could think of throughout the weekend is - I want to leave a legacy like this to our family.  You only have one shot at life - will your legacy be one to be proud of?  or one of regrets and if only's?  To not only talk about your relationship with Jesus, but more importantly to live it out in front of your loved ones.  I pray that my legacy will be one like Dewey and Phyllis Mayfield - where their children (and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and grand-in-laws) rise up and called her (them) blessed! 

I am so thankful to be a Mayfield!  

Conference Season 2012/2013

As I said in my last post one of the reasons I am so behind in my blogging is because of conference season.  I have worked with SDEA for 16 years now (crazy!) and for the past 11 years I have been in charge of the conferences.  What does that mean?  Well, I wear a few hats but the main hat is working with the youth pastors getting their groups registered, hotels reserved and all their needs taken care of.  I really do love my job - I feel that it is a huge responsibility that the Lord has entrusted me with.  It can be very stressful at times but the end results and seeing it all come together is worth the stress.  Here are a few pictures of this year's Strength to Stand Conferences!

Our theme this year was Nothing to Lose - A Generation for Desperation

We start 2 days after Christmas with our December - Southeastern Student Conference.  We had around 1000 students from 8 states represented.

Rush of Fools were the worship leaders

Jamie Grace was in concert

During all the stress my sweet husband sent me these beautiful tulips!  He knows when I need a pick me up!

The whole office gets in on the conference work!

We then turn to our Smoky Mountain Student Conference.  This is the complicated one where we have what we like to call - controlled chaos.  Its held during the MLK holiday weekend when the students are out of school on Monday.  This is our larger conference - this year we had 10,140 from 15 states and multi-denominations.  We run 4 small theaters at the same time with 2 sessions - so we have 4 worship leaders who play to 2 different audiences.  Our speakers will speak to 8 different audiences - same message, different audience.  Then, we do 2 large concerts on separate nights.  We have a large conference but it has an intimate feel, yet we can still do big concerts.  Lots of info but it works.

Pigeon Forge loves when we come into town - its a down time for them in January so we help bring in tourism.

Rush of Fools led worship at the Smoky Mountain Palace which holds 1700 - so in total it can hold 3400 students for the weekend..

Grand Majestic Theater with worship leader Bethany Barr Phillips.
This theater holds 1000 - so with both sessions it can hold 2000.

Matt Papa led worship at the Smoky Mountain Opry which holds 1200 - so with both sessions - 2400.

Brett Younker led worship at Country Tonite which holds 1500 and a total of 3000 for both sessions.

Scott speaking on the "Big Night" (this is what we call our 2 large concert nights).  We do 2 Big Nights with a little over 5,000 students per night. 

Scott praying before he went up to speak

Counseling at the Big Night

This year we had David Crowder perform

Kari Jobe was also in concert - she is amazing!

KJ-52 got the Big Night crowd warmed up and was emcee for the night

Kristian Stanfill was also in concert and does an incredible job leading worship

The youth pastors got to hear from Kristian Stanfill and Crowder before their session.

Trip Lee did concerts for all of the theaters - so in 2 nights he did 8 concerts...busy!

Scott and some members of the team go around to all 8 sessions to meet with the youth pastors.  Its an opportunity for us to tell them how much we appreciate them and go over details for the weekend.

A few views from some of the theaters...

We cannot do these events without wonderful volunteers and team members.  I am only one person and we have a great team that supports each other.  Here is one of our office volunteers - who has been with us for seven years - she is a staff member in our eyes - Ms. Gail - and if you cannot tell- she loves to have a good time!

So, another year has come to a close and now our sites turn to the 2013/2014 conference season. We are already busy preparing.

We had over 600 decisions made for Christ at the conferences.  That is why we do what we do - not to do a conference but for evangelism.  I love being able to play a small part in making an eternal impact for the Kingdom!

Good Ole Rocky Top....

We had such a fun weekend! This was our first "just because" weekend away as the Mayfields' and we had a blast!  We took a road trip to Pigeon Forge and went to watch Bama whip up on the Vols!  Roll Tide!  We left after work on Friday and made our way up to the Great Smoky Mountains!  Now, if you know me at all - you will know that Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg is one of my least favorite places to go.  I have a few reasons for this...one - I only go for work events - so every time I go for fun - I think about work; two - I have been there and done almost everything in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge so nothing is new and fun to me (although I will say they have new shows up there now and I have not seen them yet - so that will make it more exciting in the future). I will say this time I was very excited about going.  This was the first trip I have taken for fun to PF in over 3 years and being with my love made a difference as well :).

Here are a few photo highlights...

Michael has Sirius XM in his car.  We always go from the Message to 90's on 90 - he was nice enough to stop for a few minutes on my childhood fave. :)

We stopped in Chattanooga for one of our favorites that Birmingham doesn't have...fast food Italian.  Come on Birmingham - get it together and bring Fazoli's to town!

Our day started with a trip up the mountain to see the foliage.  I told Michael that fall is my new favorite season.  The trees, the cooler weather, the holidays - I love it!  God's design is beautiful!

My handsome husband sitting on the state line!

We had brunch at the famous Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg.  As many trips as I have taken - I have never eaten there and when I saw the line I was shocked - I told Michael it better be good for the line.  And it did not disappoint it was fabulous!  Sugar and Spice pancakes is where its at!

We explored the streets of Gatlinburg and ended up in one of their "malls".  We tried a water massage...different but pretty cool...

We then headed to Knoxville to watch the Tide take on the Vols!  I had never been to an AL away game before so that was a fun experience. TN orange was EVERYWHERE! I will give it to their fans - they were much better than LSU fans.  We had such a fun time and yes while we did hear "Rocky Top" probably 8 times the energy in the stadium when they were singing it was a blast!

Before heading home on Sunday I introduced Michael to the Apple Barn.  I was shocked he had never been there before.  Their food isn't the best I've ever had but its just the atmosphere and just a sweet place to go, explore and eat.  We also made a quick stop to Sevierville's covered bridge.  M and I love covered bridges.  When we first started dating, we spent a day looking for covered bridges in Alabama, that was one of our favorite date days that we had.

We had such a fun weekend in Pigeon Forge (yes I said I enjoyed being in Pigeon Forge) and look forward to many more!