Friday, February 26, 2010

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Dinner.

Dinner.

Stephanie Gates
Www.stephaniegates.blogspot.com
-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Friday, February 19, 2010

It's gonna be a good night away.



Stephanie Gates
Www.stephaniegates.blogspot.com
-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Monday, February 15, 2010

lent... reposted.

last year i wrote a post about lent. with fat tuesday happening tomorrow, i figured it would be appropriate to repost it.

do you give something up for lent?

Lent, in some Christian denominations, is the forty-day-long liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter. the forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert, where according to the Bible He endured temptation by Satan (thanks wikipedia).

historically, it is during Lent that people give up something... in order to be reminded of spiritual things when "it" (whatever has been given up) crosses their mind. it is a forty day fast.

i can remember times when i would hear people say that they were giving up something that wasn't a daily part of their life. for example, i remember someone saying they were giving up beer for Lent. for some, this would be a sacrifice... for this person... they had never had a drink. how could that be considered a willing sacrifice made in order to glorify God? that seemed very hypocritical to me.

i am not good at giving things up. i struggle with commitment. for some reason, God continues to work on the lack of discipline that is what i call my life. so for the first time in my 28 years, i am going to give something up for Lent.

the Bible says to not 'broadcast' when you are fasting to people (that's the stephanie paraphrase)... so i have decided to keep this sacrifice to myself. i will reveal what i am giving up after the 40 days... in that same post, i will report to you if i stuck to it. stay tuned... and check back around Easter.

the new office

the new job title brought a new office with it. here are the before, during and after pictures. many thanks to my friends and students for all of their help painting and getting everything settled in.

click here to view the entire album.

before:




during:


after:






Thursday, February 11, 2010

snow day!


here's a picture of some of our UNT BSM students enjoying a snow day!

a friend sent me flowers

a friend sent me flowers to help celebrate my new job title.

The view from my front door.



-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

an exciting update...

i have been serving as the interim UNT BSM director since july 2009... today, i officially became the director. i'm excited to serve here and to have the opportunity to watch God move in the lives of these students.

the BSM students and staff were excited with me and helped me celebrate with pink cupcakes and a balloon-filled office.


tomorrow, i'll start painting and moving into a new office. i'm pretty sure the process will be an adventure with all of the helping hands, but i'm excited that they want to be involved. i'm blessed.

Friday, February 5, 2010

marriage does not exist to make you happy

tonight while driving to and from fort worth for a wedding rehearsal, i listened to this sermon (sanctification in marriage) by matt chandler... twice.

if you are married... engaged... dating... or single... you should, actually need to, listen to this.

click here to listen.

matt chandler video update


Tuesday, February 2, 2010

In bed before 11 pm... This happens so infrequently that I thought it would be wise to document it.

In bed before 11 pm... This happens so infrequently that I thought it would be wise to document it.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Monday, February 1, 2010

picking dandelions by sarah cunningham


sarah cunningham's book, picking dandelions, hits shelves today. stay tuned for a book review on this site in the very near future.

the book is available on amazon.com.

also, i recommend follow the author on twitter.