From Delaware to South Carolina and back to the Ville :)

What an interesting and incredible 2 weeks! I flew back to Delaware from Louisville on the 22nd, and after missing all of my connecting flights, I finally made it back late on Saturday night. I was so excited and blessed to be back at OBC on Sunday morning to worship with my Delaware Church Family! I especially enjoyed the Christmas Eve Service at OBC, and having my mom and Murray there made it even more special! I also had the privilege of creating a masterpiece gingerbread house with Miss Olivia Thompson on Christmas day, and enjoyed hanging out with so many different family and friends while I was in Delaware. I was sad to have missed a few people (klumbach's---if you're reading this I need your cell phone numbers--I never got them after the infamous cell phone incident of '07!) At any rate, I can't wait to come back to visit soon! I left on Friday and drove down to South Carolina (just south of Charlotte, NC) to visit my brother, sister-in-law and my niece and nephew. We celebrated Christmas with them, and played many fun games over the weekend (Wii, Scrabble, Cranium, Phase 10, etc). We had lots of fun, and I just happen to be the Scrabble champion of the family...I won't comment on the other games...

Here are just a few pictures of the past two weeks!
Jacob got baptized on the 23rd! This isn't the best picture, but I'm so excited for him, and wanted to commemorate the occasion on the blog! (thanks to Pastor Curtis and the OBC crew for postponing the baptism until Kristen and I could witness it in person!)

Sara, Kristen, Me, Lexi and Erin at Longwood Gardens. So pretty!

Me and My sister Adrienne with our matching t-shirts from mom: "My sister is the best sister in the whole universe" Thanks mom!


This is the Christmas pottery we use every year. A local artist in Delaware created this pottery, and my uncle used to buy us a new piece every year for Christmas. What fun!



While in South Carolina, we got to demolish the gingerbread house my brother and the kids made! Gingerbread houses are a Hinkson family tradition, and it was so much fun to get to be a part of a gingerbread house party again with the fam!




All in all, a great trip home! I can't wait to come back and visit soon!

And He Shall Be Called...

..."Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

"There's a song in the air!
There's a star in the sky!
There's a mother's deep prayer,
and a baby's low cry!
And the star rains its fire
While the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!"

"A few years ago a striking Christmas card was published, with the title, "If Christ had not come." It was founded upon our Savior's words, "If I had not come." The card represented a clergyman falling into a short sleep in his study on Christmas morning and dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come.

In his dream he found himself looking through his home, but there were no little stockings in the chimney corner, no Christmas bells or wreaths of holly, and no Christ to comfort, gladden, and save. He walked out on the public street, but there was no church with its spire pointing to heaven. He came back and sat down in his library, but every book about the Savior had disappeared.

A ring at the doorbell, and a messenger asked him to visit a poory dying mother. He hastened with the weeping child and as he reached the home he sat down and said, "I have something here that will comfort you." He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise, but it ended at Malachi, and here was no gospel and no promise of hope and salvation, and he could only bow his head and weep with her in bitter despair.

Two days afterward he stood beside her coffin and conducted the funeral service, but there was no message of consolation, no word of a glorious resurrection, no open heaven, but only "dust to dust, ashes to ashes," and one long eternal farewell. He realized at length that "He had not come" and burst into tears and bitter weeping in his sorrowful dream.

Suddenly he woke with a start, and a great shout of joy and praise burst from his lips as he heard his choir singing in his church close by:

"O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels,
O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!"

Let us be glad and rejoice today, because "He HAS come." And let us remember the annunciation of the angel, "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11)

He comes to make His blessing flow,
Far as the curse is found.

May our hearts go out to the people in heathen lands who have no blessed Christmas day. "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send the portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared." (Nehemiah 8:10)

(From Streams in the Dessert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman)

Mary, did you know?

This song has been coming to mind quite often this holiday season as I've been considering what it must have been like for Mary to carry the Savior of the world. How did people around her respond to her pregnancy? Did she tell them she was carrying the promised Messiah? Did she lay awake at night wondering what life would be like with God as her son? Did she ever doubt that He was the Messiah? Did she worry that she would be a "bad mom"? Was she scared of living the life God had called her to?

We can only imagine what went through Mary's head during those 9 months of pregnancy, and years of raising Jesus as her son.

Enjoy the lyrics below (Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant and Mary, Did You Know? by Mark Lowry), and be reminded yet again of the amazing miracle of Christmas--that God became man and dwelt among us!


Breath of Heaven

"I have traveled many moonless nights,
Cold and weary with a babe inside,
And I wonder what I've done.
Holy father you have come,
And chosen me now to carry your son.

I am waiting in a silent prayer.
I am frightened by the load I bear.
In a world as cold as stone,
Must I walk this path alone?
Be with me now.
Be with me now.

Breath of heaven,
Hold me together,
Be forever near me,
Breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven,
Lighten my darkness,
Pour over me your holiness,
For you are holy.
Breath of heaven.

Do you wonder as you watch my face,
If a wiser one should have had my place,
But I offer all I am"

Mary, Did You Know?

"Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy would give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

Oh Mary did you know?
The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the mute will speak the praises of the Lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I AM."

Holiday Update :)

It's been awhile since I've updated, and lots has been happening. So, instead of writing about the last 2 weeks of life in Louisville (and TEXAS!), I thought I'd let the pictures do the talking...

Two Saturdays ago, the girls I nanny for had their first ever piano recital. Alyssa (Right) and Anna (Left) have practiced many long hours, and their work paid off!


With classes finished until the end of January, I decided to take a little road trip with Bekah (driver's seat) and Cassie (Passenger). Here they are toasting their Sonic Breakfast Burritos!


Bekah lives outside of Dallas, TX, so it only made sense to spend the weekend with the RENFREW'S!!! :)



While with the Renfrews, we visited the Dallas Arboretum, where we saw a real live cacao tree, and learned that Chocolate is good for you and doesn't cause cavities. I'm not sure where they got their information but I'll take it! Here are Scott and Ginger playing with the simulated Chocolate maker...


And since it's Christmastime, we just HAD to make some GINGERBREAD HOUSES!!! Another added bonus to the weekend was having Amanda Merritt sleepover on Friday, and dinner with the entire Merritt family on Saturday night. What a blessing to see TWO OBC families in TEXAS!!














And finally, last night I spent the night making a gingerbread house with the girls I nanny for (it was my Christmas present to them!) We made the "property" complete with a pond, an animal farm, a forest, snowmen, and a snowball fight! What fun!


It's been a great few weeks, and I am looking forward to Christmas in Delaware, the end of 2007 in South Carolina, and New Years in Louisville! In the midst of all the busyness, I pray that the true meaning of Christmas is not lost...Here's a song by Chris Rice to help remind us of the reason for the season...

"Welcome to Our World"

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting

Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home
Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence

Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

The Reason for the Season...

Only a few weeks left until we celebrate the birth of our Savior. It's so easy to get caught up in the cookie making and gift giving and miss the TRUE meaning of the season--God taking on human flesh and stepping down into humanity in order that we might come to know Him, trust in His saving grace, and find eternal life in Him. May your focus this Christmas season be on God's amazing love and grace!

Here's a quote from Louie Giglio to ponder...

"No one has ever had a true glimpse of God and not ended up closer to the floor. He is glorious and massive and radiant and holy and imposing and awe-inspiring and intimidating. Yet, God somehow wedged all that into a Bethlehem manger in Christ so He could wrap us in His arms. Sin continually and deceptively puffs us up, making us think we're larger than life, while shrinking our ability to live in the fullness of His."

GREAT DEAL!

Ok, friends. I ran across this and had to share... Currently, Hyatt Hotels is giving away FREE $10 gift cards to Starbucks, just for signing up for more information. Now, it could be that the amount of Spam is just not worth the free $10, however, if you're like me, you set up a junk mail email account that you use only for these kinds of promotions (free samples, newsletters, etc that you don't really want to see in your inbox. :) ) I just did it, and hope to receive my gift card in a month or two. I even used it to sign my mom up for one as well (which I'm hoping she'll graciously bestow on me when I tell her how thrifty and deal-savvy I am! (Though I will completely understand if she uses it for herself--she definitely deserves some free coffee!)

More later, but I wanted to pass along the deal while I was thinking about it! :)

The Beauty of Unobligated Moments

It's been a long time since I've actually had an entire day with absolutely no obligations. No work, no church functions, no school, or things that need to get done for school (reading, papers, tests, etc). An entire day of possibilities waiting to happen.

By nature, I'm a planner. I like to know what the agenda for the day is, and tend to pack my day as full as it can get (which isn't always a good thing...). To have an entire day with absolutely nothing planned is rare. So this morning, I started the day by spending a few extra moments in bed, basking in an alarm clock-free day (which never happens). After enjoying a moment of just "being", I made some delicious tea and settled into some precious time with the Lord. I am so grateful for time to seek the Lord apart from school assignments--it's so easy to allow assigned readings to replace personal quiet times when the semester gets busy, so this morning really served to edify my soul as I was able to spend some extended time simply enjoying God without glancing at my watch every 5 minutes.

After spending some time reading CJ Mahaney's book, The Cross Centered Life, (which I HIGHLY recommend!) I got some things done around the apartment, ran some errands, and then I met my friend Cassie at the gym--for the first time since before Thanksgiving. Suffice it to say, tomorrow will be painful. :)

For now, my friend Katherine is here and we're going to curl up with some hot chocolate and watch Elf--the perfect way to end this relaxing day :)

Here are some lyrics from a song by Keith and Kristyn Getty They are modern day hymn writers, and their new cd has been on repeat in our apartment for the past week! May these lyrics serve as a prayer that resonates in your heart! :)

"Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow'r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we'll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory."

FINISHED!!

It's official...my second full semester at seminary is FINISHED! Praise the Lord!! In celebration of finishing, we went ICE SKATING last night! Despite "boot disease", I managed to make it around the rink injury free, and by the end of the night I had gotten pretty accustomed to the ice. In fact, I've decided that I'm quitting seminary and becoming an olympic figure skater...Beijing, here I come! :) (Ok...so...maybe my skills aren't quite olympic quality, but we'll definitely be returning for a repeat performance!)


Here we are on the ice. Valerie and Dana both go to my church. We managed to escape the ice arena without falling once, and by the end of the night we were able to hold a conversation while skating (a feat previously unattained!)

What a great object lesson...

So if you can't tell, I'm sort of obsessed with this whole blog thing--perhaps it's because I know there are a million things I need to be studying right now, but for whatever reason (procrastination or otherwise), I ran across this devotional and thought I would share.

"Often, we as Christian women get so involved in meeting the needs of others that we forget to take time to refresh ourselves. If you have flown on a commercial airliner lately, you will recognize the speech which the flight attendants recite just before take-off. It goes something like this, "In the event of a loss of cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will automatically be lowered. If you are sitting beside a child, first secure your own mask before applying the child's."

Why would they advise you to do that? Are they promoting an "adults over children" philosophy? Hardly. They realize that unless you as the adult are getting the oxygen you need, you will be of no help to the child, and you will both perish.

Jesus, filled with absolute love and compassion, went to the mountains to spend time with His Father in prayer, to renew His weary body and soul. When the crowd pressed in upon Him, He suggested to the disciples that they all get away from the crowd and go to the mountains alone.

Are you getting enough "oxygen " in your life to be of maximum benefit to those around you? It is not a selfish gesture to set goals allowing you to "refill your cup." Just as an an empty teakettle will crack or melt as the heat under it is turned up, so you also will break as the heat of life is turned on "high" when your "cup"--your emotional and spiritual life--is dry."



How true! May you find time today to refresh yourself in the spring of Living Water!

...and now, back to studying. :)

Scripture memorization...

An hour and a half to go before my first final of the semester... I've been memorizing Ephesians 1:1-14 for this final, so I thought I'd share this beautiful passage about the grace of God. More than memorizing it for this test, I pray that it takes root deep in my heart (and yours!)!

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ according to his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace that he has freely given us in the one he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of all who are God's possession--to the praise of His glory."




Jude 24-25
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

Back in the ville

I got back into town yesterday afternoon greeted by two of my favorite people in Louisville, complete with a pumpkin spice latte. They know me too well. :)

Since not too many of y'all have seen my apartment here in Louisville, I figured I'd post a picture of the living room. I am so blessed to have a roommate who already moved all of her furniture from Texas, so I didn't need to worry about how to get furniture from Delaware. Just one more way that God has cared for me in Louisville! Guests are always welcome--come visit soon!

After I got back to the apartment, I had some time to catch up with my roommate, Anna, before heading off to study for finals this week. There is so much information that needs to squeeze into my tiny brain! I'm finding it hard to concentrate (hence the blog update), but the more I think about it, the more grateful I am that I get to spend hours studying Scripture! How gracious of God to set this time aside in my life where my purpose is to learn and study about HIM with very few other things demanding my time and energy! I need to not take this season in life for granted, and embrace the time that I've been given to study. Lord, cause me to be faithful in this season!

Fun times in DE :)

Today was a day of visiting! I started the day by braving the mall with my good friend Alicen in search of some good Black Friday sales. The time spent waiting in line was perfect for catching up and we were able to pick up a few key items along the way! This afternoon I ventured down to Newark to hang out with Emily and Stacey (freshman/sophomore year college roommates) and their husbands (Matt and Pete). It was SO great catching up with them, and the time just flew by! Pete and Stacey are, Lord willing, moving to Harlington, TX in June for Pete to start his residency with the mission they volunteered in this past summer! Keep them in your prayers!

I'm sad that my time home was so short this trip--there were so many people I wanted to see, but I am thankful for the time I got to spend with my family, and can't wait to see everyone at Christmas!

Tonight we celebrated my younger sister's 20th birthday. Her actual birthday isn't until the 29th, but since Austin and family are going back to South Carolina on Sunday, and I'll be headed back to Louisville tomorrow, we decided to celebrate early. We ended up at TGI Fridays for dinner and then went back to mom's house for some cake and ice cream.

(Left) Me and my twinkie (twin brother), Andrew at dinner. He came to the rescue while I was home by lending me his car on several occasions to go visit friends. Thanks brudder!


(Right) Me, Mom, Jocelyn (my niece) and Nykiah (my sister-in-law) after eating some yummy cake.

The whole gang (below) minus Murray and Delaine. (Mom, Andrew, Austin, Adrienne, Jocelyn, Me, Nykiah and Justin) There's never a dull moment with the Hinksons!


Jocelyn and I had matching vests, so we made sure to get a few pictures together. She is growing up so fast!!


All in all, a great visit home. I can't wait to come back for Christmas!

Starting the season out right...

It's not even December, but the Christmas music is already playing throughout the house, and this morning my mom and I started making millions of different kinds of Christmas cookies to be given out during the holiday season. You can't see it in the picture very well, but there are 6 different kinds of cookies represented!



(Mom and me posing for a quick shot in between the baking festivities. What a fun morning!)

So much to be thankful for!

This Thanksgiving there is just so much to be thankful for...

*God's grace and mercy to an undeserving sinner such as myself
*Friends and family to come home to in Delaware
*Friends to miss in Louisville
*A job that I enjoy and that pays the bills
*A roommate that I can "laugh at the days to come" with
*A church family and a great care group
*The ability and opportunity to pursue a masters degree
*Good health
*Fall leaves
*Gingerbread Lattes
*Laughter
*Black Friday sales :)
*Good food (especially Miss Zeniah's Banana Pudding! YUM!)
*Jumping in piles of leaves with the kiddos
*Beautiful sunsets
...and SO much more!


How humbling it is to pause and consider how blessed we truly are!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him..." Ephesians 1:3-4

Trendy in the airport

I have never felt so high-tech or American than I did this morning as I sat in the Cleveland airport, typing on my ibook, listening to my ipod and drinking a non-fat sugar-free gingerbread latte from Starbucks, with my cell phone next to me, ready to text the latest flight updates.


Sitting there, watching busy travelers rush past in search of elusive boarding gates, I was astounded by how blessed I am. Not only do I have all of these high-tech gadgets and a ridiculously priced cup of coffee, I am able to afford a flight home to visit family and friends. The blessing of family and friends is worth more than any computer or cell phone (or ridiculously priced cup of coffee) because no matter how many computers I acquire or airplanes I board, it's the people you come home to that matter most.

And yet with all of the material and financial blessings, and the abundance of family and friends who love and care for me in so many ways, I praise God that I can echo the apostle Paul when he says, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Phil 3:7-11)

So many things to be thankful for this holiday season...

Oh that I may know Christ more and in my heart consider all else rubbish.

Thanksgiving

I found this article on a blog I check regularly, and thought it would be an appropriate way to kick off the holiday season. May we all take some time this week to praise God with grateful hearts for His unfailing love and mercy!

“The Woman Who Brought Us Thanksgiving”
by Harold Ivan Smith

Most Americans associate Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims. Fifty-one survivors of the Mayflower gathered to celebrate after their first fall harvest. Governor William Bradford proclaimed it a day of thanksgiving.

But during the next century and a half, thanksgiving was an irregular celebration, varying from community to community, dependent at times upon the religious and political climates and the attitudes of individual governors.

Then the victory of the Americans over the British at Saratoga in October, 1777 prompted the Continental Congress to set aside December 18 as a day of thanksgiving and praise to be observed by all the colonies.

On September 28, 1863, Sarah Josepha Buell Hale wrote President Abraham Lincoln urging him to make the annual Thanksgiving “a national and fixed Union Festival.” By this time, she had built the circulation of her magazine, Godey’s Ladies Book to 150,000. Hale’s letter could not be ignored. Nor her editorials. Her annual Thanksgiving editorial in Godey’s opened with Nehemiah 8:10: “Then he said unto them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord; neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”

Hale argued, from her strong Episcopal faith, that if Nehemiah set aside a time of thanksgiving in a time of national stress, “in a time of national darkness and sore troubles, shall we not recognize the goodness of God never faileth, and that to our Father in heaven we should always bring the Thanksgiving offering at the ingathering of the harvest?”

Lincoln weighed the matter and decided that the timing was right for something that would promote national unity. He ordered Seward to draft the proclamation.

Early on October 3, Lincoln read the proclamation: “The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and helpful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.”

Seward wrote, “No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gift of the most high God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”

Lincoln commended Seward for a project “well done” and then focused on the last paragraph: “I do, therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”