Abundant Life Abounds

Merry Christmas!

Well, Larry and I have been incredibly blessed to be apart of Cornerstone Ministries for the latter part of this year. We are excited to see what the new year has in store for the ranch. Many of you are the recipients of the Cornerstone Quarterly newsletter, but I wanted to make sure that I was not missing anyone wishing to receive information on the residents here at Cornerstone. It's a great way to see a small piece of our time spent here!

If you would like to receive the Cornerstone Quarterly for 2010, please email me at causeychitchat@gmail.com and leave me your name and address. I would love to add you to the mailing list.

Lastly, December is the month that Cornerstone kindly requests donations for next year's operations. Should you have an interest in donating, please either send me an email or visit the website to make a donation at http://cornerstone-ranch.com/. Your financial gifts truly change the lives of some incredibly special people.

Abundant life abounds.

Thank you for loving us and this wonderful ministry. We have forever been changed.

With a grateful heart,

The Causeys

{Enjoying the Neiman Marcus Adolphus Children's Parade}

Our Wedding

Hi everyone,

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did.  Will and David made our Thanksgiving so very special this year. I hope to share more soon. But....

Our wedding video is here!

My sweet husband has been extremely patient in downloading our wedding video to Vimeo. I wish that I could share it with you in one peice but we had to break the video into three segments. Larry did most of the video work (special thanks to Jen and Ken) and he did all of the editing himself.  He did a brillant job and I am so thankful to have this as a lasting reminder of our incredible time spent in California.

Enjoy our special time and we would love your comments!

Part 1 - prewedding fun

California Love part 1 from Larry Ray Causey II on Vimeo.

Part 2 - wedding
California Love part 2 from Larry Ray Causey II on Vimeo.

Part 3 - honeymoon

California Love (The Moon Honey) from Larry Ray Causey II on Vimeo.

P.S. Larry, thank you so, so much for doing this.  I appreciate your patience and love more than you know. I love you, friend.

Signed,

California Dreamin'

All media was purchased and is being used for personal use to share with family and friends. Acknowledgements are give to: Bottle Shock (2008), Barry Louise Polisar, The Weepies, Tristan Prettyman, Jourdan Burks, Danyew, Shane and Shane, Kari Jobe, Jack Johnson, Phantom Planet, LL Cool J, Tom T. Hall, Deneice Williams, Taylor Swift and C.S. Lewis.

Stay Tuned Y'all

Well, this will be our first Thanksgiving with Cornerstone and so it only made sense for us to offer up to take Will and David with us to my parents for the holidays.  Will and David are both from the D.C. area and so they go home for Christmas but not Thanksgiving. We are soooo excited to take them to Keller and can't wait for them to spend some time with our family and friends.  Please stay tuned for pictures!

Oh, and that wedding video preview I promised - it's coming, I still promise.

Enjoy your loved ones over the next few days and Happy Thanksgiving.

Signed,

Already sick of Turkey

My, Oh My. Where Does The Time Go?

Greetings from our cozy little abode in McKinney. It has been just over a month since my last post.  I thought about you often, sweet blog, but no words have felt worthy of the time. I wanted to get everyone a little peak of the last month.  We have been very busy out here at Cornerstone and even made some big decisions in the last month. 

A couple of weeks ago I made the announcement at MBF that I would leaving between January and March to further pursue my masters and wrap up my course work. It was a hard decision seeing that I have invested more than four years with the company, but Kim and Jim took the news like champs and they were so gracious about everything.  They have since offered for me to work part-time on Mondays and Fridays and I have accepted to give it a try.

I celebrated my 30th Birthday. Thirty years of life...so much has been crammed into this life and I am thankful for all its twist and turns, even when I may not have been appreciative in the moment. I did not plan on doing much of anything for my birthday, with the exception of dinner with the family.  Little did I know that the residents would surprise me and that Larry would put together a party back in Keller with all of our closest friends...and that he would reveal our much anticipated wedding video! He did a brilliant job and I cannot wait to share with you all.

We also had a wonderful time celebrating the wedding of our friends Jayson and Sarah. They planned an intimate ceremony in a friend's backyard and then they rocked the Mainstay Farms venue. It was a beautiful night that let us share in their beautifully quirky love and we are so thankful that the Lord has brought them together.

Our first fall football game, where the cool air tickled our noses and the crickets abounded (in our hair)...

There was also always a little time for dress up.

And celebrating brother K's birthday provided plenty of opportunity to get my hands on this baby! Being an aunt is a fabulous thing.

And yes, we are those people. We have our reasons. Deal with it.

Lastly, Larry and I celebrate six months of sharing life together today.  And all I can say to that is, my, oh my. Where does the time go?

Signed,

Already proudly relishing in Sufjan's Christmas album

P.S. A few prayer requests, please.

*Please be lifting up baby Walker daily as he fights the good fight against cancer.

*My sweet friend and collegue, Holly, for a speedy recovery from surgery for a stubborn, collapsing lung.

*Baby Stellan as he prepares for surgery for his SVT.

2009 Cornerstone Retreat

This past weekend the staff and residents loaded up in two vans and headed to Winslow, Arkansas for a little getaway. It was such a wonderful time together and we enjoyed singing songs, face-off challenges, playing football, hiking, smores, napping and lots of laughing! It was so nice to enjoy the weekend without phones and computers and to soak in this sacred, precious little family that we have together. Have I mentioned I sure am a lucky girl?

**Click on the photos to see an enlarged version.

He's home...

Tired but home. And my heart could just burst. Swoon.

Fall Break

I am a little behind, but last Friday night was the night before the residents headed home to visit their families for fall break. They were very excited and their suitcases were already packed and ready to go. Enjoy them!

*Be sure to pause the music on the right hand side of my blog to hear their voices.

Fall Break from courtney causey on Vimeo.

Compromise

I have been thinking about compromise a lot lately. Here are just a few of my thoughts on how we compromise. I know you've got some too, so let's hear 'em!

Do we compromise the health of our bodies for convenience?

Do we compromise our education by having every answer available at our finger tips?

Do we compromise integrity to enlarge our paychecks?

Do we compromise the very Word of God for the words of Oprah?

Do we compromise the purpose of labor by striving to get rich fast?

Do we compromise time with our children so that they are enrolled in all the right schools and activities?

Do we compromise the precious company before us for a tiny screen and 10 keys?

Do we compromise our marriages for the vicarious relationships we have with Hollywood?

Do we compromise clothing the poor for the aim of a full closet?

Do we compromise the sound of the rain for the sound of a square box in our living room?

Do we compromise witnessing the ever-changing sunset for the evening news?

Do we compromise turning old, yellow pages in a book for a latest and greatest technology?

Do we compromise the safety of our lover's arms for a scripted glimpse into reality?

Do we compromise having a voice in our children’s lives to make happy hour instead?

Do we compromise being made new by insisting on being right?

Do we compromise freedom by striving to maintain appearances?

Do we compromise modesty for the satisfaction of turning the head of another?

Do we compromise retirement funds for shopping bags?

Do we compromise service to be served?

Do we compromise the fruit of pain by seeking to merely dull the ache?

Do we compromise the value of one friend while scrambling to network with the world?

Do we compromise...

Come Monday

Recently I shared this little story with you and even further back, I shared this one. They are fairly similar and I realize that I use my blog to express my general distaste with change quite often. The truth is that change is almost always good, and yet in spite of knowing this, I almost always resist. But whatever. This is another blog about the most recent change in the life de Courtney.

A little over three years ago, the Lord was gracious enough to have one of my friends, Taylor, call MBF with a recommendation of her friend for one of our internal positions. When I met Kari she was friendly but quiet...very quiet. I just wasn't sure about her, you see. Of course, I had the same feeling about one of my best friends, Callie, years before and we became such fast friends that I should have known that Kari would end up to be one of my besties. Anyway, my friend Kels and I were looking for a third roommate and I subtly threw it out there to Kari and it was almost an instant yes. Little did I know that the Lord was weaving our lives together in a way that only He can. But before I get off track and tell you every little thing about Kari and our friendship, I should let you know that today brought change.

Today was Kari's last day at Mom's Best Friend.

Monday will roll around and there will be no text about traffic being the cause of our tardiness or early morning phone call to laugh about something we heard on the Kidd Kradick show. No more organizing event supplies together, or making sonic runs mid-afternoon, and we won't even have the occasional office arguments because one or both of us got our feelings hurt (the hardship of being best friends and colleagues at times!).

Okay, before I sit here and think about all the things that we have done together, causing me to spin into a depression with crocodile tears and heart palpitations, I should should stop and simply say that I love her. Very much.

Dear Kari, your work at MBF has been unbelievable. Your work ethic and kindness minister to me daily and I respect you more than you know. We have grown so much in the last few years together and as I wrote you earlier today, I look forward to the years to come and the sweet memories that they will hold together. I will thank the Lord forever for His perfect timing of placing you in my life. I pray that our friendship lives, thrives and flourishes way outside the walls of MBF. Good luck to you in your new adventure and I am so proud of you for taking this risk. I pray that Monday morning is filled with new wonder for you and all of God's precious peace. Please know that there will surely be a void in the office and our hearts without you. Okay, I have to stop because the tears, well, they are a comin'. I won't say goodbye, but rather, have a nice vacation. I love you, dear friend.

I wanted to share a few pictures from over the last few years spent with Kare Bear. We have done a lot of life together! Work, love, heartbreak, laughter, tears, the loss of a friend, engagement, marriage, first time skiers, cruise ships, Christmas trees, tennis, roller blades, dinner parties, and so much more. And I will yell it off the rooftop, "HE IS GOOD"!

Signed,

Fraggle