Lately

So, I haven't blogged lately.  What else is new!  This is harder than I thought it would be!  Anyway, just to give you an update from my last post that was asking for prayer...my dad, who is an alcoholic, just lost his job.  I'm not sure what he is going to do now.  That is why I ask for prayer.  Pray for him and that he will come to a place of brokenness before the Lord.  Pray that he will be set free from these chains that are controlling everything in his life.  Pray for strength for my mom, who is still deciding to stand by him.  That's really all I can say about this...it has been going on so long.  I think I might be getting numb and I honestly can't decide if that's a good thing or not.  I'll keep you posted on that situation.  

In spite of all that, we have had a really great May so far!  Some highlights for us have been:

• The Spurs playoff game with Megan and Ronnie!  We had so much fun and Megan and I looked super cool with our binoculars!  
• We were able to go to Houston to see our niece play T-Ball! (and see the Astro's player Lance Berkman whose daughter is on Grace's team)
• My brother and his wife welcomed their second baby.  Claire Marie was born on May 10th.  
• We went to Killeen to meet Claire and say good-bye to my brother who deploys the beginning of June.
•  Signed up to run a marathon (Michael) and half-marathon (me) in November!  We start our training program in June.  This will be quite the challenge for me considering our first run resulted in two cars stopping on the shoulder of the road to bring water!...and one ended up taking us home!  :)
• We get to count down the days to summer and now it's in the single-digits!  9 more to go!

God is good, faithful, unchanging, full of grace, and brings so much joy to our lives every day!!

Please Pray

Please pray for my mom...for more of that strength I was telling you she had!  Pray for my dad.  He needs some help.  That's all I know to say right now....please pray!  Thank you so much!

My Mom

With Mother's Day coming up on Sunday I have been thinking alot lately about my mom.  I am reminded of the woman she is and the woman she has helped me become...and the Lord continues to mold and shape both of us!  I wanted to write a post about my mom so others can know this lady that I know so well.  First of all, let me give you a little bit of history...that is a cool story of God's provision, healing power, faithfulness, and goodness.  My mom and dad tried to have children for 7 years...yes I said 7 years!  My mom was told that it would never happen for her.  Can you imagine?  Can you imagine trying for 7 years?  She even tried 3 fertility drugs that did not work.  After 7 years, the Lord gave my parents Alisha.  Alisha is my sister who was adopted when she was 5 days old.  What a precious gift to my mom and dad.  When Alisha was 10 months old...SURPRISE!!!  My mom was pregnant with me!  Three years later...my brother.  Apparently the doctors were wrong and God had different plans!  :)  After my brother was born my mom suffered from a severe stroke.  She was in a coma and the doctors told my dad that if she lived she would be paralyzed or a vegetable.  Again, the Lord had different plans for her!  She survived!  According to dad, she went through grueling physical therapy.  She even had to relearn the alphabet!  As a result of the stroke my mom has had seizures and in the summer of 2002 she had a major brain surgery that did not prove to be "successful."  Not only has this all occurred in her life, but she was also diagnosed with colon cancer when I was in high school.  This is totally gone today and yet another miracle for her and our family!  All this history to just give you an idea of what my mom has been through.  Through all of her personal medical struggles, she has had so much strength.  Her faith in Jesus is so deep.  I can remember walking in the room to see my mom engulfed in the Word.  She would always remind me of His promises when I needed to hear them.  I am amazed when I think back to those precious times.  

After her brain surgery in 2002, which removed part of left temporal lobe, she has had a lot of difficulty interpreting what people say and giving a response to what they say.  Her communication is very difficult and often times childlike.  This has been a huge struggle in her life and ours.  She is different.  She is a different personality.  She cannot carry on a "typical" mother-daughter conversation.  I cherish memories I have with her before the surgery.  Even though she is different and it's hard to talk with her, she remembers scripture!  She loves Jesus.  She still lives for Him and continues to pray with the words she can muster.  She makes perfect sense to Him!  She still reminds me to pray and reminds me that often times that's all we can do.  She has stuck by a husband who is a recovering alcoholic.  When things were the worst with my dad, she was there, ready to forgive and move on.  She is a story of an overcomer, a story of strength, a story of a godly wife and mom, a story of the Lord's unchanging nature and His faithfulness.  I love my mom.  I look up to her and pray that I can have her faith.  I pray that I can have her "childlike" faith that she expresses even now!  I miss our long talks and I miss getting advice on life from my mom...but her example has been more than enough.  She is my hero and I love her for who she was and who she is now.  Tell your mom this mother's day how much she means to you!  

To Cook or Not To Cook!

I have to confess that this question is pretty daunting in my life!  It is the great debate for this wife!  Michael and I are eating out constantly.  Not only is this not the best thing for our figures...it's not the greatest thing for our bank account either! ....or is it?  I cannot figure out if spending tons of money on groceries or eating out is more cost efficient.  I know you are thinking..."of course, groceries."  Well, I have a husband who is veeerrrrryyyy picky!  If it were up to him we'd eat cereal every night which seems so cheap...but I cannot eat cereal for dinner every night.  I'm pretty much the opposite when it comes to food.  I'll eat anything and I love variety!  Anyway, I sat down last night with some cookbooks and recipe cards to make a shopping list of things I can cook in the next few weeks.  My list was so long...I'm sure that trip to the store would probably be $200 or more!  Geez...what is the answer to this dilemma?  We are really busy and we don't do leftovers well.  I'm really up for suggestions.  I want to cook, not just for Michael and I, but I need to be able to cook when we have a family!  Eating out for 2 may be ok, but when our family gets larger, this will be a very expensive habit.  I am asking for HELP!  If you have simple, fast recipes that you enjoy please share!!!  If you have money saving tips for grocery store adventures...please share!  Hopefully I will find an answer to my question:  to cook or not to cook?!  

Thanks to Megan...

Here's a recent pic of Michael and I after I had about 4 or 5 inches cut off of my hair!  

So at dinner last night Megan told me I should post because it's been a long time!  I decided to take her advice!  Life is good with the McCracken's!  We enjoyed having spring break to rest.  It's nice that both of us teach because we  get the same holidays together!  We slept in, relaxed, did a little (but not enough) cleaning out, and then we celebrated every night with our church family leading up to Easter Sunday.  I definitely think all professionals should have a spring break like teachers do!  I won't go so far to say that it's the reason I teach...but it sure makes the long hard days easier!  

Here is a fun first grade story!...The week before spring break I was teaching my reading groups and we were reading a story about a little girl who wanted to read.  She kept having to move rooms in the house because there was noise in each room.  The story didn't say what the noise was so the kids had to infer from the pictures.  She had to leave her room because her baby brother was screaming in the background, then the story shows her at the kitchen table.  In the background, her dad is using a blender.  I asked my reading group, "Why do you think she can't read in the kitchen?"  Without skipping a beat, with great confidence, a little girl spoke up and said, "because her dad's making a margarita!"  She later told us that margaritas are adult drinks that they drink when they are annoyed with their kids!  :)  Fun times teaching  first grade!  

Easter was wonderful.  Our church met at a movie theater and we had between 75 and 80 people attend. One lady gave her life to Christ that day!  It was a really fun celebration of our Savior who lives!  What a sweet gift it is to have life in Him!  

Sorry my thoughts have been random and jumbled, but I guess this is what happens when I have almost a months worth of "no blogging" in my mind!  In case you are wondering....my puppy is behaving better with me now!  ;)  Until next time...it will not be as long!

Last post...

As I was rereading my last post, I thought I should clarify one thing...I was not trying to in any way discount big ministries that have alot of people!  I realized that my wording may have suggested this.  It is really amazing that many ministries have tons and tons of people hungry to grow and to be discipled...and in many cases that is just what is happening!  I was simply revealing my heart's poor condition of being too comfortable and proud in big ministries.  God is using the small body of believers He has placed me in to teach me alot.  We pray for growth and for Him to bring more people!  Anyway, today was a great Sunday together with the body!  I hope you all had a good one too!  :)  

To Sit at Your Feet...

First of all, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post again.  I find myself intrigued by other people's blogs but never post my own!  Things here are going well...one week until spring break...and that is GREAT NEWS!  :)  During spring break since it is the week before Easter, our church is holding what we are naming "Passion Week."  We are doing something each night of the week to prepare for the celebration on Easter Sunday.  We are really pumped because we haven't done anything like this before.  For those of you that I haven't talked to in a while, let me fill you in a little on the ministry we are a part of here...

Michael and I were called to move to San Antonio and minister at The Church at Vineyard Hills.  This is a church where his dad is the pastor.  We meet in a school cafeteria and have about 30 people on a Sunday.  We have "satellite groups" during the week for study and fellowship.  This place is different than any church I've ever been a part of and honestly, it was a huge step of faith for me because I'm comfortable in churches where there are thousands of people...that's just it though....COMFORTABLE.  Ever since we have been in San Antonio, the Lord has really opened my eyes and heart to reveal to me that I have spent my years as a follower of Christ being entirely too comfortable.  In the past I have prided myself in being a part of big name ministries where there are a ton of people...wow...I'm revealing alot about my heart's condition here!  The Lord has begun to really break down my pride and search my heart.  He has revealed to me that it's not about numbers, but lives changed by the power of the gospel.  He has called me out of my pride and out of my "everything is so great in my life" fakeness...to a humble, broken spirit.  He has reminded me of the importance of discipleship and investing in the lives of others for His glory.  I have come to a place in my walk where I am so hungry to just know Jesus more intimately.  There is a song that I love that really speaks my heart right now and so I'll share the lyrics with you...

"The more I seek You, the more I find You."

The more I find You, the more I love You.

I want to sit at Your feet, drink from the cup in Your hand,

lay back against You and breathe, feel Your heartbeat.

This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand,

I melt in Your peace, it's overwhelming."

All of this to say, God is at work in a huge way in this heart and life.  He is so good and I am so thankful for the grace that allows the process of sanctification in my life.  He is at work in San Antonio and at work at the Church at Vineyard Hills.  He is bringing people to know Himself and calling them into fellowship eternally with Himself.  He is making disciples and using us, people, in spite of who we are.  God is so good and His grace amazes me!  I want to know Him more, I want to sit at His feet!