I am sitting at the Chicago ohare airport and I love airports. The people watching is fantastic, it is an excuse to eat junk food and buy a magazine, and most of the time being in an airport equals going somewhere fun. Also in airpirts i can't help but think of the movie love actually, which is probably my second favorite movie. Since it is just before Christmas I feel a little bit like I am in the movie. No hugh grant is not here or the ruler of our country...too bad. I wonder everyones stories. Do they think live actually exists or are the lonely, beat down by the economy, searching for life in wealth or good looks? Are they getting on a plane to see families they haven't seen in years or to propose to their girlfriend or to be with their best friends that have become their family or are they going to see a house full of people yet feel alone and that love does not exist? This is why I love airports.And thank you Jesus that love does exist.

in my mind i have gone to carolina...

theres no place like home for the holidays.

i love everything about this picture. reading. woods. long brown hair (i wish mine would grow faster). boots. warm scarf. resting. beauty.

here is a new blog that is absolutely adorable. she appears to love birds and hummus, my two favorites :) lollychops.com
here are some cute little bird gift tags that are a free download on her site.

about five years ago (before i went on yl staff) my heart was extremely burdened for people. i would cry if i saw a homeless person on the street or would have a knot in my stomach because i so wanted people to know Jesus and felt very worn down because of it. when i went to new staff training in portland everything seemed to change. i felt as if my heart hardened some. i didnt cry as much for people. life felt a little lighter than it had. i felt like a part of me was missing and something was wrong with me. my heart for people was something i felt like the Lord gave me and when it was missing i felt like maybe a part of who the Lord made me to be was missing as well. today i was telling a friend that recently my heart has been burdened like it was before i came on yl staff. i the other day while shopping i became very burdened for the shoe salesman. for some reason i felt the Lord laid it on my heart to ask the man about his life. and, since then, it continues to be on my heart. now, doing something about it, that is a different subject. now this is gonna sound crazy but i saw the movie frost/nixon and was very burdened for richard nixon. crazy i know. yes, he committed a terrible crime and at the beginning of the movie the pres seemed like a greedy politician but by the end of the movie he seemed very sad and sullen. my heart felt for him. then, of course my heart started to feel for george w. bush and his mother and how it must be so hard for her to hear the media say negative things about her son. i know it makes me sound so girly and silly. but, this is just what has been going on in my heart lately. so when i was talking to my friend today she said that maybe God was protecting my heart and He lightened my heart. maybe it wasnt that something was wrong with me or something was missing. i like that. so often i forget how in control God is of my life. i so often think that i am the one in charge, even of my heart.
here is a beautiful picture of the heart for other people from henri nouwens book compassion.

(picture by joel filartiga)

"But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you."
-Psalm 39:7

i actually have a friend named hannah roberts and today is her birthday! happy 21st han! i wish we were both in auburn so we could eat at applebees and take a wonderful nap on a thursday morning! love ya babe! hahha

p.s. the stationary is from www.thestationerystudio.com :) a GREAT website!

what a great night. tillmans with jen and mere. french fry trio, dessert, and champagne. delish. the bishop arts district in dallas is so adorable. lots of shops with open doors and unique home decor, gifts, and clothes. i love living in this city. tonight we drove home through main street downtown. there were lights strung across the street connecting the buildings. i loved it and may have squeeled it was so cute. it made me think of the song silver bells "its christmastime in the city". love it.
another thing that makes this night great is that it is 11:11 and i am in bed in my pajamas all ready to snuggle up with the newest real simple magazine that came in the mail today and tom hanks and meg ryan aka joe fox and kathleen kelly. if you know the movie, make a comment and i will send you a prize :)
goodnight.

chuys+wyldlife team+snow=a very great night!

yes, becky took pictures when i picked up my new car at dallas love field. she is a trooper :)


oh and if you are looking for a new car and are in ministry go to mats.com josh is the best!

tonight i went to see twilight. and, contrary to most people, i loved it. i mean absolutely loved it. yes, at times it was a bit scary. but all in all i just loved the story. i love how edward will stop at nothing to be with and protect bella. he wants to know her. it seems as if there is nothing she can do or say that will make him stop loving her. how often i long for that too. i try to hide the ugly parts of me from everyone so that there is nothing unattractive about me out there for people to see. as much as i want to be known it also scares me so much. i wonder if edward cullen appeared in my bedroom telling me he wanted to know me, if i would feel free to be me or would i feel i had to be who he wants me to be? well, i would probably be frightened that a vampire magically appeared in my bedroom without opening the door :) i hope i dream of edward tonight.

i read this, this morning. how ironic that it was right after i was talking about having headaches and not sleeping.
"certainly, illness is a wake-up call to rely on God. the wonderful thing is that even though the situation is prodding us to rely on One greater than ourselves is terrible, it also bears the wonderful fruit of faith. all we need to do is ask God for help and then to be alert to Gods provision."
-from abiding hope by ann hagmann

how cute.

i woke up this morning with a headache. if you are of the praying type please pray because i have been getting migraines about every other day lately. they just hurt so bad. also, for the past week i have been waking up during the night every single night even when i take advil pm. it makes me not so fun to be around the next day.
"When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them." -Luke 4:40
thank you Lord, for being a Lord that heals.

i found an article on usatoday.com this morning about people basing their christmas gifts on color. yes, the color of the item. it saddens my heart a little for two reasons. 1. there is an article about this on usatoday and 2. because this is the issue over in christmas in america. click to read color for christmas

merry christmas!
love, the mccabes
melanie, erin, jay, and holly
yes, this is the photo my mother is sending out for her christmas cards. pretty cute if i do say so myself.

joy to the world!

jen tanner and i went to the coolest part of dallas today, the bishop arts district. they were having a street fair with lots of homemade craft booths. i bought an adorable scarf with a big flower on it. i love it! for lunch we went to the coolest restaurant. it is my new fave place to eat in dallas. it is called tillmans. the atmosphere and food were both fabulous. jen and i split a grilled cheese sandwich and a french fry trio sampler. here are some pics of the restaurant. oh and two things you may want to notice are 1. a movie is showing on the wall. 2. there are bird figurines on every table and on the wall surrounding the movie. come visit me in dallas and i will take you!

s(n)ooo fun!!!

yesterday at work a big discussion arose regarding "high maintenance". here is an article i found about the subject. enjoy :) are you high maintenance? (click to read)

yesterday i received the first chapter of donald millers new book in the mail. my friend lindsays boyfriend goes to church with donnie (i only wish he and i had the kind of friendship where we had nicknames for each other. i would call him donnie or millie. i think he would call me mccabe or cabe.) and since linds knows i am such a donnie millie fan she passed it along to me. it took me about .5 seconds to get situated on the couch, rip open the envelope, and fall right into the pages of a million miles in a thousand years. i love the way donald miller thinks. he thinks many of the things i do, but he says them for millions of people to read. and he communicates them in words that make his thoughts sound so honest, normal, and easy. he seems to be very observant of everyday situations. he seems to relate everything to his heart for Jesus. like in those everyday situations he observes and then his thoughts on the situation are centered around his heart for Jesus and the people in the situations hearts. i love that. when i read donnnies books i begin to see more of Jesus in the little things throughout my day. my heart seems to experience life richer. i was listening to an ole miss ruf sermon yesterday and les newsome was talking about gaining eternal life and what Jesus says to do to get it, "simply make certain that everything you do, everything you think, and everything that you say is done only and always in reference to your life consuming love of God." beautiful. hard. easy. tender. strong. lovely. deep. lifelong. passionate. with others. freeing. ministry. those are just some of the words that popped in my head as i listened to les speak those words for about the fifth time in the past twenty four hours. when i read donald millers book i feel like he lives that kind of life. i want that kind of life. i want everything i do, think, and speak about to be done in reference to my love affair with God. people would see Jesus more. i probably wouldnt compare myself as much as i do. i would love people more. i wouldnt be such a people pleaser. people would feel freer to be who God made them to be in my presence. thank you Jesus for making life with youbeautiful. hard. easy. tender. strong. lovely. deep. lifelong. passionate. with others. freeing. ministry.

i found a great website. it is a mix of anthro and urban, but less expensive. you should check it out for all those last minute gifts for the lovely lady in your life.

this makes me look forward to spring...

when my mom was in dallas she bought me a new sewing machine for christmas. i used to have one but it broke, and now i cannot wait to use my new singer! it looks kind of like this:

here are some fun things i would like to make with my new toy:



so get me your requests now and i will get started on all of your sewing needs :)
thanks mom for such a fun christmas gift!

i love knee socks. they are perfect for a cool fall or winter day with a pair of boots.

i had the best morning! usually my mornings are rushed, shower, breakfast, gather things for the day, fast time with Jesus, then out the door. this morning was slow paced though. it was one of the first times this semester i didnt have to be out the door anywhere by 9. which, to most people in the corporate world is considered late. so many of my nights are spent doing young life stuff that i sometimes dont stop working until midnight or later. but, this morning was glorious. i woke up around 7ish, heated up a mug of mint chocolate mint, grabbed my Bible, journal, and books, and spent some good time with Jesus. i loved it. it reminded me of the years when i would sit in my car at cherokee in knoxville and spend time hearing the voice of the Lord. not that i dont spend that time now. it reminded me how great slow time is for my soul.
"when i listen closely to the story, move closer to the light, my fears seem to evaporate like an early morning mist, and i can believe again. i can believe that God who made all that is became clothed in our human flesh so that we might become clothed in God. i can belive that God claims me as a beloved child. i can believe that all my days are in God's strong and tender hands. i can believe that life is good, beautiful, and eternal. i can believe that not only my days but all my days are in God's good and able hands. i can believe, rejoice, and wait trustingly and expectantly for the unfolding of God's promise given so many ways and most clearly in the Advent story. thanks be to God!"
-rueben p. job