Lately.

 Thought I'd share what's been going on in these parts lately. If you follow me on Instagram then this is old news.  Sorry about that. But maybe you might get a few back stories to the pictures.

Latest Porterville Night.  Correction. The latest one was last night but I wrote this post yesterday and never got around to sharing it so… This was the second to latest Porterville night. ;)

 We had Lauren home for a few days while she did some wedding hair.

Facetiming Elizabeth and the grand kids so they could join us too.

 Chicken and sausage gumbo with a big splurge….potato salad (and crackers).  You can't have gumbo without a big plop of  potato on the side.  However, I'm SO out of practice and went crazy on the mustard. Shoot.

Having Lauren home meant shopping for her faves.  She also requested grape juice which we delivered.  She was in hog heaven.

Like any good Honey, I fixed up Henry for the Fall season of costumes and stuff.  He's the cutest in the history of ever.

I got the most amazing package in the mail from another sweet Lydia who makes homemade soaps. Are these not beautamous??  She has an instagram account where you can get yoself some.

Pulled out some of my fall stuff….even though it was almost 90 degrees that day.

 Hosted my very first Noonday Collection trunk show!  Emily drove 5 hours all the way from Shreveport to do it for me…..and she brought my momma!  Holla.

These donut hole kabobs were a total hit.  Easy peasy and looked so pretty on the table.  You should totally do it next time you have some kind of gathering and you want to look "impressive".

Thankful for all these Holden girls who were at the par-tay.

And last but not least…..sweet Jamie.  We were able to raise some amazing funds for their adoption through this incredible company.  Love, love, love what the Lord is doing in and through her family.

As soon as I cleaned up from the party…. me and Nick loaded up and headed to the Delta for a revival meeting.

 I love getting to serve along side my husband in ministry.  We are a team in every definition of the word and my heart is thankful for how He is using us for His glory in spite of us.

And going to a new church and walking all the way down to the front with a red thrift store tag hanging out the back is a great way to make a first impression.   lol.  Hashtag..Minnie Pearl.

I had a fit over this wall and asked Nick to pull over for a pic.  Is this not the coolest!

Pretty much how we spent our mornings each day…I call it treasure hunting.

Then we would usually meet the revival team for lunch each day and fellowship around the table and then Nick and I would explore.  I loved this coffee shop.  It used to be an old gas station.  Those windows are like garage doors and roll open!  It was POURING down raining on this day so we didn't get that experience.

 This was another favorite… The Warehouse.  Great atmosphere…especially if you like history.

 This old phone booth inside actually works!  The light comes on and everything inside.

Cleveland is home to Delta State University and their fighting Okras.  This is so adorable I don't think I could ever fear him.  I just want to hug him.  But their football team is pretty amazing so I guess the Okras are a force to be reckoned with.

We also started a 14 day sugar detox while we were out of town…in revival…where they love to feed you real good.  I know… it was not the best of timing but we made it work.  I'm on day 7 of the detox and hanging in there and learning a ton of stuff.  My girl Marta is pretty amazing with all her knowledge she is teaching our group.

My little sumpin sumpin that I always try to find from each city or town we visit turned out to be these amazing vintage hats to add to my growing collection.  I was beyond thrilled because they were only $5 dollars each!  Whoop whoop!  Bring on the tea party with the grand girls.

We came home to this sign that never gets old.  I pray I never take it for granted how much our church loves and supports us.  They send us off for Nick to preach these revivals with their blessings and undergird us in prayer….God did an amazing thing when He called us to this sweet and precious fellowship.  We are so blessed.

Then the very next day I was honored to speak at a ladies retreat for a local church.  Nick snapped this as I was transferring all of my notes from my notebook into an outline to take with me and he rallied the troops to be in pray for me and the ladies.  That was such a comfort and blessing.  I felt the prayers for sure.

 If anybody besides my momma is still with me and reading this I want to hug you. lol.  But I'm about to wrap it up…the end is near. I promise.

As I've told y'all before, my friend Becky likes to cuff me.  This is her latest and I near about died. It's my all time favorite for obvious reasons.  Love you Homeslice!

Got to see one of my girls in my trip to town.  That always makes my day.

Then got to see this that evening on one of our four wheeler rides through the neighborhood.  Amazing.

And to wrap up the last two wonderful weeks, We had some visitors traveling through on their way home to Texas.  They came to church and worshipped with us and then I had them over for lunch before they got back on the road.  I may have fed them some burnt chicken. Okay…I DID feed them burnt chicken.  Nick and I both agreed it was one of the worst dishes I have cooked in my 26 years of marriage. lol.  The best thing is, they didn't seem to mind…we had such a great time fellowshipping around the table hearing about all the their plans and dreams and what the Lord is up to in their lives that we all kind of forgot about the burntness.   (and the homemade ranch dressing they were smothering their chicken in seemed to help some too. lol.)

Life has been full and busy and I'm so thankful for the Lord continuing to use us the way He is doing…it is humbling, wonderful and exhausting all wrapped up in one.

But I wouldn't have it any other other way.  I've said it before and I'll say it again….

I want to be spent for His glory.  I want to be like the psalmist who said

"Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.  They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, 

Psalm 92:13-14

And just in case you didn't get enough pics from me…let me make sure you are overloaded before you go. lol.  Here's some of my favorites that my girls have shared over the last couple of days.

A little something extra…or  lagniappe as we like to say back home in Louisiana.

Lauren.  She's been putting out some pretty amazing posts on her blog lately.  So proud of the life she and Blake are pursing.

And this picture that Elizabeth took of the kids. Oh. My. Word.  Made my heart melt.

And Elizabeth's growing belly!!  I can't wait to see it in person NEXT WEEK!

And Lydia.  This may be my favorite family pic of them of all times. She totally nailed it.

And this one will be framed and hung in Honey's house SOON.

If you made it to the end of this post and are still reading this, I feel like I should have you over for supper or something!  If you come, I promise I'll try my best not to burn the chicken.