Kristin McLendon: August 2008

Thursday, August 28, 2008

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy...

In case anyone has been sitting on the edge of their seats waiting on a post on Costa Rica...don't worry...it's still coming...and still a work of progress in my head...and heart. But until then, here is a video that Kylie Berry put together. The team gave a presentation to the Body of Christ last night--believe me it was very hard to not hop in a car and drive the 4 1/2 hours home to be there, but we had staff retreat here and I have to adjust my heart to know that this is where the Lord has called me to (staff retreat was absolutely amazing--more on that later!). It is still hard to know they were standing up sharing what the Lord has done in their hearts...oh, how I long to hear those testimonies. The Lord has been teaching me a lot lately about Revelation 19:10 as he's given me plenty of oportunities as of late to share what He has done in my life. I have been reminded lately of the pit He brought me out of. I have been reminded of how good He is to me and my family. So may I encourage you now, even if you are not in a new place with new people to share what the Lord has done in your life AND what He is doing. "Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prohecy." Revelation 19:10

On that note, we are getting ready to travel once again. We are heading to Perry Friday morning to spend some quality time with the McLendon's. Robert has also been asked to speak at First Love Ministries on Saturday night. He feels Jesus is giving him a very specific message for such a time as this. He feels that I am involved in some sort of way. Please pray for us as we just want to be His vessels and speak His Truth. We would love to hear what you guys are up to for Labor Day weekend!

Okay...now for the video...enjoy! I'm proud of you Kylie for your leadership and the amazing woman of God that you have become!

Just a reminder, you will want to "pause" our music player on the bottom of our blog so that you don't have two things playing at one time. :-)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Celebrating River!

Well...I've officially moved from the wedding section to the baby section at Hallmark...for those that have not heard, my best friend, Heather Walker (and of course her husband Jason) are having a baby!! This little miracle is going to be named River Caiden Walker and we absolutely can not wait to meet him. Heather originally told me she was going to be due in November...I immediately told her that he will come on my birthday-October 20th. She went to the doctor and her due date is October 22nd. Now they are saying it will probably be more around October 10th.

I can not express how excited I am to meet this little man. The Walkers have asked us McLendon's to be God-parents. I've been pondering over this thought and praying much about this lately. Of course they asked us before we moved...but they graciously extended this invitation to us even after we felt the Lord calling us to Atlanta...but this puts a new dynamic on things. When I once thought this role meant seeing him be born into this world, being there when he wouldn't let mom sleep, being there for his first word, being there for his first step...I'm starting to understand the significance of what being a God-parent is. Right now the Lord is impressing on me the importance of covering this little man in prayer. That he would grow up to be a man after God's own heart. Just as much as his parents are intended to be the ones that raise this child up in the Way in which he should go...Robert and I have the responsibility to speak Truth and Life into this man...and to continually encourage His parents to keep their eyes on Jesus.

Robert and I are excited about this new endeavor. We are anxiously waiting for our Godchild to make his appearance in this world. River, we love you already!

**Below are pictures from celebrating River this past weekend!
The "girls"
River's first monogram-yep those are napkins!
River began his journey being called an "olive" Psalm 128:3, "Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table." This canvas was painted by the one and only Dana Hernandez and is already hanging in River's nursery!
The "spread"...this picture is just for you mom! :-) And in case anyone were wondering...that center piece of flowers was made of little onsies ready for our baby boy!!! How precious!
The "hostesses" Dana, me, Ashley and HollyThe couples shower hosted Saturday night at the Walker Home:
Heather & Kristin patiently awaiting the arrival of little River!

Friday, August 22, 2008

A birthday video and update...

Robert and I have finally entered into this century...as we have our own internet...which means we had to get cable too. We didn't want cable...all we wanted was internet, which we have to have now due to Robert's intense school schedule...but to do so you have to have either a phone line or cable...we decided we still didn't need a home phone and we would "benefit" more from cable...

So last night was our first night..and we've already had the discussion "I won't mess with your travel channel if you don't mess with my espn." Lovely :-)

What does this mean? This means that hopefully we will be blogging more and be able to upload more fun things! It also means I will finally finish uploading wedding pictures to facebook!! :-) We tried to upload a video the other day with our "celebrating dad" blog, but with our sketchy internet connection kindly being donated by a neighbor it wouldn't upload...so here you go..enjoy! :-) Sidenote--we had been in the pool all day so we are in our swimmies!

ps...hit "pause" on the very bottom of our blog on our music player, so you don't have two things playing at once! :-)

Monday, August 18, 2008

A daddy's girl...

The first thing I remember from being a little girl is at the age of three when I knew I had a baby sister coming. What stands out in this memory is the fact that Dad and I had a little sports car together...and since the new little sister was coming we had to sell our little sports car. I remember the day we dropped it off together...and from that point on I always remember being Daddy's little girl.

Today I celebrate my dad as it is his 57th birthday! We went home to Richmond Hill this past weekend to surprise him when he flew into the Savannah airport on Friday evening. We had a great time visiting and enjoying fellowship with one another. We so enjoyed just relaxing in the pool and the hot tub and an amazing lasagna one night and an incredible steak dinner the second night cooked by mom. It was quality time that I will always cherish. We left Saturday evening with tears in the eyes as it was hard once again to leave.

Daddy, today may you know how much I love and adore you. You set the standards high for what it means to be a man..standards so high that I would not settle for just an "average" man to be my husband. Thank you for molding me, shaping me, showing me the world, teaching me to step out into the world, allowing me to make my own mistakes, wiping away my tears, holding my hand, and most recently walking me down the aisle and placing my hand in Robert's to become his wife.

I love you daddy.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Our Wedding Announcement...

So we were a little slow at getting our wedding announcement into the papers...but it finally made it! Hey, they say you have up to a year right? We still had 4 months to go! For those that don't get the Bryan County News, here's what it looked like (it was in this past Saturdays paper)...Also, it will be in the Savannah Morning News this Sunday, but it is a shortened, condensed version compared to the Bryan Co. News...they charge an arm and a leg for every word! :-) We've sent it to Houston Home Journal...but not sure of when they will publish it.

Smith-McLendon

Miss Kristin Amy Smith and Mr. Robert Thomas McLendon were united in marriage in a worship service on Saturday, the fifteenth of December, two thousand and seven, at four o’clock in the afternoon at Richmond Hill United Methodist Church in Richmond Hill, Georgia. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Bob Beckwith, Director of The University of Georgia Wesley Foundation. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Smith of Richmond Hill. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Woods of Midway and the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles Smith, Sr. of Thunderbolt. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Sandy McLendon of Perry. He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Irby Shelton of Perry, and the late Mr. and Mrs. Ervin McLendon of Florence, South Carolina. Given in marriage by her father, the bride chose her sister, Jocelyn Smith of Savannah, as maid of honor and her friend, Heather (Kicklighter) Walker of Richmond Hill, as her matron of honor. Bridesmaids were Lindsey (Lanier) Bancroft, of Richmond Hill, Samantha (Hibbard) Commeau, of Union, Maine, Dana Hernandez, of Athens, Marynan McLendon, of Perry, Amanda Moore of Sebastian, Florida and Haley (Slocumb) Pinder, of Lynchburg, Virginia. The groom chose his father, Sandy McLendon of Perry, as his best man. Groomsmen were Kyle Barfield, Luke Goddard, John Lipari, Terry Mosteller, Chad Shelton, and Charlie Walker all of Perry and Charles McLendon of Eastman. Flower girl was Leah Shelton of Perry, cousin of the groom. Intercessor and Scripture Reader was Ashley McLean of Lawrenceville. Worship was lead by Kelli McCalla and Christina Melton, both of Athens. Program attendants were Samantha Cooper, Sarah Parker and Allison Snider, all of Richmond Hill and graduates of RHUMC Youth. Reception girls were the brides high school girls small group. Wedding Director was Heidi Thomson, friend of the bride. Following the ceremony, the reception was held at the Speir and Brogdon Building on the third floor in Richmond Hill. After the reception, the couple left for their honeymoon in Rome, Italy. The couple shared their first seven months of marriage in Richmond Hill, Georgia and are currently making Kennesaw, Georgia their new home.

Friday, August 8, 2008

The Move!!!

The day finally arrived. It came very slow, but passed too quickly.

On Monday, August 4th, Kristin and I got up very early to do some more packing. You see, we were very much on schedule to move and to have everything packed, but the previous Monday I became very sick. Sick to the point of throwing up blood. After a visit to the ER and a day of recooperating, we were set back about two days. On top of that, I had no energy for the rest of the week, and my sister-in-law was getting married the Saturday before we left.

So... August 4th.
We picked up the U-Haul and the trailer at about 10:30. We arrived back home an hour later. We had some boys recruited to help load - Brian Winter, Halton Thompson, Eric & Dylan Lyle (Thanks guys). Kristin's parents showed up to help (they've done more than we could ask or repay). Our goal was to leave by 4:00pm. That turned into 6:00pm. Needless to say, we spent the night with Kristin's parents.

August 5th.
We woke up early the morning and headed back to the house to grab the leftovers (it was all the little insignificant stuff that took so long to pack). We rolled out about 8:00am. I gave Kristin the choice of driving the U-Haul or the truck with the trailer (towing the Alero - "Ayero, da yiddle car"). Kristin opted for the 24' U-Haul. She figured her years of driving the church bus would come in handy. I drove the truck. Driving the truck with the trailer was no big deal. Driving the truck with the trailer on I-75 in downtown Atlanta, lunchtime traffic was a religious experience. Kristin had no problems.

We arrived at our apartment at 1:00pm. Cory showed up with two boys to help unload this 24' U-Haul filled to capacity up to the third floor with no elevator. Once we opened the U-Haul to show them what we had to work with, they quickly got on their phones and called in for back-up. We ended up with about 8 kids helping us unload. They were a huge blessing and help. We finished unloading about 4:00pm. Kristin started her job the next morning with a staff meeting, and I have been unpacking boxes. The next task and prayer request would be for me to find a job. We are not to worried about that, but it always does good to pray.

Thanks for your prayers. We'll keep you posted with more pictures from the apartment later. I'm not going to post our new address on the blog for the world to access (just my email), but if anyone would like it, email me at rtmclendon@gmail.com and let me know who you are and I'll send it your way.
Love ya

Kristin McLendon