Date night/Service

Ahhh do you remember what dating and falling in love was like?  Wasn't it wonderful?  Just because you are married, does not mean it should end!!!  Yes, things change and kids are added or move away, money gets tight or time keeps on slippin'....but tonight, my sweet considerate husband gave me a gift.  The gift of his time!!!!  He took me to see a movie that I wanted to see...a lovie silly girl movie and he got me that huge bucket of popcorn and then after he took me to eat at a new little place that we both loved!!!  And to top it all off, are you ready????  He took me to TARGET!!!!  But, none of this would have been possible if a sweet sweet gal from church had not offered to come and keep our girls!!!  WOW!!!  This gal is special.  She is beautiful, loves the LORD and she loves my kids.  She is a single lady in her late 20's that WANTED to give up her Friday night in order that we could go out.  That is just such a different world view.  She wanted to serve us and love on our kids.  That is HUGE and not lost on me at all!!!!  I want to raise my kids to WANT to serve others and put others first.  I am so very thankful for the time out with my love and equally thankful for the consideration this friend showed us tonight.  Thank you R and thank you Lord for this time out!!!!

Trying to NOT Grow weary

I know what scripture says about not growing weary in doing good.  Ugh!  I guess that the Lord knew that there would be days and weeks and MONTHS like this, and so in His goodness and Kindness, HE reminds us not to grow weary, because in due season, we will reap a great harvest. (Gal 6:9) But, I do grow weary and I am currently weary.  When I look around, I see many weary people.  People who are wearier than me.....and I feel badly.  I really have nothing to feel weary about.  Things are good.  We are well.  We have more than enough.  But, when my focus is off, I grow weary.  I feel that things are out of control.  But, they aren't out of Gods control....just out of my control and that means stress to me!!!  Yet, I will not give up.  I will rest and trust and pray and wait.  And work and work and work and wait....wait on the Lord to change either my heart or the situation...but He himself will not change.  Most of the time, I find that God changes me in these times...and for that I am thankful.  Oh to not grow weary.  I am weary but I am not giving up.  Thank you Lord that you hear my prayers and that you are faithful.  Thank you that I am weary because you have heard my prayers and granted my hearts desire to me.  Please give me strength to walk in your truth and to push through when the weary times come.  Thank you that you do not allow me to stay there and thank you for tiny bits of respite and small glimpses of your goodness.  Thank you for small victories.  Help me O father, to see the victories and give you the honor and praise for them!

epic fail

Well, today I had yet another chance to put on kindness and patience and self-control and I failed again!!!  Lord help me, please!  I am so self focused and want my own way!  It is often hard for me to see Gods hand in all things.....(especially when they seem to not go my way)...yet time and time again, I see Gods faithfulness and goodness to me.  But, as we talked about in Caregroup last night, the fact that Jesus Christ, himself came to earth as a baby and lived a perfect life....experienced everything that we could ever face yet did not sin, makes Him not only God with us, but God who goes before us and KNOWS us!!!  Now, this is NOT license to sin but, it gives me comfort to know that God is with me and is changing me to be more like his Son, Jesus Christ, my Savior!

Church

So very thankful for our church.  Thankful for the music that we sing and the truth that is taught!  I hope to get a copy of the words to the song our Choir sang today.  It was called "waiting"....Beautiful song!  Great lyrics and says so much about me in the waiting but so much more about GOD!!!  Thank you, Lord that you have placed us in this church among this body!

What comes around, goes around

I love a deal and I love yard sales and resale shops.  Today, I found a few good deals at some yard sales, though it was COLD!!!!  I also found myself a new used bag that just MIGHT hold everything I need!!!  Also at this resale shop, EVERYTHING was 50% off!  That is dangerous for someone like me who loves a good deal and has a little extra cash in my pocket.  Thankfully, I only bought the bag and a pair of rubber boots for Gracelyn!!!  But this other place, I fell in love with it.  THE SPARROWS NEST.  This place is on  Kanis right past Bowman.  It is a resale shop but not like you would think.  It is like a designer boutique.  They do take donations, but not clothes and shoes....they take beautiful things and re purpose them into other beautiful things and then sell them to you and me.  They also take other decorator type things, candles and they have some great paintings.  And the wonderful thing about this place is, they are non profit and they use their income to help people who have been harmed by human trafficking.  This is a GREAT place and I will be going back from time to time.  I did find one little treasure.  I know, it is quirky but I just loved it.  I saw it and walked all the way out to the car, got ready to leave and just had to go back inside to get it.  It is a sugar bowl and I LOVE it!!!!

Completion

Well, because of the goodness of the Lord, I was able to complete not ONE but several tasks today!  Now, please do not read this as me boasting, read it as one thankful gal!  I am thankful that I got some things done.  Here we go:

*  Quiet time this morning (short but great)

*  Kitchen CLEAN (fridge cleaned out, dishwasher unloaded, and reloaded)

*  4 loads of laundry DONE and PUT AWAY (read HUGE DEAL)

*  Email inbox cleaned out from 389 to 65

*  One thing accomplished in my home manager book

*  Drawn out design of a slight remodel desire that I have 

And to top it ALL off, I had a great texting conversation with a dear dear friend!  Though it was not voice to voice...at this season of OUR lives where we are both very busy, and really in totally different stages of life...it was soooo good.  So good for many reasons.  Relationships take work.  They are hard.  I am relational AND this friend holds me accountable and asks hard questions at times.  She provokes and challenges me in good ways.  I am thankful for all that got done today and for the fact that I got to "talk" to my friend...who challenges, encourages and prays for me!

L A Z Y you ain't got no aliby

Do you remember that song?  I am confessing here.....I am lazy.  I know it, and many around me know it and I HATE it!  Just tonight as I was cleaning up dinner, I came to the very end, the very very end and I was done!  I was ready to quit....thinking to myself, oh it is just one bowl and a few forks, just leave those in the sink until tomorrow because....well because I am done!  Is that terrible?  I am not proud of this.  I am not bragging.  I am confessing and confession is good for the soul.   This blog is also an indication of my laziness.  I am a great starter and a terrible finisher.  What does the bible say about laziness?  Oh my word!!!!  Here is what Proverbs 13:4 says: " The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing....." do you see it?  Gets nothing!!!!  Not that I do things to receive things, because I don't, I do things because I am called to, because I enjoy doing things and because I have to....but to see that the sluggard craves and gets nothing makes me frightened and makes me feel sad!  I don't want to be seen as a sluggard.  I also think for myself, it makes me not a woman of my word, and that does not honor the Lord!  So, I have made a list of things that I want to continue, start or finish.....and this blog is one.  I want to continue it as I have time, because it is something that I enjoy and it helps me process sometimes.  I want to start getting up earlier because I need to in order to accomplish some things and I want to finish my home manager book...(more on that later)!!!  : p

taking every thought captive

Times are NOT hard really.....a few days ago, in my devotional reading, I read about good-day, bad-day mentality....basically how we can fall into the trap of thinking that we have good and bad days based on our "feelings" or experiences. That has really resonated with me. I fall into that trap. Deciding that today was good or bad based on how I perceive the day to have gone. Really, though, every day that God gives me on this earth is and should be a g00d day! I am struggling right now. I am sure that it is anxiety, and tiredness.....I am emotional and not thinking rationally. I am having to take every thought captive and think on what is true. Not what I think is true but what is truly true. It takes work! It is hard. But by Gods grace, I am able to do that. Nothing earth shattering either, just silly stuff that if left unchecked can be harmful....so very thankful though that I serve a God who hears and knows and understands me because He made me. Fearfully and wonderfully!!! I have much much much to be thankful for and much to look forward to. So, for now, I will try to rest in HIM.....and whatever is true, noble,lovely, excellent,worthy of praise, I will think on these things!

Feb 22!!!

My heart is aching for Feb 22....that is the day that Anabelle Kate will arrive!!!! We can not be more excited! We know that there is much to be done but we are just taking one day at a time and working as hard as we can to get things done!!!

getting ready

It is becoming more and more clear that the time for Anabelle is drawing near! We are so very excited and so very nervous. We have been reading and re-reading and God has been kind and gracious to us over these past almost 3 years with Gracelyn. We are currently reading a great book that was given to me by our childrens director at church....the name will come in another post as I don't feel like getting up right now to get it....but anyway...it is a small book on gospel centered parenting....wowzers! This book has been so encouraging, convicting and challenging. Praying that God will continue to give us grace and wisdom as we seek to follow HIM in the parenting of our two girls and anymore that HE may choose to give us!

sickness

Wow! I have not been this sick in a long long time. I mean mind numbing sleeping all day, coughing stupor. It has been rough. Kevin has been great!!!! I am so thankful for a loving husband who wants me to be better (even if only because he desires a hot meal!!; )) It has been good for Gracelyn and Kevin too. It has been good for her to have him all to herself and it has been GREAT for him to see what a day in the life of this momma is all about. He is a great dad but we often don't know or fully understand what eachother faces each day until we are thrust into that role. Thankfully, I will NEVER have to do his job at the crime lab but, I just mean that it is good for us to see the other in action!!! Gracelyn has been challenged in a different way over these last few days because the new sheriff has been in town. Kevin and I strive to be on the same page with discipline and how we long to raise our kids but sometimes when I have been here for 24-7, 365, I have been known to slack off.....so again, this has been a huge blessing for us. I would never wish sickness on myself or anyone else, but GOD uses EVERYTHING for our good. And, this was really good. I am catching up on a lot of needed rest and we are learning new things about ourselves as parents!! Thank you Lord for a sweet family and a selfless husband who has been a great nurse!!!