~Haley Marie~

Entry -February 11, 2008

Well I wasn’t too diligent about writing during the month of January. But I can promise you I was a little busy.

Here is a quick scan over the month~

Made a visit to the Sylacauga Blue Bell Factory and YES I did eat ice cream. I know I was bad~so much for Asthma right?

A dear friend of mine and the most wonderful boss in the world (well she is no longer my boss but use to be) and her family went through a rough spell with their sweet baby girl. She ended up in the hospital and it was not good. But after a lot of prayer and the awesome miracles of our heavenly father, Jesus Christ! She lived and is home now! PRAISE GOD!!! Please be in prayer for her. Her name is Kitris (we call her Kee-chee). Her parents are Lynn and Mark.

I finally met a friend of mine of several years –Susan and Gordon Welch from Korea. They came and visited for a weekend. It was a dream come true to meet them. Please be in prayer for them as they are searching for a home in North America.

I finally can tune my own guitar~ I know it is a miracle! My poor father has had to show me over and over again a million times. BUT I think I have got it.

We had snow!!! I couldn’t believe it but we did. Sam and I made a snowman. It was a full Saturday of heavy snow and I played in it all day! I will put a few pics on here of snow.

Samuel has been a great joy of course~

We have spent our Sunday’s together as well as Wednesday’s supper. Dad, Mom and the two of us have been meeting to discuss our relationship. And we have spent time studying scripture about marriage and family and learning about each other. Building a strong foundation takes time, effort, hard work and a lot of willingness to grow out of your comfort zone.

It hasn’t always been easy for either of us, as we learn as we go. Both of us are learning about how to do it right from the beginning. The truth is we know that the normal –dating routine isn’t God’s best and so we are slowly finding a better way with the help of our parents.

I really have to praise my parents as I have realized it is just as hard on the parents as the people in the courtship. They have been very supportive and encouraging in the proper way relationships should function. I told them they aught to write a book~heehee

But anyways I am finding more and more that I appreciate Samuel so deeply. I have never met anyone like him and each day he proves his growing love more and more. It really has been so exciting.

Well onto February- life has been in a time of slow pace –well sort of during the holidays, but is gaining speed with the spring nearing.

SIFAT is in the last couple of weeks before the campus starts rolling full force. We are in the "prepare the facility buildings" stage. It is pretty hard labor, washing and scrubbing and doing the maintenance work. But it is coming along slowly.

Our CARES season starts in March and we have a lot of youth retreats booked then too. It is going to be a wild year I can tell already.

Say a prayer as I am still trying to get me a new vehicle (not new but new for me)~ I have one picked out but am just waiting on the money. That is the hard part of course. But God will supply me what I need. And if that vehicle doesn’t come then He has something else in mind.

Well I guess I will go. God be with you! Write if you like. Talk to you soon.

Haley Marie

Well can you believe it is January 1, 2008? I never thought we would make it to 2000 so I am still in a state of shock!>heehee

It is officially 3:01am. The house is dark and the only noise is the fish tank water pump; a blaring contrast as of 2 hours ago. What a night! We had the church family over for the evening. It was so much fun.

Everyone came around 7pm. We had our traditional New Year’s Eve Seafood Boil!!! This included shrimp (of every shape and size), red potatoes, corn on the cob seasoned with Zatarain’s Crab Boil Seasoning and lots of lemons!!!

There were stuffed mushrooms, crab, salmon, tuna and grilled jumbo shrimp!!! Every kind of sweet munchies known to man! And lots of crackers, cheese and dip for snacking.

The games commenced immediately! I bought a new game called Smarty Party that was a hit. Of course we ditched the board and just played with the trivia cards. The cards were where you had to guess “The last ten states to join the US” or “America’s Top 8 favorite breakfast cereals”. It was a blast!

The game room –haha was also a great attraction. Did I mention before that we got game tables for Christmas? We were blessed with a foosball table and a 3 in 1 with ping pong, pool and air hockey. With the number of people here all of the games got plenty of attention.

At 1030pm we all gathered for worship which was out of this world! It really was incredible. How exhilarating to be in the room with people who are hungry for God’s presence! Everybody was just seeking Him in worship and I can tell you the presence of God was felt!

We had a foot washing and communion afterwards. And can you say the word…tears?! There were no dry eyes- at least in the women’s room. For me the foot washing is so humbling. The hardest part for me is having your foot washed. Washing others is not as hard as having your own washed!

You know the part in scripture where Peter said, No Lord! Don’t wash my feet! (Haley paraphrase)” I can understand his feelings. Of course we see later Christ response, but I can relate.

Well after the men and women came back together we all just stood in the Lord’s presence and sang and cried! It was so sweet and a perfect way to end the year and begin the new one.

As I look back on 2007 I have to say I am glad to see it go. 2007 was a hard year. For the Burrell family it has been a year of great changes. And when I say great I mean big! Here is a quick recap of our year~

We finally sold our house in Talladega! Found a beautiful home in Clay County Alabama!!! Bought it -yippy! It’s a whole new world. God finally closed the door on my Nursing Home job and took me into a new job, which I love!

Sarah and I moved out for what ended up being only for a couple of months. We are back home now! Erin graduated school. My father got a promotion and changed jobs! Olivia- the youngest got her driving permit. That is scary.

I met Samuel~ we recently started a courtship. We have a real homesteader’s club that is actually working. The Lord brought us a like-minded like-hearted church family!!!>That is the best blessing!!

As I look to this new year I am excited and have great hope. This hasn't been a norm in my life for sometime on the New Year’s. I am excited about the possibilities! There are so many what ifs and questions that we have before us. If you would have told me this same time last year what my life would be like now I would never had believed you.

I am really looking forward to settling in life. For the last 3 years we have been unsettled because of our moving. I truly never expected this outcome BUT am so grateful. We really will be able to grow in the ways we’ve been longing to now that this year has brought needed change.

Change is not fun! It is exhausting, frustrating and unnerving, well at least the changes we have faced. Nevertheless productive change is worth it, if you can make it through it. We are finally on the other side and “hope gleams/streams-something eternal!” >haha!

As far as my goals for 2008- well I have several. I haven’t made my annual list yet but will get to it later after I have some sleep. Who knows what will occur. I still don’t believe the many things that have happened since this time last year. There is no telling what is in front of us. BUT I have hope, because I know who leads me and that is worth the ride in itself.

Well see you later. Congrats on making it to 2008! Hope to hear from and see you soon. – Haley Marie