thankful thursday.

things i'm thankful for this week:

1. a husband who cares about my walk with jesus.
i feel like we've had multiple conversations recently about our individual walks with jesus. sometimes it ends with one of us encouraging the other, other times it's ends with the two of us struggling through something together... but every time it ends with me being super thankful for a husband that wants to have those conversations with me.

2. banana pudding.
we ate dinner with some friends last night, and i was in charge of bringing dessert. i found this modification of paula deen's banana pudding recipe, and let me tell you, it is DELISH!! and super easy!  you should make it. ASAP.

 3. compromise.
we've been trying to finish up the new apartment this week, and on monday, we got stuck in the second bedroom. i think it's a guest bedroom, chris thinks it's his study -- so clearly we have different ideas of what it should look like. if i've learned anything in the last year, i've learned that the name of this whole marriage game is compromise. here's what we ended up with over the (he would say his) desk.

{that middle poster is the program cover from the 1954 gator bowl --
the only time texas tech and auburn have played each other. kinda cool, huh?}

4. spotify.
i know i'm YEARS behind here, but i just got spotify this week and i LOVE it. why did it take me so long to jump on this bandwagon?! it's brilliant. i can't figure out how in the world it's legal, but i don't really care. i'm just thankful i get to listen to the new mumford & sons album for free!!

5. friends.
on this thursday last year, my friends started pouring into the metroplex for our wedding weekend. i'm so thankful for them, and i can't even a little bit believe that it's been a whole year since i made those dfw and love field airport runs in the pouring down rain. i can't imagine experiencing that weekend without y'all!

{bridesmaids luncheon}

child of weakness.

{no relation to this post... just some pretty lavender my friend picked in june... thanks, stroope.}

this verse from "jesus paid it all" has been weighing heavy on me in recent days. so much conviction, so much hope... had to share:

I hear the Savior say,

"Thy strength indeed is small.

Child of weakness, watch and pray,

find in me thine all in all."

Jesus paid it all,

all to him I owe.

Sin hath left a crimson stain,

he washed it white as snow.

boomer?

in norman, OU football is everything.

last october, brand new to town, we ventured into gaylord memorial stadium for the texas tech vs. ou game. the husband played at tech, so he was super excited about wearing red and black and cheering for his red raiders. at the time, ou was #1 overall and texas tech was nowhere to be found in the rankings. ou had a 39-game winning streak going for home games, and they certainly weren't looking to end it. they had won the last THIRTY-NINE home games, y'all. anyway, it poured down rain the entire game, and out of nowhere, tommy tubs and the red raiders won 41-38. chris brister was the happiest person on the planet.

i think this was mid-game... not super happy yet, still nervous...

fast forward to this last weekend. ou played kansas state and we had tickets. we had no reason not to cheer for OU, so we decked out in crimson and cream and felt like real live normanites. my brother gave us a tandem bicycle as a wedding gift -- and by "gave" i mean, he basically made this bike for us -- and painted it crimson to help us fit in around here. since we live closer to campus now, we decided to ride our tandem to the stadium. so for review: crimson skirt, OU t-shirt, and crimson bike -- i mean, we're trying here, y'all.

the game was back-and-forth the whole time. we did our best to cheer for the sooners, although the whole time i was trying to figure out what "boomer sooner" even means. their fight song is about as annoying as they come (second only to "rocky top"), and they play it about every 30 seconds, but again, we were cheering for OU, so we clapped along and pretended to know the words.

both of us being big college football fans, we had a blast. the game came down to the wire, but in the end, kansas state won 24-19. this was only the fourth time OU has lost at home in the last thirteen years. so... follow me here... the bristers have been to 50% of OU's home losses in the last thirteen years. let me put it another way: the only two times we've been to an OU game, OU has lost.

so much for being good normanites. we've literally had people tell us we're not allowed to go to any more OU home games... but i'm thinking we need tickets when baylor comes to town in november. sic 'em bears.

thankful thursday: good reads.

i've come across several good articles/blog posts recently, so i just wanted to share them on here. this week, i'm thankful for these good reads:

1. food with a purpose -- a great article about syrup that ran in the local norman paper.
"Food with a purpose is more exciting than just a plate of food."

2. i don't wait anymore -- this has been all over facebook, so you've probably seen it, but i just took the time to read it this week. it's a fantastic read for singles (especially single girls), but also a good word for all of us. if i have a daughter one day, i have to make sure she gets this.
"Christ is the source of everything we need and the giver of all good gifts... but in telling people about Him, it's possible we've sold them on a solution for life's problems and not life itself. What if we as girls had learned early on that having Him was everything, not a means to the life we think He would want us to have."

3. when everything's pressing in a bit too much & you'd just like some answers -- if you're familiar at all with ann voskamp, you know that she has a way of writing that makes you think she's writing just for you. someone needs to get a megaphone and scream this post to me every single day.
"Why does God strangely bless us when we're half-estranged from Him? ... God's mercies are new every morning -- not as an obligation to you, but as an affirmation of you."

4. in which i am practicing -- powerful thoughts on moving from cynicism and defensiveness to gentleness and beauty. again with the megaphone.
"I won't desecrate beauty with cynicism anymore, I won't confuse critical thinking with a critical spirit..."

5. home at last (see page 44) -- we got our buckner today magazine in the mail yesterday, and when i read this story, i cried some big tears. i met these two little ethiopian boys -- asheber and cherinet -- at buckner's baby home in addis ababa in 2009.

asheber, 2009

cherinet, 2009

the article is about (sorry i have to ruin it -- it's too good) how they were best friends at the baby home, but then cherinet was adopted in 2010 and asheber was left alone as the last and oldest child of the first group of kids to enter the baby home. but... good news: asheber's wait for a family is over! he was finally adopted this year and now he and cherinet get to be friends again here in america! can you even handle it?! adoption stories get me every time.

the end. happy reading!! what are you thankful for this week? have you come across any good reads lately?

mornin'.

this is what a lot of my early mornings look like these days. i kind of love it.

there's just something about mornings... the stillness before the world wakes up... a time to remember truth before something about your day makes you forget it. sometimes it's hard to get out of bed, but it's usually worth it. the psalmist liked mornings, too. here's one of my recent favorites:

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

to declare your steadfast love in the morning,

and your faithfulness by night...

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;

at the works of your hands I sing for joy."

-- psalm 92.1-4

fam jam.

my whole fam came in town this last weekend and i absolutely LOVED it. i never realize how much i miss them until we're all together and i remember how much i just love being around these people. i know it's such a gift to actually enjoy family time -- and not just to enjoy it, but to need it and be refreshed by it. we spent most of our time watching football (you're killing me, auburn), decorating the new apt (thanks, mom and teri!), and playing with mr. whitley (i can't even handle that little cutie).

the best part of the weekend was that they stuck around for church on sunday night to hear chris preach. this meant the WORLD to chris and me. they had never heard chris preach before, so that was a treat, but on top of that, we were so thankful for them to get a glimpse of our world. this church is the whole reason we moved here, the way we spend most of our time, and the people we spend most of our time with -- so i loved introducing them to it. 

thanks for coming, fam! i don't think i could love y'all any more than i already do!

thankful thursday: round 2.

time for my second ever thankful thursday. i'm a little nervous that i'm doing it two weeks in a row. let's be honest, there's literally no way i'll be able to keep up this pace. i mean, we'll see. anyway, here we go... a few things i'm thankful for this week:

1. cooler weather.
the high tomorrow is 64, people!!! i'm sure it'll be back in the 90s soon, but i'm thankful for the little glimpse of fall weather this week.

2. torree.
this girl, y'all. we met as 15-year-olds at kanakuk colorado (now camp kivu) and have been friends ever since. now, a decade later, we're together again at syrup. the grand opening last weekend was insane. i was SO thankful for her familiar face and steadfast spirit in the midst of the chaos.

3. ellen.
season 10 premiered this week. i'm thankful for laughs at 4:00 everyday.

4. guest bedrooms.
i'm thankful for friends in norman with guest bedrooms, because chris was at a conference this week, and i'm a complete pansy about staying at our place by myself. sorry, but it's the truth.

5. our guest bedroom.
speaking of guest bedrooms, i'm thankful that we now have one and that it will be filled with people i love this weekend! this little guy -- and the rest of the crowson clan -- are coming to see us and i absolutely can't wait to see them.

photo: nicole hager photography

what are you thankful for this week??

now playing.

good music can affect my mood more than just about anything else.

likewise, good music can stir my affections for jesus more than most things. i treasure those songs that make my soul scream, "yes!! me too! amen!!" you know that feeling when you feel like someone was able to put into words what you didn't even know was inside of you? then, they put those words to good music and i'm just done.

recently, a friend told me about this group called all sons & daughters. i had never heard of them, but she had told me like 17 different times to listen to them, so on a whim, i just opened up the itunes store and bought one of their EPs -- not even sure why i chose the one i did, but i love it. i mean, i LOVE it. every single song is good, but a couple of them especially make my heart freak out.

the first song on the EP is "reason to sing." here's a glimpse at some of the lyrics:

when the pieces seem too shattered

to gather off the floor

and all that seems to matter

is that i don't feel you anymore

no, i don't feel you anymore

i need a reason to sing

i need a reason to sing

i need to know that you're still holding

the whole world in your hands

i need a reason to sing

have you ever been there?! our feelings are so deceiving, aren't they? we can become so overwhelmed by our {very real, yet fleeting} emotions that we miss the nearness of God's presence. in those moments of brokenness, loneliness, emptiness, all theological training goes out the window -- all that matters is being able to know that God is near and that he indeed has the whole world in his hands, or as Paul writes, "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (colossians 1.17).

from that heaviness, they move into the next song, "oh our lord," which starts out with these words:

i will sing, sing, sing to my God, my king

for all else fades away

i will love, love, love with this heart you've made

for you've been good always

oh, oh, oh our Lord

oh, oh, oh our Lord

how majestic is your name in all the earth

the whole song is about praising the powerful, majestic name of the Lord. i just love that movement -- from "i need a reason to sing" to "i will sing" -- because i've learned that sometimes that's what it's all about. whether i'm having a bad day, a bad week, or a bad year, in those moments that i can't feel God and i get lost in my worries and questions, i have to force myself to remember truth. i have a friend who often tells me to preach to myself -- to remind myself of truth -- like the psalmist does in psalm 42.5: "why are you cast down, o my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? hope in God; for i shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." usually the truth i remember in those moments is no more advanced than "God is faithful" -- but because i can claim that truth, i have a reason to sing. praising God gives us perspective. 

so whether you jam to spotify, pandora, itunes, or whatever, i can't recommend all sons & daughters highly enough. i have no doubt that they will soon move from my "recently added" to my "top 25 most played." 

what music leads your heart to worship??

thankful thursday.

my friend, kristen, occasionally writes "five friday favorites" posts on her blog, and i've always loved that idea... so... i'm essentially copying it. thanks, kristen!

no, but seriously, i'm learning that SO much of life is about perspective. i mean, even if you've had the worst week ever, you can still find something to be thankful for, right? and when you realize how thankful you are for that thing, it changes your mood a little bit -- it makes the terrible things a little less terrible, huh? i'm becoming more and more convinced that gratitude and joy go hand-in-hand. i want so badly to have a grateful spirit -- for the big things, and for the easily unnoticed things. i want so badly to recognize everything as a gift of grace -- because it is, whether i recognize it or not! so here's to being thankful, y'all!

{and i haven't even read one thousand gifts yet! just imagine how thankful i'll be after crossing that off my "to read" list!}

so, let's get started. five things i'm thankful for this week:

1. the return of auburn football.
well, college football in general, but specifically auburn football. i don't even care that we lost our first game. wait, that's a lie, but i'm just so happy that it's back. war eagle.

2. syrup.
as most of you know, my friend, torree, has been in the process of opening a new breakfast place in norman, and i've been counting down the days till i could work there. well, good news -- it's finally open!!! our first day was tuesday, and the official grand opening is saturday! good coffee, good people, good food... i already love it. we're open 6:30-2 tuesday-friday and 7:30-3 saturday and sunday... come see us!

3. our new missional community group.
in april, our church launched 2 missional community groups, and now we've grown into 4! our new group met for the first time last night and we couldn't be more excited about it. can't wait to see how god uses this group!

4. season 4 of parks and rec.
the husband and i got netflix in january, and since then, we've worn out every episode of the first three parks and rec seasons. on monday, we sat down to eat lunch and watch an episode, when lo and behold, we found out the fourth season had been posted! it was a labor day miracle! don't worry, we've already watched at least eleven episodes. i can't get enough. if you're not into this show, i need you to be. please, for the sake of our friendship, go watch it right now.

5. this article.
i really can't stand politics... like can't stand them. i have to coach myself not to defriend people when they post ridiculous political statuses on facebook. i have to fight not to put in headphones while my political-science-minor husband watches political news on tv. VOM. enter: this article. it was such refreshing sanity in the midst of stupidity. okay, maybe that was dramatic, but seriously, it's a great article and i hope you'll take the time to read it.

what are you thankful for this week?

movin' on up.

to the east side...

no, but really... we moved -- to the east side.

after months of normanites acting like our west side apartment was two counties over, we knew we had to move. also, we wanted to be closer to campus -- it really is the heart of norman, and we're trying to meet college students, so it only makes sense, right?

so, after 10 months in our little 600-something square foot love nest, we packed it up and made the move across town.

it just so happened that our move-in day was a tuesday -- which just so happened to be the same day our small group met! how convenient! so clearly we bought pizza and made a night of it -- i mean, that's what community's for, right?

{flash = scary eyes!}

they were incredible. i think we loaded the uhaul, drove to the new place, and had it all unpacked in 2 hours flat! it was easily the most stress-free moving day i've ever had. we were SO THANKFUL for their help!

and this guy came to help too! i've moved in or out of somewhere ELEVEN times in the last eight years, and my sweet brother -- and his 'lanche, of course -- have helped with every. single. one. amazing! we couldn't have done it without you, drewby!

we're slowly buy surely getting settled in our new place. we really do love the location -- basically across the street from campus -- and the extra space is nice, too -- no more bikes in the bedroom or kitchen! win! also, we have a guest bedroom now with your name on it -- come see us!!