Today is an exciting day, but I'll have to wait a little bit before sharing any details, since this is technically public. Worth the wait I promise.

Spent most of the early day with Stephen getting some poles put up for the stringed lights going around our patio. It looks awesome, but I think we'll end up having to criss cross them across the patio instead of around the perimeter because we have so much extra length that has no home.

This evening I met up with the girls from church go over the Mother's Day baskets. We first enjoyed some awesome frozen yogurt--seriously one of the best yogurt shops around.

These ladies are pretty fun to be around, and love getting to enjoy early summer evening eating ice cream, talking on their outdoor patio, and discussing God. Pretty stellar way to end the day.

Since Stephen is now self-employed, we both technically have Fridays off. So today we checked out the property he's considering leasing for the car dealership. While it's more of a shell than a real building, it has the essentials and now my mind has been racing about what we can do to spruce this place up into a real business. I think it will do!

After we came home for a bit, took a little nap and a few other things, we headed back out this evening for a date. My sweet hubby had messaged me on Facebook asking if I'd go on a date with him this Friday, so he had all the details planned.

He took me to the tiny town of Peak, SC--which if you peak for just a second you've seen it all. We found part of the Palmetto trail that is a state project trying to stretch one walking path across the entire state and then I think beyond.

So one portion we walked were old train tracks converted into a walking path. It crossed over some small streams, and then took you deep into the forest. Stephen managed to find another portion of the trail you could enter on that looked interesting, so we drove 6 minutes and found the start of this trail on the edge of the Broad River.

It was massive. Here they'd converted the pony truss bridge that carried the train across the river into a walking path. We walked through a few camp sites getting set up for the weekend, smelling hot dogs roasting over a fire. We walked the entire span of the bridge seeing old ruins down in the shallow river waters from where the bridge had been burned down at one point during the Civil War. There were people fishing in kayaks on the river, and the weather was perfect. The whole area was beautiful.

After our walk, we worked up a hunger, and Stephen took us to Chapin to enjoy J. Richards Grill and Bar. Delicious food. Small town Copper River Grill almost. 

Tonight after Unleashed, we headed to IHOP like normal. Our waiter has become our regular there every third Thursday or so. He's about our age, and has really seemed to gravitate towards our group, always telling us we take care of him when we come. Which is impressive cause we have a bunch of poor kids trying to buy a meal, but glad to hear people compensate him adequately.

A week or so ago I became a bit obsessed with some Instagram videos on watercolors, and doing watercolor calligraphy. So I texted my now expert Tori and asked if she'd done any watercolors. She of course showed me her ways last Friday, so I've been experimenting.

Tonight was using my brand new brush markers from Amazon, as well as a watercolor brush pen. It soaks up colors into the bristle, but you load up the handle with water (either clear or tinted). It's amazing! It gives you all the benefits of a brush marker (the flexibility and smoothness) with the perks of watercolor (inconsistent coloration, little bits of brush strokes).

Tried is the key word...

These are large brush markers

These are Watercolor Brush drills

Love the lack of color in some spots

The girls and I are in the planning stages of trying to go on a cruise! Eek! We think we've finally found one we can all take time off for, and sounds amazing. Royal Caribbean from Tampa to Key West to Havana, Cuba to Cozumel, Mexico. Can't wait! Now just to hope prices go down, and rooms stay available.

This marks Stephen's last week with TCI. I am very excited to see him makes his dreams a reality.

Yes I may be slightly dragging my feet in the process. I'll catch up eventually.

Today with not much on the agenda after church, I decided to pick up the supplies I need for the stringed lights on our patio.

Here's my inspiratoin

So a few months ago I manged to snag about 8 plastic tall planters in brown for $5 each. Unreal. Six of them are to live with us as the bases for our light poles.

I can't wait to make this happen!

Tonight we attempted to try and regain one of our college and career crew by inviting them to the drive in, which we figured they would love as well as the movie we were watching. Unfortunately that was not a success.

But we had a success in that the evening was incredibly fun. Even though my planning self gets all worked up and nervous about everything going "perfectly" because I've planned it. Nothing perfect about a drive-in movie in the cold.

Yes the cold. Apparently we're back in January again, because we all froze underneath quilted blankets and makeshift blankets out of sleeping bags. We struggled.

But Beauty and the Beast was just as amazing the second time around, and Kong was surprisingly really good. I can't get enough of being loud, crazy, and hanging with awesome people in the middle of Monetta watching a giant projection on a giant screen as we blare our radio to listen to the audio.

While drive-ins are our era, I'm claiming them. Makes me feel like I'm old fashioned, and I love it.

I didn't do a whole lot today, but just enough to stay busy. Managed to do some grocery shopping, appearing to be a real adult for a short time, as well as get our A/C people in the house to do our annual check up on the system. 

Huh?

Today we got to take a photo with our Reading Buddy for the volunteer wall at HB Rhame. I have no idea how the photo turned out, but I keep enjoying reading with Keith more and more. He's a great kid, and man he makes me feel like 100 bucks. I managed to snap a photo of his sweet hands as he decided he really loved this book we've yet to read, and so he wanted to make sure we got the sequel that was on the back cover.

Maggie the dog tales

Tonight at Unleashed I had a talk with Hannah and Steve as we've been trying to reach out to a friend who's been gone for a while. Nothing seems to work, and as much as we try and love on her, she's just not having it. Thankfully Hannah seems to have made a little dent in the armor our friend is wearing, and so we encouraged her to continue loving as long as our friend would let her. Doesn't make it easy. When someone rejects everything you send their way, it's hard to keep going. But love is a sacrifice sometimes right?

Well the weather is back at it again today. All sorts of tornado warnings have been going off throughout the southeast, so our work closed down at 11 am. Yep pretty sure SCBC may be afraid of it's own shadow at this point. I really do appreciate their wanting to keep us safe, but guys, really?

Make the most of it right? So I left work, went to Sandy's for a hot dog where I joked with the staff about the fact they'd have to duck for cover under the counters if the tornadoes decided to show up (because you gotta serve them hot dogs), and went straight to Stephen's work.

I ended up hanging out with him until 2:30pm or so when the sky turned an awful black color and it looked like the sky was about to fall out.

I barely made it home, because about a mile out the rains were so intense. It did seem to lighten up by the time I pulled in the driveway, so I made a mad run for it to the front porch. Sitting on the couch, listening to the rain, and diving into Experiencing God was a perfect way to end the afternoon.

So appreciative of these quiet moments.

I've hinted over the past couple of weeks the inability for Lisa and I to get together. I guess God always knows what He is doing--okay I don't guess, I KNOW-- because at a time where I'm ready to "write someone off" God just won't let me.

So we finally met up, and it was completely worth it.

One, Lisa is great to talk to really. She's a counselor by profession, but she doesn't critique and analyze me (at least not to my face! ha). Instead we just talk. We talk like we've known each other for a really long time. It's hard to find people I feel comfortable around, and don't have to try too hard with. I've been able to be there for her at times, and it's good to feel like you can help out someone and that they need you from time to time.

Lisa previously has asked me to kind of walk through her as she does some assessments with a small group she's in at church. I felt pretty honored she'd ask me, and totally unequipped at the same time. But figuring not really anyone knows what they are getting into when they decide to help someone go through these assessments, I said yes hoping God would give me the tools to figure it out.

When I say that tonight was a God moment, it was without a doubt one. I can say that with 100% certainty. God showed up. I was in tears, because I knew in this moment He was speaking right to me.

Again feeling completely unequipped, I just know that God keeps putting people in my path, very specific people, and there is no denying that it's God alone doing it.

I was in shock, and it made me feel like a fool for ever considering giving up on this friendship.

A few weeks ago I stepped out in obedience to something, God showed up that night, and God continues to show up today from that act of obedience. I would not be aware nor in a place to acknowledge the work God is doing right now.

Do I still feel unequipped? Oh my goodness yes! Do I know that God can be strong in my weaknesses? Wholeheartedly.

Going to try to keep stepping out in obedience, because my God is bigger than all this! 

Work let out a little early today, as the darkening skies suggested we stay inside and put as soon and as long as possible. Since so many of our people have to travel a good distance to get back home, SCBC has always been pretty proactive in making sure we have ample time to avoid bad weather situations.

So we let out at 3pm, while super nice of work to make sure we got home safe, I was just super excited to have a couple extra hours to my day. I wasn't quite ready to be back at work, so it was a nice break from the normal.

Stephen and I watched from our back sliding glass door as the wind picked up, the skies turned black, and the rain poured down in sheets across the field behind our home. It was intense, but the power stayed on and it passed quickly.

Days like this always make me super thankful for the house that surrounds us. 

Church this morning was really good, out of the normal but good. We've been going through the Experiencing God book, and Mark has been leading our group. While he's done an excellent job, Stephen filled in for him this morning and did a great job facilitating discussion.

I think I've missed that part. Just discussing. Sharing what we've learned. Sharing how God is working through us in the material. While we get that most Sundays, we just seemed to get so much more of it today. Don't know if everyone was just in the right mood, or God just proposed some really good questions.

I find myself reaching for this study more and more with eagerness and earnest. Excited to see where God takes this.

This morning I woke up really early to catch a ride with Chad and Andrew to a "Way of the Master" course out at Hulon Baptist Church--the middle of nowhere.

I would be understating it if I said I was blown away by how much I gained from the course, but I really was blown away! It gave a whole new perspective on how to present the gospel and begin gospel conversations with others.

We are taught so often to share of all the good God has done and will continue to do in your life once you're a believer--while true, not sharing the fact that you are indeed a sinner, that you will face hardships, etc--really means we begin to perpetuate the idea of the prosperity gospel at the time of someone's conversion.

"Give your life to Christ and you will be filled with so many blessings and joys!"

So true, but we are also promised a lot of other things too--some not so pretty things.

So without going too much in detail, it definitely gave me a new outlook on how to share the gospel, a holistic picture!

I sneezed through the entire course, and by the time I got home this evening, my allergies had begun to turn into a full fledged sickness--yay! 

Tonight Stephen and I headed over to my parents house for an early birthday get together for my dad! He is turning 70 on April 19, and that is too crazy for me to believe.

You should be aware he hates birthday parties. He hates getting gifts. That makes it really intimidating when you WANT to do something and you WANT to get him something.

I could only remember having bought a yard stake that's a decorative piece made out of spoons/forks to comprise a dragonfly--one of our inside jokes. I knew it'd be sentimental enough and unique enough he'd appreciate it, instead of dread it.

But right before we left, I remembered I had a Christmas gift that arrived late for him. So I had held on to it for the perfect moment--THIS MOMENT.

He doesn't actually have a Nikon.. it's a Sony

My dad LOVED it. I mean was falling over himself at how funny and useful it was. So glad he liked it, because I figured it'd be another trinket.

One of my favorite feelings in the world is being tucked away inside a warm dimly lit room with a storm raging on outside. While work is not the most relaxing environment--is any place with fluorescent lighting?--every now and then I get a little peak at comfort from the view of my office.

☔☔☔☔

A post shared by Brittany Prahl (@diednsaved) on Mar 30, 2017 at 12:26pm PDT

Sometimes these weeks just feel like such a routine. Nothing too out of the normal, the same pattern of events as the week before. So tonight was just another Thursday.

But really, while I dread going to Unleashed sometimes--because it's hard for me to be "extroverted" and willing to engage 30 different people--the nights are always so filling and rewarding.

God uses this time to stretch me. Not only do we always get an awesome message, but just through fellowship with others I can feel Him developing qualities in me I don't naturally possess.

We headed out to IHOP afterwards. I downed some delicious eggs with basil and tomatoes in them, and of course a short stack of pancakes. Got to sit around some amazing people laughing and carrying on as normal.

The mundane can be okay sometimes. The routine can be welcomed.

Tonight I was supposed to go hang out with Lisa, since we missed going out last Tuesday due to some miscommunication. But work let her off a little early, and so we opted to try again next week. We'll see.

So instead I came home to a quiet house, enjoying a quiet evening with the hubby. Can't complain about that.