Trip to the Mall

I had an interesting meeting at the mall yesterday!  I'd love to tell you all about it soon...

I met 2 little old men...Terry and Glen.  Please pray for their salvation.  Terry beat Cancer recently (I believe it was colon cancer) and so did his wife-breast cancer.  I know God has healed them and they are still here for a reason...eternity awaits, and they need to be ready to meet the Lord when He calls them home.  I have so many more details about these 2 precious little men...a sweet and precious story!  I'm hoping to get some time soon to write down all of the details and what's been in my heart concerning this little meeting.  Soon I hope!  In the meantime, please keep these men in your prayers.  We never know when we'll breathe our last breath...thanks! :)

 

Victory!!!

 The Surgery is OVER!!!
  I am thanking God for his faithfulness!  All went well, and Craig is recovering.  I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief, but we must continue to pray for his recovery.  My heart is so full right now, but my mind is very tired.  Hopefully soon I can report some awesome details about this whole ordeal.  I'm so thankful for my friends Craig and Casey, and their family!  I'm so thankful that they have so many wonderful people that love them and rallied around them to believe for Craig.  When things like this happen, it's a wonderful reminder of what's important in life.  Everything we have is a gift from God, and it's by His grace that we even have all that we do.  I'm so amazed by the wisdom it took for the surgeon to perform this surgery, and all the technology available to find the tumor.  I am amazed and very grateful!  I know that this wisdom comes from God, and we are made in His image.  My heart is also overjoyed at the wonderful outpouring of love, prayers, and concern for Craig and his family.  It is a great picture of what we, the church, are supposed be for one another.  God's loves us so much!  We can share His love with others, and be a source of hope for them!  His heart is to be here with us...He's working on that!  Until then...He left us His Spirit...He loves through us!  Be a source of hope for others, offer encouragement, and simply love!

"You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great."
(Psalm 18:35)

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(1 Corinthians 15:57)

Urgent Prayer Request!

A dear friend is having surgery tomorrow to remove a tumor from his brain at 6:30 am.  His name is Craig.  He is a wonderful godly man with a wife and four children.  They are a beautiful and precious family.  We are very good friends with this family, so they’re extremely dear to our hearts.  Please pray and agree that the surgery will go well and for God’s protection during the surgery.  Also, please pray for the surgeon, Dr. Guthrie.  There are more details, but for now, the main concern is the surgery tomorrow.  Thank you so much!  I know I don’t have many followers, but I do have a few…and some anonymous readers out there…let’s all pray and agree in faith that the outcome will be good and he will be 100% healed!  God IS able!  I’m expectant of a good report tomorrow!  There is so much I'd like to say, but I'm very tired and I want to be up bright and early to pray before and during the surgery, so I’m turning in…goodnight.

Oh, if you would like prayer for healing, I would love to agree in faith with you!  Please feel free to leave your requests by just posting it as a comment, or contact me by email.  There is a great site I found on Kelly's blog called Prayergates where you can leave your prayer requests for people to stand in faith with you.  Prayer is powerful!

O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me."

(Psalms 30:2)

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."

(Isaiah 53:5)   

Updates: Operation Christmas Child and Camera

Update #1

Hooray!  I'm a little late here, but we found out our shoeboxes went to the Dominican Repulic.  You can read my original post about Operation Christmas Child here!  It was a lot of fun doing this project with our children, and it's great to know that we are blessing four other little children across the miles!  This makes my heart happy!  Our church really got involved in this project, and made it so easy to drop off the gifts once they were all packed!  

Update #2

I want to say a big “Thank You” to all of you who offered me camera help! You can read all about it here!  I finally got a camera for Christmas! My sweet Honey Boy (Ha! Ha!  I hope this name embarrasses him!) let me help pick it out, and we wrapped it for Christmas to open with the kids. It was a rather hurried decision-we went to a store and he just said "let's go get your camera!"  But I would have taken all of 2010 to keep researching…that’s just me!  I over-obsess, over-perfectionize, and over-analyze Everything! I’m glad sometimes for my little Honey Man (Ha! Ha!) who helps me to make decisions at times. I really need that! I really would’ve been researching for at least another 2-3 months with this whole camera thing…seriously...and he wanted to get it for me for Christmas!  I’m so glad to have it!  I just cracked open the box for the 2nd time today! The first time I just opened it and looked at all the papers…today I read the quick start guide briefly. Am I nuts? I guess I’m just waiting for the perfect time so I can savor the moment. It’s one honker of a camera!  I'm sure it's not top of the line (I wouldn't even know what that is btw!), but it's a huge step up from my little point and shoot camera!  I was grateful for my old camera, and it served me well…it’s just broken, and it was time to move on to bigger and better things! Well, I must clarify-it's just a little broken down…not totally broken…just frustrating to use…on the brink of broken…broken lens cap…gotten a little slower now…you get me?!!!  I can't wait to add some pictures on here from my new camera!  Perhaps even this year!  Ha Ha! 

Resolutions

I went to the gym today and did a one hour class called Bodyworks, and boy did it work my body!  I'm hoping to keep at this working out thing and hopefully a new, healthier, more fit me will emerge.  I'm not big on resolutions, because I try to continually assess my life and perpetuate change.  However, I needed a fresh start.  I started running at the beginning of summer '09...went on a short family vacation and didn't start running again until the end of summer!  I ran until the first round of cold weather hit...and here I am doing nothing again.  Husband and I (I meant to say "husband and I," by the way! :) really need to get healthy, and it's so good to be on the same page!  We did a workout with a Pilates DVD one time a few months ago...yes, only once!  So, we joined a gym.  Exercise isn't new to either of us, it's just been awhile!  This was my second time, and I must say that I think I'm going to like it!  I have to get away to exercise...too many distractions...housework...kids...need I say more?!!  I definitely want to incorporate exercise into my life again, and it's a great time to start! 
I guess if I had to give my New Year's Resolutions, these are the things that I would like to put into practice. 

Here goes:

1. Daily Bible Study/Quiet time/Prayer

2. Exercise-Take better care of my body

3. Sleep-More of it (I think I'm allergic to it!)

4. Organization-some type of system, especially for paper clutter

5. Exercise my Love Muscle-love like Jesus loves!

Okay, so these are my resolutions!  How about you?  Did you make any this year?  It's going to be an awesome year!  Do you have any goals, desires, or things that you'd like to start...or stop?  If so, you're not alone if you know Jesus.  It's a good time to start fresh and new!  What we can't do on our own, God can help us with!

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

And with His help, "all things are possible!"

(Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27)

I will be posting some organization inspiration photos soon!  I know that excites you!  C'mom...do some cartwheels or backflips now!

;p

I went to the gym today...

I'm going back tomorrow...

The End.

New Year, New You!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

You knew I was going to say that, right?!!  Well, it is a new year, and I'm hoping yours will be full of the most wonderful blessings!  So...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  We had a great time here!  My heart is so full, and I'm realizing more and more what is important in life, and to cling to those things.  I was so blessed to have my family come to visit.  When you've been a military family for awhile, you really appreciate visitors.  My kids get excited about the UPS man and the pizza man ringing our doorbell!  Okay, so here's who came to visit:
My Mom from Murray, Ky.
My brother and his girlfriend from Destin, Fl.
My brother-in-law and his Fiance' from Clarksville, Tn. 
Yay!!!
Overall, it was a good visit and Jay and the kids and I had a blast!  But I was so busy that I realized I didn't really take many pictures!  I'm kind of sad about that.  I was really looking forward to this time.  I was in need of a break from life and needed to relax and have a good time and laugh.  We always do a lot of laughing when we get together, so...Mission Accomplished!  I did some praying during the time leading up to the Holidays because I really wanted everyone to be able to relax and have a good time and get along well together.  We added FIVE people to our family of 6 for nearly a week, so I was praying for peace and for everyone to experience God's presence here!  Some really great conversations took place and no one was knocked out, so I'm confident God heard my prayers and answered! (Ha Ha!) 
I'm so thankful for my family and I love each one of them dearly.  I don't take it for granted that they were all willing to come from so far away to see us.  It meant a lot to all of us.  We had so much fun with everyone.  As for me, I am so so so very tired.  I was an absolute zombie today, and I felt really groggy all day.  I think all of the lack of sleep during this time has finally caught up with me.  It's so hard because I felt like the time was so short, I wanted to pack it all in.  We always have such lofty plans, but there's never enough time when you live so far away.  We felt a little lonely after all of our company left...it was so quiet!  But now we're okay and hopeful about the New Year and all that's in store for us.  We are so hopeful and expectant about this new year!  We truly believe that great things are in store for us!  I'm so excited!!!  I feel like we're going into this new year with new mindsets, a new resolve, and a fresh start!  My heart is so thankful!  2009 was a great year full of God's blessings, and was a year of many changes for us...many good changes!  I can't stop thanking God for all He's done, and as I look back I can really see His hand in all of it!  He always has a plan and purpose!  I'm realizing that although we may not always understand why, God is always busy working things out.  Although we may not see it at the time,  He’s always busy with a plan to work things out for us and it WILL come to pass at just the right moment! And…If we’re willing, there’s always opportunity to really grow our character. The magic word…“IF.” We should desire that. There’s always opportunity to grow and learn in life. As long as we're on this earth, there will always be something to learn that we didn't know, and there will always be the potential to grow and develop our character. Remember this! It's simply human nature to always want everything our own way, to be selfish, impatient, unkind, etc.,&...a... BIG...ETC.!!!  So, continually seek wisdom and keep stretching yourself even when it's uncomfortable.  There's always something to gleen for your life at the day's end.  When you learn something, don't forget to put it into practice! Otherwise, what good is it to have knowledge of something if you don't apply it?

"But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." 
(James 1:22-25)

I'm working on this, and really trying to live my life not just for myself.  A friend and I discussed recently what our lives would be like if we could seperate ourselves from our emotions at times.  Imgine that for a moment.  What would that look like?  I think of how that would be in my relationship with my children.  I know I would be such a better mother if I could put this into practice.  This is a new concept for me, and I'm relying on God's help for this.  I don't believe it is possible without Him.  So, I am determined to NOT be moved by things that have the potential to stir up negative emotions, and to put love into practice instead.  Let me tell you a little about what love looks like, 'cause it's more than an ooshey-gooshey feeling!  Did you know that?  Listen:

LOVE IS [a CHOICE to be]:

patient

kind

LOVE ISN'T:

envious

boastful

proud

rude

self-seeking

easily angered

LOVE DOESN'T

keep records of wrongs

rejoice about injustice

LOVE DOES

rejoice when the truth wins out

LOVE ALWAYS

 protects

trusts

hopes

perseveres

LOVE NEVER

FAILS

(I Corinthians 13:4-7)
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
(Read this over slowly...and really think about it!)

 Each and EVERY DAY, we are faced with decisions of whether or not to love.  With all that Life may throw at you today, what will your choice be?  It's a New Year...how 'bout a New You? 

How about a LOVElier you?!!

May you have a blessed and prosperous
New Year!

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!