When It Rains, It Pours

Does it come as a surprise to you that I don't like things being out of whack?



This my friends is the epitome of out-of-whack! Why yes, that is our entertainment center in the middle of the living room. Our roof sprung a leak but yet we live on the ground floor. The upstairs neighbors get water in the fireplace, nicely contained. We get water dripping down the wall, not so nicely contained.


Unfortunately nothing can be truly done until the rain stops. Fortunately we are getting new carpet and a paint job, throughout the whole apartment. I calmly went down to the office yesterday and suggested that since I have been a loyal tenant for the past EIGHT YEARS, they could reward us with a little special treatment. Especially after leak number two started yesterday, in our kitchen, no fault of our own.



(ignore the random placed candlesticks, that side of the kitchen is a work in progress)

Nice.

I am hoping we can get this resolved by next week since we are living for vacation soon. Let's just say I am so ready to walk out that door for a little
R & R with hubs, alone, with no cell phone, no computer and no leaky roof.

It's going to be nice.

very, very nice.

3 More Days Until...

my team leaves on a jet plane to the biggest furniture show of the year.

This is the number one reason why the blog world has seen less of me these days. Last week alone, I logged in close to 48 hours of work with a meeting thrown in the mix. Stressed?! You betcha!

On top of the work load, my sweet Granny went into the hospital for poor breathing. She has COPD and this is just the way it is going to be as time progresses. I try to brace myself for phone calls like I received on Tuesday but it is never easy to watch someone you love suffer. She is stabilized now and will be returning home tomorrow morning. I pray that the hospital gets-a-moving and she is checked out by 11 am, like the sign my grandfather saw this morning says. Otherwise, my grandparents may be the lead story on Monday's ten o'clock news due to the revolt that will occur. Patience is not the virtue in the Bonner house especially since Bonner had already packed up Granny's things by the time Jeff and I visited after church. Jeff tried to encourage them not to get their hopes up for an 11 o'clock sharp dismissal, since it is a hospital and it's Labor day. I don't blame them for wanting to get Granny home-hospital stays are never fun.

That's all I got for now, I promise to post more once things slow down in the world of furniture.

NOT A FAN...

I hate water bugs. They are gross and apparently they have decided that my bathroom is a nice place to dwell. This of course leaves me no choice but to send them to Thy Maker.

The First Incident:

It was a Friday night and Jeff and I were chilling at the house. I walked into the bathroom, set down to do my buz-ness and right at my feet was the first of the nasty offenders. I screamed loud. lifted my legs and begged Jeff to come save me. Thankfully I scared myself from having to do any buz-ness. Jeff says come out and I will take care of it. With one eye looking over my shoulder, I ran out of the bathroom while trying to pull up the pants. The blasted thing charged after me! I screamed and heard a loud WHAP! Jeff aka knight in shining armor whacked it with his shoe. I will never complain again when he leaves his shoes in the middle of the floor.

Jeff said later that he was surprised I was scared of bugs after spending my summers at Camp Deer Run. Water bugs and I are not friends!

The Second Incident:

Tuesday morning I was up before the sun heading to the summer bible study. I had just taken off my glasses when I saw something scurry on the bathroom floor. I quickly grabbed the glasses, since I am blind as a bat. This was the day I realized that my bathmat is the exact color of a water bug. I heard it move across the floor (isn't that gross?) and told myself to be a big girl and kill it...since Jeff was not home yet. I grabbed the roach spray and doused the bug's general area in poison. The result was a water bug spinning out of control. This bug was not as smart as it's friend and ran into the bathtub. I sprayed it some more and enjoyed watching it die. No that's not true, I grabbed the broom and dust pan and picked it up and flopped it into the toilet with my eyes closed. A flush for good luck and away it went...TO THY MAKER!

Now every time I go to the bathroom I turn on the lights and wear my glasses (if my contacts are out). This of course makes the middle of the night potty breaks a little rough since I am one who is blind without contacts or glasses. As I walk to the bathroom I say a quick prayer "Dear Lord, please keep the water bugs from my path tonight!"

Thankfully the bug man is coming today to aid our efforts in clearing out the water bugs.

Bug man=my second knight in shining armor.

Thank you and good night.

One Day I'll Be Caught Up

here are a few things keeping me from the blog world.

1) Planning a women's retreat for church (4 days to go)

2) celebrating April birthday's with family and friends

3) Facebook

4) shopping for women's retreat decor, my favorite part of the whole process

5) Easter Egg hunting, hide and seek with the kiddos and a little jumping rope too

(this is Cousin Gracen. She is a bundle of energy and Cousin Jennifer was her mom. Gracen told me the other day that I was her newest friend...so cute that one! Keep praying for the family Jenn's birthday was this past Friday, a bittersweet day really)

6) losing 6 lbs in two weeks (it's amazing what watching your calories and walking 2 miles can do)

7) reading books

8) praying for the women's retreat (7 more people needed to reach our goal-wanna come?)

9) Art Fest 2009-unfortunately we didn't dance in the streets this year-the littlest nephew is not a fan of crowds or loud noises right now

10) babysitting the littlest nephew so that his mother doesn't loose her mind.

Jacob wanted to make sure Uncle Jeff's ears were clean, he must not have liked what he saw because thirty seconds after this picture he started to cry. I'm sorry, Jacob, Aunt Sue Sue should have warned you that you would uncover something scary in there.

11) did I mention a women's retreat that I am heading up, happening in 4 days!

I will be back in a few days.

Today Is Not Going According to Plan

The plan was for me to wake up early and get a few things done at work so that I could do a bit of grocery shopping and christmas shopping. I have bought only one present.

Instead my day has gone something like this:

• woke up an hour and half later than normal
• recieved a phone call from my co-worker telling me her house was broken into last night and could I contact a few dealers on her behalf. I feel so sorry for her talk about a Bah-hum-bug experience
• and since I woke up late, I just now took a shower during my lunch hour
• I am having to wear my old, and I mean old glasses, because my contact was found next to my contact case dried up and my newer glasses are on vacation somewhere around my bed. I think I know right where they are but hubs is sleeping and I don't want to wake him

Needless to say, I am not sure if I will be able to leave the house today to get groceries and shopping done. Honestly, I am not going to sweat it either. Life's to short to be allow myself to come unglued.

I will be watching this later tonight. It's the last year the Bush's will decorate the White House. Sniff, sniff! Why do I have the Boys to Men song "It's so Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" playing in my head?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Santa is coming! Santa is coming!

Taking A Time Out

I am sick, fighting a cold.
I am packing up my grandparent's house and happy they will be 5 miles from me.
I am working extra hard at work because my team is in High Point at a furniture show.


I will be running under the radar this week but don't worry all is well

I close with a verse I have been clinging to this past week.

" With what shall I come to the LORD
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?"

Micah 6: 6-8

Have a great week!

If You Read This, I Will Post All Pictures Next, No Words.

I haven't told you all what has been happening in my neck of the woods lately so I thought I would let you know of the few things happening in our neck of the woods.

1. Yes, the rumor is true, I am now on Clomid. I tease Jeff always that we are going to have a two for one special, to which his face turns white and he says, "Let's not talk about this right now." My doctor warned me that I would be sick and she wasn't kidding. Thankfully I have a few friends who now check on me during my sick week and are a constant support of encouragement for me. Thank you friends, you know who you are.
2. Emotionally I am doing great. I praise God for the peace that has come in the next phase of the positive plus sign journey. Which leads me to my next point...
3. I was 4 days late last week. I am never late. Jeff and I were very excited but didn't tell anyone because we wanted to make sure that this was not a false alarm. Turns out, it was a false alarm. I did not cry or get mad, I just called my doctor and scheduled round 2. I think this is a testament to what God has been doing in my heart over the last year. Jeff has been a huge help in keeping me from losing it too. I am so thankful for his calm spirit and his encouragement of living fully in the moment. I could not do this without him!
4. We had a blessing from God at the doctor's appointment on Friday. Long story short, I have 3 months of medicine for free. This just proves to me that God is in the details. At least we know we have 3 months of trying with the medication without any out of pocket expense. That my friends is a blessed assurance. :)
5. The house hunt is going good. At this point, we are both content to wait and see what happens with the economy. The one house we looked at and loved, we would be buying from a family I have grown up with, who happen to live 3 blocks from where I grew up. They are having a structural engineer come to check out the foundation on Wednesday, until we know more we are waiting and praying. Praying that the foundation won't be an arm and a leg to fix and for God to show us which direction to go. But for now, we are living in perfect peace.
6. My grandparents are moving to a retirement community apartment-thing-a-ma-jig in two weeks. This place will only be 2 miles from me and 1 mile from my Aunt. This will be a huge help to me as I usually bring them dinner and buy groceries for them once a month. This was one of those things that I thought about but never really prayed about. Do you know what I mean? I wanted them closer but I didn't know how to convince them to move. I let it go because I didn't feel like it was my place to say, "Pack up-you are moving!" My aunt and her husband found this place and my grandparents fell in love with it. Praise God for working out the details behind the scenes! This place has bible studies and activities for people to attend so this will be great for Granny B since she is a social butterfly. I pray that God will soften Bonner's heart since he still refuses to talk about God or church. Every time I get frustrated or disappointed, I remember Maudie and her spirit before God touched her heart. She refused any talk of God but thankfully God opened the doors for Jeff and I to talk to her two weeks before her death. So I continue to pray for open doors for Bonner and a soft heart to hear the truth and believe it.

That my friends is the low down. Thank you for letting me put that out there so that you could continue to pray for us. We (Jeff and I) are doing very well. Last week was a rough week but God quieted the storm and comforted us in our time of need. I praise Him for the peace that passes all understanding.

Have a blessed week!

The Bend in the Road

Last night I chose to write a blog post that in the morning I quickly deleted. My heart was heavy last night and I vented to blog land. I try to avoid extreme posts like that because when reading someone else's writings, you are not able to perceive their tone or hear the emotion associated with the words. Sometimes words can unintentionally get blown out of proportion. Plus I have come to learn in the last two years, when the valleys come and I feel as yuck as I did last night, that I need to get on my knees before I say anything else. It helps me keep my head on straight.

Today I want to share with you a poem that I came across on a Focus on the Family broadcast last week.

The Bend in the Road
A poem of encouragement by Helen Steiner Rice

When we feel we have nothing left to give
And we are sure that the song has ended,
When our day seems over and the shadows fall
And the darkness of night has descended,
Where can we go to find the strength
To valiantly keep on trying?
Where can we find the hand that will dry
The tears that the heart is crying?

There's but one place to go and that is to God,
And, dropping all pretense and pride,
We can pour out our problems without restraint
And gain strength with Him at our side.
And together we stand at life's crossroads
And view what we think is the end,
But God has a much bigger vision,
And He tells us it's only a bend.

For the road goes on and is smoother,
And the pause in the song is a rest,
And the part that's unsung and unfinished
Is the sweetest and richest and best.
So rest and relax and grow stronger,
Let go and let God share your load.
Your work is not finished or ended,
You've just come to a bend in the road.

Isn't that a great poem?

Today I choose joy.
Today I choose to trust God and His plan for me.
Today I choose to live fully in the moment.

Yesterday...

What needed to be done:

• first of the month reports
• beginning of a new fiscal year reports (yuck!)
• laundry
• inventory two home stores*
• update the catalogs at the stores
• pick up dry cleaning
• enter in a few orders before 6 p.m.

What I would have rather been doing:

• reading my latest book
• playing Tetris on Facebook
• talking to my Granny
• taking an afternoon nap (I was at a home store* during the middle of nap time and man the mattress section looked so inviting)
• walking with Jeff

Things I did to reward myself for accomplishing the top list and holding off on the second list.

• walked around Hemisphere's
• ate a burger at Fuddrucker's and read a chapter of my book
• made chocolate chip cookies** last night and ate one or two for breakfast this morning

*Home stores= the furniture company that I work for showroom (sorry the furniture company googles their name often so I don't want to even mention it b/c I don't want a random computer guy they have hired lurking on my blog)

** not actually homemade, they were the break apart and slap on the cookie sheet kind

My Mom Was Right, All Hell Breaks Loose After Midnight :)

The night going into Jeff's birthday, I was sleeping like a baby. Jeff was up front surfing the Internet when he heard a big bang that sounded like a gun shot.He heard the car driving by outside and heard what sounded like shots being fired. Jeff ran into the room to check on me and started saying in a loud voice. "Susan, are you okay? Are you hurt!?! Did you hear that noise?"

To which I woke from my slumber and said, "What are you talking about? What is going on? I haven't heard a thing."And he says "The window up front was shot at, I think it may be broken?"

"Really, hmm." I am still asleep, not really sure what to think.

Jeff grabs his flashlight and heads outside. "Jeff, don't go outside and get shot at."

He ignores me and heads outside. When he comes back he says, "Don't worry all is well, it was just a paint ball."

I wasn't worried, I was already back to sleep. :)

In the morning, when I went walking this is what I saw. Whoever did this had good aim because every window along the front of our apartments was shot with a paintball.

All's well now, the apartment complex has cleaned it up and thankfully no windows were broken.

Poor Jeff almost died the night of his birthday of a heart attack.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness...While Living in the Moment

This past week has been hard on Jeff and I. I think we both were surprised with how sad we have felt. When you consider that this Saturday was the 30 day mark of Maudie being checked into the hospital for a small case of pneumonia, you begin to realize what a whirlwind this has been for us. And it has only been a week since her funeral. It's only natural that we, the ones left behind would feel a little lost and confused.

If there is one thing I have learned from this past month; God is faithful to fulfill all His promises in due time. I guess that is one reason I broke down on Sunday while singing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." (Unfortunately I was on stage) Up to this point, I hadn't really cried or felt sad for loosing Maudie. This whole time instead of feeling sad, I felt joy. Joy because Jeff and I were able to talk to her about Jesus and experience the transforming power of the Holy Spirit firsthand in her life.

Yes we are sad. Yes we are hurting and rightly so. We lost our grandmother after all.

Yesterday after church, Jeff and I sat in the car and talked about the next phase of our journey. For months now I have felt nothing but peace for living in the moment. Jeff hasn't really believed that I am able to be joyful in the waiting, he has been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't blame him because getting to this point has been filled with gut retching tears. Every time I try to explain to him that month after month I am okay, has left him wondering if what I say is true. I feel like our conversation yesterday finally made him realize that I am indeed okay with the waiting. I know that God's timing is perfect and I know that if we were to have the desires of our heart before now, we may not have been as invested in Maudie and her salvation. I praise God for knowing what is best and giving us one of the greatest memories of our life.

And so, after much discussion and prayer, Jeff is on board with being joyful in the waiting too. He promises that he will not sit and watch me like a hawk waiting for the other shoe to drop. We are going to enjoy this summer and simply live in the moment. We look forward to God blessing us in the future, but for now, at least for the next 60 days, we are just going to enjoy the time with the two of us.

Because like we sang yesterday, "All I have needed thy hand have provided. Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord to me!"

Thank you for praying for us through our journey!

BIG.DEEP.BREATH.

Today I am back to catching up on life, remember this post well as you can our apartment is much worse.

Yesterday we left it all undone and went to CDR to visit our favorite little 2nd session camper.Fellow Deer Runners fully understand the blessing that a visit to camp was for us yesterday. I feel like God used that day for both Jeff and I to be able to take one big deep breath and leave our troubles behind. I am fully okay with not having my house in perfect order, it's times like this that I thank God that I able to offer myself a bit of grace.

Thanks to everyone who took time out to give us your favorite verse please feel free to keep them coming. My favorite verse given to me by a friend on the phone last week is Galatians 6:2,

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

I am closing with a video that has ministered to me this past week. I pray it blesses you too. Maudie is defiantly in better hands now.




I am off to take a BIG.DEEP.BREATH.

May you have a blessed week!

The Diagnosis Is In

I thought I would post a picture from Maudie's birthday dinner two years ago, I like to see the people I am praying for. I guess I am a visual pray-er. :)

The diagnosis is not good. Stage 4 lung cancer, possible stomach cancer (they are running a test on that as we speak).

Please continue to keep the Cherry and Young family in your prayers, rough road ahead.

When Jeff called my cell to tell me to come home in order to head to the hospital "Miracle of the Moment" by Steven Curtis Chapman was playing in the background. When I hung up it was at the chorus,"...So breathe it in, breathe it out. Listen to your heartbeat-there's a wonder in the hear and now."

(Praise Team, I did some spritual breathing or whatever it was Mike was telling us today!)

Not sure what the coming days, weeks and months have for us but I am going to take it step by step. God will show the way.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Pray for:

• strength for all the family, that I call the "Cherry Clan"
• wisdom and unity for the 3 sisters who are making these decisions.
• open doors to minister to all family who are not believers.

To God be glorified, great things He hath done!

Love you all, my sweet peeps!

The Weekend (4-19-08)

My weekend started with the opening of the NRH library. As you know, I am a huge library fan and the opening of this library has been on my calendar for many weeks now. Jeff just couldn't grasp that I actually wanted to attend the opening. And I kept telling him that nothing he said would talk me out of not going. I was being true to me today and went to the opening, by myself.





I had my camera with me, taking pictures of the library for my own blogging/scrap booking purposes when a lady from the city asked me to follow her. Turns out, she thought I was the official photographer and asked me to take a few pictures of Polly, the charter member of the library who is so special she has her own room in the library with her own plaque. I went along with the city lady and took all the pictures that she asked me to take. Later, I pulled the lady aside and explained to her that even though I love to take pictures, I am not the real photographer from the city. We had a great laugh and she said, "Well aren't you a doll for allowing me to boss you around." I told her I would have stopped her but since it was so crazy and rush, rush, rush that I should just snap away and explain myself later. Thankfully the pictures have already been sent to the correct person and I have been told if they are published they will send me a check in the mail. I don't care if I ever get paid, I just thought it was funny they thought I was a real deal photographer. That was the first adventure.


Later that day, Jeff and I headed to Downtown Fort Worth via the train. Sister in Law, Meredith's mother lives in Downtown and had invited us to spend the day with her. Jeff and I enjoyed walking around Main Street, laughing at some of the artsy people in the area and enjoying some of the exhibits. Sadly, it was too crowded for us to look at leisure. But it didn't stop us from having a good time.

The view from the train.

Jeff and me, cooling off under the trees while listening to the music.
Meredith and the hostess with the most-est, Lynn. Jeff and I call her MI2, (Mother In Law-2, since she has adopted us as her children!)

A close up of Jeff's shirt. This is what happens when you allow hubby to shop for his own clothes. It made me laugh and on the way back home, the drunks on the train kept saying "DUDE! That is the greatest shirt EVER!" And man, if you ride the train and bring the kids, then make sure you don't take the 10:30 p.m train...that is when all the freaks from around town come out of the woodwork. It was funny for us, since we have no kids but I was so glad that we didn't bring the nieces and nephew with us.

Tomorrow I will post about Meredith and my dancing partner from Saturday night. This guy deserves a post of his very own.

God's Timing Is Perfect!

Yes, I have been more quiet than usual.

Here's why.

Imagine my disappointment when I came up not pregnant the night of our anniversary.

I hesitate to mention this because I don't want it to sound like once again I am complaining about not having a baby. I am in a good place and here is why.

I knew that if something didn't happen this month, I would go to the doctor.

I called in on Monday to get an appointment. Before I even dialed the phone, I prayed for God to show me if this was the direction that He wanted for us to go down. I waited while the nurse checked the calendar. She had something for Tuesday at 10:10 in the morning. Click here to read why 10:10 is a significant time for me.

So I head into the doctor on Tuesday. I was a little nervous and came very close to calling my mom to go to the doctor with me. But I figure since I am 30 I should act like an adult and go by myself. On the drive over, my all time favorite song, Walk By Faith by Jeremy Camp was playing on the radio. By the time I got to the doctor I was fully at peace.

The doctor did the usual stuff but the whole time she kept telling me, "The timing is perfect for you to come in today. It couldn't get more better than this." And I am thinking to myself, "Praise you Lord, Praise YOU!"

You see most of the tests that she has to run had to happen this week or I would have to wait another full month for the tests. That day, the day of the appointment was the last day I could do one of the tests. Praise God for His timing! I got it done and was able to schedule all the rest for the rest of the week.

Today I had another test to see if the inner workings were opened properly. I am happy to report that they are doing just fine.

Now my reasoning for sharing with you all is simple, I want to glorify God. Jeff and I are taking life one day at a time and are trying our best to enjoy the journey. I believe joy is a choice. I believe you can choose to be sad and bitter for what God is not doing or you can look at what He is doing and give Him a standing ovation. I believe that walking by faith also means that we have to die to our wills and trust God to work it all out for His glory.

I refuse to let Satan get the best of me. I refuse to bottle myself up and not tell people all that God is doing even when the big requests aren't happening. I believe that there is a reason for everything and God will use every facet of our lives to get our focus to Him.

For me this waiting period is proving to me, time and time again that I am not in control. I am using this time to draw near to God, to rest in His plan for my life. Even if His plan does not include children. I simply have to wait with total confidence that the Lord will answer all my requests in due time. And by golly, I am going to enjoy this journey. I will not hide out and be sad, mad or angry because it's not happening to me. I will rejoice with others and I will be happy, content, at peace and have full satisfaction with wherever God may lead us.

Friends, if you too are waiting-don't let Satan get the best of you!
Trust God to show you the way because His timing is perfect!!!

"He has made everything beautiful in It's time!"

Ecclesiastes 3:11

I Have Good News With Great Joy!

My documents and pictures have been found.

They once were lost but now they are found, Amazing Grace all around

How you say?

Don't know

But I do know that my Father-In-Law is a GENIUS! He had a plan and his plan worked.

I think I will keep him.

I will also keep my husband who I have been married to for 5 years on Saturday.

I tell you this so when I am not around much in the next few days you can say, "Oh she is out with hubs."

He is off work this week and has declared it his week to cook. He is a great cook but he does not cook light food so I may gain a pound or two this week but that's okay. I am not having to cook so who am I to complain? Plus he makes the bed, did the grocery shopping, ran an errand for me for work, etc. etc. He is a huge help on his days off. Actually he is a huge help every day.

I would be stupid to get rid of him. :)

I see a bit of feet rubbing in my future for the sweet hubs.
I mean it is the least I can do, right?!?!

Have a great few days.

And...

Happy 5 years to Clay and Maurine who were married on the same day many years ago.

Time flies when you are having fun!

I Will Survive

The last few days have been a little hectic here.

My computer crashed. I lost everything. And I mean everything. All my daily devotionals from back in the day, all my pictures, all my spreadsheets for work and a bunch of other stuff that I am choosing to ignore at this point because I am sick of thinking about it all. Sick and tired of trying to remember it all.


So if you have not backed up your computer in awhile and not put your pictures on CD's than stop right there and get to work. From this point forward all pictures will automatically be downloaded to the computer then saved to a CD.

Oh well, you win some you lose some.

At least I have my health

Real Life Happens

A few weeks ago I spent the evening trying to capture real life moments of myself.

And with the help of the mirrors in the bedroom and my camera, I was able to capture what I look like while I am having quiet time.

During that week the Chronological Bible took us through the book of Job. I have never really grasped the meaning of Job so I spent lots of time reading my Bible commentaries. Never underestimate the significance of diving deeper to understand a book of the Bible. God will use that time to either touch your life or pass it on to someone else in thier time of need.



Over the last two weeks I have found myself sharing what I have learned with others.

Real Life Happens. And sometimes we don't understand why this or that is taking place but I believe all God desires of us is draw near to God and He will draw near to us. (James 4:8) And I have never been more encouraged than when God will use my time in the Word with Him in conversations with people in my daily life.

I pray that this post will encourage you to dive a little deeper this weekend into the Word. I am going to spend this weekend doing nothing and loving every minute of it.

This chick has hit her wall after going non-stop for many, many weeks. I am going to love every minute.

Have a great weekend!

(Spell check is down and I am too lazy to edit on my own, please forgive)

So Much To Say But Not Enough Time

Lots has happened this week. Many ups & downs. Blessings and praises. Real Life happenings.

• FIL had 2 job interviews with a company this week. He is now waiting this week for a callback for a in person interview. I pray that the Lord provides. He has been without a job for over 365 days.


• My morning quiet times have been extra special this week. God has brought many verses that have literally jumped off the page for me. Some I have shared with other people, some I have journaled to show how God has been speaking to me the last few days. My favorite verse is Psalms 68:19. "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation."


• My sister-in-law lost her baby this week. This has hit me very hard. As sad as I was that my time had not yet come I would never wish this on anyone. Never! I just pray that God continues to open doors for me to minister to her. We have cried many times this week together and I have spent many hours in prayer for her.


• Jeff and I praise God that we just finished reading the Book of Job. We realized two things while reading this, 1) God is soverign and He is fully in control 2) Sometimes the best thing we can do for those who are hurting is just walk alongside them with mouths closed and arms open.


• We had a wonderful women's retreat this weekend. God blessed us in so many ways and I am so thankful for the ladies who helped me get this thing together the last few months. Many read the blog so let me just take a moment to tell you ladies THANK YOU! You rock!


• And one last note, Jeff told me the other day that his first priority in the next few months is buying us a house. I have kept quiet and told him that I fully trust his wisdom. I was encouraged the other day when Pastor passed on a house flyer for me to give to Jeff when I was over hanging with Pastor's wife getting ready for the retreat. He said, "Jeff and I have been talking about this house." I said thank you while trying not to get my hopes up too much...I love the house, love the neighborhood. But one thing I am excited about is that God has Jeff and I right where we need to be. I am content. I also trust God and my husband to lead us.

Tis So Sweet to Trust In Jesus

This is what I saw this morning on my table when I came to get my morning Cup O' Joe.

The left over remnants of Jeff's quiet time this morning.

I share this for the wives out there who struggle with waiting for you husband to grow in the Lord.

And may I be frank to you wives?

For the love of all things good, shut your mouth!

You can't change Him but God can.

Instead of nagging your husband encourage him.

When you start to get frustrated with the waiting, shut your mouth and pray for your sweet man.

Don't you dare speak down to him or to your friends and family about him. That's not right.

Just pray for him and love him right where he is at.

You will be amazed how God will change you and change your husband when you let go and trust God.

Now go pray for your husband and love your husband for the love of all things good and holy.

Oh and sit down and wait until your husband takes the lead.

I guarantee you that you will be blessed if you just wait a bit.