The Ramblings of Denira

My good friends Stephanie and Mike are going to have a baby!!!! they have been trying for a couple months now and Stephanie called me last night around 11:00 and informed me that she is pregnant!!! i’m so excited for them. they just bought a new house and now they are going to have a baby!!! No two people deserve it more!!!! they are going to be great parents and i’m so excited to see them go on this journey. Bobby and i are so blessed to have them as friends!!! i’m even more blessed because i get to work with Steph every day!!! Congrats Gentrys!!!!!!!!

So I had a great weekend!! Friday night Bobby and I went shopping for presents for Tiffany (my sister in law) and the baby. We had so much fun! We went everywhere that could possibly sell baby stuff!!! Then we went to a fund raiser for Camp Koinonia and got to spend some time talking to some people that I haven’t seen in awhile. Saturday morning, Bobby and I got up and went and bought a new gas grill! Our other one was getting a little worn out and we found a really good deal on one. Our grill is very important to us! We love just grilling out with our friends and just being outside. Last summer, Melissa, Chris, Bobby and myself cooked out practically every weekend!! Later in the day I went to help set up for the baby shower. It was so much fun!! Tiffany got so many presents and we are way excited and can’t wait for little Celina to get here! Saturday night I went out with my old roommates to celebrate Kelly’s birthday! Ever since we all became friends, it’s a tradition for the 4 of us to get together and go out for our birthdays. We have so much fun together. Kelly, Tonya and Melissa are the greatest friends ever! Sometimes, although i love being married and living with Bobby, I miss having them around all the time. Sunday we went to church and then after church tried a new restaurant here in Oak Ridge. It was soooo good!! It’s right on the river so it’s really nice and has a great view. Sunday night we spent time with our awesome students in the student ministry. It was a great weekend. I did get called into work on Sunday night (the joys of being on call 24/7) but all in all it was a great weekend!!!!

So this is my nephew. I recently bought Bobby guitar hero because he’s been wanting it for so long and he’s such a great hubby. i love buying him random gifts for no reason, or just doing little things for him for no other reason than to let him know that i am thinking about him and that I love him. I know I don’t do it enough. Anyway…back to the picture. This is our adorable nephew Chirstian, playing guitar hero. He’s such a great kid. He LOVES Bobby. Anything that Bobby does, Christian wants to do. He loves that Bobby can really play the guitar. Anytime we get in the car, he wants to hear “bobby’s song” anytime a male is singing on the radio, he says it’s Bobby!! it’s soooo adorable!!! Anyway, just wanted to share my cutie nephew with everyone. Bobby and i are very proud Aunt and Uncle!! We have 2 nieces, 3 nephews and one more niece on the way!! it’s so exciting!!!!

Yea!! Warm weather is finally here. You have no idea how happy I am about that. I wish we would have gotten 1 good snow, but I’m excited that warm weather is back. During the winter I always just feel blah, but in the summer and spring, I’m always ready to go do something. It’s going to be busy summer this year. Starting my birthday weekend, we’re going to be going camping with all my wonderful friends, then we have the Thirsty conference in May, not to mention all the proms that I get to see my beautiful small group girls get ready for. Plus my new niece should arrive in May!!! In June is the mission trip and a wedding to attend. July is the big 4th of July festivities I’m involved in planning, in August we have the big fusion weekend camp and then in Sept. is mine and Bobby’s 2nd anniversary and we are going away for a week! And somewhere in all that we have to do tons of stuff my bestest friend Melissa before her and her hubby move all the way out to San Diego. Wow, I’m tired just thinking about it!!! It’s going to be a great spring and summer and i can’t wait to see what all God has in store for us, despite all of our already made plans!!!!

Last night I got the opportunity to go and see Chris Tomlin,Matt Redman and Louie Giglio. I love seeing those guys. I mean I know they are human just like everyone else, but in the times that I have seen them live has been some of the greatest worship experiences of my life. Not because of them, but just the prescene of God that they allow to flow through them. I got to take Allie with me last night. She is one of the girls in the High school girls small group that I lead. She’s also the student worship leader. She’s only 16 but you wouldn’t believe how spiritually mature she already is. It was awesome just to share that experience with her last night.

Louie talked last night about just how BIG God is. He shared a lot of stuff that I had already heard at the Thirsty conference last year, but he really put a new twist on things. He showed pictures of planets and stars and talked about how big the universe is. He talked about just the way it was made and how it was sooooo big and complex that there’s no way that we could completely comprehend it. But then he started talking about us, about how we are made. As amazing,interesting,beautiful, and comlex as the universe is, we are made in the image of God. So how much more amazing, interesting, beautiful and complex are we? I guess it just really hit me last night what amazing work God did when he created Humans. Louie used a quote from Augustine last night, it said…” Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering. ” I sat there and read this quote over and over while it was on the screan, and I just began to tear up. How true is that. I mean, I’m def. guilty of low self esteem at times and struggling to find anything good about my body…i guess it’s a girl thing. But how true is it that out of all the most wonderful sights in the world, We are so much more in God’s eyes, because He made us in HIS image. What if everytime we looked in the mirror we remembered that? Or when we looked at someone else .How different would our lives be?

My major in college made me take a lot of anatomy, physiology and exercise science classes. I’m so sorry that I didn’t pay more attention in those classes. I mean, I did my work and passed the classes and have the knowledge I need for my job, but what an amazing class that would have been if I really looked at all I was learning as a mircle of God, rather than just a boring class I had to take.

Anyway…those are my ramblings for today. Just some thoughts!!!

So, once upon a time I had a blog on a different website, but i quit doing it for some reason. However, a lot of my friends, along with my husband, are using this and are getting really into the blog thing, so i thought….why not. Who knows if anyone will read this, but it’s always fun to get your thoughts out. Bobby and i are heading up to Cleveland, Oh tonight. We’re going up for a preview weekend for the mission trip that we are taking the students on this summer. I’m really excited to just be able to get away for a couple of days with Bobby. Plus it will be exciting to find out about the mission trip. On Friday, we are going to drive to Cincinnati to see Carrie, Derek and baby Logan. Those of you who know Carrie Human from high school…..she had a baby 14 weeks premature. He’s in Childrens Hospital in Cincinnati. He’s doing really well and we’re so thankful for that. Carrie and Derek are hanging in there, but can defiently use some prayers, as i can’t imagine how difficult it must be.

So there’s a lot of people that use these blogs that i haven’t talked to in a very long time, so it might be good to catch everyone up. I got married to my bestest friend and most wonderful guy in Sept of 05. It’s hard to believe that this sept. we will have been married 2 years. It’s been a great journey with him. i work at Holston Home for Children. i do child and family counseling. it’s a good job, it defiently has its moments though!! Other than that, our life is high schoolers!!! Bobby is a student pastor at our church so we are constantly surrounded by teenagers….and i wouldn’t have it any other way. i lead a high school girls small group and it’s such a blessing. I could not imagine life with out being involved in our student ministry. Well that’s really all there is about me. i look forward to keeping in touch with more people and finding out all about everyone else’s lives!!!!