A Cup of Coffee and a Heap of Conviction

I visited my local LifeWay this week and picked up two new books. My love for reading developed when I was in seminary...because I was never a reader before then. Now I crave a good book that will challenge me, help me dig deeper into God's Word and help me fall more in love with my Savior. So what did I pick up this time?

The new buzz has been all about David Platt's book "Radical" so I wanted to see for myself what the hype was about. I was fortunate to attend seminary with David and we went to the same church where he served as the missions pastor. Before graduating from seminary he actually taught one of my evangelism classes and almost on a daily basis we were all in tears with a burden for the lost. You won't find a more passionate heart when it comes to world missions. I knew this book would be good but I wasn't quite sure I was ready to wrestle with the truths laid bare on the pages. I'm only four chapters in and it's been quite a challenge. It's an easy read getting through the text but the application...well that's another story. The nutshell summary is David giving a challenge to believers to forsake pursuing the American Dream to embrace a life completely surrendered to Jesus Christ. The truth is that this shouldn't be a "radical" life but to the outside world and unfortunately to a lot of professing believers this concept is pretty "radical." Truth be told if we truly lived this way the only thing "radical" would be the impact we had on the Kingdom of God here on earth.

The second read came pretty hesitantly. My dear friend Tina Propes turned me on to John Piper in 2003 when we worked camp together. I just recently finished the first Piper book I picked up in 2003. Just kidding....but he isn't an easy read by any stretch of the imagination. His writing is meaty and though you may get through a chapter it will probably take two or three readings to comprehend what you've read. If I'm in this boat alone please don't tell me how easy of a read Piper is for you. I grew to appreciate the writings of Piper in seminary but had to take a sabatacle recently because of the idol he was becoming for our Christian Studies majors. I felt like I was hearing the name Piper more than I was hearing them talk about Jesus. I reluctantly picked up another Piper book this trip. The name of the book is "Taste and See"...a book of 140 meditations on savoring the supremacy of God in our daily life. Much easier to take in 2-3 pages at a time...and it's been a great springboard into my time with the Lord in the mornings.

I'd recommend both if you're looking for something to read these days.

What a weekend....

This Saturday was our first home game of the season. The atmosphere on campus was simply electric. Residence Life hosted a tailgate party complete with an inflatable water slide, games, prizes and yours truly grilled about 1000 hotdogs. In fact when I got to the game I smelled like a walking hotdog and there was nothing flattering about that. Even though the game started at 6:00pm it was still in the 90's at kickoff and even after the game. Gotta love Louisiana weather! Here is a picture of Noah "enjoying" his first Wildcat football game.

Poor little guy was all dressed up in his Wildcat jersey but got way too hot. As soon as Amy took his clothes off he fell asleep. What a fan!

Unfortunately our Wildcats are now 0-2. We lost last week to Belhaven on the road and lost to Huntington College last night in overtime. It was such an amazing game...the Wildcats were trailing going into the half and made an incredible comeback to tie the game and go ahead in the 2nd half. Huntington tied the game in the last few minutes to send the game into overtime. Our defense just struggled to hold them and we lost 62-56...what a heartbreaking game. I have never been so proud of those guys as I was last night. They played with heart, determination and grit to the bitter end!! Keep your head up boys and get ready for Mississippi College in two weeks on the road.

In other exciting news this weekend I learned a valuable lesson. It's dangerous to cuddle too closely with a 70lb boxer who startles easily. I was taking my normal Sunday afternoon nap and was cuddled up with ole Matti and apparently went to snuggle with her a little closer or something and scared her in her sleep. Result....Matti's noggin to my cheek bone = one heck of a headache, a bruised cheek bone and the start of a black eye. Good thing I'm not married or people would think I was getting beat up at home. Check out the start of my shiner...


It certainly wasn't a boring weekend...that's for sure!

bad timing!

I have been neglecting my blog lately and for that I am sorry....it's been insanely busy around my neck of the woods. I am, however, taking a short break to express my frustration in the incredibly bad timing of our cable being out on campus. For some reason we are not picking up channels 15-22...which include ESPN and ESPN2 and for any of you who know me well enough you know I am a die hard AUBURN TIGERS fan....and they play tonight on ESPN against Mississippi State. Needless to say I have been on the phone with the cable company most of the morning trying to get this issue resolved before 6:30pm. I may have to visit our local pub if something doesn't get worked out today.

WAR EAGLE!!!

just me and little man...

I took a mental health day on Wednesday and spent the day with my favorite little guy...Noah Lee Chandler. I absolutely adore that baby boy. We ran errands and did some shopping and just hung out at home with Matti and I loved every minute of it. Spending the day with him was great for my emotional wellbeing and was just a foretaste of what's to come this weekend. Amy and Cory are going to Atlanta for the weekend for the LSU season opener and Noah is staying behind with his Aunt Kabes for the weekend. Three days of single parenting will surely tell me if I am as ready for motherhood as I think I am. Either way...I'm excited to spend the weekend cuddled on the couch with my monkey watching SEC football. I am sure there will be lots of pictures to come!