a ghetto christmas

after revolting from christmas decorating for the first 2 christmases in denton... i let my parents convince me that i needed to decorate.  here's my attempt at mimicking "charlie brown's" tree:

my parents went out of their way to get me these flamingos as an early birthday gift... i figured if i had to get into the holiday spirit, so did they!

my family

here are some family pictures taken during our time together at thanksgiving.  this was our first thanksgiving at my parent's new house in corpus christi, tx.  

my brother scott and his girlfriend jen

mom and dad

my brother jeff and his girlfriend courtney

my family.

the whole gang.

i'm say i'm thankful... but am i?

i saw this quote on my pastor's wife's blog:

"We should learn from this how stiff-necked and rebellious and unthankful we are...Each time they forgot God and went after other things. That is not just the story of Israel. It's the story of humanity. It's the story of my life and your life. Even as Christians, we are not steadfast in our affections for God. We have thankful days and unthankful days. And even our thankful days are not as thankful as they should be.

Just think of how joyful and thankful you would be if your heart responded to God himself and his ten thousand gifts with the admiration and gratitude of which he is worthy." (John Piper, from Spectacular Sins)

what stirs the affection of your heart?  what are you thankful for?