HP Computer Giveaway

I'm a little late here, but you have until 7:00 pm tonight to enter an awesome contest.  HP is giving away five new HP TouchSmart 600 computers!!!  Wahoo!!!  You can go to five different ladies' blogs and leave a comment...that easy!  You can read about all of the rules on the link below.  I've entered and I'm believing for a miracle.  This would be the most awesome gift to give Jay.  He would absolutely love it!  Read about all of the features and you'll see why!!!  

I Really, really want this! 

Okay, go enter and have a most wonderful and Merry Christmas!

http://www.blogher.com/hp-touchsmart-review-and-sweepstakes

Here are some of these ladies:
http://mckgiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/12/hp-touchsmart-giveaway.html
http://kellyskornerreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/hey-who-wants-to-win-free-computer.html
http://totallytogetherreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/hp-touchsmart-computer-review-and-give.html
http://boomama.net/hp-touchsmart-600-giveaway/

Hello and Goodnight!

Hello!  I just have to let you know how excited I am to know that people are actually reading my blog!  I am tickled pink, in fact!  I am hoping to post more often, and hey, maybe someday I'll actually post everyday! 

One can dream... 

I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to leave a comment anytime! 

I absolutely love comments!!! 

You can follow me as well.  That way you won't miss a thing!  

I know...you are absolutely mortified by that thought!  Well...become a follower and you'll never have to deal with such devestation.  Why put yourself through that?!!  (Kidding!)  

I am hoping to post more photos soon...well, hopefully sometime in the next century...that's my goal at least!  I find it much easier to read blogs that have lots of pictures.  I just love pictures...don't you?!!  Oh, and feel free to share my blog with friends...it's public, so anybody can view it. 

Well, I guess I should get to bed.  I just returned from a wonderful evening with a friend!  (Actually, it's been a couple of hours now.)  She took me out to her favorite restaurant as a gift to me for Christmas.  It was so sweet of her (her husband, too!  He stayed with their children!)  I told her we honestly could've gone to the grocery store, and I would've been happy!  Hey, I'm not hard to please!  I enjoyed spending time alone with her and getting out of the house!  Do you ever feel like that?  Oh, and the food was really good, too!  Don't even think about asking what I had, it was in another language and I couldn't ever remember!  It was a Mediterranean restaruant.  I tried some of her Calamari...and...I actually liked it!  Although I couldn't help feeling like I was on Fear Factor as I thought about what I was eating!  Ha!  I am feeling so refreshed now!  I'm So thankful for her...and Jay for staying home with the kids!  Although, I feel kind of bad because he really should've been studying.  He's got a really important test to take this Saturday.  Please pray for him.  I know that God will bless him for his sacrifice and for blessing me!  I'm praying God will give him some more time to study...we recently had a band concert for Abri, tomorrow night is the kid's Christmas program at school, and multiple stuff in between...busy, busy bees we are!  But he wouldn't miss their little concert for anything!  I know he'll do well though and God will miraculously provide some more study time for him! 

Okay...to bed I go!

Good News

Part 1

This morning I received a wonderful call from my husband! He had just gotten to work and had some news to share that he knew would make me happy. First, I’ve gotta set it up for you and give you a little background. Sorry to keep you in suspense, but those who know me well, know I just can’t give the short version!

So…

Rewind to Saturday morning (Dec. 5th).

Jay and I had tons to do. One of those things included cleaning the garage and moving all of the riding toys, power wheels, etc. to the basement for the winter so he could start parking in there again. We have a very small 2-car garage…next time we build, I’m thinking we should get at least a 3-car OVERSIZED garage! However, I am very thankful that we can both park inside a warm garage, especially in this atrocious winter weather! For those of you who live near me, did you happen to go out today? WOW! I’m really missing Florida right now!
Are you still following me? (I got a little side-tracked…sorry.)


Back to Saturday…

We found a box in the garage that had some of Jay’s old military uniforms that we needed to go through and donate. There were two very nice warm desert camo jackets inside as well. He wanted to hang on to both, and was trying to decide why in the world he would need to keep two of the same jacket. Somehow we got on the subject of “my little guy.”

Let me tell you about him…

In the two years we’ve lived in this house, I’ve seen him walking up and down the highway and the major road that runs near our house. He seems to be carrying a load of some sort on his back, and we’ve wondered if that is all he has. We think he’s homeless. He doesn’t just meander along, he always seems to be walking with purpose. Every time we pass him, my heart just hurts for him. I want to talk to him and ask him where he’s going. I think about his family, and if they know where he is. Are they looking for him, and do they know he’s out walking in the cold everyday? I wonder if he’s lonely. Each and every time we pass him, I offer up a prayer for him. I pray for God to comfort him, keep him warm, bless him, and most importantly…to save him. Does he know God? I wonder how many times people stop to say hello to him. I am blessed with so many wonderful friends, and I wonder does he even have one friend who cares? My heart just hurts for him.” Sometimes I see him and he has a long beard, other times he’s clean shaven. I’ve seen him on the hottest summer days, and even on the miserably cold ones. We used to see a little red tent hidden by trees and brush right off the exit, and now it’s not there. I thought maybe this was his home. I want to help him so badly. I’ve thought about this and talked about it to my husband many times. He tells me that I should never talk to him or anyone in a similar situation because I’m a woman and he doesn’t want me to get hurt. I understand his concern, it’s his job to protect me and I love him for that. So I’ve always just prayed for him whenever I see him or he comes to mind.


Are you still following? (I tend to jump around a bit!)


Okay, back to Saturday…

We have our “Big Breakfast” on Saturday mornings, and it’s kind of a family tradition in our house. Jay usually makes a huge breakfast and he’s really good at this, so I just assist him (which means I clean up along the way…he’s really messy!) He’s makes the most perfect pancakes and the kids look forward to this every Saturday. So, Jay and I began to discuss breakfast as we were finishing up sorting through the box. An idea came to mind. We thought about how nice it would be to give the extra jacket to “my little guy!” We don’t see him walking everyday, so we wondered how we would actually give it to him. Then, we realized we had no eggs! You can’t have a big breakfast without eggs!!! So, Jay decided to run to the gas station nearby. We didn’t have much time because Garrison had to be at basketball practice soon. He needed to go quickly! The whole jacket thing was almost a fleeting thought, but we decided we should pray. Of course you can kind of wrestle with stuff like this. We wondered if he would take a jacket from a stranger, or if he even needed it, etc. So we offered up a quick (I mean quick) prayer for him that if he needed it, Jay would see him at the gas station and have the opportunity to give it to him. He grabbed the jacket and another one just to give him a couple of sizing options, and he left. We’re both a couple of nuts, I know!!!! He was back super quick, and I had to know if he saw him, and if he was able to offer the jacket. No, he didn’t see him. No biggie. Jay assured me that we’d see him around sometime. We quickly forgot about that whole ordeal, and went on with our day.


Fast forward to Sunday…

While driving home from church, the subject of “my little guy” and the jacket came up. (Sorry, this is seriously what I always call him…I don’t know his name!) We usually see him as we’re getting off the exit from the highway just walking along with a cup of coffee in hand. Amazing…the timing with that is so awesome! It’s not a particular time or day, we just see him as occasionally as we’re coming off the exit. Kind of neat how that seems to work! We were talking about our jacket plan and Jay mentioned that he would just keep them in his car. He said he sees him walking by sometimes on his way home from work. I was happy about that. He’s a good man (Jay), and he knew that meant a lot to me! We came home and went on with our day.


Fast forward to Today (Wednesday, Dec. 9th)…

Jay calls as soon as he gets to work to tell me some “good news.” Can you guess what it is? He says that as he was leaving the house he felt like he needed to stop by the gas station and break a five dollar bill because he needed change for a vending machine at work. He didn’t want to (it’s so cold and really windy today…I’m sure that’s why…maybe he thought he’d run late, and he’s a super punctual kind of guy…), but he felt like something was telling him that he needed to go ahead and stop. Guess who he saw inside? It was “my little guy!” My heart was so happy when he told me this, because I just knew what he was going to say next! He told me the whole story…I’ll skip the details, although it was a rather brief encounter. Basically, the guy took a jacket and was thankful. Jay said he seemed like a nice man! He said he took the jacket, got his coffee, and he was gone. I’m so proud of him! He’s a good man! I’m so very happy most of all, that God heard and answered our prayers! Remember, we prayed that if he needed a jacket, that Jay would see him in the gas station. It’s so awesome how that worked out! He’s not in the habit of stopping at the gas station in the morning on the way to work, but I’m so glad he did. I know that it was God who led them both there this morning. I wonder if “my little guy” just needed a little extra warmth on this very, very cold and windy morning. I wonder if maybe he just needed to hear the kind words of a stranger, and though brief, talk with someone who cared about his well-being. I will continue to pray for “my little guy.” I pray that God blesses him and takes care of him, especially through these cold winter months. I know that having a warm home and a full tummy while we live here on earth is meaningless if we will never make it to the grand feast that God is preparing for us in our eternal home in Heaven. So most importantly, I pray that he receive Jesus as his Savior, and that although he may not have an earthly home, one day he’ll be able to move into his mansion in Heaven that God is preparing for all of His children.

John 14:2-3 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

And I’m hopeful that one day I’ll get to meet him…whether it’s here on earth or in Heaven! What about you? Are you prepared to meet God in Heaven someday? Well, I have some “Good News” for you!

1. God made a way for us to come to Heaven to be with Him and our loved ones once our lives here on earth are over!

Luke 2:10-11 "But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord."

Jesus came to save us from our sins!

'“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”'

2. We must repent and turn from our sins to be in rightstanding with God.

Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

3. We must share this Good News with others!

Luke 16:15 "And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone."

There's so much more Good News that God has for us!  We can only have the best and most fulfilled life with Him.  He loves you so much!  It's so important to read your Bible (I prefer New Living Translation...no thees & thous...it's the way we talk today!), and go to a church that teaches everything that's in the Bible!  If you've taken these steps, you now have a new life!  If you've confessed your sin, everything you've done in the past is forgotten!  As a matter of fact, you are a whole new person, and God can help you to be a better person and live a better life!

2 Corinthians 5:17 "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

Isn't that Good News?

And....

If you mess up, you have an opportunity to start all over again!

Lamentations 3:22-23 "The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning."

We'll talk more later... 

Continued here!