husband out of town=sad day.

David has been on a cruise with Booster since wednesday so I have been flying solo. The only other time we've been apart during marriage was when I went to visit my grandma for a weekend. Needless to say, I have been missing him so much! I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder. I am literally counting down the hours until he gets home. The Lord has been so faithful through this time and has really sustained me. I have only cried once which for me is really good. I'm just an emotional person. I am so blessed to have the sweet Bakers to take care of me and keep me company. I have even done some really fun things...drew and ellie holcomb concert (my favorite), dinners, walks, shopping, etc. So it hasn't been all bad. I am ready to have David back home...and that is today's sob story. :)

i'd be a really good stay at home mom...

well, minus the child. I have taken today off of work and it has been the most glorious day. David and I realized that we are so busy doing stuff with small groups, work, etc and he have started to neglect time for just the two of us to hang out and have fun. He leaves to go on his "work cruise" to Cozumel on wednesday and I wanted to be able to soak in some time. I have made some cookies that he adores (thanks to Meagan Gibson) and just hung out. It's amazing. If I just didn't work I would be able to have cookies all the time! haha.
Our holidays have kicked off to a busy start. It's good stuff to be busy with but still tiring. We had a "camp out" with our small group this weekend. It was so good. We did "Life Maps" which are basically an organized testimony and more in depth. People were so vunerable and it's amazing the stuff people go through. We get so caught up in the surface and don't take time to dig a little deeper. We are so blessed to be in such an amazing group of people to share life with. We helped to Bakers decorate their Christmas tree last night. It was so much fun to go back to childhood and see how much fun it is for kids. It's amazing how your idea of a Christmas tree goes from looking at every ornament in depth and in awe to trying to pick out just the right shade of red. wow.
Got to go finish making cookies for my precious husband..
" Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

home.

There is nothing like the place where you grew up. Since David and I are from the same home town, all of our family is here. We have had an incredible time. We flew in for Emily and BJ Haisten's wedding where we were reunited with so many friends! It was so much fun. Now we've been hanging out at home, catching up with friends, eating at favorite restaurants and eating yummy homemade meals. Life is good for the Brannens right now. We will put up some pictures from the trip.
We have already started our rounds of Thanksgiving meals but happy thanksgiving!!
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever."

happy day callie.

I teach special ed children who are pretty low on the spectrum. Most of them have Down's Syndrome and our class is called "Life Skills". The goals that these children have are writing their name legibly, knowing their colors, being able to look at someone and say "Hi" and many more. Their life is so simple. They are the happiest people I have ever known. They have found such a joy in the simplicity. It is such a beautiful thing. They have no idea and that people around them are stressed to no end because they have dry cleaning to pick up. I find myself getting so caught up in the everyday activities that I "have" to do. Then, I come to school and have to change a fifth grader that can't do it for himself. Talk about humbling. People keep asking me when I'll change jobs but the fact is that I am attached to these kids. They can frustrate me to no end but when Macy looks at me and gives me that smile, I don't want to do anything else. One child constantly looks at me and says "Happy day Callie" and grins ear to ear. You just can't help but smile right back.
I wish I could put up pictures but for some reason I feel like that's illegal in some way.

The Lord is faithful.

We have been reflecting a ton on how the Lord has been so faithful to us. He is so good even when we are not. We, as people, are so caught up in ourselves that we think that we have "earned" whatever is given to us. Before we got married (circa May), we had no idea where we were going to live, if we would have jobs, or how we would survive. We had a constant battle of giving these burdens over to the Lord. It was a really tough and trying time not knowing where we would be in 2 months. But of course, the Lord is faithful. ("Let us hold unswervingly to the hope that we profess for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23) In June He provided an amazing job for David that could not have been hand-picked better. David was stuck between wanting to do ministry and business. What does the Lord do? Give him a company to work for thats mission is to combine ministry and business. (Booster) Wow. Great example of how the Lord's plans are so above and better than our own. David realized that the Lord was shutting so many doors because He knew something better. Then we were nervous because we didn't know how we would afford an apartment in Dallas on one salary. (I didn't have a job) The Baker family tells us that we can live in their beautiful home. That is when the Lord just provides abundantly. We live in the nicest part of Dallas with the most amazing family. I still didn't have a job. After searching I get a job the first day of school at an awesome school doing something I didn't know I would enjoy so much. The Lord has constantly provided for us when we give it to Him. It's hard to give it over because human nature wants to hold on to it. But the Lord knows best, trust us.
It's funny how the Lord makes us sort of uncomfortable sometimes wanting to see if we will trust Him. He is a good Father though and loves His children. ("If you then ,being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more then will your Father in Heaven give what is good to those who ask him?" Matthew 7:11)
Thank you Lord for all You have done and are continuing to do!

family values.

One of the reasons we love Booster (the company David works with) is because they invest in our family. Their goal is to mold David into a better husband which will in turn make me a better wife (hopefully). They pay for us to go on one date night a month and give us a topic to discuss. The topic a couple of months ago was our family values. These are our values: Passion, Hope, Discipline, Integrity.
Passion- We want to be passionate about pursuing life. We want to be adventurous and have passion for the Lord and life overflowing.
Hope- The hope of our calling in Christ Jesus. Our hope we have in Him is that we know we put our faith and trust in Him and He will not disappoint.
Discipline- We want to be disciplined in every area of our life, from our morning time with the Lord to exercise. It covers a lot.
Integrity- If we our lose integrity we've lost. Integrity is everything.

sprucing up a little.

David and I had the opportunity to house/dog sit for some friends of ours this weekend. It was so great. We were able to have a whole house to ourselves and a dog! I can't even explain how much we want a dog. Our thought is that we will wait about a year until we get one so we can have no responsibilties for a little while. But we just want one so bad! Bad news came this weekend... my allergies started acting up a little at the Lacy's house (who we were dog-sitting for). I am praying that it was not because of the sweet puppy. That would cause devastation. I am convinced that there has to be some kind of shot out there to make it better. There has to be!
I was also inspired this weekend to get a little festive. I went to Target yesterday and purchased some fun fall-ish things. I was so happy. I LOVE holidays. They are just so fun, how could you not love them?