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!  

Quiet Time Confessions...

Ok Confession time -
I am a part of a women's Bible study at my church on Tuesday nights.  We are doing the Chronological Bible Study by Iva May and Donna Gaines (its a fabulous study btw - I highly recommend it).  I have done this study for the third time in four years this past semester.  I went into it this time really excited because I always learn so much and I even stepped out of my comfort zone and went into a small group where I knew no one.  I enjoyed our time together and enjoyed the group I was in (from September-November).  Now, I am using the same workbook I used last year - so I was basically covering the same New Testament stories I had covered last year - hence - Gina not doing her homework cause it was already done.  

This semester (January-April) has rocked my world.  Its really been the month of March that has rocked my world.  I continued to go to Bible study every Tuesday - showing up, watching the videos and not doing my homework.  The difference is this time - we are covering new stories - so I didn't have the workbook pages done - I had never covered the stories in this series.  And I really didn't care if I did my homework or not.  And I wasn't getting as much out of it as I usually did either.

In one of the videos we watched - Donna Gaines spoke on the temple and how it was built, the precise instructions of how it was to be built, the significance of it, how you were to approach it, etc.  She said (and I am paraphrasing) that our quiet time should be like entering the temple - that we are meeting with the Father and we should take it as serious as the priests did.  Wow - was I convicted!  I was in a rut with my quiet time!  I was getting up in the morning and doing my Jesus Calling devo and calling it a quiet time.  Oh Gina, you are so lazy.  You have such an opportunity to meet with The Father every morning - enter the temple (my living room) to meet with Him and you are taking it for granted.

So, since then - my world has been rocked.  I have stopped hitting snooze 3 times and dragging myself out of bed - I have never been a morning person and that has been an excuse I have used in the past.  I am getting up - around 6 AM now, taking a shower to wake myself up and going into my living room - my special tent of meeting and meeting with the Father.  I have been going through all the homework we have covered that I had not done and am doing it.  It has really changed me.  I am really learning so much from these stories of Leah, Rachel, Isaac, Abraham, etc.  I have read them time and time again but now the difference is - I am digging deeper.  And I have noticed I am thinking about these stories throughout the day at work (a bonus of getting up early and doing it before I go to work).  I am taking time to get my mind ready, spending time with Him, thanking Him for all He has done and does in my life.

Its so easy to go about your life and become complacent - to check it off of your day.  I challenge you - if this is you - snap out of it.  Don't regret the time you have that you could be spending with the Father - don't waste this precious time.  Do I have it all together every day?  Uhhh no - not by any means.  I am not perfect and never will be - I have days where I hit snooze (especially since the time change) but I am trying - even if I do hit it - I still get up and spend time with the Father.  Am I perfect with it on the weekends?  NO!  That is something I have to work on for sure.  Its a day to day walk and we learn from our struggles and I am always learning from mine.

Why did I share this?  I don't know - I don't want this blog to be a picture perfect look at our lives because we are far from it.  So, this is the real me.  The real Gina who messes up and isn't the perfect Christian that we sometimes all profess to be on the outside.  

I got on the train...

Well folks - I got on the train....the Downton Abbey train.  I got sick of hearing about DA or Downton Abbey - so I asked around and was encouraged to watch it - they said just give it a try - give it two episodes - so I did.  I got a Netflix free account for a month and was finished with season 1 within 2 weeks (give or take a few days - ok - I fess up really I did it in 10 days).  So, I jumped to Hulu for season 2 - which is only a week free trial - I was nervous about doing it - could I do it in a week (and a busy week at that).  I was home alone for the evening and couldn't stand it any longer - I jumped in and devoted every free minute to it.  Folks- I watched in in the car on the iPad coming home from a trip.  And I did it - finished in a week!  On to season 3 where I watched it online and I had gotten the last 4 episodes on my DVR and finished it within a week. So, I watched 3 seasons (granted they are only 7-9 episodes per season) in about 3.5 weeks.

That's right folks- I'm 100% on the Downton Abbey bandwagon.  LOVE IT. The hype is for real y'all.  I found myself thinking in a British accent, thinking about Matthew, Sybil, Mary and the rest of the gang.  Love it!  I got my sister watching it and she is on board too.  And now I cannot wait till Season 4...in January (sigh)....

6 Months...

February was so busy for us (and March has been too for that matter).  We celebrated 6 months of marriage in February (crazy).  So, we decided to do a Happy 6 Months Trip.  We went to Atlanta for the weekend and had a great time!

We stayed in Stone Mountain - since SDEA owns AtlantaFest I have hotel contacts there and am blessed to get affordable rooms there.

We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants near Stone Mountain - great Italian food!

I got my Valentine's present on this trip - Michael is taking me to see Mary Poppins on Broadway in April.  I am sooo excited!  I had been hinting around and he caught on ;)!  Yay - can't wait!

We toured the CNN Center.  I had never been there and I love behind the scenes stuff...

This was on the escalator heading up to the tour.

 We also went to World of Coke - this was right up my Coke man's alley.  He loved it and we spent too much $ in the Coke store!  It was fun seeing all the memorabilia and trying all the coke products from around the world.  Most are decent but some are NASTY - Italy was the worst - tasted like medicine.

 We went to dinner at a Thai restaurant - it was my first time eating Thai.  I loved it - my meal was so great!  I had chicken and it was in a pineapple - gosh it was good!

On Sunday we went to Passion City Church.  This is the church that Louie Giglio is the pastor of and Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockels, David Crowder and Chris Tomlin are the worship pastors.  We went to the 11 service and it was packed!  We parked a mile away and rode a shuttle bus.  When we got there they had some empty seats in the front so they took us there - front and center.  It was nice.  Kristian and Christy were leading worship that day - two of our favorites - we loved it!  Unfortunately, Louie Giglio wasn't there that day but we still had an excellent message.  We definitely want to go back again.

So, we had a great 6 month anniversary trip.  We are loving married life!  We have finally gotten into routines and life has settled down in that "learning to live with each other" aspect.  Its so great to do life with your best friend. We are thankful that the Lord brought us together. 

February Catch Up

February was a blur for us.  We have been so busy in 2013 its crazy.  I am ready to slow down but I do not see that happening until July.  Our weekends have been packed and life is flying by.  At least we are having a fun time with it!

Here is a first half of February catch up (and a little of January too)....

We went to my mawmaw's end of January and in early March too and did a clean up around her house.  Since my pawpaw died things aren't kept up as easy as they used to be - so we went down there and had a family clean up day and got the house ready for spring and summer.  We were so thankful to be able to serve mawmaw - and get a fantastic lunch out of it too ;)!

Most everyone from our family was there - even Brandon & Ella got in on the cleanup

 Happy Birthday to...

Uncle Murl!

Our family gathered together for a party for my Uncle Murl.  He is in the fight of his life right now with lung/liver cancer so it was a special time for us to get together as a family and celebrate him!

Chase

   

 Ella and Nicole

Our family is so large now we have birthdays almost every month in the year.  So, we do monthly parties.  February was for Chase, Nicole and Ella. 

Ella's birthday present from Michael and I - she loves to help in the kitchen

  

Ella is a kindergartner this year - so she was able to participate in her first daddy/daughter dance at school.  My sister (one of the bravest people I know) adopted Brandon and Ella as a single mom.  So she relies on my dad and all the men in our family to step in as father figures for them.  My dad was out of town and could not go to the dance so Michael stepped in and took her to the uncle/niece dance!

Like any gentleman would, he brought his date flowers

 

They had a fun time and it made her year to show off her uncle to her friends.  I have the sweetest husband in the world!