happy valentines day from us to you

obligatory lovey dovey pictures on this oh so lovey day:

happy valentines day!
love, the hofmanns
xoxo

365 thanks

things that stirred my affections for jesus the week of february 5-11:

february 5: my sweet husband blessing me with a mini vacay for our 5 year anniversary. knowing i had been wanting to get away to celebrate, he contacted a couple from our church who owns a cabin in east texas... and they are letting us come stay for free! i absolutely cannot wait.

february 6: a husband who still flirts with me. let's be honest.... i was quick to get annoyed when dj flicked water all over me as i was straightening my oh-so-prized hair. but the anger quickly dissolved and turned to laughter as i was filled with gratitude that after 5 years, dj still flirts with me. a blessing for sure.

february 7: the hearing god class. some friends of mine wrote a curriculum on hearing the lord's voice and invited me to be a part of a trial run. it started last tuesday and is lasting for the entire month of february. denton. lots of girls. seeking the lord. what could be better?

february 8: kids' village curriculum. the past few weeks i have been going through old kids' village curriculum and preparing it for distribution. i may be biased, but we have such awesome material. i love that the lord placed me, a 20 something adult, in the children's ministry where i get to learn from material that was written for 1st-5th graders. it may be simple, but it is oh so rich and i have learned more about the nature and character of God in the past four years on staff than ever before. i love our curriculum so very much.

february 9: my mom and greg blessing me and dj with a nice dinner at fogo de chao. let me just tell you.... after driving 5 hours to houston in a car that was on the verge of breaking, realizing once i got into town that i didnt pack any pants, and then having my brother blow a burp all over my face in front of his friends, i was less than pleased. to sit with my parents and enjoy a fancy shmancy meal was just the right thing to cheer me up.

february 10: so much to be thankful for this day. my mom who gave up her car to let me and dj borrow it while ours was in the shop. dj throwing me a random waka waka dance party in the living room. meeting my sweet new niece, jaiden johnny cash (yes that is her real name). and dinner and cirque de soleil with my momma. to name a few.

february 11: time with dj's sister and her unbelievable generosity towards us. brunch. shopping. dinner. valentines presents. and even a generous offer for a hotel stay for me and dj. seriously? we have the best family in the world.

with love from courtney

365 thanks

seven things that stirred my heart for the lord this 5th week of 2012:

• january 29: girl time with steph, mal, randi rose, aurlyn, and ceilidh, talking about some of my most favorite things: marriage, babies, and jesus.
  
• january 30: home group. seriously, is this in my 'thanks' blog every week? i have the most superb group of friends one could ask for. ever. on monday in particular, i watched the men in my group rise to the occasion and encourage and love on a sister in a very dark season. it was beautiful and encouraging and made all of us girls cry.
  
• january 31: syncing my iphone, itunes, and ipod! really, this may seem like a small feat, but for someone as technologically retarded as me, this is a huge deal. my music has been split between these three devices for at least 5 years. and now, they are all happily together again and all of my music can be accessed from each of these devices. and dont worry, i am completely and ashamedly aware of how ridiculously it is to have a problem that includes too many technologies. my little friends in africa have every right to mock me.
  
• february 1: a much needed date night with my handsome husbo. we went out for thai food and saw the movie man on a ledge. the food wasnt very good and neither was the movie, but the company was fantastic.
• february 2: new books that will teach me about the world and set my heart on jesus: i got son of hamas and nothing to envy, about palestine and north korea respectively. i cannot wait to read them.
  
• february 3: a lazy day at home with dj's family. we ate steak and potatoes and homemade banana pudding, took naps, and watched lots of tv. sabbaths are good for the soul.
• february 4: going to the shooting range with dj, his dad and stepmom. as terrified as i am of guns, i did pretty dang good and hit all my targets. you should be scared of me, thats for sure.

with love from courtney

365 thanks

things that stirred a grateful heart the 4th week of this fine january:

january 22: a sweet conversation with sarah damoff that left my anxious heart filled with peace, faith and trust. i am so grateful for this girl and the wisdom the lord has given her. she has ministered to me on countless occasions and oh how i miss seeing her on a daily basis!

january 23: shea sumlin and the way that he shepherds our staff and our campus, and on this day, my husband specifically. dj walked out of a meeting with shea feeling hopeful, encouraged, and ministered to. i am grateful for the leadership of the village and all that the lord has done in us because of this place.

january 24: being challenged by the greek word phileo. in looking at how wives are called to love their husbands in titus 2 and uncovering the deeper meaning of the word for love that is used, i am being reminded, encouraged and challenged to love my husband with a tender, passionate love. how quickly i will neglect time with him to clean the house or accomplish a task! this week i have intentionally slowed down, put the task aside, and enjoyed my husband... and you know what? my putting the broom down has led to more conversations and laughter than i would have expected....and it has been so much sweeter than a clean house ever could be.

january 25: marble slab ice cream. seriously. i made a hot mess out of dinner on wednesday. it was so oniony that my nostrils, mouth and throat were burned raw. sweet dj had to wear sunglasses to keep from crying, but he loved me well and ate it all anyway. needless to say, marble slab came to the rescue and was a good treat after a sucky dinner.

january 26: dinner with the stephens.... i love this family! good food and even better conversation about jesus and politics. the only thing the evening lacked was my handsome husband who was out of town for a missions retreat.

january 27: a) meeting sweet amilia, my friends brand new baby. and oh my is she the cutest thing ever. i loved getting to see chad and hiroko, hear about the birth experience, and watch them navigate their new world of parenting. and b) hanging out with my friend kacy.... i loved having one on one girl time and watching yet another documentary with her. its becoming one of my new favorite things.

january 28: with dj being out of town, i had lots of fun girl time over the weekend. on saturday i enjoyed macaroons and good conversation with amy, my bestie from college. i love her a lot and dont see her nearly as much as i'd like. my heart left full and happy. and then, my love came home that day so it topped off an already great day!

with love from courtney

365 thanks

things i was thankful for the third week of this year:

january 15: a clean house. let's face it. im anal...and a bit of a control freak. sunday afternoon gave me lots of time and space to get my house perfectly clean. it stayed that way for about an hour and it was bliss.

january 16: good food. sweet prayer. best friends. on monday night, our home group had a progressive dinner and prayed over all the new homes in our group. the menu? salad, frito pie and bananas foster. delish.

january 17: a full heart. tuesday was by far the best day of my week. it started off with a new book study with some close friends. lots of confession, encouragement and prayer which set the tone for such a full hearted day. tuesday was a day of much delight and joy in the lord and a heart overflowing with gratitude.

january 18: my new favorite piperism. at elder led on wednesday, shea quoted something by john piper that i have heard a million times before.... but for whatever reason, this time it ignited something my heart. he said, "missions is not the ultimate goal of the church; worship is. missions exist because worship does not." man, i have not been able to stop thinking and dwelling on those words ever since. there has been a lot of conviction, encouragement and worship that has been stirred in my heart since i heard them on wednesday.

january 19: a sweet conversation with my husband that left my heart encouraged and full of hope and faith.

january 20: leeway on our new dining room! dj and i are converting the front room of our house into a dining room and have big dreams of building our own table. welp, the dream started becoming a reality on friday because we bought all the chairs (and a bench) we needed! it's official. the chairs are hanging out in our house practically begging us to build a table for them to sit at. here is a picture of our new fun bench:



january 21: time and space to be creative. thanks to pinterest, practically all of the christmas presents we gave out last year were photos that we transferred onto a block of wood. for a few months now i had been dreaming up one that i could make for our house and i finally got around to it. yesterday and today provided much room for creativity and i am excited to have a new piece of art to hopefully hang in our new dining room. here is a picture of it as i was working on it... i dont have a picture of the finished product yet as it is drying as i type:


with love from courtney

365 thanks

things i was especially thankful for the second week of this year:

• january 8: my freedom. some friends and i watched two documentaries on sunday: national geographic: inside north korea and kimjongilia. both movies document the extreme oppression of the north korean people under a harsh and evil dictatorship. it showed the powerful rule one man had over an entire nation and how he used fear driven tactics to demand their worship. one of my favorite stories in the bible is that of shadrach, meshach and abednego in daniel 3. if you want a modern day version of how king nebuchadnezzar demanded the worship of his people, watch these documentaries. the people of north korea are brainwashed and forced to bow down and worship this evil man who has anything but good in mind for his people. this movie made me so sad for the people of north korea, who due to being in a closed country restricted from any access to the outside world, seemingly have no hope of ever hearing about jesus. all im saying is, lets be praying for jesus to be revealing himself to those people in dreams and such, because i dont know how else they'll hear. at the same time, the movie made me so grateful for my freedom... both politically and spiritually. and it made me so grateful that i serve a good, loving, kind, generous, gracious, merciful, beautiful God-- and that it is these wonderful attributes (and so many more!) that lead me to worship; not fear and punishment.
  
• january 9: on tuesday i started using this daily prayer guide to greater equip me as i pray for my husband. i love the prompts because they are saturated with the scriptures and lead me to pray for things that i never would have thought of on my own. i love this and think it's a great tool for every wife.
• january 10: discounts! dj and i had to cancel our gym membership because we were no longer in a place where the monthly investment was a wise one for our family. luckily, my favorite-but-oh-so-expensive-gym-that-i-could-never-afford, game on athletics, had a new years special that was too ridiculous to pass up. for $90 you can go as many times as you want for 3 months. holla! i am insanely cheap so it took me about two weeks to talk myself into buying it, but truth be told, it was too good to pass up. so, here's to three months at game on! i love discounts!
• january 11: my sweet friend, aurlyn. wednesday was her birthday and we got to celebrate her life with a little shindig at my house. i am grateful for her wisdom, her heart for the lord, the intentional ways that she loves her husband and fights for her marriage, and the ginormous way that she loves her family. i love this girl so much and am so grateful that the lord allows us to be friends!

• january 12: gift cards! are you picking up a theme of my cheapness? dj and i got to go to olive garden for date night and yes, i did eat a whole bowl of alfredo sauce, which by the way, i am also grateful for.
  
• january 13: dj and i got to see two of our most favorite missionary friends today. they are back in the states for two weeks and we ran into them at walmart. i love their heart, the ways their lives have been transformed by grace and are marked by selfless service and obedience, and their beautiful ministry that i have been privileged to be a part of to a small extent these past few years. in fact, here is a video of some of their latest work.

• january 14: community. last night we had our peeps over to watch the game and i couldnt help but look around at how my home was filled with people i love, who are my family, who love me through thick and thin, and who constantly point me to jesus. i could not have asked for better friends ever. ever.
  

the end.

with love from courtney

Food for thought

I read this quote today written by Carolyn Mahaney in her book Feminine Appeal:

Our conduct has a direct influence on how people think about the gospel. The world doesn't judge us by our theology; the world judges us by our behavior. People don't necessarily want to know what we believe about the bible. They want to see if what we believe makes a difference in our lives. Our actions either bring glory to God or misrepresent His truth.

Powerful words. Convicting. Challenging.

Lord, please make the things I say and do stem from an overflow of the work you've done in my heart, that people may be pointed to you through my life.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16