Lauren Tagged Me

I've been tagged.


The Game of Tag about your MAN:

1. Who is your man? Blake J
2. How long have you been together? 4.5 years married, 7 years total
3. How long dated? 2.5 years
4. How old is your man? 30
5. Who eats more? Him.
6. Who said "I love you" first? He did in the creek at his grandparents house.
7. Who is taller? Blake by 7 inches
8. Who sings better? Blake has an awesome voice, but he has a hard time picking up harmony unless I teach it to him...so I would have to say that I sing better!! HA!!
9. Who is smarter? I don't know who is smarter. I definitely did better in school...but he doesn't even try and can pull a B...so if he tried...he probably is a lot smarter than me.
10. Whose temper is worse? I would have to say his although it's gotten a lot better and of course...I have a slight temper too. ;)
11. Who does the laundry? I definitely do the laundry. For the last month it's been completely done every day...no dirty clothes. Surprising. He will try to do it sometimes, but he almost always ruins something so I BEG him not to do it.
12. Who takes out the garbage? Mostly Blake, but if he forgets I do it.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are looking at the bed from the foot of it, Blake sleeps on the right side.
14. Who pays the bills? I have always done the bills, but the last couple of months Blake has been doing them.
15. Who is better with the computer? I would have to say that I am...he knows how to email...oh and I taught him how to pull up spider solitaire the other day!
16. Who mows the lawn? If our mower wasn't broke I'd go mow that foot tall grass right now. Blake mostly mows, but he's been gone so much that I've done it since the summer mostly.
17. Who cooks dinner? I definitely cook dinner...although Blake knows how to make a sandwich and macaronni. Sad thing is he still can't even make the instant oatmeal right. The kids look at it like, "We're supposed to eat that glue?" :)
18. Who drives when you are together? We take turns. Blake falls asleep while he drives so on long trips I mostly drive because even if he does drive I can't fall asleep because I'm too afraid.
19. Who pays when you go out? He does because I hate carrying a purse.
20. Who is most stubborn? I would have to say that I am. He gives in and definitely says he's sorry WAY before me.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? He definitely is. I take forever to say I'm sorry...although I'm getting better.
22. Whose parents do you see the most? It goes in spurts. His parents like to come stay at our house and visit us...while mine mostly come for day trips or we will go there for a weekend. Sometimes we see mine a lot...then sometimes we see his a lot. Just depends.
23. Who kissed who first? Definitely he kissed me first...on the forehead outside his apartment.
24. Who asked who out? He did.
25. Who proposed? Blake.
26. Who is more sensitive? Neither one of us are overly sensitive. I'm probably meaner though.
27. Who has more friends? For sure Blake. He doesn't meet a stranger. I'm more the recluse type.
28. Who has more siblings? Me...youngest of five.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? I like to wear the pants, but GOD has been gracious in showing Blake how to lead and me how to follow. I have to say that although he is for sure the leader...he is just always gracious in wanting my input and truly valuing my thoughts and opinions and desires for our family. So...that's pretty easy to follow.

Okay, I think I have to tag 5 people: Steph, Maury, Kimbo, and I don't have too many more friends, but everyone can do it if they want!!

8 Random Facts/Habits

I was tagged by my friend Natalie to give 8 random facts/habits about myself.

The Rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (**if you’re a non-blogger, you can email them!)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My eight random facts and/or habits:

1. I am deathly afraid of cockroaches.

2. My dad raced pigeons my whole life and I spent several years racing pigeons with him. No...they don't go in a gymnasium and run laps...they get dropped off several hundred miles away and then fly back to our home. Embarrassingly enough, my sophomore year of high school I was on the Today Show for racing pigeons with my dad. YES YES...they came to our house and did a segment on us. I do own a copy for any viewers who might want to partake in seeing this!!

3. This may be well known about me, but I seem to always have a stain somewhere on my clothing as well as my house is always a bit unkept. I used to never be like this. I don't know what happened to me. Hopefully I will change back soon!

4. When my uncle passed away my sisters and I had to sing at his funeral. A one hundred one year old lady played the piano for us and she kept playing all the wrong thing. We stood on stage hysterically laughing (you know like when you were little and in church and not supposed to laugh so it made you laugh harder)...well it was this type of laughing and we couldn't stop. Finally we just sat down and quit all together. It was horrible, but absolutely hilarious.

5. I miss my husband so bad right now that I feel like I might possibly go out of my mind.

6. I was the one in college who changed the marquee sign on our theater building to say something really mean about our dorm director. Really mean. I've repented.

7. If I could ever go back to school for my masters I would love to do Christian Counseling. In the mean time my passion is just being in people's lives and walking through life with them.

8. I have to use Sally Hansen Cream Hair Remover to remove my mustache. EVERY LADY SHOULD PURCHASE THIS because it's soft on the skin and doesn't leave large burn marks...special thanks to my friend Laurie who talked me into nairing my lip in middle school and I've had a mustache ever since...those dang Nair burn marks too...OUCH!!!

Okay the girls I have tagged...I don't think I have eight friends so I will tag two of my favorites...Maury Jo and Stephie!! Love ya'll!!

Fear, Fear, Fear

John Piper on Fear...I also know most of my fear is sin. It goes against the command of GOD because it does not come from faith in HIS promises. It comes from unbelief. Fear is a sign of Pride and Unbelief. Pride, because of fear that some weakness might be exposed; unbelief because I'm not resting in GOD's promised sufficiency. It is a battle to take GOD at HIS word and rest in HIS all-sufficiency and do what HE commands without wavering in fear.

For months now I've been hearing about fear of man and dying to learn more about it. I honestly felt it wasn't a struggle for me...mainly because I wasn't sure how it was defined. Today I was taking a nap and of course dreaming through all the different scenarios that I am currently worried about this week...when all of a sudden in my sleep GOD gently said, "This is your fear as well as your fear of man, Sarah!" When I woke up I realized that for the third day in a row, GOD had revealed my sin to me through my sleep. This may sound cool, but sadly enough, it's probably the only place HE can get me to slow down enough to listen to HIM. So, why do I care what others might think? Is there possibly some truth in what they think? Is it revealing weakness in myself? Am I fearful CHRIST isn't enough? Should I take care of these circumstances my own way? Why do I put myself in so much bondage when GOD is the only thing worthy of my fear? I'm so thankful I ran across Piper's sermon. It has truly helped me battle to take GOD at HIS WORD and rest in HIS all-sufficiency and do what HE commands without wavering in fear. What a battle and what a struggle...but what a relief to surrender to CHRIST and relish in HIS mercy on my life.

Check out this sermon if you want!
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1981/304_Even_the_Hairs_of_My_Head_Are_All_Numbered/

SPICE UP YOUR BORING SUMMER NIGHTS

Well if you find that you become bored with your family on some of these hot summer nights...just go to your local Super Target and have your husband push you and the kids around in a shopping cart, in the parking lot at eleven o'clock at night. Seriously. It keeps him thin and looking good and...well...you and the kids have a blast.

CELEBRATING LYN

Our friend Lyn Forrest finally finished all her schooling to become a teacher as well as passed her exam...AND CAN NOW BE A TEACHER!!! YEAH!!! We are so excited for her and we sure did have a fun night at PF Changs and Bahama Bucks!!

Memorial Day Weekend

We honestly didn't do much over the weekend, but being like the spur of the moment family that we are...we decided on Sunday to go visit the grandparents and great grandparents in Jonesboro, TX. Seriously, we decided to go, packed within thirty minutes and loaded up in Blake's brothers truck for a three hour ride to the country! We had a lot of fun!! I had some time to write and study as well as get some rest! Corban and Crew had fun with Nana and Poppy as well as their great grandparents! Corband played in the creek naked and Crew stuck mostly to jeep rides with his Poppy and brother as well as pushing trucks on the porch! We are truly blessed to have family. When I see the pictures of my boys with their great grandparents my heart just melts. We are fortunate to still have them around and for my boys to know both of their sweet spirits. What a blessing!

Surrender

The solace of surrender
I find myself at rest
Your peace running like a river
And peace promising Your best

Holding to you my GOD
LORD fill my mind with wonder
Take away this phony facade
Forsaking my sin, let me never ponder

Facing my shame, never pointing a finger
Have victory my GOD, let not my sin linger
I let go of contempt and this need to blame
For Your name alone deserves all the fame

To You GREAT GOD I do surrender
I now look to You, seeing glory and splendor
Giving up expectation, giving up all control
Burning Your truth on my lips, deeper still in my soul

Your solace of surrender
I know I have your rest
Your peace rushing like a river
Your peace has promised me Your best

-SC

This would be a more accurate portrayal of our family!!

Blake Starring in James Blonde

This is an intro to a series of hilarious videos we did for our Spin weekend for our students!! Blake is the hottest James Blonde I know!! :)

Crew

With a new adopted baby...getting pregnant was one of the last things on our mind. Honestly we weren't sure if pregnancy was ever even an option for us. Corban was four months old when I had an emotional break down at high school camp over a concession stand closing down and I wasn't able to buy a pickle. Stupid Concession stand guy!! That should have been my first clue. The next week we had our identity stolen and had no money for literally two weeks. My friend Lauren and I were singing at Vacation Bible School that same week. I told her I was late and I just couldn't seem to catch up on my sleep. She kept telling me I was pregnant and I just knew there was no way. Plus we had no money to buy a pregnancy test with our identity stolen and I had quit taking pregancy tests that last year because I never got pregnant. On top of all that Blake had been out of town three of the four weeks that previous month...and we had tried off and on for a year and a half. It just wasn't happening!! I went home late one night that week and was putting Corban to bed. I reached under his changing table to get a diaper and I noticed a pregnancy test. I have no idea what it was doing under there, but I put Corban to bed and went to the go take the test. Sure enough it was positive!! I couldn't believe it!! Blake and I were so excited...yet nervous that the boys were going to be 13 months apart!! Pregnancy was awesome! I always pictured Crew to be brown like Corban...yet he came out whiter than Blake! Crew has such a gentle, loving spirit. He is quiet, yet mischevious. He is beautiful. He is a lover, a wrestler, a light sleeper and a smiler. Our prayer continues on that he will know CHRIST intimately as he grows up!!

Corban

After two years of marriage Blake and I began discussing the idea of getting pregnant. Little did we know that even though we were going to begin trying, GOD was going to put that idea on hold for a much bigger purpose. I was driving out of town when my cell phone rang. There was a female voice on the line saying they had a mother that was pregnant and who wanted to place her unborn child for adoption. I really didn't understand why she was calling me or where she felt that we fit into the picture within this situation. She went on to say that even though we didn't know her, that she had heard Blake and I wanted to eventually adopt one day. One day...one day when we didn't live financially month to month. One day...when we actually had a savings account. One day...after we had given birth to our own children. One day...when there was specifically a brown boy who needed a home. One day...one day. I asked her what the baby was. Black. Male. I kind of got chills a bit and started immediately dreaming in my head. We needed three thousand dollars up front and around twelve thousand dollars total over time. The baby would be born in two weeks. Honestly I'm embarrassed to say that I laughed. I told this voice we would pray, but most likely to start looking for another set of adoptive parents. Blake and I fasted and prayed all weekend. Basically we made ourselves available to GOD. Afterall, if HE wanted to perform a miracle and give us three thousand dollars...we would be obedient to whatever HE was calling us to. Monday came around and we received a call from this woman again. I told her we prayed and were open to it, but that the finances were not in place and so there was no possible way for us to make this happen. There was silence, she laughed and said..."There has already been a three thousand dollar donation made this weekend to a couple needing it for the placement of a child and you are our only couple." I don't think I have ever had chills this big in my life or have I ever cried like that before. We didn't tell a soul we needed money. Just GOD. Two weeks later a precious baby was born...but GOD had a refining process in store for us. This baby was not meant to be ours, but he was meant to be with his mother that gave birth to him. As sad as it was...it was such a sweet time. (I will hopefully blog this story in the future). Blake and I were devastated, but knew GOD had something greater in store. We continued on...somewhat trying to get pregnant when five months later we received a phone call. It was that same voice. She said there was another baby boy on the way and there were no available adoptive parents who could take him. We prayed. I was not excited. I was scared. Yet I knew without even pursuing GOD fully for an answer that this was our baby and GOD was asking us to be obedient again. We were obedient and GOD gave us our Corban when he was only 48 hours old. I am overwhelmed with grattitude toward our great GOD for blessing us with a son who was meant to be our son. I am overwhelmed with grattitude for such an amazing birth mom who carried this precious life for ten months and selflessly did all she could do for him. She could have chosen death, but she chose not only his life, but life even more full for us as a family. Corban is beautiful, smart, witty, rebelious, a little OCD, messy, wild, a warrior, a hard sleeper, a lover, a wrestler and our prayer is that mostly one day he will be a child of GOD. THANK YOU GOD FOR THIS PRECIOUS LIFE!!

Family

THIS IS US! THE CHILTON FAMILY!! Actually we look really polished in this picture. Most of the time we are barefoot, have food on our shirts (including me), hairs a mess, running around and being really crazy. But, I have to say I love to see pictures like these. It slows me down. It makes me really process who I am and who we are as a family. My dream is here. I'm a wife and mom...and still I couldn't ask for more. It's exactly what I wanted. Blake is more than I could have asked for in a man, yet I'm not sure he always knows I feel that way and I can't imagine spending life without him. I am so thankful yet overwhelmed that four and a half years into marriage I have two children. I am amazed by HIS faithfulness to us and for some crazy reason I yearn to see what HIS future holds for us.