Call us Butter 'cause we're on a Roll

My Hubs made coffee & cinnamon rolls while I was getting ready before work the other day :) They didn't look very pretty haha but they tasted amazing! Even though they were so simple to make it made me smile that he took the time to do it. [yes, I'm aware that my coffee looks like chocolate milk haha, thats how I like it]

He has a growing passion for cooking...He is always wanting to bake or grill something & I just absolutely LOVE it! I'm not that great of a cook {at all} but I'm trying to be better. Derek on the other hand [in my opinion anyway], is phenomenal at it! He loves trying new recipes & grilling different things w/ different spices & marinades. He grilled chicken the other day & it was better than any that I've EVER had! I don't even know what he put on it & he probably doesn't remember haha. Anyway, I just wanted to brag on the hubs a little because I don't think I do that enough :) His cooking skills may not be fantastic to anyone else but I think he could be a chef someday!

Friday night we went to see Tron with our friends David & Robin & it was so good! We had them over for coffee after the movie & dinner at IHOP, it was nice just getting comfy on our couch while watching The Office with them haha. We're so grateful to have them in our lives, God has blessed us with so many amazing friends & I don't feel like I show my love for them enough. So thank you, all of you amazing people that have been a part of our life here. Thank you for praying for us & for spending time with us & for having us over & having coffee dates with us...Thank you :)

I'm excited to get to see hubs today after work! He's been in Dallas all weekend with his Dad for the Cowboys game & I've missed him tremendously! I've enjoyed my alone time but we haven't spent much time apart since June so it was not fun going to bed without my snuggle partner ;) haha

Entertaining Angels

My little sister, Nikki, came over Friday night after she & some friends had finished up their Christmas shopping. As we sat in our living room chatting, she began to share a story with us...{let me just add that when us McManus girls get together there is ALWAYS a story to be told & it usually has many different voices ;) } As we sat there listening to her tell us about the encounter she had with a stranger earlier that day I couldn't help but feel proud of her & convicted at the same time. This wasn't one of those laugh-so-hard-you-almost-pee-your-pants type of stories that one usually gets from her...it was definitely one that tugged on your heart. I called her today to confirm that I had her permission to share this & she requested that I keep the lady's name private.


This was the story she shared..."I was heading to get gas after work today & when I pulled in there were like tons of cars in line so I went down the street to the other station that I rarely go to...I was out there pumping gas when a lady came up to me asking if I could take her to a town that I had never heard of & I said that I didn't know where that was but that I could take her somewhere here in Walnut Ridge. She accepted my offer & asked me to take her to Walmart & if I would let her use my cell phone, I said yes. She loaded my car up with all of her bags she was carrying & she began calling around trying to get people to come pick her up. The whole way to Walmart I just kept praying that God would give me the words to say. As the lady was quietly talking I couldn't help but overhear that she had just been to court & "they" were coming to get her kids & she asked the person on the line if "he" had thrown all of her stuff out into the street yet. My heart was breaking & my mind was wandering, thinking about her loosing her kids & her boyfriend/husband kicking her out...I could tell by her conversationg that the person on the line didn't want to come get her & they were passing the phone to others around them. Finally she got someone that agreed to pick her up as long as she would buy their gas, she expressed to them that she had no money & begged them to still come. I looked in my purse & got a $20 out & handed it to her, she just looked at me & said "thank you so much"...she told them that she only had $20 & they agreed to come get her. We spoke for a bit & she shared with me that she had just found out that she had cancer. This broke my heart. She was about to get out of the car when she said "I feel like you are a person that has faith & I was wondering if you would pray for me". Of course I was excited that she requested this, so I asked if I could right there in the parking lot. She said yes but I think she was shocked that I wanted to pray with her instead of for her. So I just grabbed her & started praying & we were both crying & I was just snotting haha & I mean, it was such an amazing thing for me; whether it blessed her or not, I felt God move. When she went to get out I asked if she had a bible & she said no, so I offered her mine. She was like "wow, really? are you sure?" I think she knew that it was something that was important to me, I mean I have like 7 bibles but the one that I had in my car was my favorite. I said that I hated that it had my name on the cover but I wanted her to have it anyway & I think she cherished that my name was on it. So I took all of my notes & old bulletins out & handed it to her. I gave her my phone number & told her that if she ever needed prayer I would be there for her. When she walked away I just sobbed there in the car for what seemed like forever & thanked God for putting her in my path. When I got to the dorm to pick everyone up to go shopping they thought someone had died by the look on my face. So I told them & of course, they all cried with me..."

I swear my little sister has the most incredible experiences out of anyone I know. God has blessed her with a special gift, I truly feel like people in need are drawn to her. No matter how bad of a mood shes in, others can still see the love of Christ in her. Whats amazing to me is that she had a horrible day that Friday & was in an awful mood yet she still chose to be used by God & her day improved greatly. Now Nikki is not perfect, haha she has many faults...as do I. It blows my mind how often things like this happen to her & with God's guidance she reaches out & touches stranger's lives without batting an eye. A few times I have been present when God has put someone in our path & she has just jumped at the opportunity to help them. I don't mean to toot her horn, if anything I'm tooting God's horn & His power to work through His children {did I just say toot on here? haha}. I aim to make it a daily prayer of mine for God to draw me closer to Him no matter what I must go through to get there. At first I was worried when I heard about her giving people rides & or money because I feared that she was being taking advantage of...She has told me that she has to follow what she feels like God is telling her to do & not just make a decision based on her impulses or emotions at the time. Who knows, some of the individuals that she has helped could be angels in disguise...

Hebrews 13:1-3 says, "Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."

I pray that I leave my heart open for God to work through me this Christmas season & always, & that I make it a resolution to share His love to others & bring Him the glory...

p.s. I follow the Leading & Loving It women's ministry blog thanks to my friend Heather telling me about it! Anyway, I ran across this blog post on it this morning & I think you should check it out. The video on it had me in tears, good tears though.

&&& heres another post ;)

I know I just blogged yesterday afternoon but theres no law saying you can only blog every 24 hours ;)

I heard this song on my way to work this morning & fell in love with it. I'm a big Relient K fan but I had never heard this Christmas song before, I think its a couple years old. It has such great lyrics, so I thought I'd share :) Here comes my shout out-----I LOVE Air1 radio! Its from the same people that brought us K-Love but its a little more alternative & I usually switch back & forth between the two stations all the time! Anyway they have been playing some AMAZING Christmas songs & these are the lyrics to the one I spoke of :)

"I celebrate the day"

& with this Christmas wish is missed

The point I could convey

If only I could find the words to say to let You know

How much You've touched my life

Because here is where You're finding me

In the exact same place as New Year's eve

& from a lack of my persistency

We're less than half as close as I want to be

& the first time that You opened Your eyes

Did You realize that You would be my Savior?

& the first breath that left Your lips

Did You know that it would change this world forever?

& the first time that You opened Your eyes

Did You realize that You would be my Savior?

& the first breath that left Your lips

Did You know that it would change this world forever?

And so this Christmas I'll compare

The things I felt in prior years

To what this midnight made so clear

That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that

This baby would one day save me

I the hope that what You did

That You were born so I might really live

To look back and think that

This baby would one day save me

& the first time that You opened Your eyes

Did You realize that You would be my Savior?

& the first breath that left Your lips

Did You know that it would change this world forever?

& I, I celebrate the day

That You were born to die

So I could one day pray for You to save my life

Pray for You to save my life

Pray for You to save my life...

{Radiant}

Derek & I have been attending Central since the very first week we moved to Jonesboro {June 5, 2010}. It was apparent early on that Central was where we needed to call our home :) I've said before how being a PK had its ups & downs & church home searching was not something the two of us were looking forward to, luckily we didn't have to search long. God had a plan for us at Central & we are still continuing to find out what that is....

Agghh! I'm getting off the subject of why I started this post in the first place haha. I was recently asked by my friend & fellow Bloggess Heather if I would be interested in joining the team of writers on the blog for our women's ministry at church {Radiant} & let me just tell you I wanted to jump up & down! [actually our friend Courtney spilled the beans before Heather could get a chance to ask me teehehe ;)] Anyway, this made me soooo happy & I felt {still feel} like a little girl with all of this excitement! I have already been praying about what my first post to the Radiant blog will be about, I don't want it to be Meagan speaking...so please pray that He speaks through me. & also pray that as a team; with Christ's love, we are able to touch those who might not have been reached yet by others. I can't wait to see what God has in store for this ministry & the lives that will be touched by it. Thank you for checking out my blog & please go check out Radiant as well sometime :) FYI-our new Journey Campus launch is in a few weeks so be praying for that!

Ohhhhh & btw, I know I've posted this to my facebook before but I heard it again today & just wanted you to check it out...I love This Song, enjoy! {as if I've not added enough links to this post already haha}

"Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed"-Psalms 34:5{HCSB}

Giving Thanks {my cliché title}

Sorry I have been so busy & have neglected my blogging duties! The move is over...FINALLY! Thanks to some amazing friends that didn't mind wasting their Friday night to help us move!! Thank you so much David & Robin, we are so grateful to God for you :) Saturday we had LOTS of cleaning to do at the old place & Derek's family was a major help to us. Momee & Gramps helped out so much & his cousin Shaela was such a blessing! We are very thankful that we have all of them nearby.

After all of the lifting, moving, & unpacking we did, my body hated me! I think I pushed myself way too far. I just wanted everything done so fast & I didn't take time & rest when I felt tired. Another addition were all of the crazy chemicals that I used to clean with Saturday, I think I had some sort of reaction to the fumes or something because my face was horribly broke out & I had what felt like a cold Sunday morning. I was really upset that I couldn't go to church but my body desperately needed a rest. We put our Christmas Tree up Sunday afternoon & it felt so nice & Christmasyy because it was chilly out & I had a vanilla cookie candle going while Derek made dinner. I just LOVE this time of year!

We are heading to Dallas tonight with his family & I'm so excited! I will miss getting to see my family though :) Derek's aunt & cousins live in Texas & his Grandma is a HUGE Dallas Cowboys fan. She got his entire family are so passionate about The Boys! Haha I love it, my family was never into sports all that much so its super exciting for me to get to be a part of one that is. When we first started dating it was a given that I had to become a fan lol. &&& I most certainly did! I love all of the excitement when game day comes. Last year he proposed on Thanksgiving day at the Game & it was so precious ;) I love how much we enjoy that time together but I am constantly reminded of how many people around the world worship teams like that but show little or no worship to God. It hurts my heart. Now I love football, & I don't feel convicted about enjoying it or getting excited during the game but I do see it a problem when I put my obsession with ANYTHING, including sports, above my worship for Christ.

I know I'm writing alot but I don't care haha. Another thing that has been on my heart...Last night while Derek was praying {which is precious, I love his prayers} I couldn't help but think about this part in Crazy Love by Francis Chan-

"Haven’t we all prayed the following prayer? Lord, we pray for safety as we travel. We ask that no one gets hurt on this trip. Please keep everyone safe until we return, and bring us back safely. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. The exact wording may vary a bit, but that is the standard prayer we recite before leaving on mission trips, retreats, vacations, and business trips. We are consumed by safety. Obsessed with it, actually. Now, I’m not saying it is wrong to pray for God’s protection, but I am questing how we’ve made safety our highest priority. We’ve elevated safety to the neglect of whatever God’s best is, whatever would bring God the most glory, or whatever would accomplish His purposes in our lives and in the world. Would you be willing to prayer this prayer? God, bring me closer to You during this trip, whatever it takes..."

This spoke so much to me when I read it this summer {while on vacation} & God brought it to my attention again while we are about to go on another trip. It should be my prayer daily...I hope that you desire this as much as I do this holiday season :) God bless you & yours! I pray that you let Him invade your hearts & lives, & are willing to let Him bring you closer...whatever it takes.

Oh & p.s....Heres a picture of the Pearson's 1st Christmas Tree ;) Its a little on the puny side but it was like $40 so what could we expect haha! & I added a LITTLE more too it after this pic but oh well!

New Crib ;)

Yesterday was crazy! The phones felt like they rang all day at work &....we got a new place! So we've been looking, praying, wishing for a place in a safer/better part of town for a few months but we just didn't know if we should mess with the hassle of moving into just a one bedroom if we're gonna move again in like a year. Because we planned on looking for houses to BUY when Derek graduates in May [because our lease was up in May] But we found out recently that Derek wont been done with school until next December so we wont be able to afford a 2 bedroom apt or a home until hes ALL done with school. We're totally okay with a one bedroom though; as long as we don't get preggers anytime soon haha ;)

We went to look at these new apartments across town yesterday at lunch & NEVER dreamed of moving things in that night...after Matt & Courtney's shower {haha shout out}! It ended up being the same owner that we rent from now so we dont have to pay closing costs or any of that because we're just moving into another one of his apartments. The rent isnt much more than what we pay now & the place is wayyy nicer & its brand new, like they were built only a few months ago. My favorite part is the kitchen though! Its still small but its so cute :) The location is really what sold us, its a much better part of town than where we are now. I will be honest, I didn't even feel safe walking from my car to our apartment at night at our old place. But I'm sure that has to do with me being from a small town. But there were sooo many people that warned us about the part of town that we lived in & that made it harder to feel safe. When we were looking at it yesterday {& taking goofy pics lol} I just had this nervous feeling & I said that I thought we needed to rest on it & pray about it more. Mainly because I'm a worry wort & I don't like change haha. Derek was okay with that; he is always so calm. I said I wanted to pray right then & He just grabbed me (in the apt, in the empty kitchen lol) & started praying... 

He said something along the lines of--"God, we just want to be good stewards of Your money & we don't want to jump into anything with out seeking Your will first. We feel that this is an answered prayer from You but we don't want our desires to over power what You have for us. So we just ask that You open or close the door to this opportunity & give us a peace about whatever it is that we should do." [can I just say that Jesus blessed me with such an amazing man ;)]

So we headed over to the office to just talk with them about possibilities & on the way there we thought about all of our expenses & decided that we weren't going to pay any more than $50 more than we pay now but we weren't going to tell them that (Derek is a good bargainer haha)...WELL, guess how much they offered us after we bargained for a while? $50 more than we pay now haha...I don't know about anyone else but I think thats a God thing for them to say that the lowest they can go is our "secret" amount & thats without them knowing it!

I've never been a big fan of renting because I feel like its throwing our money away & not getting anywhere but I feel like this is such an answered prayer! Its something we've been praying for & kind of worrying about for a while (which is silly, it goes back to my TRUST issue) but we are so grateful to God. I just cant stress enough that this is an answered prayer...&&& I really do have a peace about it now.

We have had some really great friends offer to help us move & that is such a major blessing in itself! We cant thank God enough for blessing us with such amazing friends.

I hope to get some cute pics of our new place after we get settled in & of course after all of my Christmas stuff is up ;)

Christmas time is coming!

I LOVE this time of year so much! Especially with the excitement of being a newlywed & getting to decorate together [He likes it, even if he doesnt like to admit it ;)]. We bought our very 1st Christmas tree last night but its still in the box. I hope it turns out to be a good one because I dont want to have to take it back! I was so giddy & ecstatic last night {seriously, I was jumping up & down in the store & on the way to the car!} that Derek said, "Wow, if I had known buying Christmas stuff would make you THIS happy I would've been buying you an ornament every day of the year!" To which I said, "Well the year isnt over yet sugar & you have next year ya know!" teehehe ;) OH & I bought a cute little tree for my desk at work at Hobby Lobby (LOVEE that place) last night. Its so adorable with its pine cones & the picture just doesnt do it justice!

We also did some MUCH needed grocery shopping last night. We're trying to eat out less & cook more but its just so hard with busy schedules. It is a must though because we blow way too much money eating out! Derek laughed so hard at me when I showed him my coupons {I only had 3! haha} last night in Walmart. He said it made him think of many topics to blog about [oh boy] haha...Sooo I kind of cheated today. I ate out because I didnt have time to go home for all of the errands that I made on my lunch break. This is what I ate...

It was AMAZING...they have the best Sweet Tea ever & their potato soup is pretty great too! So I figured if I wont be eating out for a while I should treat myself to something delish ;) Dinner tonight should be scrumptious too. We're heading to Walnut Ridge to see my family & visit the church that my Dad is starting so it should be a great night!

I'll leave you with a scripture that has been on my heart for the past couple days. The Holman Christian Standard Bible is my usual favorite but this translation really spoke to me. "You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand by bearing one anothers burdens." Galations 6:2 (Contemporary English Version)