Christmas has been a wonderful time this year. I must say...I never thought I would be traveling all the way to Alabama just to be with my family for Christmas, but things change. I think it seems as though things change around here more often than anywhere else? Or maybe that's just me. Chris and I had our little Christmas together this year on Friday night. We went to Red Lobster for dinner and did a little shopping in Lexington and then came home and opened our stockings.



                                         Chris and I...

                                                   Our tree...

                                          My curling iron...

Chris got a ear and nose trimmer! LOL!!! We've had some laughs about this.

Then we got up Saturday morning and headed to Jackson Co to celebrate Christmas with Chris' parents.


                                         Cecil & Bonnie

                                                    The girls...

                                         The guys...

                                         The grandkids...

Sunday morning after Church we loaded the car and headed South. :) I must say I was pretty excited!

                                                    Mamaw & I

 

Once I got to AL the kiddos wanted to stay the night with us at moms house. We built a very big fort and had an old fashioned living room camp out.

 

 

Getting cozy and ready for veggie~tales and bedtime. :)

 

 

Anxiously awaiting their gifts.

 

 

My Father read the Christmas story before we began.

 

 

Matthew & Ashlee

 

 

Chris & I

 

 

My Mother

 

 

 Our serious meal-time prayer!

 

 

 Our handmade scarves...

 

 

And that's a wrap! We had a blast. A Christmas full of fun, laughter, food, and family. There is nothing better! And now it seems like since it has been over that nothing but sickness has plagued our people. Well at least I have been able to blog! ;) I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas too!

Grace

 

 

Grace.......such a simple one syllable word. So easy to roll of the lips without a true understanding of the meaning of such a small word. Dictionary meanings rage from: elegance and politeness to generosity of spirit. Those are all wonderful meanings of the word, but I was introduced to a new definition this week that hit me like a boulder through my heart.

It simply states, "Grace - undeserved kindness."

WOW!  How many times have I given undeserved kindness to someone? How long has it been since I truly felt the effects of offering grace to someone. It is easy to show kindness to someone we love or to show grace to someone who is dear to our heart. But what about those who don't deserve it or those who are not sorry for the pain they have caused?

It hit me hard and all I could think of was a situation where someone had hurt me so badly that I literally felt physically out of breath. I felt the pain like raw flesh. I tried to push the incident from my mind and move on with my life. It seemed like every time I thought of this situation or the person, I could feel the poison seep through my mind and into my heart. It kept building till I had a hatred I had never know. A blackness settled into my heart. I was strangling from the bitterness and hate. It was eating me alive.

I knew I had to pray about the situation and the condition of my heart, but I sure didn't want to. It was easier to hold the grudge than to give it to God. It was the point I prayed up to....and then stopped. It flashed before my eyes when I tried praying for others. There was no getting around it. It had to be dealt with. With God's help I tried my best to forgive, but I was doing it grudgingly. I wasn't giving it freely or with a honest heart. I even sorrowfully admit that I secretly wished harm on this person for the pain they had caused.

After reading this definition of Grace I felt God whisper to my heart....."are you willing to offer grace to this person?" I was reprimanded by the thought of how many times I had hurt God and caused him pain and sorrow. Yet he never put condition upon the his grace. He offered it freely to me and never wished harm upon my life. How could I expect grace when I wasn't also willing to give grace?

This is where the healing begins! I am trying (with God's help) to give grace to those who don't deserve it and those who don't ask for it. I am reminded of Matthew 7:2 ~For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. I don't want to be denied grace because I was unwilling to give grace.

I just wanted to share a little of what God has helped me see. I need to view all things through his eyes and and not my own. I hope you all are enjoying this cool fall weather. I know I sure am. God has been good to us and I thank him for his loving patience with me.

(pics are of some special ladies in my life!)

Happy Fall Y'all!

~Lacey McKinney

Falling in love with Fall

Fall is here at last! Cool weather...the fire blazing...pumpkin spice coffee...sweatshirts...sweaters...leggings...boots...and I must say I am in love! I have always liked the fall of the year, but it seems like I am loving it even more as we progress into the season. And of course there is carmel apples......a favorite of ours!!!

I have been looking for some good ways to make carmel and I found a simple way to make it on Pinterest. The pinner boasted of perfection and delisiousness in this simple how~to and so I decided to try it.


All you need is a crock-pot. (I just used my small one)

A can of sweetened condensed milk. (I used GV brand)

You put the whole can in the crock-pot and cover with water. After cooking the can in the crock-pot for 8hrs on low and then cooling in the fridge....you will open the jar to an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G treat! (be sure to cool or it will expload when you open the jar......yes I learnt this the hard way)

I served it up with a platter of fresh apples for dessert for my sweet hubby. He loves apples and carmel and I was anxious to see if he liked it.

The taste test........

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now we have a new Fall favorite thanks to Pinterest. I encourage you to try it. It is DELISH!!!

Till I blog again.....Lacey

Feet & Fellowship

Our MK consultant Melissa Noe and her sister. They were so much fun!


You may think I've lost my marbles with a title like this.......but tonight we had just that. A night all about Feet and Fellowship. Ashlee and I recently won a Mary Kay skin care facial (thanks to me entering our names in a drawing....you're welcome weeeeez!) :) We went a couple of weeks ago and had a wonderful time. Thankfully my wonderful husband was gracious enough to keep the kids so we had a ladies evening out. We ejoyed a good 2 or 2 1/2 hours of pampering. We learnt many great ways to help keep our skin from sagging and bagging.

When we learnt the consultant also did a pedicure party we booked it immediatly!

So tonight we got our lady friends together and had a wonderful night all about our feet and had a great time being together. Nothing brings the ladies together like food and beauty. :)



My little piggies soaking in the good stuff!



Ivy's water was sooooooooo dirty! She blamed it on Trinity....but we all know the truth! :)



Wheeeew Weeeee! If Laura feels this good at our next church foot washing I think we may just break out in REVIVAL!!!!!



Ashlee and Beck soaking their little piggies.



So proud of our clean, fresh, and soft feet! Who knew feet could be so much fun? :) :)



The gang.....

I can't wait till our next party! It's gonna be so much fun!!!!

Oh Ivy...I almost forgot, how did Steven like his new toothbrush? ;)

Goodnight yall!
~Lacey

Pintrest

OMG!........................That is all I can say about pintrest. I had no idea there was so much cool stuff on that site. It is A-M-A-A-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!! Tonight for supper I made some little ham, egg, and cheese bowls that I found on pintrest. They turned out great! :)





All you need is a muffin pan, deli lunch meat (of your choice), eggs, and shredded cheese.
I used 2 slices of forest ham....if the meat is real thin, just use more slices. Lay the meat in the muffin pan so that it forms a bowl. Break a egg into each bowl and then top with shredded cheese.
Bake at 350 till the eggs are cooked how you like them.

They were very good and low-calorie.

I have so many things on pintrest I want to do. Crafts, sewing, and cooking! I can't wait to try new stuff. I'll be sure and blog as I do it so you can share my new experinces.

Saturday night Chris and I went out to eat with Josh and Lashei. We had a blast! For some reason everytime we get together we always end up solving the worlds problems and laughing till we either cry or wet ourselves! We had a great meal at Shilo's and then ended the night at Starbucks....wonder whos idea that was? ;) I can't wait to do it again.



In other news.............We spent last week in AL with my parents. We had a wonderful time and we,........uh..I should say I, did not want to leave! We went down last Sunday after service and came back Friday evening. We went to Bro. Roger Boyds church Tuesday night and had a great service. Then Wednesday night we went to mom and dads church. Chris preached great at both services and Wednesday night we had such an out~pouring of the spirit! It was wonderful! The rest of the time we ate, shopped, and just enjoyed being with each other. I am already planning my next trip. :)



Mom and I at the Dairy......and YES! they have wonderful fresh made ice cream!!!!!

Life is so much sweeter when you have friends to enjoy it with. I am thankful for all my friends!

Luv yall.........

****Memorial Day****

We have had the best Memorial Day! First we had a cook-out with our friends at the house and enjoyed great food and fellowship. Then we all headed to Ryan and Brittany's place to go fishing. I love making these memories with our friends that we can always recall and enjoy. Why don't we do it more often? Chris and I have had a BLAST with all of you! Thanks for making it a wonderful day and even sweeter memory! :) We love you all!



Just a hangin...........

Let the competition begin (we know what it does for Ivy) ;)

Say CHEESE Trinity! :D

Ryan was practicing up for the next church service....lol!
Mr. Micah WON my heart with his little chubby checks and growls. :)
Titus just loved laying on the blanket and being the center of attention......
My sweet handsome man and the master fisherman! Just how many did he catch? 20? And honestly how many times did catch and recatch the same one? HA!
Miss Ivis doing her best to beat Steven at catching the most fish! Sorry you didn't win dahlin.....:(

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Memorial Day as we did.

God Bless,

Lacey

My Letter

If all my 5 faithful bloggers will excuse me I like to write a letter to the most wonderful person in the world......my mommy.

Dear Mommy,

I went to your house yesterday evening after you and dad had left and I was doing just fine. I even cleaned the house up a little. I separated some yard sale items and got them taken care of. I started you a pile of stuff I think you may want to take with you when you make a trip back. Then I walked into the little room to get all the church paperwork together so I could get started on it. I fount your little note, read it, and absolutely felt like I'd been hit with a MAC truck. Since you all decided to go to Alabama I have been so busy with getting things ready, planning and organizing for your last special service here that I haven't had the luxury to sit down and just think about how this is really going to effect me and my life. Boy did I get to last night. I sat in that nearly empty house and all I could do was think. I tried not too, but I thought, I guess there won't be no more skipping over to Moms for Sunday dinner. No more late Sunday evening trip to DQ. No more spur of the moment Lexington trips to spend all our money on pretzel bites, Godiva, and Starbucks. I'm used to being able to see you whenever I want, now I have to wait till we can arrange a time that fits our schedules. I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! How can I make it for weeks at a time without a hug and kiss from mommy? Where do I go now when I feel like I'm falling apart and your not just 15 minuets away? You are not just my mommy, but you are my best Friend! How can I make it without my best friend? How can I make this change in my life without your constant tangible love, support and encouragement? At a time in my life that I feel I need you more than ever.....why this? Mommy, I miss you so much!!!!! It's like being on a diet. You know how when you can't have something that is all you can think about? That is what you crave? Well that's how I feel. I know you are so far away and all I can think about is if I could just hold your hand one more time. If I could just have you pray with me or more time with your arm around me. If I could just sit and ramble on about the ups and downs of life one more time. If I could just hug your neck one more time. Or kiss your cheek. I feel like a faltering weed rather than a budding flower. Mommy, I feel so lost without you. I admit I'm a much better follower than a leader, I'll do all I can with the help of the Lord to be all I can in him. Mommy, I love you! I wanna make you and dad proud!I wanna make God proud! I wanna be strong like you, I wanna be kind like you, I wanna love like you, I wanna PRAY like you! I want to have a Pastor's Wife heart like you! Thank you for being such a wonderful mommy! You are the very best in the world!!!!!! I love and miss you so much!!!!! And when we do get to see each other again I'm gonna squeeze you in a big bear hug and never let go! (till I have to) :)

Till I see you again!
Your loving daughter,
Lacey

A Weekend in Nashville

This past weekend I went to Nashville for the International Phi Theta Kappa convention. It was exhausting, but fun.

Each state was represented by officers and the state flag. It was so awesome!!!

Lighting of the torch........

Our International President and the four division vise Presidents.

Left to Right: Emma, Liz, Katheryn, Me, and Ruby

Our Commit to Complete College Challenge

Headed to dinner.......

Alpha Phi Kappa......Our Lexington Chapter

All our Kentucky Chapter Members

Delicious Dinners ....................

The Gaylord Hotel

It was gorgeous!!!!!!

Chris went down with me and played the role of personal shopper, dresser, planner, chauffeur, chef and so much more! Bless his heart...if he hadn't kept up with my stuff and kept me on my schedule, I would have been a mess! And late for every conference! I know the Bible says that he that findeth a wife findeth a good thing, but I must say I sure did find a good husband and a GREAT and WONDERFUL thing. :)
I serioulsy couldn't have made it without you baby!!!













What's Nashville without a little Elvis? ;)





Chris and I drove to downtown Nashville around 10pm one night and I must say it was a real eye opener. There was a bar or strip club in every other building. There was homeless people pushing their buggies with all their belongings in it. There was people playing guitars, drums, or just singing and they had little plates set out to take donations. There was drunks everywhere! One poor little ol man was walking around trying to open every door he came to. He had no clue where he was. It was so sad. I am so thankful for where I live with my sweet family and friends, but most of all I'm so thankful for a Savior who loves and cares for his people. I can't imagine living life without him. It brings me to tears when I think of what a life some peole live when the only hope they have is in a pill or a bottle. I couln't face life and make through one day if wasn't for the grace and peace of God! Looking into to the eyes of those lost souls really maked me think of just where I would be if not for the love of God.

Have a good night and God Bless!
~Lacey