We Are Back...

(or at least we hope...)


So, Andy and I took a little hiatus from the blog world. And our excuse... We are so busy (lame but true.) However, I started this and I am committed to it. So I bet you are wondering what we have been up to. I can sum it up in one word SCHOOL.


Actually there is more, but that is all it feels like.... I am now in countdown mode. I have exactly 14 months and 7 days until I graduate from nurse practitioner school. Working full time and taking school full time has been challenging, but On December 16, 2010 I will be done. I may have crow's feet around my eyes, 15 more grey hairs (added to the 12 that are already mocking me), and stained teeth from the 3 cups of coffee I drink a day; but I WILL BE DONE!
Andy has been very busy at RTS (Reformed Theological Seminary) and working at Christ Covenant Church. On October 19 he will have 19 months until he graduates with his Masters of Divinity!! I am so proud of Andy because he works so hard! I have gotten to know the top and back of his head very well, seeing as he is always at the kitchen table reading his books. In his first semester at RTS, he had to read 26 books!!! And here is the thing... They have to sign an honesty agreement at the end of the semester that they actually did read all of them. And you can't lie because you are in seminary!


Our church... Andy works for Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church and that has also become our church home. We love it! If you are ever in Charlotte on a Sunday, come listen to a sermon from Mike Ross. It is always worth it!


The Pups.... Maggie and Frannie are just as wonderful, crazy, cuddely, bad, and gorgeous as always! Maggie had her 2nd birthday last week and Frannie turned 1 on July 24. These dogs are a gift from God! There are so many moments that I am stressed out and thinking that I have almost hit my breaking point, when they will do something silly and I will feel better again.












So that is it for now.... I promise to update this at least twice a month. Hopefully more... Also, I have banned Andy from talking about SEC football and ACC basketball on this blog.

NCAA Tournament brackets rant

There is truly no better time of year than March Madness. I get so excited when the NCAA tournament brackets come out and I can sit down and begin filling out what I think will be the perfect bracket. Of course, it is not perfect and this is usually because I tend to make picks more with my heart than with my head but at least I am honest about it. I choose a fair share first round upsets but it usually works out where a 1 or 2 seed comes out of each region (history tells us that this is a good formula to go by) Before the tournament begins I will have filled out around 10 brackets with many different ways I can see the tournament playing out but by the time the first game tips off I only claim one of them as my "true" bracket. This is what frustrates me. Everyone has the friend who fills out 20 brackets with pretty much every combination and outcome represented in those brackets and when that miraculous 15 seed beats the 2 seed they are quick to say "oh I picked that." You know good and well that he did pick that in one of his brackets but it was 18th one that he had filled out. No matter what happens in the tournament that guy will always say "I picked that one too!" It is easy for most of you to see how ridiculous this is (unless you are this person) but everyone at least knows someone who is just like this. You need to have ONE bracket. Can you fill out a bunch of brackets? Sure! It is fun to fill out brackets. But in the end you need to claim only one. You need to "game up" and put all of your basketball knowledge and sit down and fill out the bracket that you will claim as you own. I would argue that the more brackets you claim the less you know about basketball. I get so mad when I enter a tournament pool and I pay my $5 entry fee only to lose by a couple of points to the guy who won but filled out 5 brackets. Now yes that does mean that he paid $25 dollars to enter those 5 brackets but nevertheless why can't we just man up fill out one bracket and say "this is my bracket, these are my picks and this is what I think will happen." For those of you who claim more than one bracket please stop telling all of us that you picked Arizona to beat Cleveland St. in this years tourney because you really didn't. You were just tired of picking the higher seeds like you did in you previous 10 brackets you claim. You are not smarter than those of us who have integrity, honesty and confidence. You are weak minded souls whose entrance fee money should be accepted but your brackets dismissed.
You would think that based on this rant that I am doing poorly in my tournament bracket. Well quite the opposite, I am doing very well. I picked 13 of the 16 Sweet Sixteen teams with all of my Elite Eight teams still in play. Lauren is still beating me which is tough to swallow but there is still a lot of basketball left to be played. GO DUKE!

Why Do We Care?

I just do not understand why people in this country are so enthralled with people like Terrell Owens and Brittany Spears. All they seem to do is make one bad decision after another. Their bad decision is made and then every media outlet falls all over themselves to get the scoop on their selfishness, greed and stupidity and then we go out and buy the magazine or newspaper so we can read all about it. Or in my case I will sit in front of the television and watch umpteen hours of coverage about Owens talking bad about someone and dividing the lockerroom but who cares because he has "got so much talent." Why do we care about these people? Why does sportscenter devote over half of their show each day to the bonehead mistakes people like Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez make? Do you want to know why? It is because we love drama. Our culture is a culture that lives for drama. It is a source of life for many people. I don't mean drama like a good murder mystery or the final seconds of a great basketball game. I mean drama like the "he said, she said" crap of our celebrities. Tune into Sportscenter today or to E Entertainment News and I would be willing to bet that 75% of the show will be devoted to some negative "drama" by the elite people in the industry. I guarantee you that the "drama" will make up most of the show and the 10th story of the day will be about some obscure Triple A baseball player who helped his grandmother across the street or some "D" list celebrity that gave $20 to a girl scout for some cookies. These shows do have standards you know. Why do we highlight all the negative publicity and not highlight the many positive things that athletes and celebrities are doing. It is because by and large we do not really care. We want the "dirt" on everyone so that we know that we are better than them or to validate our own struggles in life. We don't just want it with our celebrities but we want it with one another. I would argue that gossip is the most unrepented sin there is. People do not even realize they are doing it. We want to know we are better than other people so we can somehow appeal to that. We so badly want this "cosmic scoreboard" that we can look at from time to time to see how we are comparing not to God's standards but to other people because that, too often, is where we are finding our worth. God's law has been lost on Christians and we now live a "Christianity of Comparison" that says as long as I am not doing the bad things that that guy is doing over there then I am fine. It is as if we think that as long as we are "better" than most people then we are right with God. Not only is this not true but it is communicating something awful to the unbelieving world. We are telling them two things. First, that you must get your life cleaned up before you can come to Christ. No one has their life cleaned up! Christ died for sinful, broken people that did not clean their lives up first but instead realized their sin and placed them at the foot of the Cross. The Tax Collector in Luke 18 had the right idea when he cried out to God and said "have mercy on me, a sinner." He realized that all he could do was to appeal to God's mercy because all he had was his sin. Secondly, we communicate to unbelievers that our deeds can be given to God in exchange for salvation. The theme verse of this blog dashes these hopes. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." When we were broken, reprobate, totally dead in our sin and had no inclination towards Christ, that is when Christ died for us. It was not because of any merit of our own. Our deeds accomplish nothing for us. Once we are accepted in Christ then our deeds are a fruit of our relationship with Him. So to conclude, I do not know why we are so interested in the mistakes of our celebrities. What would happen if the negative stories became the last story of the show and the positive ones were moved to the front? What if a big deal was made about the benevolent giving of celebrities and the time they spend helping others? Would this have a positive influence on kids today? Of course it would. Unfortunately, the negative stories will stay at the forefront communicating to kids that this is how you supposed to act. The stupid decisions, drugs, beating you wife and huge, greedy contracts will continue to get the publicity because that is what people want to know about and that is what kids will aspire to be. Oh let the Lord cleanse us of these things. Let Him show us His standards and how we do not measure up. My prayer is that this would not lead us to despair but would lead us to our knees begging for forgiveness, repenting of our sins and thanking Him for His abundant grace. Thanks be to God for His grace!!

My Next BIG Project (Hopefully)

Taylor Creek (aka "The Dream")

As some of you may know, I love a project. Before we left Birmingham, Andy and I were blessed to own a home. I love that home so much, and what was great about it was that I always had a project. More than likely Andy and I will only be in Charlotte 2 years so we are renting. And since this is not my home, I have no projects. So I got thinking....

It has been my dream since high school to build my own home. In fact halfway through nursing school I was going to quit and change my major to contracting because I wanted to build homes for a living. And you can see how that turned out... But it is still a dream. So Andy promised me that we could build a house one day. And God willing, it will be our next house. So this thought gave me even more ideas... What if I really researched this whole process and figured out how to save Andy and I a lot of money.

So, let the project begin! I have the next two years to figure out the best and cheapest(without cutting corners) to build a house. I am researching every single aspect from framing to flooring, drywall to doors, baseboards to bathrooms, plumbing to painting, and the list goes on...

Where do I start... I started with the dream house. I have been spending quite a bit of time digging through house plans, and there are A LOT. But I know that I love the Colonial/Federal look. So I narrowed my search. TA DA!! I found it. A home that both Andy and I love!! Now I know what some people are thinking, you don't know where you will be living. True... But wherever we go we can find a place to build. And if we can't vuild in two years than I will save all of my research and findings until the day when my dream comes true.

The house plan is called Taylor Creek. If anyone has any knowledge about home building let me know... I need a heavy arsenal of tips and tricks...

My turn...

I, like Lauren, have always thought the idea of blog was goofy and the people that did it just had nothing better to do with their lives. So now that I am blogging I realize its appeal or maybe I have nothing better to do with my life. Nevertheless, here goes with my first blog post. My sweet Lauren and I have been in Charlotte for 1 month now and it has been difficult. The difficulty has nothing to do with the city of Charlotte itself (other than the fact that people from Charlotte like to think that Charlotte is a "southern city" but it is not). I digress. I could not be more appreciative of Lauren and the fact that she gave up a great job in Birmingham to support me as I finish seminary at RTS. She has given me a great example of selflessness and sacrifice that I will not soon forget. Not a day goes by that I do not wish I could uproot Children's Hospital of Birmingham and plant it here in Charlotte. Having said all of that, we know that we are in the right place. How easily God's people forget His provision so quickly after He gives it. The Children of Israel had not been out of Egypt but a few days before they began grumbling about not having adequate water. They had already forgotten God's great provision. Lauren and I put our house on the market and in 33 days we had sold it. Lauren quickly got a job at a great hospital in Charlotte and I received a scholarship from RTS covering a substantial portion of my seminary costs. I do not say all of these things to brag or boast but instead to show God's provision. We had many roadblocks in our pathway to Charlotte and God quickly knocked them out of the way. All of this to say, we trust that we are in the midst of God's will for our lives in Charlotte. Too often I think that being in God's will means a place where all of my dreams come true and that the vision I had for my life begins to take shape. This is not Scriptural at all. Romans 8:28 says "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good..." This does not say that all things are good but that all things work together for good. Things are difficult right now in Charlotte. Lauren is not crazy about her job. Seminary is difficult and demands many long nights. We do not have any friends (but are working on it). We do ourselves a disservice when we long for the way things used to be. We must rest in the fact that God does work all things for the good of those who love Him. Lauren and I will grow to enjoy Charlotte, we will make friends and who knows we might even miss this town when we leave. Hope is not lost. However, we do miss Birmingham, our friends, our family and the comfort of people really "knowing" you. Our trust remains in the Lord despite everything else. We look forward to this time in Charlotte for the Lord to teach us, refine us and grow us. My prayer is that we will give Charlotte a fair chance and not wish away our time here. I pray that Lauren would make friends at work and come to enjoy here tasks there. I pray that the Lord would humble me as I learn more of the riches of His Person, mercy and grace. We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to make the transition to Charlotte. I hope this is the first of many blog posts for me because I am someone who can get really into something for a couple of weeks and then not do anything with it for a couple of months.

Our First Blog...

For about a year Andy and I have fought the idea of a blog... However, now that we have moved to Charlotte and there are so many people we want to keep in touch with, this seemed like a good idea. And like facebook, iphone, etc Andy and I eventually jump on the wagon. So I hope you enjoy hearing the every day rantings, thoughts, and updates of the Wyatt family!

The first update (for those who don't already know...) Andy and I have moved to Charlotte!! After about two happy years in Birmingham, Andy and I decided to move to Charlotte in order for him to finish seminary in Charlotte. Some people may think we are crazy (trust me I have thought it a few times myself) but we felt the Lord leading us here. We had a life we LOVED in Birmingham. We loved our first home, I LOVED my job, Andy had a great job, we had great friends, Birmingham has awesome shopping, it is the deep south, family was there, and even our puppies loved it. However, when the Lord calls, He calls. About 6 months ago Andy and I spent a lot of time in prayer and discussion of what the Lord wanted for us in the future. Andy truly feels the call to lead a church one day. This idea has been somewhat hard for me. I can definitely see Andy as a pastor, but I have a hard time seeing myself as a pastor's wife. I say just about EVERYTHING I am thinking! But I am so proud of Andy because he truly desires to preach the gospel as Paul did, that all he may know is, "Christ and Christ crucified." With that being said, we knew Andy needed a great education which lead us to Charlotte. So Andy and I said that if the Lord wants us to move to Charlotte, He will pave the way. And after one month of putting our house on the market, it sold and I had a job. We knew He called us here.

So we beg for prayers as we embark on these next 2 years here in Charlotte. That the Lord will continue to mold Andy and I into the man and woman He wants us to be for His ministry. We are excited for the plans he has for us. Our pastor in Birmingham, Harry Reeder, once said that know one goes into ministry with the skills they need. The point is that God gives them exactly what they need. So hopfully Andy and I will continue to become less as He becomes more.

So there is the first post of many (hopefully I will be somewhat consistent.) I hope you enjoy!!!